First of all, I want to thank everyone for inviting me into the league.  Everyone has been great to talk to and play against.  I’d especially like to thank Tom for all the help during the pre-season and beyond assisting me in getting a clue about strat.  I’ve been playing rotisserie baseball for 30 years and had seen strat a few times at both Tom’s place and Jeff’s, but never realized the depth involved in managing a team.  I’ve enjoyed my first year as a manager and would have been just as happy finishing in 8^th place, but lady luck was on my side down the stretch, getting me into the playoffs and pushing the Alpaca’s into the playoffs.  I hope I did Jeff proud playing the team he built over the past decade, winning in year one.  I must have had some divine guidance to allow the Alpaca’s to visit the promise land.

Sincerely.

World Series MVP:  Alex Bregman BA: .417 HR: 5 RBI: 14

Twit Notes plus my add below.

Game 1:  Oceanus over Neverwinter 13 – 5

The Assholes jumped on Morton early and often at Rehoboth.  After Bell tied it up in the 2^nd inning, the Assholes scored seven in the next four innings.  The Alpaca’s tried to make a game of it with a three spot in the 8^th, but a four spot in the bottom sealed the deal.  The Assholes exposed the porous Alpaca defense adding to the pain for Neverwinter.  Morton stuck it out like a trooper pitching all eight innings saving his bullpen.  Strasburg got the win.

In an embarrassing outing for the Neverwinter Alpacas pitching staff, Oceanus

Assholes flexed their collective muscle amassing 13 runs as Stephen

Strasburg(1-0), with relief help from Ryan Yarbrough, allowed Neverwinter 5

runs.

Brett Gardner made sure the Oceanus fans enjoyed themselves.  He belted a

three-run homer in the 2nd inning, lashed a single in the 4th inning and

tripled resulting in a run in the 5th inning.  Oceanus out-hit Neverwinter

for the game, 17 hits to 8.  

Charlie Morton(0-1) was the loser.  He served up 3 homeruns in his 8 innings.

Game 2: Alpaca’s 5 – 4 in 10 innings over the Assholes

The Alpaca’s tied up the series heading back home with a hard earned split.  Four solo homeruns in this game, including a ninth inning blast by Mike Tauchman off Asshole closer Wendelken.  The rally allows the Alpaca’s to head home with the split they wanted.  Lucas Giolito pitched well for the first 5 innings.  Gallegos the Alpaca closer pitched a perfect 1-2-3 10th with 2 strikeouts for the save.

The Neverwinter Alpacas and the Oceanus Assholes locked up in an exciting

one-run game at Rehoboth Parking Lot.  The final score was the Neverwinter

Alpacas 5, the Oceanus Assholes 4 in 10 innings.

The score was knotted at 4 after nine innings.  Neverwinter won it in the 10th

inning.  Yoan Moncada drew a walk.  Alex Bregman was next and he lined a

base-hit.  Freddie Freeman then doubled scoring the run.  Neverwinter managed

10 hits in their victory.  

Kenta Maeda(1-0) allowed no runs in 2 innings, and picked up the victory.

Maeda was helped out by Giovanny Gallegos who recorded his 1st save.  Alex

Colome(0-1) was charged with the loss in relief.  He gave up 1 run and 2 hits

without retiring a batter.

Game 3: Oceanus over Neverwinter 12 – 7

Another high scoring affair at Icewind Dale Corral.  Despite hitting five homers, the Alpaca’s couldn’t overcome the early deficit.  Once again the gamy Alpaca’s tried to rally, but cutting the lead to three with their fifth homerun of the game, only to see the deficit expand to five after two unearned runs in the top of the 8th inning.  Brebbia shut down the Alpaca’s to secure the win for Oceanus with two shutout innings.

Mitch Garver cracked a homer and had 3 RBI at Icewind Dale Corral as the

Oceanus Assholes beat the Neverwinter Alpacas by the count of 12 to

7.

Oceanus came up with 5 runs in the top of the 2nd inning when they had 5 base

hits.  The key offensive moment was provided by Garver who quieted the crowd

when he smacked a three-run homer.  Even though they scored in 5 different

innings, Neverwinter was not able to pull off the win.  

