Tuber Times 2061.46: Sim #14 Recap - ATC,ROC

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Tuber Times
4 July 2061
Boise, Idaho
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by Stubby Bardenwerper

Boise Spuds 39 47 .453 DIV -20 WC -4 L10: 6-4 Strk: W3
After getting knocked around in June with 4 days left in the month, the Spuds decided to pad the record so it wouldn't look as atrocious as it really was. So they won 3 of those 4 then opened a hopeful, bright July by winning the first two games closing a 3-1 series win over Rockville. The first two wins of the Sim assured a 3-1 series victory of Atlantic City so that's nice. The Spuds remain 4 games behind the last WC spot, but that spot is held by virtually half the JL so don't get too excited.

v Atlantic City 2-1 W SP Mahad 'Furball' Einan (W) - 18 G, 18 GS, 5-4, 4.09 ERA, 105.2 IP, 1.22 WHIP, +0.9 WAR
CL Mario Santos (SV-8) - 25 G, 2-5, 11 SV, 4.82 ERA, 28.0 IP, 1.57 WHIP, +0.1 WAR
v Atlantic City 5-1 W SP Mario Reyes (W) - 17 G, 17 GS, 9-6, 3.41 ERA, 100.1 IP, 1.21 WHIP, +1.7 WAR
Santos (SV-9)
Boise must have figured out they could actually win the last series of June after sitting in the dark of a lone Monday carrying an 8-16 record for the month. It was the two starting pitchers who decided that no one was beating the Spuds by more than 1-0. Furball spun 7.0 innings of 1-run ball allowing only 5 hits while striking out 5. Setup man Brian Groves has been sizzling and he teamed with Santos to make a 2-1 lead hold up. CF Lou Bayou added his 30th stolen base of the season. The finale was much the same with the younger Reyes blanking the Gamblers over 6 innings then handing things off to the bullpen - only with lefty Juan Guzmán filling the role of Groves. The offense was opportunistic as they jumped on Atlantic City Motuha Kalinda for 3 runs in the 8th.

v Rockville 3-5 L SP Doug Eckhoff (L) - 17 G, 17 GS, 2-8, 5.21 ERA, 86.1 IP, 1.48 WHIP, 0.0 WAR
v Rockville 5-2 W SP Muneer bin Khairy (W) - 16 G, 5 GS, 1-3, 1 SV, 3.43 ERA, 57.2 IP, 1.27 WHIP, +0.1 WAR
v Rockville 10-8 W SP Buddha Kankipati (W) - 13 G, 4 GS, 1-1, 2.95 ERA, 36.2 IP, 1.20 WHIP, +0.1 WAR
Santos (SV-10)
v Rockville 4-3 W Einan (ND)
Ugh. To say Eckhoff has struggled this season is an understatement. But his opening start in the Rockville series wasn't terrible as he allowed just 3 runs in 5 innings with 7 strikeouts. Rockville SP Nathaniel Davis, though, had 6 innings of shutout ball in his pocket only allowing 4 hits and that stopped the Spuds offense from bailing out Eckhoff for, like, the 30th time. The Spuds took the 2nd game thanks to a 4-run outburst that chased Pikemen SP Dabir Nawfal. Spuds C Tadanobu Otani, who we really need to consider being actually real, was 3-4 with 2 RBI. Boise's Kankipati had such a good start in the 3rd game it's hard to notice that struggling P Paul Cherry came on and allowed 5 runs before being yanked in the 6th. It would have torpedoed any chance of a Spuds win if they hadn't put up 5 runs in the 2nd and 5 more in the 4th. Bayou had 4 RBI and 2 doubles. Oh noes! Boise was losing its winning ways in just the 2nd day of July, but the walkoff card was still out there. In a low-scoring affair, the Spuds entered the bottom of the 9th trailing 3-2. After a double and a walk, Rockville called in P Malcolm 'Clothesline' Jolly to face Spuds rarely used 2B Damodaragoun Neela who had come on as a defensive replacement in the top of the frame. Neela worked a 1-2 count then delivered the game-winning double.