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liberty-ca · 03-03-2026, 10:12 AM

THE HOT CORNER
Baseball coverage from the inside — Sacramento Prayers and the FBL

By Claude Playball | Baseball Insider & Analyst | Host, "Hot Corner" Podcast

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September 15 – September 27, 1992 | Games 146–158 of the Sacramento Prayers 1992 Season

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101-54. DIVISION CHAMPIONS. RUBALCAVA WINS TWENTY-FIVE. AND OCTOBER IS NO LONGER A DREAM.

On the evening of September 21st, in the Sacramento clubhouse after a win over the Houston Crusaders, the Sacramento Prayers celebrated a postseason berth. Jordan Rubalcava spoke for the group with the precision and economy that has defined his entire season: "We want to officially win the American League West Division and of course, the World Series."

One hundred and one wins. Fifty-four losses. Fourteen games clear of Fort Worth. The AL West Division banner is coming to Cathedral Stadium and the city of Sacramento is about to experience October baseball.

The Prayers have been here before. Twelve World Series titles decorate the history of this franchise and the men who wear this uniform know what winning looks like and what it costs. The celebration on September 21st was real and earned and deserved. The work that follows will determine whether the pennant flag gets company in the rafters.

Jordan Rubalcava will not let anyone forget what the real objective is. Neither will this column.

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TWO WEEKS IN RETROSPECT: A GAME-BY-GAME TOUR

At Fort Worth: September 15-17

Three games at Spirits Grounds, Sacramento wins the series 2-1, and the series opens with one of the most gut-wrenching losses of the entire season before the rotation rights the ship emphatically.

Tuesday, September 15th — the twelve-inning catastrophe: Sacramento leads 7-4 entering the ninth inning. Three outs to get. Prieto enters. What follows is the single most destructive bullpen performance of the 1992 season. Reza comes to the plate and hits 3-run homer. The 7-4 lead becomes a 7-7 tie in the span of one swing. Sacramento loses 8-7 in twelve innings when Gomez delivers a walk-off single off Caliari. MacDonald goes 4-for-5 with a home run, a double, two singles, and three RBI — named Player of the Game in a losing effort, the finest individual offensive performance in a loss this franchise has produced all season. The beauty of "Big Mac's" game and the ugliness of Prieto's ninth inning exist in the same box score, separated by nothing but the cruelty of baseball mathematics.

A note on the twelfth inning: a pinch hitter named J. Horne — batting average listed at 1.000 entering his only at-bat of the season — doubled off Caliari to start the decisive rally. The universe continues to deliver its punchlines with impeccable timing.

Wednesday, September 16th: Rubalcava throws 7.2 innings of three-run ball — only one earned — and gets the win. Now 23-6. Prieto closes cleanly for his thirty-fourth save, a redemption appearance delivered with the minimum of fuss. Jesus Hernandez hits his first career home run in the seventh — a two-run shot off Alzate that proves decisive. Sacramento wins 4-3. Aces says his team did "what it takes to win." He is not wrong.

Jesus Hernandez's first career homer deserves a moment. The twenty-four-year-old left fielder from San Felipe, Venezuela, hits his first professional home run in a road game against a playoff contender in a September pennant race. The moment is his and no summary statistic can contain it. He also steals his second base of the season in the same game. A remarkable afternoon for a player who has quietly posted a .333 batting average in limited appearances.

A note from the special notes: Francisco Hernandez was hit by a pitch and injured in this game, replaced by Baldelomar in the third inning. The severity appeared manageable — he returned to the lineup the following day — but Francisco Hernandez at less than full health entering October is a storyline worth monitoring.

Thursday, September 17th: Espenoza throws a complete game shutout. Nine innings. Three hits. Zero runs. Eight strikeouts. Two walks. One hundred and thirteen pitches. A game score of 87. The Fort Worth lineup — which hit .311 as a team and features the leading MVP candidate in the American League — managed three singles against him across nine innings. Fort Worth manager Ricky Santiago spoke for every opposing manager who has faced Espenoza this season: "I don't make excuses, but when we were playing the game, our energy didn't show. That comes from either extremely good pitching or extremely lousy hitting and seeing as our team has a bunch of good hitters, I have to tip my cap to Espenoza." Santiago is correct, and his candor is appreciated. Sacramento wins 9-0. MacDonald hits his nineteenth homer. Rodriguez hits his twelfth. Torres pinch hits his fourth homer of the season. The offense scores nine runs to complement perfection on the mound.

At Columbus: September 18-20

Three games at Columbus Grounds, Sacramento gets swept 0-3, and the series serves as the most important scouting report Sacramento will receive all season. The team most likely to face the Prayers in October just demonstrated exactly how they plan to win.

Friday, September 18th: Larson throws 7.2 innings of three-hit ball with eight strikeouts — an excellent performance that deserves a win. Sanchez hits a two-run homer in the sixth and Columbus wins 3-1. Larson takes his eighth loss despite pitching beautifully. Named Player of the Game in defeat. Sacramento manages six hits but cannot solve Segura or the Columbus bullpen. Columbus closer Bruce converts his thirty-fifth save with a 2.61 ERA — for the record, that is better than Prieto's thirty-seven saves and 4.52 ERA.

Saturday, September 19th: Salazar gets demolished. Three innings, seven hits, five earned runs. A game score of 25. His worst start of the season. Okimoto goes 3-for-3 with a homer, a double, four RBI, and seven total bases — named Player of the Game. Sacramento loses 8-3. The forty-one-year-old from Managua has been magnificent for most of 1992. Saturday in Columbus raises the question of whether the innings are accumulating in ways the body cannot fully absorb at his age. His ERA climbs above three for the first time all season.