John Brebbia(1-0) was the winner allowing no runs in 2 innings. Mike

Minor(0-1) was the losing pitcher.  Oceanus scored big getting 6 runs off him

in 2 innings.  

Game 4: Alpaca’s 13 – 4 over the Assholes

The Alpaca’s broke a close game open in the 6th putting up an eight spot, driving Strasburg from the game.  The Asshole bullpen didn’t help their cause as the Alpaca faithful were treated to an impressive barrage.  Morton determined to make up for his poor performance in game 1, K’d 12 over seven innings.  Regular season batting champ Yoan Moncada had a great game for the Alpaca’s, including a homerun.  Series is tied up at 2, down to a best of three, with only one more game in Neverwinter.

Charlie Morton reeled off a total of 12 strikeouts and Yoan Moncada had 4 hits

and scored 3 times at Icewind Dale Corral where the Neverwinter Alpacas beat

the Oceanus Assholes 13 to 4.

Morton(1-1) had a solid outing for Neverwinter.  He went 7 innings allowing 7

hits and 2 walks and gave up 2 homeruns.  Neverwinter had 15 hits overall,

while Oceanus had 8.  

The losing pitcher was Stephen Strasburg(1-1).  He served up 3 gopher balls in

5 innings.  The Neverwinter fans were thrilled by the performance put forth

by Morton, but it was clearly his strikeouts that they enjoyed most. 'When he

reached 10 strikeouts the fans showed him their appreciation with a loud

cheer.' Sam said following the game.

Game 5: Alpaca’s 5 – 2 over the Assholes

In a relatively low scoring affair, the Alpaca’s sent the home fans home happy.  Three homers helped pace the Neverwinter offense.  Lucas Giolito pitched a strong 6 and 2/3 allowing only 2 runs and 1 homer.  Josh Bell continues his hot post season hammering two more long balls in support of Giolito.  The Alpaca bullpen did the rest not allowing a baserunner to send the Alpaca’s to Rehoboth needing only one win in the hitter friendly park.  

Josh Bell smacked 2 homeruns at Icewind Dale Corral where the Neverwinter

Alpacas beat the Oceanus Assholes 5 to 2.

Neverwinter took the lead for keeps in the 5th inning plating one baserunner.

Neverwinter took care of Oceanus with no trouble in the 9th.  

The victory was credited to Lucas Giolito(1-0) who went 6 and 2/3 innings,

allowing 2 runs. The loss was charged to Walker Buehler(0-1).  He allowed 3

homeruns in 5 innings of work.  

Game 6: Alpaca’s 13 – 7 over the Assholes

Mike Minor pitched well as the Assholes tried using an opener which backfired on them.  Bedrosian hot hit hard and didn’t make it out of the 1st as the Alpaca’s bats came to life.  Homers by Moncada, 2 by Bregman plus one for Yaz paced Alpaca’s.  The Assholes did score six runs in the final three innings but their would be heroic comeback fell short.  Rumor has it the team, after yet another world series defeat may be heading to Buffalo.  Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed and Scott Norwood are being brought in on a consultation basis.

Shortstop Alex Bregman slammed 2 homeruns as the Neverwinter Alpacas beat the

Oceanus Assholes by a score of 13 to 7.

Bregman was really in 'the zone'. He blasted a two-run home run in the 1st

inning and caught a hold of a bad pitch for a Grand Slam homerun in the 7th

inning.  Neverwinter had many opportunities throughout the game and scored in

6 separate innings.  

Mike Minor(1-1) got the win allowing 3 runs in 6 and 2/3 innings. Cam

Bedrosian(0-1) was the loser.  He gave up 3 hits and no walks in 1/3 of an

inning.

A bizarre series ended in a split.  In Game 3, FW had the winning run on 3rd in the bottom of the 15th inning, when the computer ended the game on a bogus wild pitch.  This happened to Robin and Sam a few weeks ago and they finished the game with cards and dice and thankfully it ended one batter later.

Randy and Harold did not have it so easy. The actual result was NO winning 6-4 in 18 innings.  Randy manually set up the line ups and situation above in an unscheduled game where the bottom of the 1^st corresponded to the bottom of the 15^th, and they played it out from there.  I will have to input that game by hand tomorrow as there is no way to "undo" a win once the game has been loaded.

