Game 70 Recap: Why Not Do Everything?
After a week of that good RedPocket medicine, Ballers trounce Freebirds 17-6
by Joe Horton
What a disappointment, scoring 17 runs.
The Ballers shamefully took their foot off the gas, tallying a mere 17 runs on a (yawn) 22 hits after three consecutive games at home scoring 18. Still, it will have to do. The B’s (12-10 second half, 34-36 overall) are playing some of their best baseball and have won seven straight games to keep themselves in the playoff discussion nearing the halfway point of the second half of the Pioneer League season.
As broadcaster Gareth Kwok said, it was another night of the Early and Often™ approach: it was 11-5 Ballers after four, including a textbook pass-the-bat, keep-the-line-moving, next-man-up approach that baseball players love to talk about in that fourth inning—six hits, a walk, two failed pickoff attempts; ten men to the plate. Oakland starter Hunter Day weathered the heat and the late sun at Bryant Field, giving up five runs in four innings. His replacement Tyler Bates went a scoreless 2.0 for the win.
The man of the night was Esai Santos (after being co-Prop Chicken Man of the Game last night). He went 4-for-6 including a first inning homer and three RBI. He’s 7-for-10 over his past two games. Despite those gaudy numbers, his greatest accomplishment may have been the homer celebration. Dispatches has the exclusive on its genesis: “I honestly don’t know where I thought of doing it, but we started doing taps to the head for singles or doubles so I thought for a HR, why not do everything?” Henceforth, this publication will be officially referring to this collection of human movements as the Esailebration.
As to his teammates who would encourage such creativity, Santos said, “I think as a team we’re just gelling well and having fun, which is both a byproduct and contribution to winning.”
Tristan Moore was another standout in his 3-for-5 effort with a matching three RBI and homer. He agreed with Santos about the recent feel of the team during the winning streak. “I mean the team vibe recently has been pretty amazing, we have just been playing loose and having a lot of fun together. My approach has just been to keep it simple and have fun.” He was also asked about the new Esailebration. “That’s just an example of how much fun we are having together.”
In the eighth, former RedPocket Mobile pitcher Nathan Darden made his B’s debut, striking out two Freebirds with a fastball that hit 96 mph. He worked the ninth as well, allowing two men on before closing the game with no damage.
The Ballers play 15 of their final 24 games against Modesto and Long Beach, two teams at the top of the league who have given the B’s and everyone else fits this season. Long Beach has already qualified for the playoffs; Modesto looks like a second-half lock, but neither team has taken their feet(s) off the gas(es) either. The Ballers’ addition of another RedPocket pitcher, Ren Abe-Arias, who is scheduled to start on Sunday, shows that the front office isn’t done yet in the push for the postseason. All to say that opportunities against a playing-for-pride Yuba-Sutter (5-17, 20-50) this weekend and the final six-game away series of the season in early September are crucial.
Tomorrow’s expected starter for the B’s will be David Thomas. Game time is 6:35.
Odds & Ends
RHP Ren Abe-Arias is joining the team but not yet active, so no corresponding move has yet been made. Since he’s nearly a Baller, this is the last time we can talk about him being the guy who gave up Jeter Ybarra’s epic grand slam to tie in the ninth last Sunday.
Speaking of: another truly good night Ybarra—four hits but no homers, meaning he doesn’t have to come up with another one of Dispatches’ annoying best sandwiches answers. He’s still one HR away from setting the new B’s single-season mark.
Sure, Yuba-Sutter has the ABS system behind the plate. Yes, the broadcast microphones pick up hilarious fan conversations that have to be AI-generated. But nobody’s said anything about the tremendous build of possible cyborg umpire Ron manning the bases last night—those are some powerful officiating biceps for human or machine.
Video recap from Ben Verhoek.
Photos by Maya Lee.
Animation by Chris Drue.
Joe Horton is the editor of Dispatches from Raimondi.