Sunday, September 20th: Andretti throws 4.2 innings, eight hits, five earned runs, four walks, 126 pitches. A game score of 29. Schoedel — a 10-15 pitcher with a 4.21 ERA — throws a complete game three-hitter with seven strikeouts. Sacramento is held to one run in a game interrupted by a seventeen-minute rain delay in the seventh inning. Columbus wins 5-1. St. Clair comes in and throws 3.1 scoreless innings — the second consecutive day of excellent emergency relief from a man who continues to be the most underappreciated arm in this bullpen.

The Columbus sweep in full context: three games, five Sacramento runs total, three different starting pitchers handled efficiently. Segura at 15-7. Cole at 17-9. A 10-15 pitcher completing a three-hit shutout. Sacramento's season record against Columbus is now 2-4. October could very well begin with a rematch.

Houston at Home: September 21-23

Three games at Cathedral Stadium, Sacramento sweeps all three, and in the process clinches the division and reaches the century mark in wins. The medicine after Columbus is administered efficiently.

Monday, September 21st — the division clinching game: Rubalcava throws 8.2 innings of two-hit ball. Seven strikeouts. One walk. One hundred and twelve pitches. A game score of 82. Named Player of the Game. The offense provides eight runs on twelve hits — Baldelomar goes 3-for-4 with a triple, Cruz goes 3-for-4, Alonzo hits his tenth homer. Sacramento wins 8-1. After the game, Sacramento celebrates a postseason berth. Rubalcava, asked to comment on the achievement, says: "We'll relax tonight and get back after it tomorrow."

Twenty-four wins. Eight and a half words for the press. Magnificent.

Tuesday, September 22nd: Espenoza throws eight innings giving up two runs — now 16-3 with a 2.16 ERA. Cruz hits a two-run triple in the third that proves decisive. Baldelomar goes 3-for-4 again with two stolen bases. Marcos hits his fourth homer. Dodge closes cleanly. Sacramento wins 6-2.

The special notes confirm that Murguia was injured running the bases in this game — a mild abdominal strain, day-to-day status. The 1986 League MVP and 1987 AL RBI leader will be monitored carefully. The standings confirm he is not on the IL and should be available for October. His health matters — not as a regular starter but as the kind of veteran pinch-hitting presence who has delivered in exactly these moments throughout the season.

Wednesday, September 23rd: Marcos hits two home runs — a solo shot in the sixth and a two-run shot in the eighth — and finishes with three RBI and three runs scored. Named Player of the Game. Perez hits his eighteenth homer. MacDonald hits a triple. Larson throws five innings but walks five batters — his command wavering in a way that deserves attention. Dodge gives up a two-run Alicea homer in the ninth at 8-3 — cosmetic damage in a comfortable win. Prieto closes for his thirty-fifth save. Sacramento wins 8-5.

Marcos after the game: "It doesn't matter if you're 10 games over .500 or 10 games under, it feels good to win." Two home runs and the wisdom of a man who understands that baseball's emotional arithmetic is simpler than it appears. Bill Marcos has now hit six home runs in 1992 from a position on the roster that most teams fill with a player who knows how to work a bat rack.

At Tucson: September 25-27

Three games at Cherubs Fields, Sacramento wins the series 2-1, and Saturday contains the moment of the entire season.

Friday, September 25th: Andretti throws 5.1 innings and surrenders six runs including a catastrophic sixth inning — five consecutive extra-base hits off his arm in a single frame. Rossi double, Gill double, de Leon triple, Berber double. Bradford throws 7.1 innings of one-run ball for Tucson and is named Player of the Game. Sacramento loses 6-1. Andretti takes his eighth loss. His ERA climbs to 2.97.

Saturday, September 26th — twenty-five wins: Jordan Rubalcava throws 7.2 innings of one-run ball. Seven strikeouts. Zero walks. One hundred and ten pitches. His post-game assessment: "Everything was on."

Everything was on. The most economical description of a twenty-fifth win in a single season that the English language has yet produced.

Rubalcava is 25-6. His ERA is 2.52. He has thrown 274.2 innings. He has struck out 198 batters. His WAR of 8.1 leads every pitcher in baseball. He has been the best pitcher in the American League since the first week of April and he has never once suggested otherwise. The Cy Young Award is a formality. What Rubalcava has built in 1992 is something more durable than an award — it is a season that will be cited in arguments for decades.

Cruz hits his twenty-first homer to give Sacramento the lead in the fourth. Perez delivers the go-ahead single in the eighth with two outs. Prieto closes for his thirty-sixth save, cleanly. Sacramento wins 2-1.

The special notes confirm that Rodriguez was ejected in the seventh inning for arguing a strike call. He had been replaced by Orozco entering the eighth. Rodriguez, asked about the ejection, said his team "played with determination." The ejection was apparently his most determined contribution of the afternoon.

Sunday, September 27th: Espenoza throws 7.2 innings of two-run ball. Six strikeouts, three walks, 102 pitches. Dodge comes in for one out. Prieto closes cleanly for his thirty-seventh save. Rodriguez delivers a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the ninth to break a 2-2 tie. Perez doubles for insurance. Sacramento wins 3-2. Tucson's Crossley throws eight innings of three-hit ball and is named Player of the Game in a losing effort — the fourth time this season the opposing pitcher receives that recognition while losing to Sacramento.

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BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

Twenty-Five Wins

I have been writing about Jordan Rubalcava since April and I have run out of new ways to describe what he is doing. So let me simply list it.

Twenty-five wins. Six losses. Two point five two ERA. Two hundred and seventy-four innings pitched. One hundred and ninety-eight strikeouts. Eight point one WAR — the highest mark of any pitcher in baseball. Zero complaints. Zero excuses. Zero words wasted.

He was asked about the twenty-fifth win after the game in Tucson and he said "Everything was on." He was asked about the postseason berth and he said "We want to officially win the American League West Division and of course, the World Series." He was asked to relax for a night after the clinching and he said "We'll relax tonight and get back after it tomorrow."

