Tuber Times 2058.4: Sim #1 Recap - MEX,SA

[cheekimonk]

Tuber Times
9 April 2058
Boise, Idaho
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by Tony Toney

Boise Spuds 4 2 .667 -1 DIV +1 WC L10: 4-2 Strk: L1

Woohoo!! It's great to be playing baseball again and great for us to be occupied (employed). After skidding to the end of the season with only 73 wins, a look back at Boise's 2057 can be misleading as they only managed 9 wins in April. So, priority #1: get off to a good start. 4-2 is a good start to a good start. And this was with opening the season at Frontier juggernaut Mexico City. There were some wide swings in the mix with only one close game but that's probably to be expected early on.

@ Mexico City 6-2 W
@ Mexico City 14-6 W
@ Mexico City 1-10 L
The Aztecs may have been doing a bit of offensive tweaking because they had trouble scoring runs in the first 2 games then erupted for 10 to close out the series. And how sweet it is to start the year with a series win! Boise started the year with Jeremy Nickerson on the hill and he was solid going 5 innings allowing only 2 runs, although he did walk four hitters. Then they ambushed Mexico City starter Vassilis Zorba for 5 runs in the 4th inning. Then the teams let the game coast as new Sebastian 'Nino' Fradesso introduced himself to Spuds fans by going 2-for-4 with a HR and stolen base. Though the 2nd game was a solid victory for Boise, it looks more lopsided than it was with the Spuds scoring 6 runs in the final frame. Boise slugger Bastião Fardos went off going 4-for-6 with 3 runs and 5 RBI, while DH Alfonso Rúbio was 3-for-5 with 4 RBI. Starting pitcher Toshikuni Kubo struggled with control but had plenty of space to start easing into the regular season. The final game was a chance for Mexico City's offense to flex and that they did jumping on new Boise starter Doug Eckhoff getting smashed in the first inning for 5 runs. Reliever Ed Noble fared only a bit better allowing 3 runs in 2.1 innings.

v San Antonio 9-1 W
v San Antonio 4-3 W
v San Antonio 6-9 L
Boise headed back home for the second series of the year and greeted Spuds fans with another winning series. The opener was much like that of the previous series with Boise jumping on San Antonio's Morton Gorski on the second turn in the order for 6 runs. The Spuds didn't need a dominant start from Mario Reyes but got it anyway with him allowing 1 run in 5.2 innings. The second game was the first close game of the year for the Spuds and it was a walkoff for the home fans! The Outlaws chipped Boise's Marvin 'Groucho' Winston for 2 runs in the first inning but that's all that Winston would surrender until San Antonio posted one run on him in the 8th. The Spuds were down 3-1 in the bottom of that frame when CF Lou Bayou delivered a RBI single. In the final inning, the Boise offense made quick work of the walkoff with SS Marcello Custello logging a double and RF Héctor Holloway following up with the 2-run dinger to close the night. The final game in the set looks closer than it was as Boise scored 4 runs in the 9th inning of a 9-6 loss. Nickerson got pounded for 5 runs on 8 hits in just 2.2 innings while reliever Paul 'The Hammer' Cherry got himself hammered in the 7th.