I won the first three games on Saturday, all close, and then lost* Game 4 today 2-1, but when Arnie was inputting game results into the computer (because we played the old-fashioned way), he discovered that I had made only 2 outs in the third inning of what at the time was a 1-1 game.

(AP - Of course, I dutifully had restrained from getting high during our series because I learned long ago to never do luggage at Strat-O unless your opponent also indulged.  But 2 hours later when I discovered the scoring error, I was quite stoned. At first, I tried seeing if Robin might just say 'fuck it' due to the pain in the ass factor.  I even cited the 1990 SOMBILLA World Series when Eric beat Jed in 7 games only to discover an error in scoring of game 6 and should they replay the games?  After debating, they decided to let the results stand.  See http://www.sombilla.x10.mx/archive.htm#1989.  But, I would have felt guilty, especially since this game could impact others in the league, unlike that World Series 30 years ago).  Down to the basement to retrieve the stored-away white thing.

So, we replayed, from the point of what was really the second out in the bottom of the third. Jeff McNeil hit a clutch out, but despite taking the lead in the 4th on an Alonso homer, ND fell further behind when BC's Chirinos hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 4th. ND narrowed the gap to 6-5 but eventually lost 7-5.  When Arnie attempted to input these new results, he discovered that BC's Marte had made the last out in the 4th and then led off in the 5th.

(AP - probably because I very stoned.  At least, this time, I'd get a shot to turn around the loss instead of having to replay a 2-1 win. Even though it meant I was down by 4 runs.  Down to the basement to retrieve the stored-away white thing, yet again).

So we delayed dinner, and again recommenced Game 4, this time with BC leading 6-2 in the 5th, and again, BC proved to be victorious, winning the 9-inning game 8-2, after playing Game 4 for some 20 innings.

The early games were remarkable in their own way--Gerrit Cole, in his tenth start of the season, won his first game, striking out 15 (for the second straight start) in 7 innings and notching the 3-1 win, thanks in part to a McNeil 2-run shot (AP - on a ballpark homer 1-3, that Yelich of course had missed).

Game 2 featured the third (or fourth?) time a Bay City pitcher was removed from a game after hitting a player after warnings were issued to both teams. Because neither team is following the Randy/Eric fuck-it rules, Darvish was tossed after beaning Brian Anderson to lead off the 6th in a tie game. (AP - this actually helped Robin.  ND had found the homers on Darvish's card, and continued rolling them even after he was removed) and despite the lack of warm-up pitches, Lorenzen threw two scoreless innings and former North Dakotan Ottavino pitched 1 2/3 scoreless before Zack Britton(!) struck out Lowe to win it, 2-1 after Marte had tripled home Castro in the bottom of the 8th.

The much maligned (and head-hunting) Britton also saved Game 3, which BC won 3-2. Arnie missed a bunch of ballpark homers in BC's cavernous Fenway Park lookalike.  (AP - Note only that, but Robin won the game in the 8th when she broke the 2-2 tie with three straight singles...from the fielding charts (2BX, 1BX, CFX)),

Also, neither player was impaired for the first go-round of Game 4, and since Arnie was scoring, he takes the blame (and also the credit for alerting me of his error). Interesting side note: BC's Carlos Correa is a 2e5, but the charts only start at e7, so there is no way to know what his error chances actually are in dice and card mode (AP - I noted that in the 5th inning of game 1, I rolled a "16" for the SS X roll.  Probably not an error, but the next time this year Correa has a SSx roll come up, be alert for the error chances that the computer game shows for e5.  If 16 is one of them, we need to replay game 1 from the 5th inning.  Hah!)

Hmm… A highly specious assumption, but we’ll let it slide for now. Suffice to say that Bay City has kept the Aggressions in the hunt for a playoff spot, but Eric’s going to need to figure something out to better his 8-16 record against the rest of league. 