The man speaks in complete sentences that contain no unnecessary words. He pitches the same way. This is not a coincidence.

The Cy Young Award belongs to Jordan Rubalcava. The only remaining question is what else 1992 will add to his legacy before it is finished.

The Division Is Clinched — What It Means

The standings confirm it plainly: Sacramento Prayers, 101-54, magic number column reads "Clinched." The AL West Division title belongs to Sacramento.

One hundred and one wins against fifty-four losses. A fourteen-game lead over Fort Worth. A road record of 47-30 — the Prayers win nearly as many games away from Cathedral Stadium as at home, which is the mark of a team that wins because of talent and preparation rather than comfort.

The franchise has been here before — twelve World Series titles remind everyone of that — and the players who have been here before know that the division banner is the beginning of the conversation, not the end of it. Rubalcava already said what needs to be said. The celebration happened on September 21st and lasted exactly as long as Aces allowed. Then they got back to work.

Cruz: Twenty and Forty

While the rest of the baseball world has been watching Rubalcava win games and Hernandez steal bases, Gil Cruz has been quietly assembling one of the finest individual seasons a second baseman has produced in this league in a generation.

Twenty-one home runs. Forty stolen bases. Nine triples. A .274 batting average. A .373 on-base percentage. An .854 OPS. Five point one WAR. The reigning AL batting champion — a title he won last year with the best batting average in the league — has added power and speed to a profile that was already historically productive.

Twenty home runs and forty stolen bases in the same season from a second baseman. Twenty and forty. The baseball world should be paying more attention to this than it is. Cruz competes in Sacramento on a roster full of extraordinary individual performances and his excellence gets lost in the noise. It should not. He is one of the finest players in the American League and he is twenty-four years old.

Hernandez: Sixty-Two and Counting

Francisco Hernandez has sixty-two stolen bases with six games remaining in the regular season. His own league record of seventy stolen bases — set last season — requires eight more steals in six games to match. An average of more than one per game. Aggressive, but this is Francisco Hernandez.

His batting average has dropped to .213. He is in the "Who's Not" column with a .045 average in his last six games and zero home runs. The right fielder who has been Sacramento's most dangerous baserunner all season has gone cold at the plate as September has wound down. The question of how much his offensive decline matters relative to his baserunning contribution is a legitimate one. His OPS of .642 does not suggest a dangerous hitter. His sixty-two stolen bases suggest a player who changes games regardless of what the batting average says.

The record is eight steals away. Six games remain. I will be watching.

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THINGS THAT KEEP ME UP AT NIGHT

Andretti: The Last Two Starts

The "Who's Not" column is unambiguous: Bernardo Andretti, 0-2, 9.90 ERA in his last two starts.

In Columbus he threw 4.2 innings with four walks, eight hits, and five earned runs on 126 pitches. In Tucson he threw 5.1 innings and gave up six runs including five consecutive extra-base hits in a single inning — a Rossi double, a Gill double, a de Leon triple, and a Berber double, all in the sixth frame. Two starts. 9.90 ERA. The pitcher who returned from injury in late August and threw a 7.2-inning shutout in his first start back has now produced consecutive performances that would trouble even the most devoted optimist.

His full-season WAR of 5.4 tells the story of a pitcher who was dominant for most of the year. His last two starts tell a different story. The question Aces must answer before the playoffs begin is whether Andretti's struggles are the result of fatigue — a 199.2-inning season for a thirty-two-year-old arm that missed time earlier in the year — or something more structural. The difference matters enormously. A fatigued pitcher can be managed with rest and reduced workloads. A pitcher whose mechanics have deteriorated or whose velocity has dropped requires a different answer.

There are three rotation slots ahead for Andretti before the playoffs. How he throws in those starts will tell Aces everything he needs to know. I would not be surprised if those starts are shorter and more carefully managed than usual. Aces is watching. We all are.

Columbus: The Preview

Sacramento is 2-4 against Columbus Heaven this season. The team that swept the Prayers in three games last weekend currently leads the AL wildcard race with a magic number of 1 — meaning they will almost certainly be in the playoffs. Columbus at 92-63 is the second-best team in the American League by record. Their rotation features Segura at 15-7, Cole at 17-9, and apparently the ability to receive complete game three-hit efforts from a 10-15 pitcher on any given Sunday. Their closer Bruce has 35 saves and a 2.61 ERA.

Sacramento's 2-4 record against Columbus is not a coincidence. The Heaven match up well against the Prayers in ways that the talent differential does not automatically resolve. The offense that averaged five or more runs per game across most of the season managed five runs in three games at Columbus Grounds — one, three, and one. Against three different pitchers. In a ballpark with a rain delay.

If the bracket sets up the way the standings suggest, Sacramento and Columbus may meet in the first round of the playoffs. The Prayers will be favored. They should be favored — one hundred and one wins against ninety-two is not a trivial gap. But the 2-4 season record and the memory of three cold offensive performances in Ohio will be in the Sacramento dugout when that series begins. They need to be honest about what those games showed.

The Closer Question — October Edition

Luis Prieto: 5-9, 4.52 ERA, 37 saves, 9 blown saves.

The saves number says one thing. Every other number says something different. In the Fort Worth series he blew a three-run ninth-inning lead with a grand slam — the most catastrophic individual relief appearance of the season. His ERA has climbed from a manageable 4.39 to 4.52 over the final weeks. The blown save total of nine represents nine games where Sacramento held a lead that was given away by the closer.

In a five-game playoff series, one blown save can end a season. Prieto has blown nine this year. The bullpen alternatives — Scott at 2.11 ERA, St. Clair at 2.70, Dodge at 2.95 — are all more reliable on a per-inning basis than the closer. Whether Aces uses those alternatives in October is the most consequential managerial decision of the postseason.

