2 Sep 2056
Boise, Idaho
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by Fish McWilliams
Boise Spuds 79 58 .577 6.5 GB +0.5 WGB L10: 9-1, Strk: W4
Now this is more like it. Are the Spuds actually...good? Who knows? We just want to see them make the playoffs and, right now, they are doing a fine job. Boise went 5-1 in Sim #23. They are 9-1 in their last ten games. This as the JL Wild Card race is front and center headed into September. Boise gained a game on the Rocky Mountain Oysters but they still sit 6.5 GB. For a Wild Card spot the Spuds moved a half game up from the cut off with Jacksonville taking Boise's spot on the cusp. Calgary is the next team sitting 4 games behind the Hurricanes.
P Toshikuni Kubo
50 G, 2 GS, 4-3, 1 SV, 95.2 IP, 3.20 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, +1.3 WAR
v New Orleans 3-1 W
v New Orleans 1-7 L
v New Orleans 12-2 W
Boise welcomed New Orleans for a 3-game series to kick off the Sim. All series are crucial now, but this was against a Crawdads team that is hunting a WC just like Boise. Let's talk about Kubo. He hadn't started a game all season but he's got the stuff and stamina and fellow lefty P Mauro Mendoza has been scuffling for a while now, so Kobu moved into the rotation. In the first contest, he made GM Ben Teague look smart. He went 7 innings allowing only 1 run on 2 hits while fanning 5. New Orleans starter John Lucas kept the Spuds off kilter but 3 runs was enough. In the middle game, rookie SP Geoffrey Greening finally had a bad start but it really was just pedestrian with 5.2 IP allowing 3 runs and 3 walks, but he still struck out 7. The offense had no answer for Crawdad SP Micah Harrington who allowed only 1 run in 8 innings on 5 hits. The Spuds would exact their revenge in the rubber game scoring 5 in the 2nd, 3 in the 3rd, and 4 in the 4th to put the game out of reach for New Orleans. Boise 3B Gary Allen cracked 2 HR, scored 3 times, and drove in 4 runs. RF Cinema Jones matched him with 4 RBI delivering a double and a HR.
v Charlotte 7-6 W
v Charlotte 11-3 W
v Charlotte 2-1(12) W
Boise led the first contest 6-3 before Harold Nothard allowed 3 runs in the 8th. The Spuds would deliver the walkoff, though, as 1B Alfonso Rúbio lifted a sac fly to score SS Qutuz Mahdi in the bottom of the 9th. The Spuds jumped all over Charlotte starter Josh Clark in the middle game with 4 runs in the 1st inning. The Flyers were in chase mode but dug themselves too deep a hole and Boise's SP Mark Baker made sure they stayed there allowing only 2 runs on 4 hits in 7.1 innings. The middle of the Spuds offense was 12-for-18 with 6 RBI. Oh, what a pitchers' duel in the finale! Kubo recorded his 2nd dominating start allowing only 1 run in 6.1 innings, but New Orleans starter Trey Raynor shut down Boise's bats going 8 innings allowing 5 hits and 1 run. CF Bill O'Toole delivered the walkoff win singling in 2B Tomás Durán who had just legged out a triple.