 Scores for Sunday:

Game 1: HAI 9-3

Game 2: HAI 4-2

Game 3: BC 5-4 (13 innings)

Game 4: HAI 4-3 (11 innings)

Game 1:  The series’ only laugher, the Aggression were up 8-1 after 5, led by strong pitching by Verlander (8 innings) and 4 rbi’s from mini-mighty Kolton Wong (3-run blast in the 2^nd). G. Cole (0-5) was the tough-luck loser yet again. He struck out 12, but of the 9 hits he allowed, 3 were doubles, 2 were dingers. 

Game 2: From here on out the rest of the games were close. The Rollers were looking good through 6 innings in Gm. 2, leading 2-0 behind a J. Castro solo shot and the stellar pitching of Frankie “Praying” Montas, who held the Aggressions in check until surrendering a run in the 7^th. But on the other side Soroka did a pretty decent job, too, giving up just one run in 4.3 innings. The bullpen went the rest of the way, holding BC to one run while Bellinger (2-run shot) and Soto (solo) went yard in the 8^thoff Gott in himmel, scoring 3. Bass & Workman worked the 9^th, and the Aggressions were now 6-0 against BC this year.

Game 3: Let the record show that Robin won this game (and avoided the ignominy of a season sweep) due to a brilliantly timed coffee break late in an extra inning affair. Way back in the 2^nd the Rollers got off to a quick 2-0 lead on solo shots by Gurriel & Laureano, and held a 4-2 lead after 7. But Oberg for BC gave up a 2-run pinch-hit dinger to Y. Alvarez in the 8^thto tie it at 4, at which point both offenses went into a deep freeze until Robin went full Seattle's Best on Eric and decided it was time to whip up some dark roast. For you superstitious types, it was the top of the 13^th.  Eric, who was momentarily ungracious and a little wtf-y, initially asked Robin to forgo the Joe until he surmised, after a spell of overthinking, that that was a whole lotta bad karma, and acquiesced. So in came Bass, who, upon Robin’s return, promptly gave up a good karma blast to Laureano, his second of the game, and the game winner as it turned out. Lorezen took the win, with Anderson picking up the save. Season sweep avoided.

Game 4: Another nail biter that BC had every right to win. Darvish was brilliant through seven, surrendering only a solo shot to Bogaerts in 4^th. Up 3-1 going into the 8^th, Robin summoned Z. Britton with much hand-wringing, and Britton, who clearly sensed his manager’s anxiousness, promptly gave up a solo shot to Lemahiue to make it 3-2. Britton took that lead into the 9^th, and coughed up another solo shot, this to Bellinger. Britton, who gave up 3 homers in 61 innings in real life, has given up 5 dingers in only 8 innings this season. Someone (I think Urshela) missed a home run in the 10^thor 11^thfor BC, and the Aggressions won it in the 11^thwith a 2-out, walk-off triple (only in Strat-O) by C. Kelly. Though Baez got the win for the Aggressions, the bullpen gets the game ball, going 7 innings and giving up zero hits and two walks. 

Game 1:  6 – 1 Alpacas

The Neverwinter Alpacas cruised to a 6 to 1 victory over the HaikuAggression team at Three Line Park. Charlie Morton(3-1) gave Neverwinter a solid outing.  He was reached for 8 hits and 1 walk in 8 innings lowering his ERA from 4.15 to 3.52.  Neverwinter won despite being out-hit by HaikuAggression 8 hits to 5.  Justin Verlander(3-1) suffered the loss.  He pitched 6 innings and surrendered

2 hits and 3 walks.

Game 2:  8 – 3 Alpacas

Designated hitter Josh Bell launched 2 homeruns and had 3 RBI at Three Line Park as the Neverwinter Alpacas beat the HaikuAggression club by the count of 8 to 3. Bell was a seemingly constant irritant to the hometown fans as he provided much of the offense for the visitors.  He smashed a bases-empty 'big-fly' in the 1st inning and cracked a two-run shot in the 4th inning.  For the game Neverwinter out-hit HaikuAggression 12 to 7.  The victory went to John Means(3-2) who went 5 innings, allowing no runs. Mike Soroka(2-5) was the losing pitcher.  He surrendered 3 homeruns in his 4 innings. 