Orozco: The Roster Decision

Carlos Orozco is batting .113. His OPS is .289. He has five errors in thirty games. His WAR is -0.5. He is twenty years old and was playing minor league baseball six weeks ago.

The postseason roster decision surrounding Orozco is the most difficult call Aces will make before October. Carrying him means carrying a shortstop who is almost certainly going to produce negative value at the plate in a series where every at-bat matters. Not carrying him means leaving the fifth-ranked prospect in all of baseball at home while the franchise plays for a championship — and it means trusting Cruz, Rodriguez, and Marcos to cover shortstop in a playoff emergency.

There is no comfortable answer. The argument for carrying him is that he is the best defensive shortstop on the roster at a position that matters in the postseason. The argument against is that his .289 OPS represents a near-automatic out in any high-leverage at-bat. Aces will make this call in the next week and whatever he decides will define the early narrative of Sacramento's October.

The Pythagorean Reckoning

Sacramento's Pythagorean record is 106-49. Their actual record is 101-54. Five games. In a season of one hundred and fifty-five games that gap is the accumulated cost of nine blown saves, twelve-inning losses, and one-run defeats that should have been wins. The talent on this roster — the rotation alone is historically dominant — says Sacramento should have more wins than they do. The bullpen has been the tax collector all year, taking its share of games that the rotation earned and giving them back.

In October, the margin disappears. There are no replacement games. A blown save in a playoff series does not become a footnote in a season record — it becomes the defining moment of a series. Aces knows this. The question is what he does about it in the next ten days.

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AROUND THE LEAGUE

Boston clinched the AL East at 93-62, but the news from their clubhouse is not all celebratory. Seung-hwa Yoon — their 15-13 starter with a 3.75 ERA — has been lost for the season with a torn back muscle. The right-hander was clearly in tears leaving the clubhouse. A fifteen-win pitcher lost to injury entering the postseason is a significant blow to any rotation. Sacramento could face Boston in a later playoff round. The Messiahs will face October without one of their more reliable starters.

Columbus leads the AL wildcard at 92-63 with a magic number of 1 — effectively clinched. Fort Worth holds the second wildcard spot at 87-68. Baltimore at 85-70 is two back and fading. San Jose, the team that went 10-8 against Sacramento and haunted this column for most of the summer, sits at 83-73 and 4.5 games back of the second wildcard with almost no games remaining. The Demons will watch October from their living rooms. The baseball gods occasionally deliver justice.

In the NL, Charlotte clinched the East at 95-60. The NL West race between Albuquerque and Las Vegas is separated by one game — Albuquerque leads at 83-73, Las Vegas at 82-74, with Las Vegas holding the NL wildcard lead. The most chaotic divisional race remaining in either league will resolve itself in the final days of the regular season.

On the transaction wire: Matt Wright has been signed to a two-year extension worth $356,000 — the front office locks up the returning pitcher who has thrown 6.2 innings without allowing a single earned run since his return from injury. A sound investment. Chris Ryan has been sent to Triple-A Oxnard for injury rehab — his playoff availability remains uncertain. Mike Halverson, Antonio Berrios, and Jesus Lopez have all been signed to one-year extensions — organizational depth retained for 1993.

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MAILBAG — The Hot Corner audience has questions, Claude Playball has answers.

From Patricia Evangelina Robles of Rancho Cordova, who writes this week with what she describes as "the cold beverage already in hand": "It's official. Division champions. How do I feel about October?"

Patricia, you feel cautiously, intelligently optimistic. The division title is real and the rotation is historically dominant and the offense has scored more runs than almost any team in this league. You feel those things because they are true. You also feel the weight of a 2-4 record against Columbus and nine Prieto blown saves and Andretti's last two starts and Orozco's .113 average. You feel those things because they are also true. The best fans hold both truths at the same time and cheer anyway. Keep the cold beverage close, Patricia. The real season is about to begin.

From "Section 208" Dugout Dave, writing this week from what he describes as "a state of pure, uncomplicated joy interrupted periodically by thoughts of Luis Prieto": "Rubalcava. Twenty-five wins. Talk to me."

Dave, there is nothing I can tell you about twenty-five wins that the number itself does not already communicate. What I will add is this: the WAR of 8.1 leads every pitcher in baseball. His ERA has dropped — not risen, dropped — as the season has progressed and the innings have accumulated. He threw seven innings in Tucson with zero walks on September 26th after throwing 274 innings in 1992. The man does not accumulate fatigue. He accumulates wins. Stay in Section 208, Dave. You are watching history.

From "Bullpen Benny" Tafoya of West Sacramento, thirty-ninth consecutive mailbag submission, subject line reading "BLOWN SAVES. I CANNOT.": "Prieto. Three-run lead. Ninth inning. Another blown save opportunity. I have no more words."

Benny, I know. I was there — figuratively — and I also have very few words that are appropriate for print. What I will say is this: that meatball to Reza with a three-run lead in the ninth inning of a road game against a playoff contender is the single most damaging individual relief appearance of the season. It is not the first time Prieto has cost Sacramento a game in the ninth inning with a lead. It may not be the last. The question of what Aces does with the closer role in October is the most important unanswered question in Sacramento baseball right now. You have thirty-nine consecutive submissions, Benny. You have earned the right to have no more words.

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Sacramento plays its final seven regular season games — four at Seattle, three at home against El Paso. The division is clinched. Playoffs are on horizon. Francisco Hernandez has sixty-two stolen bases. Jordan Rubalcava has twenty-five wins. Columbus is coming.

Got a question for the mailbag? Find the Hot Corner wherever you get your podcasts.

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Claude Playball is a baseball insider and analyst and host of the Hot Corner podcast, based in Sacramento, California.

