Tuber Times 2058.25: Sim #11 Recap - MTL,NO,ROC

[cheekimonk]

Tuber Times
17 June 2058
Boise, Idaho
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by Tony Toney

Boise Spuds 38 33 .535 -4 DIV -1 WC L10: 6-4 Strk: W1

Not bad from what could have been a very painful Sim #11 as the Spuds wrapped up a 4-game series @ Atlantic Division leader Montreal and faced the 2nd-place team in New Orleans. The team went 3-4 and dropped another game to Las Vegas in the Frontier Division standings, but stood pat with the rest of the pack. For reference, the 2057 Spuds stood thusly after Sim #11:

Boise Spuds 26 43 .377 -16 DIV -10.5 WC

That'll do, pig. That'll do. In 2056, Boise's last season to make the playoffs, the team was 5.5 games back of the division lead at this point.

@ Montreal 9-2 W
@ Montreal 3-8 L
Kicking off the last 2 games of a 4-game set, Montreal's SP Todd Schroeder was dominant shutting out the Spuds over 7 innings while striking out 6. But Boise SP Waseem bin Suhayb kept things close holding the Blazers to just 2 runs in 5.1 innings. That was enough time to get things to the 8th inning when the Boise offense exploded at the expense of P Fernando Villarreal. The Spuds RF Héctor Holloway, LF Sebastian 'Nino' Fradesso, and 3B Mahine 'Dragnet' Karetu led the charge to 6 innings in the frame and Boise secured at least a split over the Blazers. In the series finale, Spuds P Marvin 'Groucho' Winston let the game get away from him in late innings and Boise had to settle for a split in the set.

@ New Orleans 4-3 W
@ New Orleans 3-8 L
@ New Orleans 10-5 W
@ New Orleans 0-1(10)
The Sim didn't get any easier for the Spuds with a trip to New Orleans. In the opener, the Crawdads SP Micah Harrington allowed just 1 run in 8 stellar innings, but P Frank Benítez couldn't back him up allowing a solo HR to Boise 2B Marcello Custello then a 2-run jack to 1B Tracy 'Jigga' Allison. CL Samir Qasim recorded his 8th save on the year in the bottom of the 9th. Next night's game was a close affair until New Orleans ambushed Boise Anthony Annear for 3 runs in the 8th motored by a 3-run HR from Crawdads LF Jamie Angwin. Boise responded in the 3rd game by smashing New Orleans SP Jayin 'Padfoot' Ranjani for 7 runs in just 2.2 innings. Spuds RF Halloway went 4-for-4 in the game with 3 RBI and CF Lou Bayou added 2 RBI of his own along with his 28th stolen base of the year. Then, oh man, a beauty of a classic pitchers' duel in the finale. New Orleans SP John Lucas delivered 7.1 innings of shutout ball while the Spuds went "shutout by committee" with SP Waseem bin Suhayb, reliever Anthony Annear, and Ed Noble holding the Crawdads at bay. But New Orleans got SS Jason Newton to third and 1B Colm Aker plated him with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th for the walkoff win.

v Rockville 4-6 L
Boise gladly headed back home to open a series against the Pikemen. Spuds SP Katsuyuki Heida gave up 4 runs in in 5.0 innings, but Boise held tight thanks to 'Nino' Fradesso and CF Bayou each posting 3-for-5 nights. The game was tied at 4 heading into the 9th when Spuds P Michael Craig was the victim of a 2-run HR from 1B César Rodríguez that the Spuds could not answer in the bottom of the frame.