Series 5 Part 3

QEY 6, TEN 0 F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

QEY        0              0              2              0              0              0              0              0              4           

TEN        0              0              0              0              0              0              0              0              0              

W – Mulder (1-1)                   L – Piniero (0-3)                  S – Lopez (1)                   

Both teams were hungry for win in this one, with the Green Sox trying to end a 4 game skid and the Warriors trying to climb back up the ranks of Division 1. It was certainly billed to be an interesting matchup with both team’s aces taking the mound. In the early innings, both pitchers looked strong, with Mulder giving up only one hit through four. Piniero however ran into trouble in the third, where Ellis Burks knocked in two RBIs with a double, thanks again to smart baserunning from Luis Castillo enabling him to score from first. After that, both starters went into lockdown mode and totally shut out their opponents. Mulder was pulled in the eighth after a leadoff double, but the Green Sox were prevented by infringing on the Warriors tenuous two run lead by reliever Javier Lopez. Tenbil Town kept Piniero in the game in through the ninth, simply because the Green Sox bullpen was desperate for some rest. The good news is that the Green Sox relievers did get the rest they needed. The bad news is that the ninth was just a bit too much for Piniero, who despite his good performance up to that point, had racked up a fairly large pitch count. As a result, Ellis Burks struck once again, doubling in another two runs. Cliff Floyd followed with an RBI single, and Frank Catalonotto knocked in the last run with a sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the ninth, Javier Lopez returned to the mound to secure the two inning save. He struggled right away, and it looked like the Green Sox were finally going to get on the board when the Queynos defense came up big. With the bases loaded and nobody out, the struggling Magglio Ordonez grounded out into a double play, thanks to an excellent decision to throw home by shortstop Carlos Guillen. That brought DH Jorge Posada to the plate, who smacked Lopez’s first pitch on a beeline down the third baseline. It surely would have been a double if not for an amazing diving grab by third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo and an even more amazing throw to first in time to get Posada out and end the game. After the game, John Kruk had this to comment about the Green Sox fifth straight loss “It’s sad, but they really are much better than their 3-6 record shows. Three of the losses on this streak were by only 1 run. The pitching of course could be better, but that’s not really a glaring issue for this team. But unfortunately that’s just the way life is in this league. Good often isn’t always good enough. So my heart goes out to this hard working team. I will eat an entire funnel cake in their honor this evening.” I don’t think this team ever expected to see their 620 point ace pitcher with an 0-3 record, but he Green Sox luckily have a lull in the schedule when they take on the hapless Bombers next series, which is a golden opportunity to put some more wins in the W column. As for the Warriors, Queynos fans are riding high after the team’s first sweep of the year. The obvious weakness of this team is the bullpen, but the starting pitching is solid and this team is one of the best baserunning teams in the league. The offense really seems to be the x-factor here; if Ellis Burks continues having an All Star caliber season and Frank Catalonotto keeps being one of the most dangerous baserunners in the league, then they will be in good shape as they try to climb back up the ranks of Division 1.

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ZSY 8, STL 4  F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

ZSY         0              0              2              0              0              0              5              1              0           

STL         0              0              0              1              0              0              0              0              3              

W – Wells (3-0)                   L – Smith (0-2)

        

I don’t think anyone would have picked Kip Wells to have been the first pitcher in the league to reach three wins; I also don’t think most people would be consider him a candidate for Cy Young at any point of the season either. If you were really high on the Z-Slayer offense, you might have made a case for the wins issue, but the truth of the matter is that Wells has earned every bit of his three wins. In this contest, he pitched most of the game with just a one run lead, clearly keeping the Cardinals off balance up and down the lineup. He handled Larry Walker very carefully, intentionally walking him once and unintentionally walking him twice. Otherwise, most of the Cardinals offense came from CF Ray Lankford and SS Edgar Renteria, who put the Cardinals on the board in the 4^th with an RBI double thanks to his silver slugger icon. Cardinals starter Bud Smith had a meltdown in the seventh when a series of doubles from Ken Harvey and Jeff Cirillo increased the Z-Slayer lead to three. The deathblow came when catcher Jason Larue homered in another three runs, bringing the score to 8-1. Reliever/ secondary closer Jason Isringhausen 03 also had trouble and couldn’t keep the Z-Slayers off the board. Kip Wells started the ninth with the comfortable seven run lead, but very quickly got into trouble. He surrendred one run and was pulled with two men on base. Reliever Danny Patterson entered the game and promptly allowed the two baserunners to score, spoiling what would have been Wells’ third quality start. The Cardinals threatened to score more, but Patterson managed to eke out the inning and finish the game in the Z-Slayers favor. Overall this was an excellent series, with two teams in the playoff hunt really duking it out. With a Cy Young candidate in the form of Kip Wells and MVP candidates in the form of Jack Wilson and Albert Pujols, the Z-Slayers have established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in Division 1. As for the Cardinals, just when you think they are about to string together a couple of big wins, something like this happens. For Larry Walker’s club, inconsistency is their new normal. With Tenbil Town and Melmegetia both struggling, they will look to solidify their number 3 spot in Division 2 with a very tough matchup next week against Red Clay.
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RED 0, MMD 12  F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