03-03-2026, 10:12 AM	#238
liberty-ca Major Leagues Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: New Westminster, BC Posts: 399	THE HOT CORNER *Baseball coverage from the inside — Sacramento Prayers and the FBL* *By Claude Playball \| Baseball Insider & Analyst \| Host, "Hot Corner" Podcast* [/COLOR] ______________________________ *September 15 – September 27, 1992 \| Games 146–158 of the Sacramento Prayers 1992 Season* ______________________________ 101-54. DIVISION CHAMPIONS. RUBALCAVA WINS TWENTY-FIVE. AND OCTOBER IS NO LONGER A DREAM. On the evening of September 21st, in the Sacramento clubhouse after a win over the Houston Crusaders, the Sacramento Prayers celebrated a postseason berth. Jordan Rubalcava spoke for the group with the precision and economy that has defined his entire season: "We want to officially win the American League West Division and of course, the World Series." One hundred and one wins. Fifty-four losses. Fourteen games clear of Fort Worth. The AL West Division banner is coming to Cathedral Stadium and the city of Sacramento is about to experience October baseball. The Prayers have been here before. Twelve World Series titles decorate the history of this franchise and the men who wear this uniform know what winning looks like and what it costs. The celebration on September 21st was real and earned and deserved. The work that follows will determine whether the pennant flag gets company in the rafters. Jordan Rubalcava will not let anyone forget what the real objective is. Neither will this column. ______________________________ TWO WEEKS IN RETROSPECT: A GAME-BY-GAME TOUR At Fort Worth: September 15-17 Three games at Spirits Grounds, Sacramento wins the series 2-1, and the series opens with one of the most gut-wrenching losses of the entire season before the rotation rights the ship emphatically. Tuesday, September 15th — the twelve-inning catastrophe: Sacramento leads 7-4 entering the ninth inning. Three outs to get. Prieto enters. What follows is the single most destructive bullpen performance of the 1992 season. Reza comes to the plate and hits 3-run homer. The 7-4 lead becomes a 7-7 tie in the span of one swing. Sacramento loses 8-7 in twelve innings when Gomez delivers a walk-off single off Caliari. MacDonald goes 4-for-5 with a home run, a double, two singles, and three RBI — named Player of the Game in a losing effort, the finest individual offensive performance in a loss this franchise has produced all season. The beauty of "Big Mac's" game and the ugliness of Prieto's ninth inning exist in the same box score, separated by nothing but the cruelty of baseball mathematics. A note on the twelfth inning: a pinch hitter named J. Horne — batting average listed at 1.000 entering his only at-bat of the season — doubled off Caliari to start the decisive rally. The universe continues to deliver its punchlines with impeccable timing. Wednesday, September 16th: Rubalcava throws 7.2 innings of three-run ball — only one earned — and gets the win. Now 23-6. Prieto closes cleanly for his thirty-fourth save, a redemption appearance delivered with the minimum of fuss. Jesus Hernandez hits his first career home run in the seventh — a two-run shot off Alzate that proves decisive. Sacramento wins 4-3. Aces says his team did "what it takes to win." He is not wrong. Jesus Hernandez's first career homer deserves a moment. The twenty-four-year-old left fielder from San Felipe, Venezuela, hits his first professional home run in a road game against a playoff contender in a September pennant race. The moment is his and no summary statistic can contain it. He also steals his second base of the season in the same game. A remarkable afternoon for a player who has quietly posted a .333 batting average in limited appearances. A note from the special notes: Francisco Hernandez was hit by a pitch and injured in this game, replaced by Baldelomar in the third inning. The severity appeared manageable — he returned to the lineup the following day — but Francisco Hernandez at less than full health entering October is a storyline worth monitoring. Thursday, September 17th: Espenoza throws a complete game shutout. Nine innings. Three hits. Zero runs. Eight strikeouts. Two walks. One hundred and thirteen pitches. A game score of 87. The Fort Worth lineup — which hit .311 as a team and features the leading MVP candidate in the American League — managed three singles against him across nine innings. Fort Worth manager Ricky Santiago spoke for every opposing manager who has faced Espenoza this season: "I don't make excuses, but when we were playing the game, our energy didn't show. That comes from either extremely good pitching or extremely lousy hitting and seeing as our team has a bunch of good hitters, I have to tip my cap to Espenoza." Santiago is correct, and his candor is appreciated. Sacramento wins 9-0. MacDonald hits his nineteenth homer. Rodriguez hits his twelfth. Torres pinch hits his fourth homer of the season. The offense scores nine runs to complement perfection on the mound. At Columbus: September 18-20 Three games at Columbus Grounds, Sacramento gets swept 0-3, and the series serves as the most important scouting report Sacramento will receive all season. The team most likely to face the Prayers in October just demonstrated exactly how they plan to win. Friday, September 18th: Larson throws 7.2 innings of three-hit ball with eight strikeouts — an excellent performance that deserves a win. Sanchez hits a two-run homer in the sixth and Columbus wins 3-1. Larson takes his eighth loss despite pitching beautifully. Named Player of the Game in defeat. Sacramento manages six hits but cannot solve Segura or the Columbus bullpen. Columbus closer Bruce converts his thirty-fifth save with a 2.61 ERA — for the record, that is better than Prieto's thirty-seven saves and 4.52 ERA. Saturday, September 19th: Salazar gets demolished. Three innings, seven hits, five earned runs. A game score of 25. His worst start of the season. Okimoto goes 3-for-3 with a homer, a double, four RBI, and seven total bases — named Player of the Game. Sacramento loses 8-3. The forty-one-year-old from Managua has been magnificent for most of 1992. Saturday in Columbus raises the question of whether the innings are accumulating in ways the body cannot fully absorb at his age. His ERA climbs above three for the first time all season. Sunday, September 20th: Andretti throws 4.2 innings, eight hits, five earned runs, four walks, 126 pitches. A game score of 29. Schoedel — a 10-15 pitcher with a 4.21 ERA — throws a complete game three-hitter with seven strikeouts. Sacramento