Miami United (68-77, .469, 5th NL East) @ St. Louis Rams (72-75, .490, 4th NL East)
The Rams were picked to win the NL East before the start of the season by nearly all of the baseball prognosticators. Those who didn’t have them penciled in at 1st, had them no lower than 3rd – and all of the pundits agreed that they had the look of a playoff team. And, for the first 4 months of the season it looked like they were right – St. Louis was hangin’ tough like NKOTB in Costa Mesa… but, then August happened. They plummeted down the table, posted a 12-16 record, and watched on, from the outside looking in, as Pittsburgh & Philadelphia asserted themselves as the class of the division. Listen, I may have overstated that last bit – they still have a shot at making it to the playoffs with only the Brooklyn Citizens between them and the final wildcard slot, and, a home set, against us, gives them a great opportunity to start to put something together. We’re 31-40 on the road, 5-6 since switching to our Bubbalicious lids, and are mired in a funk that is so, um, funky that the spirit of Eddie Hazel is always nearby, playing the solo to, "I Call My Baby Pussycat", to make sure that it can be felt in your bones…
146 of 162: Rad Taylor (5-5, 3.86) @ Joseph Hinder (8-12, 5.86)
Win, 8-4. It’s the
OH HONG (3 for 5, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R) &
Aris Anaconda (4 for 5, 2B, RBI, R) show in this one… finally, we look like the spoiler I so desperately want to become. Unfortunately,
Rad left after only completing 2.1 innings of work with an undisclosed injury… diagnosis is, of course, pending.
147 of 162: Kordell Littles (9-12, 4.84) @ Dimitri Pimentel (12-10, 5.07)
Win, 7-2.
Kordell pitched well (8.1 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) and
Donavan Taylor went 2 for 4 with a solo-HR. Each of our 7 runs was brought home by a different batter, with
Rico Sosa’s RBI coming with 2 outs on the board.
Elsewhere: 1B Senol Delalto (CHI) went 4 for 5 with a double, three HRs, and 8 RBIs in the Fire’s 11-1 win over the Toronto Reds BC. The performance and subsequent game score of 120 moved him into 2nd on the individual game performance rankings for 2079, just 6 pts behind his teammate
Benjamin Compton who put up a 126 game score against the Vancouver Giants on the 1st of September. Chicago’s offense seems to be heating up at just the right time.
LF Tony Voorhis (PHX) hit two long balls in Phoenix’s 11-10 win over the Minnesota North Stars – he now has 29 homers on the year and needs just 6 more to eclipse his all-time best of 34.
148 of 162: Funky Martin (0-1, 5.63) @ Austin Joshua (3-3, 4.91)
Win, 10-8.
Funky Martin is not ready for primetime… he lasts a scant 2.2 innings in this one before getting yanked after allowing 6 runs – luckily for him, the offense is still clicking –
Homer Wingard’s 4 hits and 4 runs were the difference maker here and
Rico’s 3-run homer didn’t hurt. 4 double, 4, 2-out RBIs, and
Rico’s moonshot ruled the day for the
Pink Tops – we’ve secured a much-needed road sweep here and can now head off to Brooklyn with our confidence high.
Notes: Rad has a stiff lower back… he’s DtD, move along, nothing to see here.
Shawna’s North Stars have been eliminated from the playoffs, and we head into Brooklyn on a 3-game winnings streak with only 2 ½ games separating us and 3rd place in the NL East. Oh, and check out the Playoff bracket for the International League… it’s attached. I, as a newly register Florida resident, will be pulling for the Orlando Sun Bears. Side note: Not sure why I changed their name from the Solar Bears to the Sun Bears – the new name doesn’t make much sense.