RED         0              0              0              0              0              0              0              0              0           

MMD      8              0              0              0              0              0              0              4              0   

W - Pavano (1-1)                    L - Buehrle (0-2)

Mark Buehrle has had a difficult year so far, but he went so far as to put out the worst performance by a pitcher so far this season, giving up six runs before recording a single out in the first. Meow Meower Miguel Tejada  \kicked off the scoring with a bases loaded double walk, which was followed by a Eric Chavez double, then a Bernie Williams double, then a Scott Hatteberg double.  Red Clay reliever Travis Harper struggled in relief allowing two further runs to score that were tagged to Buehrle as men he had left on base. To his defense though, the Red Clay defense was absolutely horrendous in this game, failing to turn a single double play from five different opportunities. Reigning Cy Young winner and MMD starter Carl Pavano was in top form this game after being publicly attacked by Coach Taklamente after his last start, a disastrous blowout against the Tycoons. In this game Pavano was out for blood, and kept the normally vivacious bats of the Aces at bay for a full 9 innings. He did have frequent help from the defense, which preserved the shutout when Eric Chavez threw out a tagging Tom Goodwin at home plate in the top of the 8th. In the bottom of the eighth, Meow Meow Dui taked on some insurance runs, in the form of a 2 run double by former Darkpaw Aaron Rowand and a two run homer by Gregg Zaun. For the Aces this snaps a three game win streak, while the win for Coach Taklamentes squad keeps them close to the top of the extremely fast paced Division 1 standings. 

Series 5 Part 2

LIN 4, MEL 2  F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

LIN         0              1              0              0              2              0              1              0              0           

MEL       1              0              0              0              0              0              0              1              0              

W – Rueter (1-1)               L – Garcia (0-1)                S – Nen (1)                 

After the Marauders drew first blood, the JELLY QUEEN DREAM TEAM stuck back in the top of the second with an RBI double from shortstop Jimmy Rollins, his first RBI of the year and his first of three doubles in this game. Through the middle innings of this game, both pitchers did alright, keeping the other team off the board but not exactly dominant. Lindsyan Kirk Rueter avoided his dreaded “hell inning” and was able to go six innings with no further runs allowed. The former Bobian Freddy Garcia was similarly mediocre, except he surrendered a big 2 run double to Brian Roberts in the fifth, and an RBI single to Season 5 all-star Shannon Stewart in the seventh. For JELLY QUEEN, Aquilino Lopez came on in relief of Rueter and pitched a strong seventh, but quickly worked himself into a jam in the eighth. With one run in, runners on second and third , and only one out, Coach Moises “Piss Hands” Alou made another call to the bullpen and brought the long time veteran reliever Jesse Orosco into the game. Facing the heart of the Marauder lineup, Orosco struck out Scott Rolen and Brandon Larson to retire the side and get out of the jam. Closer Robb Nen took over in the ninth and went 1-2-3 to earn his first save of the year. In a postgame conference, Doctor Vindaloo noted that this game did take away a little bit of momentum that the team had built up, but not all of it. Instead, Vindaloo said he was more frustrated that no Marauder had hit a homerun and therefore was unable to light up the giant Shiva Nataraja statue behind the right-centerfield wall.  In any case, this puts a little wind in the sails of the Lindsyans who are back to a .500 record at 4-4. Stay tuned for what will probably be a classic pitching duel between Season 1 Cy Young Jamie Moyer and three time 5 game winner Josh Beckett.    