is held to one run in a game interrupted by a seventeen-minute rain delay in the seventh inning. Columbus wins 5-1. St. Clair comes in and throws 3.1 scoreless innings — the second consecutive day of excellent emergency relief from a man who continues to be the most underappreciated arm in this bullpen. The Columbus sweep in full context: three games, five Sacramento runs total, three different starting pitchers handled efficiently. Segura at 15-7. Cole at 17-9. A 10-15 pitcher completing a three-hit shutout. Sacramento's season record against Columbus is now 2-4. October could very well begin with a rematch. Houston at Home: September 21-23 Three games at Cathedral Stadium, Sacramento sweeps all three, and in the process clinches the division and reaches the century mark in wins. The medicine after Columbus is administered efficiently. Monday, September 21st — the division clinching game: Rubalcava throws 8.2 innings of two-hit ball. Seven strikeouts. One walk. One hundred and twelve pitches. A game score of 82. Named Player of the Game. The offense provides eight runs on twelve hits — Baldelomar goes 3-for-4 with a triple, Cruz goes 3-for-4, Alonzo hits his tenth homer. Sacramento wins 8-1. After the game, Sacramento celebrates a postseason berth. Rubalcava, asked to comment on the achievement, says: "We'll relax tonight and get back after it tomorrow." Twenty-four wins. Eight and a half words for the press. Magnificent. Tuesday, September 22nd: Espenoza throws eight innings giving up two runs — now 16-3 with a 2.16 ERA. Cruz hits a two-run triple in the third that proves decisive. Baldelomar goes 3-for-4 again with two stolen bases. Marcos hits his fourth homer. Dodge closes cleanly. Sacramento wins 6-2. The special notes confirm that Murguia was injured running the bases in this game — a mild abdominal strain, day-to-day status. The 1986 League MVP and 1987 AL RBI leader will be monitored carefully. The standings confirm he is not on the IL and should be available for October. His health matters — not as a regular starter but as the kind of veteran pinch-hitting presence who has delivered in exactly these moments throughout the season. Wednesday, September 23rd: Marcos hits two home runs — a solo shot in the sixth and a two-run shot in the eighth — and finishes with three RBI and three runs scored. Named Player of the Game. Perez hits his eighteenth homer. MacDonald hits a triple. Larson throws five innings but walks five batters — his command wavering in a way that deserves attention. Dodge gives up a two-run Alicea homer in the ninth at 8-3 — cosmetic damage in a comfortable win. Prieto closes for his thirty-fifth save. Sacramento wins 8-5. Marcos after the game: "It doesn't matter if you're 10 games over .500 or 10 games under, it feels good to win." Two home runs and the wisdom of a man who understands that baseball's emotional arithmetic is simpler than it appears. Bill Marcos has now hit six home runs in 1992 from a position on the roster that most teams fill with a player who knows how to work a bat rack. At Tucson: September 25-27 Three games at Cherubs Fields, Sacramento wins the series 2-1, and Saturday contains the moment of the entire season. Friday, September 25th: Andretti throws 5.1 innings and surrenders six runs including a catastrophic sixth inning — five consecutive extra-base hits off his arm in a single frame. Rossi double, Gill double, de Leon triple, Berber double. Bradford throws 7.1 innings of one-run ball for Tucson and is named Player of the Game. Sacramento loses 6-1. Andretti takes his eighth loss. His ERA climbs to 2.97. Saturday, September 26th — twenty-five wins: Jordan Rubalcava throws 7.2 innings of one-run ball. Seven strikeouts. Zero walks. One hundred and ten pitches. His post-game assessment: "Everything was on." Everything was on. The most economical description of a twenty-fifth win in a single season that the English language has yet produced. Rubalcava is 25-6. His ERA is 2.52. He has thrown 274.2 innings. He has struck out 198 batters. His WAR of 8.1 leads every pitcher in baseball. He has been the best pitcher in the American League since the first week of April and he has never once suggested otherwise. The Cy Young Award is a formality. What Rubalcava has built in 1992 is something more durable than an award — it is a season that will be cited in arguments for decades. Cruz hits his twenty-first homer to give Sacramento the lead in the fourth. Perez delivers the go-ahead single in the eighth with two outs. Prieto closes for his thirty-sixth save, cleanly. Sacramento wins 2-1. The special notes confirm that Rodriguez was ejected in the seventh inning for arguing a strike call. He had been replaced by Orozco entering the eighth. Rodriguez, asked about the ejection, said his team "played with determination." The ejection was apparently his most determined contribution of the afternoon. Sunday, September 27th: Espenoza throws 7.2 innings of two-run ball. Six strikeouts, three walks, 102 pitches. Dodge comes in for one out. Prieto closes cleanly for his thirty-seventh save. Rodriguez delivers a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the ninth to break a 2-2 tie. Perez doubles for insurance. Sacramento wins 3-2. Tucson's Crossley throws eight innings of three-hit ball and is named Player of the Game in a losing effort — the fourth time this season the opposing pitcher receives that recognition while losing to Sacramento. ______________________________ BEYOND THE BOX SCORE Twenty-Five Wins I have been writing about Jordan Rubalcava since April and I have run out of new ways to describe what he is doing. So let me simply list it. Twenty-five wins. Six losses. Two point five two ERA. Two hundred and seventy-four innings pitched. One hundred and ninety-eight strikeouts. Eight point one WAR — the highest mark of any pitcher in baseball. Zero complaints. Zero excuses. Zero words wasted. He was asked about the twenty-fifth win after the game in Tucson and he said "Everything was on." He was asked about the postseason berth and he said "We want to officially win the American League West Division and of course, the World Series." He was asked to relax for a night after the clinching and he said "We'll relax tonight and get back after it tomorrow." The man speaks in complete sentences that contain no unnecessary words. He pitches the same way. This is not a coincidence. The Cy Young Award belongs to Jordan Rubalcava. The only remaining question is what else 1992 will add to his legacy before it is finished. The Division Is Clinched — What It Means The standings confirm it plainly: Sacramento Prayers, 