[pauwoo]

Miami United (71-77, .480, 5th NL East) @ Brooklyn Citizens (75-74, .530, 3rd NL East)
The general consensus is that Brooklyn has overachieved, that their talent does not equal the kind of success they’ve had in 2079 – I would agree with that assessment if the evaluation was limited to their offense, where, I believe they are playing a bit over their heads. Their staff, however, is, in my estimation, as good as advertised – with a top three of Cam Murphy, Merl Crawford, and Matthew Krebs their starters are among the best in the National League. Not the best, not really in that conversation, but amongst them, on the periphery… and, if their front office puts in some work during the offseason to bolster their bullpen, this club could find themselves right back in the thick of things next year. So, like us, the Citizens were, according to the baseball pundits, supposed to be a cellar dweller… that they are not is seen, by those same pundits, as a measure of success that should have been outside of their reach. Look, regardless of what measurement system you use, the Brooklyn Citizens aren’t a real playoff threat – if they were to live out another Cinderella story again in 2079 it would be seen as so outlandish that the league office would open an investigation featuring a talented investigator on par with Ms. Lorretta Synn. It’s just that – they weren’t supposed to be flirting with a winning record this late in the season, they weren’t supposed to be a potential wildcard team, and they weren’t supposed to reel off 7 wins in their last 10 contests to kick off September. This is a situation where, as the spoiler, we actually want to make the baseball punditry look good, a situation where our goals are aligned – this doesn’t happen often, we typically work to prove them wrong, to underscore the fact that they have no idea what they are talking about with results… but, if we can, we’ll pay tomorrow for a hamburger today… Of course, we’ll be starting a bunch of youngsters from here on out as we begin to shut down some of our veteran arms, so, who knows – Brooklyn might come up smelling like roses over these next three games.

149 of 162: Orlando Vasquez (MLB Debut) @ Hunter Larson (6-10, 5.12)
Win, 8-7. Orlando battled for 6 innings, allowed 4 runs, and came away with the win in his first MLB start, Aris Anaconda hit a 3-run jack in the top of the 7th, and Early Felger finished the game at 3 for 5 with a double, a triple, one batted in, and 2 runs. Team ball alert: Two SAC FLIES and a SAC BUNT for the Pink Tops!

150 of 162: Lucas Brandt (6-7, 3.58) @ Matthew Krebs (16-10, 4.27)
Win, 6-3. Rico Sosa hit a timely run-scoring double in the 5th that put us up 3-1 early, OH HONG hit his 7th homer, and Brandt, continuing with the youth movement, went hard for 6 innings and only allowed 2 runs to score (on a HR, but, whatever – we won!). And just like that, we’ve pushed Brooklyn’s head underwater… they, for now anyway, are a sub .500 ballclub.

Elsewhere: Angry Eloy Delando (MIS) went 3 for 4 with a two-bagger, 2 jacks, 4 RBIs, and 2 runs in the Hound Dogs’ 9-5 win over the Dearborn Dilly’s. With the win Mississippi has a 1 game lead over the Shreveport Sashimi Samurai for 2nd in the BL Justice Division and Eloy, now at 39 homers so far in 2079, is in the lead of that category by 3.

151 of 162: Rad Taylor (5-5, 3.86) @ Dylan Tuyay (12-11, 4.79)
Win, 6-5. Road sweep! In Brooklyn! Our second road sweep in a row! Wingard’s 2-run homer put us over the top in the 7th, Rad was a mess and gave up 5 runs over 5 innings of work, Rico Sosa hit a SAC FLY, and Early stole his 28th bag despite doing a significant stretch in AAA. This one felt more like a loose collection of fortunate circumstances than it did a hard-fought, team triumph.

Notes: We’re starting to make some power moves it seems – 4-game series in Philly is next on the docket. Philly is currently tied for 1st in the NL East with the, suddenly, struggling Steelers who’ve gone 3-7 in their last 10 games. The Chicago Fire has become the latest team to clinch a playoff berth and the Jacksonville Jaguars are the most recent victim of 2079.