Game 3: 5 – 3 Alpacas

Josh Bell jacked one out of the ballyard and had 2 RBI as the Neverwinter Alpacas outscored the HaikuAggression ballclub 5 to 3. Mike Minor(1-5) earned his pay with a solid performance for Neverwinter.  He went 6 and 2/3 innings and surrended up 6 hits and 2 walks.  Neverwinter banged out 9 hits on the night.  Minor got relief help from Giovanny Gallegos who gained credit for his 2^nd save.  The loss was charged to Jack Flaherty(4-2).  Despite the loss, he struckout 12 Neverwinter batters in 7 and 1/3 innings.  The Neverwinter ballclub's record now stands at 11-12.  With the loss, the HaikuAggression ballclub's record is 12-15.

Game 4:  5 – 4 Alpacas

The Neverwinter Alpacas nipped the HaikuAggression team 4 to 3 at Three Line Park in a hard fought contest. Lucas Giolito(3-1) had a steady outing.  He went 5 innings allowing 5 hits and 3 walks.  HaikuAggression threatened in the 9th but their rally came up short.  Giovanny Gallegos earned his 3rd save.  Kyle Hendricks(2-3) was charged with the loss.  Neverwinter scored big getting 4 runs off him in 3 and 1/3 innings.  Eric was subdued when questioned after the game, 'Sure, this kind of loss

takes a while to get over, but heck, we're all professionals.  We've been through this many times - it's the nature of the game.  We'll be fine – as for me - I'll be ready to go again tomorrow!'

 (12/22) It was not Randy’s night as he went down 3-1 versus the Manatees

Game 1:  The CN bats scored 8 early runs for Castillo on 3 homers and the home team won 9-1 in the first game.

Game 2:  Stripling, just up from extended spring training, gets hammered in the 1^st for 5 runs.  The Manatees hit Kershaw for 3 of their own and put Urias in the game and Wax waxes them for 5 more runs.  Everything goes Wax's way for this one game as they win 12-9.

Game 3:  Manatees go up 4-1 early but Wax claws back to 4-2.  Manatees ride Manea a little too long as injury replacement Luis Urias hits him up for a ball park HR on his card to tie it 4-4.  But JD Martinez gets to face a lefty and he homers to get the lead back 5-4.  But then the Wax gets ahold of one in the 8^th to tie it.

Bottom of the ninth.  Escobar leads off with a double and advances to third on Donaldson’s ground out.  Then Harper comes up and Catcher X result is a P/P (range 1 roll 5), so should have ended the game on a walk-off passed ball.  But with the super advanced rules on (needed for the blocking of the plate rule) it is called an out.  Harper claims that he never swung the bat and the benches empty.  Umpires call the Commissioner and he rules it a win for CN (to be manually entered) and Wax goes to their hotels pissed.

Game 4:  Controversy abounds.   Stroman turns out to be the 125 inning version (the best one) but Randy thinks he might of meant to use the 184 inning version.  There was an offer to go home and figure out what should happen… Does Randy want to replay the 2 wins that Stroman has already?  Some other penalty in this COVID Computer world?  He says screw it and that he will make the 125 inning version work.  The game starts and they are still on manual play…  The game starts again…

All TWITS note teasing aside, Randy was a gentleman as the computer conspired against him and the Manatees hit in all 4 games unlike their series versus the fearsome Jed.  Happy Holidays and Stay Safe! Enjoy Life!

--------------------------------------

Game 2  North Dakota took a 4-2 lead after 6 innings, but the bullpen couldnt hold it. A homer by Escobar and 2-run pinch0hite single by JD Martinez gave the Manatees a 5-4 lead after 7.  Willson Contreras hit a tying home run for North Dakota in the bottom of the 8th, and then in the 9th, Joey Gallo hit a pinch-hit walk-off double (Lindor sliding in on a 1-14 chance play at the plate) to win 6-5. Liam Hendricks pitched 2 scoreless innings of relief for his 1st win.

The Manatees won game 3, 4-1, as Rodon, Walden, Neris, Taylor, Chrichton, and Yates (3rd save) combined to hold North Dakota to just 6 hits. Biggio, Rizzo, and Tatis all homered to power CN.