101-54, magic number column reads "Clinched." The AL West Division title belongs to Sacramento. One hundred and one wins against fifty-four losses. A fourteen-game lead over Fort Worth. A road record of 47-30 — the Prayers win nearly as many games away from Cathedral Stadium as at home, which is the mark of a team that wins because of talent and preparation rather than comfort. The franchise has been here before — twelve World Series titles remind everyone of that — and the players who have been here before know that the division banner is the beginning of the conversation, not the end of it. Rubalcava already said what needs to be said. The celebration happened on September 21st and lasted exactly as long as Aces allowed. Then they got back to work. Cruz: Twenty and Forty While the rest of the baseball world has been watching Rubalcava win games and Hernandez steal bases, Gil Cruz has been quietly assembling one of the finest individual seasons a second baseman has produced in this league in a generation. Twenty-one home runs. Forty stolen bases. Nine triples. A .274 batting average. A .373 on-base percentage. An .854 OPS. Five point one WAR. The reigning AL batting champion — a title he won last year with the best batting average in the league — has added power and speed to a profile that was already historically productive. Twenty home runs and forty stolen bases in the same season from a second baseman. Twenty and forty. The baseball world should be paying more attention to this than it is. Cruz competes in Sacramento on a roster full of extraordinary individual performances and his excellence gets lost in the noise. It should not. He is one of the finest players in the American League and he is twenty-four years old. Hernandez: Sixty-Two and Counting Francisco Hernandez has sixty-two stolen bases with six games remaining in the regular season. His own league record of seventy stolen bases — set last season — requires eight more steals in six games to match. An average of more than one per game. Aggressive, but this is Francisco Hernandez. His batting average has dropped to .213. He is in the "Who's Not" column with a .045 average in his last six games and zero home runs. The right fielder who has been Sacramento's most dangerous baserunner all season has gone cold at the plate as September has wound down. The question of how much his offensive decline matters relative to his baserunning contribution is a legitimate one. His OPS of .642 does not suggest a dangerous hitter. His sixty-two stolen bases suggest a player who changes games regardless of what the batting average says. The record is eight steals away. Six games remain. I will be watching. ______________________________ THINGS THAT KEEP ME UP AT NIGHT Andretti: The Last Two Starts The "Who's Not" column is unambiguous: Bernardo Andretti, 0-2, 9.90 ERA in his last two starts. In Columbus he threw 4.2 innings with four walks, eight hits, and five earned runs on 126 pitches. In Tucson he threw 5.1 innings and gave up six runs including five consecutive extra-base hits in a single inning — a Rossi double, a Gill double, a de Leon triple, and a Berber double, all in the sixth frame. Two starts. 9.90 ERA. The pitcher who returned from injury in late August and threw a 7.2-inning shutout in his first start back has now produced consecutive performances that would trouble even the most devoted optimist. His full-season WAR of 5.4 tells the story of a pitcher who was dominant for most of the year. His last two starts tell a different story. The question Aces must answer before the playoffs begin is whether Andretti's struggles are the result of fatigue — a 199.2-inning season for a thirty-two-year-old arm that missed time earlier in the year — or something more structural. The difference matters enormously. A fatigued pitcher can be managed with rest and reduced workloads. A pitcher whose mechanics have deteriorated or whose velocity has dropped requires a different answer. There are three rotation slots ahead for Andretti before the playoffs. How he throws in those starts will tell Aces everything he needs to know. I would not be surprised if those starts are shorter and more carefully managed than usual. Aces is watching. We all are. Columbus: The Preview Sacramento is 2-4 against Columbus Heaven this season. The team that swept the Prayers in three games last weekend currently leads the AL wildcard race with a magic number of 1 — meaning they will almost certainly be in the playoffs. Columbus at 92-63 is the second-best team in the American League by record. Their rotation features Segura at 15-7, Cole at 17-9, and apparently the ability to receive complete game three-hit efforts from a 10-15 pitcher on any given Sunday. Their closer Bruce has 35 saves and a 2.61 ERA. Sacramento's 2-4 record against Columbus is not a coincidence. The Heaven match up well against the Prayers in ways that the talent differential does not automatically resolve. The offense that averaged five or more runs per game across most of the season managed five runs in three games at Columbus Grounds — one, three, and one. Against three different pitchers. In a ballpark with a rain delay. If the bracket sets up the way the standings suggest, Sacramento and Columbus may meet in the first round of the playoffs. The Prayers will be favored. They should be favored — one hundred and one wins against ninety-two is not a trivial gap. But the 2-4 season record and the memory of three cold offensive performances in Ohio will be in the Sacramento dugout when that series begins. They need to be honest about what those games showed. The Closer Question — October Edition Luis Prieto: 5-9, 4.52 ERA, 37 saves, 9 blown saves. The saves number says one thing. Every other number says something different. In the Fort Worth series he blew a three-run ninth-inning lead with a grand slam — the most catastrophic individual relief appearance of the season. His ERA has climbed from a manageable 4.39 to 4.52 over the final weeks. The blown save total of nine represents nine games where Sacramento held a lead that was given away by the closer. In a five-game playoff series, one blown save can end a season. Prieto has blown nine this year. The bullpen alternatives — Scott at 2.11 ERA, St. Clair at 2.70, Dodge at 2.95 — are all more reliable on a per-inning basis than the closer. Whether Aces uses those alternatives in October is the most consequential managerial decision of the postseason. Orozco: The Roster Decision Carlos Orozco is batting .113. His OPS is .289. He has five errors in thirty games. His WAR is -0.5. He is twenty years old and