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MAX 1, AXN 4  F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

MAX       0              1              0              0              0              0              0              0              0           

AXN        0              0              0              1              3              0              0              0              0   

W - Morris (1-0)                    L - Pettitte (0-2)                     S - Kolb (2)

The Battle of the Basement dwellers got off to a rocky start for Darkpaw starter Matt Morris, who found himself in trouble in each of the first three innings. He managed to get through only surrendering a run when the speedy Delino "Delicious" Deshields was able to score from second off of a Bengie "Don't Make Fun of My Speed" Molina single. His opponent former Cy Young winner Andy Pettitte was solid through the first three, but the two might have had a body swap; Morris settled down and dominated the Bombers through the seventh while Pettitte was hit by a pair of homers: a solo homerun from Hank Blalock in his first career game and a three run shot from veteran Mike Cameron. After that, there really wasn't much action in this one. Both offenses looked rather pathetic, racking up an absurd number of bad strikeouts and double play balls. For a change of pace, the Darkpaw bullpen held the lead long enough for closer Danny Kolb to nab his second save of the year. Although the Darkpaws won their first game after restructuring their team, it wasn't the most encouraging win. Brad Fullmer and Ken Griffey Jr. 04 did not meaningfully contribute; Hank Blalock, who did hit a solo homerun, blew two crucial scoring opportunities, grounding out into a double play in once case. Well, that's not great, but at least they aren't staring at a seven game losing streak, like the Bombers are. 

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MMD 3, RED 4  F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

MMD      0              0              0              0              3              0              0              0              0           

RED         1              1              0              2              0              0              0              0              0    

W - Ortiz (1-0)                      L - Ortiz (0-1)                           S - Wagner (2)

If the Battle of the Basement dwellers wasn't exciting enough for you, immediately followed was the Battle of Ortiz! Meow Meow Dui starter Russ Ortiz struggled early, surrendering RBI singles to Alfonso Soriano and Jose Cruz, and eventually blowing the quality start when he gave up a two run homerun in the fourth to catcher and Long Island native A.J. Pierzynski. After that he handled the dangerous Red Clay lineup rather effectively, and went the distance to finish the game. On the other side of things, Ramon Ortiz once again punched way above his measly 40 point salary, securing his second quality start of the year. Besides a three run homer surrendered to Scott Hatteberg in the fifth, he seemed totally in control during his six innings on the mound, although the characteristically weak Meow Meow offense did squander a lead off double more than once. For Red Clay, Mike Myers entered the game in the seventh and got himself into a pickle right away, but the heart of the Meow Meow lineup embarrassingly could not bring the winning run home. That was the golden opportunity for Coach Taklamente's club in this one, since Myers was eventually replaced by Aces closer Billy Wagner, who has been largely untouchable this year. An honorable mention should go to Larry Walker 04, who was a homer short of hitting for the cycle. With this result, Meow Meow Dui officially moves out of first place in Division 1, and Red Clay dethrones Mao's Tycoons in Division 2. Look for another interesting matchup in Game 2, when both teams struggling number 1 starters attempt to get back on track: Mark Buehrle is still looking for his first win (and quality start) while reigning Cy Young Carl Pavano is still trying to get out of Coach Taklamente's doghouse after an embarrassing blowout in his last performance. 

First results back from the break

BOB 8, TYC 0  F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

BOB       0              1              0              0              3              0              0              0              4           

TYC        0              0              0              0              0              0              0              0              0              

W – Burkett (2-0)                   L – Lopez (0-1)                 

Both streaks continue for the Bobians: a five game win streak as well as an eight game quality start streak. Through the first five innings both pitchers worked in and out of trouble, most notably with Albie Lopez picking up a clutch triple play to stop the bleeding at one run in the second inning. The top of the Bobian order manufactured a run in the fifth thanks to excellent baserunning as always from Juan Pierre and a clutch hit from Luis Aparicio. Then stepped up to the plate the hottest bat in the league, wielded by none other than Ichiro Suzuki. He then proceeded to crush his second homerun of the year and rack in his seventh RBI of the season. That puts him in the top ten for the entire league, but remember, he was not on the Bobian roster for the first couple of series. The Bobians went on to double their score in the ninth when reliever Luther Hackman had a meltdown in only his second appearance of the season. John Burkett did not surrender a single run through six, the veteran following up his very good first start against the Maxions with an even more impressive performance. With the departure of Jamie Moyer, Burkett now leads the team in starts, wins, and quality starts. Reliever Rollie Fingers entered the game and pitched two solid innings before giving way to the always solid Buddy Groom who wrapped up the ninth. After the game, commentator John Kruk had the following to say: “This game was eerily similar to the Bobians last contest against the Darkpaws: a very close one in the early innings, but broken wide open in the later innings. There is one key difference here. We are talking about a win over a first place team, not just the Darkpaws. I think that’s really impressive.” Impressive indeed, but the Tycoons have to be very disappointed with their performance here. All three Tycoon pitchers (Lopez, Ryan, Hackman) struggled at one point or another, and the offense just looked totally impotent. There were a few opportunities when a runner made it into scoring position, but absolutely no follow-through to speak of. No comment came from the Tycoon management; despite being in first place in Division 2, this is a team that has come under a barrage of criticism from fans and the media as of late. With the prospect of facing Tom Seaver in enemy territory, the Tycoons have a tough fight ahead of them in Game 2.

