Starscreams | Going Martin Luther on Them (52.06)

[mragland]

Starscreams: A Valencia Stars Baseball Blog

Going Martin Luther on Them

4/1/2052
Brianna Robles, Starscreams contributor

The Stars beat the Popes 12-0 in their opening night match-up. This article is not an April Fools joke. Valencia beat the brakes off Sacramento in front of a nearly raucous, some might say boisterous, crowd tonight.

Free agent acquisition Brian King started on the mound for the Stars and looked every bit as good as club management said he could be, going eight innings on 95 pitches, striking out 4, walking 2, and allowing just 2 hits. The defense behind King also put on a show, converting 19 batted balls into outs to help keep the Popes off the board.

King's performance was somewhat overshadowed by dominant play at the plate by third baseman Kenan Reis, who went 4 for 5 with 2 home runs and a double, batting in 5 runs. Kenan the Kenyan, who is in the last year of his current contract, apparently would like us all to know that he has a bit more left in the tank. Tonight, Reis would collect player of the game honors.

This was a fun night. Ángel Zalapa got a standing ovation every time he did pretty much anything, though one thing he did not do was hit safely this evening. Jim Ashford got nearly the same treatment, and when King did not come out in the ninth, the crowd insisted on a curtain call to acknowledge his performance. It was a nearly perfect evening of baseball.

No victory against the Popes should be taken for granted, let alone one so resounding as this one. In the past three seasons, the Stars are a humbling 14-30 (.318) against their Pacific rival from the capital city. The Stars have themselves been shutout 9 times in that span in head-to-head matchups, to the Popes zero times. In fact, Valencia last held Sacramento scoreless before tonight way back in 2046. Stars fans needed no reminder how precious this result was, given the recent history between the two teams.

There are, of course, 161 games to go, but for this one night at least, all seems right with the world.

[RT60]

Perhaps this is a start of a reformation of your rivalry.

[Dington]

I didn’t have time for my annual Stars preview, but this is exactly what I would have predicted.