And if yesterday the Heart of the Heartland™ Kernels dispatched the Krill & Worboys 10-0 on 16 hits, this afternoon Alonso Amaya threw a CG vs Bikini and Des Moines downed Takashi Nakamura and the rest of the Krill swill 10-2 behind five homers, three by emerging Des Moines Monster Ricardo Magana, his 9th, 10th & 11th of his 42-day career.
Tomorrow that other Pacific Island team comes into the local Kum & Go, will be served with a smile, and sent home with their fin between their, well, my marine anatomy escapes me. Hawaii will be lucky to escape with a win as the "New Look" Kernels play before packed bleachers at Kid Krauss's Kourtyard, newly bedecked with D.D.D. placards all over the walls: Don't Doubt Des Moines.
The Kernels jumped to a 4-0 lead in the second, as buzzing fans were still settling in with their Piping Hot All-You-Can-Pop Corn at the Kum & Go, as Nakamura served up two-run homers to Magana in the first and to 2B Jesús Rosito (his 12th) in the second. Magana collected again versus the same Swill hurler in the 6th, dislodging him from the game.
But it's the 8th frame that demands a closer look: António Salazar replaced John "What's Your" Hurry on the mound. Carl McLeod greeted Hurry with a single and Ken'ichi Okubo mustered his 17th round tripper. Before dining Des Moines fans decided whether to mustard their dogs, Magana belted his third of the afternoon.
An out later, hometown kid Domingo Pinto, the O.G. Bane G.O.A.T. McCoy, and Mr Rosito had all singled. Cardova missed the boat, but rookie CF Chandler Larkman, just in from Milwaukee (LV), hit a bounding ball toward first that Larkman outbounded for a run-scoring single. Salazar left, having allowed five runs and seven hits in .2 innings.
Enter Swill hurler, southpaw Steve Truss, who yesterday had surrendered five runs in 1.1 frames. Truss walked McLeod, sending in Pinto. Okubo, batting left for fun, sent one to deep right that Júlio López managed to corral. Home team fans appreciated the near grand slam from Okubo's non-dominant side.
Amaya (6-2) finished the game with 114 pitches, allowing four hits. That marked the fourth QS of the series for the home team. Okubo and Gongora stole bases off the visitors, and we'd like to report that Larkman stole first in the 8th except scoring rules compel us to classify that at-bat as a single. Des Moines won the regular season series against the scantily clad team from the Atoll, 5-3.