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TEN 6, QEY 7        F/11

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8______9_____10____ _11

TEN        0              0              0              0              2              2              0              0              0             0              2

QEY        2              0              2              0              0              0              0              0              0             0              3

W – Lowe (1-2)                    L – Foulke (0-2)

When you are building a team, the obvious strengths to focus on are hitting and pitching. Lately there has been a trend to renew focus on fielding and defense, but there is a further dimension to teams that often get overlooked, and that is baserunning. Throughout the season, any given team has games that are won or lost due to their ability or inability to run the basepads effectively. This is a skill that the Warriors have employed effectively since Game 1, and really came into the spotlight in this one. In the top of the first, Warrior Cliff Floyd hit a double with runners on first and second; Carlos Guillen scored easily from second, but thanks to very smart running, centerfielder Ellis Burks was able to make it home all the way from first. Floyd hit a solo homerun in the third, which was followed up by a Frank Catalonotto single. Catalonotto then advanced to second on a steal, and then was able to score when first basemen Sean Casey singled. Although these were all excellent calls and execution from the Warriors, the Green Sox have to be disappointed given that this was the first game for catcher Brent Mayne, a defensive upgrade who was supposed to stop things like this from happening. Things were looking very comfortable for the Warrios, but their 4-0 lead was cut in half when starter Jimmy Haynes surrendered a 2 run double to Jorge Posada. The coaching staff considered going to the bullpen in the sixth, but made the mistake of sending out Haynes again; he allowed the tying run home on a two run homerun by Green Sox thirdbaseman Adrian Beltre, who has been batting very well of late. Thus it became a battle of bullpens, for which both teams got nervous: The Green Sox because their bullpen was quite frankly exhausted after a 14 inning marathon against the Aces and the Warriors because most of their losses have come from bullpen snafus. The late innings of regulation were relatively tame, with relievers Tim Spooneybarger and Paul Shuey taking care of business for their respective team. When the Green Sox pitcher Danny Graves finished the ninth without giving up any runs, the game went to extra innings. Fast forward to the top of the eleventh, where reliever Sean Lowe was booed vociferously by the hometown crowd by blowing yet another game; this time in the form of a 2 RBI triple to Omar Vizquel, his league leading third of the year. Heading to the bottom of the inning, the Green Sox turned to their closer Keith Foulke who was clearly exhausted after having pitched more than four innings last game against the Aces. This decision proved disastrous. Foulke struggled horribly, loading the bases with only one out. With no one else to turn to, Foulke remained on the mound. After walking in not just one run, but two, Frank Catalonotto put Keith Foulke and the Green Sox out of their misery with a rocket into the left field corner that ended the game. Both teams now sport a 3-5 record and are in fifth place in their respective division. Game 2 will be a huge matchup for the Green Sox, who desperately need first starter Joel Piniero to eat up some innings and give the bullpen some much needed rest. 
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STL 16, ZSY 7        F

                1            2              3              4              5              6              7             8              9

STL          2            0              5              0              1              0              0              0             8             

ZSY          3            4              0              0              0              0              0              0             0     

W - Ankiel (1-0)               L - D'Amico (0-2)                    S - Isringhausen 04 (2)

When you don't invest a whole lot into your number 4 starter, or a bullpen for that matter, you get games like this one. Tuldarian starter Jeff D'Amico struggled every minute of the 4 and 2/3s innings he pitched, giving up big hits to basically every hitter in the Cardinals lineup. His pitching opponent, Rick Ankiel, didn't fare much better in his painful five innings, with the big blow coming in the form of an Albert Pujols grand slam. Both starters might have been pulled earlier in this root canal of a game  if it weren't for the state of both team's overworked bullpens. At the end of five, the Cardinals enjoyed a precarious 8-7 lead. But who knew that the Cardinals were only halfway done with their scoring. In the top of the ninth, they rallied for a season high eight runs, tearing through three different Z-Slayer pitchers. The offense was lead as always by Larry Walker, but this time he was supported by great performances by the top of the lineup, with Placido Polanco, Edgar Rentaria, and Orlando Cepeda all having multi RBI games. Jason Isringhausen 04 bizarrely earned his second save of the season, since he began pitching in the eighth when the lead was only 1 run. As for Game 2 of this series, we will see if the Z-Slayer All Out Offense model can redeem itself with a little bit more of a favorable pitching matchup when the very solid Kip Wells takes on Bud Smith. Although the Z-Slayers relievers are in slightly better shape, both teams bullpens are badly in need of rest and will really need a solid performance from their ace starters. 