was playing minor league baseball six weeks ago. The postseason roster decision surrounding Orozco is the most difficult call Aces will make before October. Carrying him means carrying a shortstop who is almost certainly going to produce negative value at the plate in a series where every at-bat matters. Not carrying him means leaving the fifth-ranked prospect in all of baseball at home while the franchise plays for a championship — and it means trusting Cruz, Rodriguez, and Marcos to cover shortstop in a playoff emergency. There is no comfortable answer. The argument for carrying him is that he is the best defensive shortstop on the roster at a position that matters in the postseason. The argument against is that his .289 OPS represents a near-automatic out in any high-leverage at-bat. Aces will make this call in the next week and whatever he decides will define the early narrative of Sacramento's October. The Pythagorean Reckoning Sacramento's Pythagorean record is 106-49. Their actual record is 101-54. Five games. In a season of one hundred and fifty-five games that gap is the accumulated cost of nine blown saves, twelve-inning losses, and one-run defeats that should have been wins. The talent on this roster — the rotation alone is historically dominant — says Sacramento should have more wins than they do. The bullpen has been the tax collector all year, taking its share of games that the rotation earned and giving them back. In October, the margin disappears. There are no replacement games. A blown save in a playoff series does not become a footnote in a season record — it becomes the defining moment of a series. Aces knows this. The question is what he does about it in the next ten days. ______________________________ AROUND THE LEAGUE Boston clinched the AL East at 93-62, but the news from their clubhouse is not all celebratory. Seung-hwa Yoon — their 15-13 starter with a 3.75 ERA — has been lost for the season with a torn back muscle. The right-hander was clearly in tears leaving the clubhouse. A fifteen-win pitcher lost to injury entering the postseason is a significant blow to any rotation. Sacramento could face Boston in a later playoff round. The Messiahs will face October without one of their more reliable starters. Columbus leads the AL wildcard at 92-63 with a magic number of 1 — effectively clinched. Fort Worth holds the second wildcard spot at 87-68. Baltimore at 85-70 is two back and fading. San Jose, the team that went 10-8 against Sacramento and haunted this column for most of the summer, sits at 83-73 and 4.5 games back of the second wildcard with almost no games remaining. The Demons will watch October from their living rooms. The baseball gods occasionally deliver justice. In the NL, Charlotte clinched the East at 95-60. The NL West race between Albuquerque and Las Vegas is separated by one game — Albuquerque leads at 83-73, Las Vegas at 82-74, with Las Vegas holding the NL wildcard lead. The most chaotic divisional race remaining in either league will resolve itself in the final days of the regular season. On the transaction wire: Matt Wright has been signed to a two-year extension worth $356,000 — the front office locks up the returning pitcher who has thrown 6.2 innings without allowing a single earned run since his return from injury. A sound investment. Chris Ryan has been sent to Triple-A Oxnard for injury rehab — his playoff availability remains uncertain. Mike Halverson, Antonio Berrios, and Jesus Lopez have all been signed to one-year extensions — organizational depth retained for 1993. ______________________________ MAILBAG — The Hot Corner audience has questions, Claude Playball has answers. From Patricia Evangelina Robles of Rancho Cordova, who writes this week with what she describes as "the cold beverage already in hand": "It's official. Division champions. How do I feel about October?" Patricia, you feel cautiously, intelligently optimistic. The division title is real and the rotation is historically dominant and the offense has scored more runs than almost any team in this league. You feel those things because they are true. You also feel the weight of a 2-4 record against Columbus and nine Prieto blown saves and Andretti's last two starts and Orozco's .113 average. You feel those things because they are also true. The best fans hold both truths at the same time and cheer anyway. Keep the cold beverage close, Patricia. The real season is about to begin. From "Section 208" Dugout Dave, writing this week from what he describes as "a state of pure, uncomplicated joy interrupted periodically by thoughts of Luis Prieto": "Rubalcava. Twenty-five wins. Talk to me." Dave, there is nothing I can tell you about twenty-five wins that the number itself does not already communicate. What I will add is this: the WAR of 8.1 leads every pitcher in baseball. His ERA has dropped — not risen, dropped — as the season has progressed and the innings have accumulated. He threw seven innings in Tucson with zero walks on September 26th after throwing 274 innings in 1992. The man does not accumulate fatigue. He accumulates wins. Stay in Section 208, Dave. You are watching history. From "Bullpen Benny" Tafoya of West Sacramento, thirty-ninth consecutive mailbag submission, subject line reading "BLOWN SAVES. I CANNOT.": "Prieto. Three-run lead. Ninth inning. Another blown save opportunity. I have no more words." Benny, I know. I was there — figuratively — and I also have very few words that are appropriate for print. What I will say is this: that meatball to Reza with a three-run lead in the ninth inning of a road game against a playoff contender is the single most damaging individual relief appearance of the season. It is not the first time Prieto has cost Sacramento a game in the ninth inning with a lead. It may not be the last. The question of what Aces does with the closer role in October is the most important unanswered question in Sacramento baseball right now. You have thirty-nine consecutive submissions, Benny. You have earned the right to have no more words. ______________________________ Sacramento plays its final seven regular season games — four at Seattle, three at home against El Paso. The division is clinched. Playoffs are on horizon. Francisco Hernandez has sixty-two stolen bases. Jordan Rubalcava has twenty-five wins. Columbus is coming. Got a question for the mailbag? Find the Hot Corner wherever you get your podcasts. ______________________________ *Claude Playball* is a baseball insider and analyst and host of the Hot Corner podcast, based in Sacramento, California. Last edited by liberty-ca; 03-03-2026 at 12:27 PM.