Philadelphia 76ers (22-18, .550, 2nd NL East) @ Miami United (16-24, .400, 6th NL East)
With an offense that has taken a few steps back after the loss of
Palmer Parker to free agency, the 76ers aren’t blowing the doors off their competition. They’re 9th in OBP, OPS, AVG, and wOBA, and are as power-starved a unit as you will come across in the NL at 11th in HRs. It seems like everyone in their lineup is doing their level best to fill
Parker’s shoes and failing miserably in the process. With their offense in shambles, it is their pitching that has propped them up so far in 2080 – their starting unit boasts the 2nd best ERA, are 2nd in runs against, and when you get past their gatekeepers and into the Bullpen it doesn’t get any better for you as they are 2nd in Bullpen ERA, and, combined with their starting rotation, are first overall in Pitching WAR. This could be a tough 4-game stretch at home for our club here as our offense is still sputtering along and our bullpen is leaking like a sieve. I mean, we’ve dropped our last 4 at home, included getting swept by our in-state rival last time out, so what’s four more losses in the grand scheme of things – you know, besides being, potentially, the end of my tenure in Miami…
Note: We traded
3B Rueben Johnson to Phoenix for a Reliever. The trade should improve our pen, albeit slightly, and the cost to our already anemic lineup is minimal. Or, that’s our story anyway.
41 of 162: Wilson Pena (2-1, 2.72) @ Kordell Littles (4-3, 3.75)
Win, 7-1. With the recent trade of
3B Reuben Johnson, we’ve called
2B Magmo Noyola up from Havana – he wasted no time introducing himself in this one with a 2 for 4 effort that included a two-bagger, a homer, 2 RBIs, and a couple of runs, and
SP Kordell Littles pitched a complete, 1-run, 5-hit, 9 K masterpiece to befuddle the already perpetually befuddled Philadelphia offense. We snapped our 4-game home skid in emphatic fashion – let’s hope we can ride these good vibes for a few more days like an advancing surfer at Pipe Masters.
42 of 162: Grimm McGowan (4-2, 3.81) @ Harvey Allen (1-3, 4.67)
Win, 8-4.
Magee went off with a 4 for 4 performance that included 2 runs and a bases-clearing triple,
Ethan Loy scored twice, and
Harvey Allen picked up his 2nd win in 5.1 innings of work.
OH HONG drove in two runs,
Anaconda scored and recorded an RBI of his own on a solo homer, and we swiped three bags as a unit. Team cycle in this one – doubles for
Early and
Hamza, the aforementioned triple from
Magee, and that jack of
Anaconda’s I told you about. New guy
Hunter Vaughn got his first hold in a Miami kit in a 2.2 inning effort where he registered 3 K’s.
Elsewhere: Rajkumar Kosciusko went 4 for 6 with two, two-baggers, a homer, and 5 RBIs in the Los Angeles Kings’ 12-6 win over the Denver Miners. He’s hitting .305/.376/.545 so far this year with 8 jacks and 24 RBIs.
Paul Bryant, Left fielder in the
CITY OF COMPTON, went 3 for 4 with 2 homers, 3 RBIs, and 3 runs in the Raiders 7-6 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The former Tennessee Volunteer is hitting .288/.366/.551 with 10 homers and 26 RBIs in AAA. He recently went 4 for 7 with 1 RBI in two wins for Compton during their trip to Havana.
43 of 162: Bill Marvin (4-2, 3.13) @ Cullen Craig (1-3, 6.00)
Loss, 5-2.
Jason Spears gave us the business in this one – he went 4 for 4 with 2 homers and 3 RBIs for the 76ers to lead them to victory. Only
Weaver and
Loy could drive any in for us here as the offense crumbled under
Marvin’s pressure for 7 innings before succumbing to Philly’s bullpen in the 8th & 9th. We had our chances here, but Philly’s staff finally showed up and squashed those opportunities expertly. The worst-case scenario now is a home split…
we need a series win here desperately.
Elsewhere: We had ourselves a home run derby in the Bush League tonight with
Blake Wilson hitting two jacks for the Roanoke Racoons,
Neil Rush smashing two ding dongs for his Mississippi Hound Dogs, and
Harley Murphy putting two over the fence for his Dearborn Dilly’s. Interestingly, each team lost their games by two or more runs.
NCAA Tourney: The annual NCAA May Madness tourney is all set – this year’s unaffiliated division participants include the
Ridgemont Community College Tasty Waves, the MIT Equations, San Dimas Community College Wyld Stallyns, and the Wyoming Cowboys. I'll be pulling for the
Tasty Waves to ride a cool buzz all the way to their 1st ever NCAA Championship.
44 for 162: Bentley Noonan 92-1, 4.15) @ Radoslav Borovsky (3-3, 3.96)
Win, 3-0. We’d get a much-needed series win at home here – finally – on the back of a 7.2 inning, 8 K, shutout performance from
Radoslav and
Kyle Weavers 2 for 3 day.
Anaconda and
Hamza scored,
Weaver and
Magee drove runners in,
Early hit a double,
Anaconda hit a triple, and we got the win despite hitting into
three double plays. Team shutout in this one with
Radoslav,
Murray, and
Jeremy Dial all contributing to our best Philadelphia pitching impression. This was a satisfying series that came at the perfect time.
Notes: After a day off we can now head up to Brooklyn with a small measure of confidence after securing the always elusive home series win (we’re no 10-15 at home). Pittsburgh’s
Tom Franzone is heating up and now leads the majors in HRs at 16 with
Aitor Cubas (SEA) and our own
Aris Anaconda tied for 2nd with 14 jacks each.
Aris continues to lead the league in WAR at 2.7 – what a season he’s having (
let’s try not to think about the fact that our club is squandering it, for now).
Cathall Magill (SF), who we traded last season for a lifetime subscription to National Geographic and a bag of donuts, is leading the league in strikeouts at 76 – that's a low-key bummer (but the donuts were delicious, and the latest issue of National Geographic included a tip-top expose on the psychic dangers of immersive holography). After finishing April with a 12-15 record, we’ve been even worse in May (7-10 so far, .412 winning percentage), so, we’ll need to carry this series win forward and use it as a springboard into respectability if we are to meet
Elvira’s “playoffs or bust” expectation. A tall order, to be sure, but not one that I’m willing to discount just yet…Also, speaking of
Palmer Parker, the newly established Seattleite took home player of the week honors on the back of a 15 for 31 stretch that included 4 dingers, 10 RBIs, and 9 runs, while
Rajkumar did the same in the National League with a 15 for 34, 3 HR, 12 RBI week.