The Kruk Bucket Episode 3: Back to Bobia!

Welcome to the third episode of the Kruk Bucket, with me, your host, John Kruk. The title of this episode doesn't just reflect the rankings I'm listing here. It's literally true! That's right folks, Bobby's Burger Palace, here I come! I'm on assignment to cover the Tycoons-Spartans series, which just narrowly was chosen over the Darkpaws-Bombers series. Speaking of super-sized fun, here are my power rankings coming out of the break and going into the very interesting Series 5 matchups.

1. RED (+1) So I know what you are thinking; another episode, Krukkie, and another change of heart as to who is number 1? Well...yes, its true. I actually really wanted to put the Spartans here, but things are just going too well for the Aces for me to do that. After sweeping a strong Green Sox team, I have to say that everything is working for this team at the moment. Sure, they don't have the best record in the league, but one of their losses came from a freak loss to the Darkpaws. If you look at them, they really look the strongest to stay competitive down the stretch. We'll see if I change my mind again by next episode, but just know this: by the time I set foot in Bobby's Burger Palace, I already know what I'm going to order and...and if I change my mind, it's almost always a good decision. 

2. BOB (+5) How do I justify the biggest jump in power rankings to date? Two words: Ronde Barber. This guy has done nothing but make his team stronger each step of the way; just look at the way new additions Roy Halliday, Tom Glavine, Ichiro and Luis Aparicio have performed last series. If they keep it up, we are talking MVP paces here, people. Barber's latest move has proved very controversial, with a few critics saying that Barber's arrogance created to a poisonous lockeroom atmosphere that lead directly to the departure of long time Spartans Jamie Moyer and Byung Hyun Kim. I say that's poppycock. It's true that the Spartans have different corporate processes than other teams, but everything that Barber has touched has turned to gold thus far and I see no reason why that would change now. Fourth starter John Burkett has the full force of the bullpen behind him; Seaver starts in Game 2; this teams success in my mind is entirely up to the offense. And in Ichiro we trust. 

3. ZSY (+3) I was a little shocked to hear that the Z-Slayers have been actively looking to make roster moves, trying to get even more offensive firepower. Well I have to tell you guys, if you put any more hot sauce on that chili dog, you're going to give yourself throat cancer. So long as the pitching staff continues to over perform, this team has the potential to put together a serious win streak with a relatively weak schedule coming up in the next few series. They certainly put JELLY QUEEN DREAM TEAM in their place in series 4.

4. MMD (-1) Another sweep in favor of Coach Taklamente's squad, but this most recent one over the Warriors was not particularly impressive or assuring. The pitching continues to be top notch, but I'm just not seeing any offense. Notice how Eric Chavez is number 2 in the league in terms of homeruns, but doesn't appear in the top 10 for RBIs? You know, watching this team is a lot like the time I ordered a Big Mac and they forgot to put the Big Mac sauce on it. I mean, it's still a Big Mac, but there's just something missing. They've got a super tough series against the Aces this round, I think they'd be quite happy to come out of this one with a split.

5. TYC (-1) That's right; I'm putting four teams ahead of the team with the best record in the league. Week in and week out I get all sorts of hate mail calling me biased against the Tycoons. Well guess what; I am biased! I'm a sportswriter but I'm also human, so of course I have biases. But if you are going to eat at the Bacon Boutique for nine straight meals, you eventually have to face the facts. The nutritional facts in this case. For the Tycoons, the facts are very simple: They've had the easiest schedule in the league so far and most of their wins have been ninth inning squeakers at that. I know Randy Johnson made me look at little foolish last week, but I'm going to call it as I see them: He's going to get owned next week when he goes up against a Tom Seaver eager to cement himself as the ace of the best pitching staff in the league. 

