Phoenix Suns (94-59, .614, 1st NL west) @ Los Angeles Kings (90-62, .592, 2nd NL West)
This one is, undoubtedly, and important set – it’ll draw a lot of ink from our local sportswriters, hell, it’ll draw a lot of ink from the national media too. They’ll position it as something of a preview of our upcoming series and heap undue importance on its outcome, top it off with philosophical platitudes that intend to reveal what the result will mean for each clubs confidence, and will sprinkle in an elephantine amount of superlatives to their prose to trick their readers into believing that the drivel they’ve produced is accurate & true – but, if you’re the morning paper type I’d caution you to take what they write with a grain of salt. At this point of the game, with our playoff spot secured, everything from here on until the dance is meaningless – like taking stock market advice from a young financial planner wearing a brand-new pantsuit with pumps that are scuffed on both sides. Always, always check her shoes. Phoenix is formidable, that much is not in dispute, but, at this stage of the campaign, and with Homer, Patrick Keith, Jason Bland, and SS Ray Gerhold all-out/DtD, my expectation is that the Suns will not be bringing all of the weapons to bear. They’ll play us straight up, employ no tricks, and, most assuredly, will not be tipping their hands when it comes to any strategic initiatives they plan to employ during the playoffs. So, this will be a tough series, sure, but let’s not kid ourselves here, it won’t be played at full throttle and, try as they may, any trends it produces will not hold once we get back to the games that mean something.
153 of 162: Teagan Rachel (8-6, 4.20) @ Jonny Garcia (10-9, 3.37)
Win, 2-1. Jonny mixed his changeup in expertly over 8 innings, only allowed Phoenix to register 4 hits, and struck out 8 batters (including 1B Jacob Wells, who he K’d 3 times), Barbaccia secured his 46th save on 8 total pitches (he K’d one batter with 5 of those pitches…), and Dom went 2 for 3 with a double and a run… Rajkumar hit his 43rd double (he’s second in the league in that category), Eli Bigham hit a 2-out RBI, we got a SAC BUNT from Rake Lewis, a SAC FLY from Lloyd Daniels, and both Ethan & Julian Goodwin got drilled at the plate. I know that I went to great, unnecessary lengths to convey that this series, in the larger, cosmic scheme of things is, essentially, meaningless, but – I’ll be damned if this victory didn’t feel pretty darn good. Any day that you get a win against the burnt orange and eggplant purple is a good day – indicative of a day well spent.
154 of 162: Ferdie Acker (1-0, 3.27) @ Aiden Jensen (13-11, 3.87)
Loss, 9-4. Aiden got shelled, sacrificed at the altar of the sun god by the sheer wanton vandalism of the Phoenix offense – that juggernaut of finely tuned destruction… yeah, he got his tiddy’s liddy here folks… SS Jess Alford went 2 for 5 and hit the 3-run double (you don’t see that every day) at the top of the 8th that did us in. We got a 2-run homer from OH HONG, a solo jack from Dom, and also hit into two double plays, got caught stealing twice, and left 10 runners stranded. Basically, after the giddiness of last night's win, and with 52,978 of our most ardent supporters in attendance, we got our backside handed to us in this one. Seriously – it was a real, “here is your backside, we’ve beat it so badly that we don’t want it anymore”, moment. Right, right – got it – yeah, I don’t know what that means either. Let me get us another round – things always start to come into focus with another round…
Elsewhere: After 10 straight games without a ding dong, Tom Franzone, has finally put a ball out of the park for the 52nd time this season – this puts him in a two-way tie (with Gabriel Saravia) for the top spot on the single-season table and, now trending to hit 55 bombs, we fully expect him to claim this record as his own over the next 8 games. This feels like the best of both worlds… he shouldn’t crack 60 jacks (this makes me happy, I don’t want that wide of an outlier on any of my tables) and is putting this campaign together for a team that could battle for a championship. Fair play, Mr. Franzone, fair play…
155 of 162: Crusher Melendez (13-7, 4.30) @ Trevor Dotson (9-11, 4.45)
Win, 3-0. Trevor, sensing that Phoenix would have severe, torque-inspired lower back pain today after crushing the ball so completely last night, was masterful over 8.1 innings of work before handing the rock to Barbaccia who closed this one out with the dignity and aplomb of a seasoned professional. Dick McTaggart opened our scoring in the bottom of the 1st with a run-scoring single, Ethan scored a run and added to his base collection and gave us a two-run cushion in the bottom of the 8th on a 2-out RBI. Here’s where I tell you what you already know… that I’m full of hot air, that everything you skimmed over in the opening paragraph is poppycock, of no real value, and was wholly wrong. This set meant everything – it meant that at 10-10 we’ve pulled even with Phoenix for 2078, it meant that we won’t be bullied by the best offense in the league, that we are their equal, and that we can dispatch them with the ruthless precision befitting a champion.
Elsewhere: Houston’s SP Pete Taylor, still reeling from the public embarrassment my overzealous marketing team bestowed upon him, got shelled by the Minnesota North Stars – the young starter, whose poorly-kept family secret made national headlines the last time we met, put in 6 innings of ho-hum work, gave up 6 runs, and, miraculously, punched out 8 batters. Rudolf, with nothing left for him to ruin, gave up 2 runs in relief as well… not a good day for the Dynamo… or the larger Taylor clan for that matter.