In game 4, Lance Lynn (4-0, 3.02) whiffed 10 batters as the North Dakota Nuclear Warheads defeated the Constantinople Manatees by a score of 8 to 0 at Gackle Park.  Christian Yelich made sure the North Dakota fans enjoyed themselves.  He lofted a three-run bomb in the 4th inning, singled in the 6th inning and doubled in the 8th inning.  North Dakota had 10 hits for the night while Constantinople had 7. 

Dakota Hudson(2-1) was tagged with the loss.  He couldn't find the strike zone and allowed 8 walks in 4 innings. 

Lynn was pleased with his performance.  He noted, 'I had good zip on my pitches.  Just as important, my location was right on.  The fans really got
into the game too - that always helps me.  Now, if I can only do that again in my next outing.'

----------------------------------------

Alpaca’s take 3 of 4 at New Orleans. Three blowouts, but the final game was a nail biter.

The Neverwinter Alpacas cruised to a 9 to 2 victory over the New Orleans Ellis at Doc Ellis Field. Freddie Freeman was a thorn in the side of the hometown fans as he enjoyed a fine day at their team's expense.  He delivered a single bringing in a run in the 1st inning, doubled in the 6th inning and lost the ball over the fence for three runs in the 7th inning.  Neverwinter finished with 9 hits while New Orleans ended up with 6. The win went to Charlie Morton(2-1) who allowed 2 runs in 8 innings. Jon Gray(0-2) was tagged with the loss.  Neverwinter knocked him around a bit, as he gave up 6 runs in 5 and 1/3 innings.

It was a laugher out at Doc Ellis Field.  The Neverwinter Alpacas squad ripped New Orleans pitching for a total of 11 runs.  John Means(2-2) with effective use of the bullpen surrendered 2 runs to New Orleans. Means got the win but did not look spectacular.  He gave up 2 runs, 6 hits and 4 walks in 5 innings and allowed 2 gopher balls.  Neverwinter finished with 17 hits while New Orleans ended up with 8.  Sandy Alcantara(0-2) was the loser.  He served up 3 homeruns in his 9 nnings. With the win Neverwinter now has a record of 7-11.  With this loss, New Orleans has a 3-7 record of late, 3-11, worst in the league overall.

Shortstop Marcus Semien slammed a homerun and scored 3 times as the New Orleans Ellis beat the Neverwinter Alpacas by a score of 9 to 4. Zack Wheeler(2-0) gave New Orleans a solid outing.  He allowed 4 hits and 1 walk in 5 and 2/3 innings improving his ERA from 5.06 to 4.41.  Both teams totaled 8 hits on the night.  Taylor Rogers recorded his 1st save.  Mike Minor(0-5) was given the loss.  His biggest problem was control as he allowed 10 walks in 5 and 1/3 innings.

Game 1

Nelson Cruz slammed a homerun and had 2 RBI at The Wax Dome where the Oceanus Assholes beat Future Wax 5 to 3. Future Wax found themselves trailing quickly as the Oceanus bats came through in the first inning when they tallied 4 runs on 5 hits.  That scoring would be all that was needed.  Oceanus had 12 hits for the night while Future Wax had 7.  The victory was credited to Stephen Strasburg (2-1) who went 8 innings, allowing 3 runs. J.B. Wendelken preserved the game for Strasburg, recording his 2nd save.  Zack Greinke (3-1) was the loser.  He gave up 4 runs and 10 hits in 8 innings.  

With this win, Oceanus has a 11-6 record.  They have been 7-3 lately.  With this loss, Future Wax has a 4-6 record of late, 11-10 overall.

Game 2.  Chris Paddack retired 10 batters on strikeouts at The Wax Dome as Future Wax won in dramatic fashion coming back to beat the Oceanus Assholes by the count of 4 to 3.

Future Wax came up with the deciding runs in the 9th inning scoring 2 runs on 3 base hits.  George Springer kicked off the action when he slapped a one-base hit.  Matt Chapman came next and he slapped a base-hit.  Bryan Reynolds then doubled giving Future Wax the win as 45,915 happy fans joyfully celebrated.  Future Wax banged out 8 hits on the night.  