6. TEN (+1) A very tough sweep at the hands of the Aces, but they really put up a gallant fight and very easily could have ended up with two wins instead of two losses. Still a lot of potential here with J.D, Drew and Magglio Ordonez still performing below expectations. David Ortiz will continue to put up MVP like numbers, its just up to the rest of the team to step up and put men on base. Remember, part of the problem with this team are generally awful on base performances. The team hits a lot of homeruns, but a very large percentage of those are only solo shots. If they could get more baserunners, they'd be putting up a lot more runs. As a final note, I like the addition of Brent Mayne to play catcher and moving Posada to DH. Keeping Posada's bat in the lineup is critical, but his weak arm clearly was a defensive liability.

7. LIN (-7) I really have to reach out and apologize to the JELLY QUEEN for a sevenfold tumble in the power rankings. But a lot has changed since last series, namely that this team showed that it just didn't have what it takes to win the tough games, as evidenced by their two losses at the hands of the Z-Slayers. I'm particularly worried about a lot of key players who aren't performing, most notably starter Scott Schoenweiss and closer Robb Nen. Steve Karsay also stumbled mightily. Manny Ramirez and Rondell White continue to have All Star if not MVP type performances, some other people need to step up and help the team pull out some wins. Brian Roberts was an interesting player to watch in the beginning of the year, but he's been cooler that a chocolate shake in the last series or two. I think this team has better days ahead of it, especially with a favorable matchup against the Marauders in Round 5. But JELLY fans are certainly feeling a certain amount of pressure as they see just how competitive the top three spots in Division 1 are becoming.

8. MEL (+2) After shellacking the Cardinals for 12 runs in their most recent contest, I'm going to have to grant another two position jump to the Marauders in this edition. It was a critical game, and Dr. Vindaloo's team showed a lot of heart to put together a big win. I think their veteran pitching will serve this team very well down the stretch, but I'm worried a bit about the offense here. Anchors Scott Rolen and Adam Kennedy came alive against the Cardinals, and will need to continue to produce. After a rather disgusting start, the team has looked incrementally better in each series regardless of who they were playing so I take that as an encouraging sign of potential.

9. STL (0) For the third time in a row, I'm placing the Cardinals in the ninth spot, despite the fact that technically they would make the playoffs if the season ended tomorrow. They really are the ultimate wild card team; inconsistently relying on anybody in addition to Larry Walker to show up and play baseball halfway decently. Personally I find their matchup against the Z-Slayers intriguing, as I think they will give the Tuldarians a little more trouble than the average person might think. We'll see what happens, but I can't say much since this team has looked radically different week to week, with their power ranking ironically remaining number 9.

10. QEY (-2) After four straight losses, I think it's safe to say that this team has hit rock bottom. Most of the losses were close, but even still, they have a tough task to right the ship this series against the Green Sox. The pitching has been much worse than expected, especially the bullpen, which has burned a few good efforts from the starters, as well as the hard earned run support that came with that. I'm really discouraged by what I've seen so far, especially considering that this was the team that won Division 1 last year. But if this team is known for anything, its their streaky-ness. If that's a word. Let's see if they can string together some wins to erase some or all of this most recent downturn.  

11. AXN (0) Nothing to really insightful to say here except that this team really sucked last series. ALLIED_MASTERCOMPUTER clearly got the message that he wasn't going to get any wins with the roster he had so hence the roster changes. But I'm not really convinced it's going to change much. The morale of this team is just completely broken, you could see it on the player's faces while Spartan catcher Charles "Greenstick Fracture CJ" Johnson just busted open a can of whoop ass on former reliever Lance Carter. We'll see what they can do against the Bombers, but my prediction is that this team isn't going to ever get out of the basement of Division 1, let alone claw their way back to a playoff position. As ALLIED_MASTERCOMPUTER said in an interview earlier, this series represents must win games, especially with a schedule that gets significantly tougher after the Maxions. My feeling is that they will probably split the series.

12. MAX (0) Although I don't think the Bombers are in so dire straits as the Darkpaws, I think there might be less reason for optimism here. Despite good performances from Edgar Martinez and Richie Ashburn, most of the team has just struggled dreadfully. The defense has been strong, but that doesn't help much when the pitchers give up doubles and homers all the time. But listen here, Bomber fans: a sweep of the Darkpaws really would be a big turnaround and give this team a much healthier record. For now the priority is to end their losing streak, but if there ever was a team to launch a turnaround against, wouldn't you pick this matchup?

That's all for today folks, hope I didn't generate another stack of hate mail. The matchups for this series are all pretty interesting, and I for one am looking forward to some Bobian turducken, so strap yourselves in for an exciting series. Next time I have something a little different planned for the next Kruk Bucket. Stay tuned.