Felipe Vazquez (1-0) picked up the victory, allowing no runs in 1/3 of an inning. Yusmeiro Petit (1-2) was hit with the loss in relief.  'What a game!,' Vazquez said afterward.  'When we won it I almost couldn't believe it!' This was the game with the runner being pegged out at plate, thanks to Buster Posey's outstanding defense.  It was a 1-9 chance and I rolled a 9.

Game 3. Walker Buehler (2-0) and Marcus Stroman (2-2) dueled it out with Buehler and the Oceanus Assholes coming out on top of Future Wax by the score of 2 to 1. Oceanus came up with 1 run in the 3rd inning.  That early scoring was all that Buehler needed.  Neither team managed to score after the 3rd inning. Buehler got help from J.B. Wendelken who was credited with his 3rd save.

Game 4. Anibal Sanchez (1-1) with the aid of the bullpen handcuffed the Future Wax batters at The Wax Dome in an evening game.  The Oceanus Assholes scored 6 runs for the win. In the 4th inning Oceanus went on top for good when they scored 2 runs on 2 hits.  The critical plate appearance was by Max Kepler who quieted the crowd when he cracked a two-run shot.  Oceanus rapped out 9 hits for the night.

Max Scherzer (2-2) was the losing pitcher.  He struck out 13 batters in 8 innings despite losing the game.

In the first game, Verlander took a 4-run lead into the bottom of the 7^th. He retired the first two batters before giving up a walk and single. In came Dyson, who gave up a double to Blackmon (pinch-hitting) and back-to-back home runs to Voit and Chapman. Lugo’s two-inning save resulted in a dramatic 6-5 win for the home team.

In game two, the disappointing season of Mike Soroka continued, as he surrendered 7 runs on 10 hits and 3 walks in just 5 innings. Stroman was only slightly better, yielding 5 runs on 8 hits and 1 walk over 6 innings. Neither bullpen allowed a run, giving Future Wax a 7-5 win (with another Lugo save).

Side-note: Eric was plagued by injuries. Arraez went down in game 2, and his replacement (Dickerson) was himself injured in game 3. Kelly Carson was injured in game 3, and his replacement (Molina) was injured in game 4.

Flaherty’s strong performance in game 3 staked Eric to a 5-1 lead after 5. Dyson again played arsonist, giving up 2 runs 3 hits in the 7^th, but Baez shut the door with a 2-inning save, for a 5-3 HaikuAggression victory.

In the final game, Future Wax hammered Berrios (8 runs on 14 hits in 4 innings, including 3 tired singles). Kershaw had a rough 2^nd, giving up 4 runs on 3 consecutive home runs (Marte, Alvarez, Bogarts). But the veteran kept his composure, and with help from the bullpen -- with Lugo notching his third save of the series – as Future Wax held on for a 9-6 victory.

Future Wax scored the winning runs in the 9th inning scoring 4 runners on 3 hits. The key at-bat was by George Springer who made the home-town crowd a happy bunch when he launched a game-tying three-run homer. This was the kind of game that many fans love as the lead changed hands 6 times.

Game 1:  Luis Castillo gave up a first inning run while loading the bases and hitting Josh Bell in the a**.  He came out and gave up another 2 runs in the second and it looked like a long night for the Manatees against Morton.  But the Manatees were able to get 3 runs to tie it after 4.  Morton then just lost it facing the top of the order in the fifth hitting Biggio and being warned by the Umpire, grounding out Trout and then nailing Devers in the head clearing the benches.  Devers was injured for 2 games and Morton hit the showers.  There would have been more ejections but the players were wearing masks and the Umpires could not figure out who else to throw out.  Both starters were long gone in the 7th when Biggio again lead off, this time with a single, Trout followed with a single and eventually a SF from Donaldson proved the difference in the game 4-3 for CN.

Game 2:  Manatee came out hot scoring 6 runs to send Means to the showers, but in the battle of the lefties the Alpacas came back scoring 4 in the top of the 3rd to tie the game.  Manatees were able to get a lead in their half of the inning to settle in for a 7-6 game.  Then Freddy Freeman happened.  He pinch hit in the 6th and hit a home run and then hit another one in the 8th and 9th to go 3-3 with 6 RBIs as the Alpacas pulled away trouncing the Manatees 17-9 on 7 home runs.  Manatees hit their first of the season by newcomer Edwin Encarnacion.  Tauchman was injured in the 8th for 2 games, but on a K so it was not retaliation...

Game 3:  Now that they understood how it was done, the Manatees came out and hit 7 homers to propel themselves to a 13-3 blowout as the teams exchanged blow outs.  Howie Kendrick tripped running down to first after being hit by CN (a tired Bradley curve ball) and took the rest of the game off but never left the bench and was available for the next game.

Game 4:  Donaldson hit a grand slam in the first inning to try and steal a 3-1 series victory, but the Alpacas scored 2 in the second and then 5 over two innings to go up 7-5 going into the bottom of the 5th in which CN hit 3 homeruns to get the game to 9-7 CN.  Alpacas tied it with 2 in the 7th and then went ahead 10-9 in the top of the 8th.  Kolarek came in to face Devers and Haniger came in to hit a pinch hit ball park homer to tie the game at 10-10.  CN held on to get to the bottom of the 9th:  (from the boxscore)

Constantinople scored the deciding run in the bottom of the 9th inning.
Eduardo Escobar drew a walk.  Roberto Perez followed next and he laced a
single, and an error was also committed.  Fernando Tatis Jr dug into the
batters box next, but he struck out.  Cavan Biggio followed and he drew a
walk to load the bases.  Mike Trout stepped into the box and drew a walk
resulting in an exciting win for Constantinople and a raucous post-game
celebration by the home town fans.  A wild and woolly affair, this game saw
the lead change 5 times.  

Kirby Yates(2-0) picked up the victory, allowing no runs in 2/3 of an inning.
Aroldis Chapman(0-1) took the loss in relief.

10 home runs were hit in game 4 and Sano is out for 10 (err 4) games after being Ked in the 2nd and Mancini is out for 2 games when CN retaliated in the 5th.  

There will be a lot of runs scored this year in Florida....

In game 1, Future Wax had very little trouble at Ellis Field downing New Orleans. The score was 8 to 1. Zack Greinke(1-0) gave Future Wax a solid outing. He went 8 innings and surrended up 6 hits and no walks. Future Wax managed 9 hits in their victory. The losing pitcher was Sonny Gray(0-1). He pitched 6 innings and surrendered 5 hits and 2 walks.

Game two was the most exciting of the series. Future Wax topped New Orleans by the slimmest of margins, 4 to 3. The game was decided in the 8th inning. After two outs Matt Chapman blasted a

solo shot. Seth Lugo earned the save with a perfect ninth, his 1st save. Max Scherzer (1-0) went 7 innings allowing 3 runs for the victory. Brandon Kintzler(0-1) was hit with the loss in relief.

In game three, David Freese went deep, powering Future Wax to a 7 to 2 victory. Marcus Stroman (1-0) had a solid outing for Future Wax. He went 7 innings surrendering 6 hits and 1 walk. Future Wax managed 10 hits in their victory. Jon Gray(0-1) was tagged with the loss. He was touched for 3 homeruns in his 7 innings of work.

They almost ran out of baseballs at Ellis Field as Future Wax clobbered the New Orleans pitching staff, scoring 12 runs to close out the sweep. Brandon Woodruff (1-0), with relief help from Robert Stephenson, shutout New Orleans. George Springer had a big evening at the plate. He launched a 3-run homer in the 5th inning, smacked a single in the 7th inning and slapped a base-hit which plated a run in the 8th inning. Future Wax had 12 hits overall, while New Orleans had 4. Sandy Alcantara (0-1) was given the loss. He got hit pretty hard, allowing 12 hits and 5 walks in 9 innings.

.....

Meanwhile, goon Bay City pitcher Zach Britton became the first SOMBILLA pitcher ejected after hitting a batter.  Nick Anderson came in and gave up a grand slam to the next batter; Robin's only blemish on the day.  Gerrit Cole struck out 7 batters in a row and 15 in 6 innings.  Jed was ahead in all 4 games and lost 3 by 1 run.  Ah, the vagaries of Strat-O-Matic Baseball....