Sixteen strikeouts. That is where you start with a game like this one, because that is where Da Plumber Syndicate spent most of their afternoon — swinging at air in the humidity of Donkey Kong Jungle while Diddy Kong wrote his name into the early ledger of Season 2. Granbel's Jane Goodall's Nightmare took this one 6-3, but the final line undersells how firmly the visitors ran the middle of the game. After two quiet frames, the Nightmare put a two-spot on the board in the third and then piled on three more in the fourth, turning a scoreless afternoon into a five-run cushion before Gareth's crowd had settled into their seats. Diddy Kong carried the rest himself, going the full nine innings, scattering nine hits and never surrendering the lead he had helped build with the bat — two hits and two RBI to go with those sixteen punchouts. A complete game and the MVP on the same shift; the man earned his banana. Dixie Kong, for her part, did not quit on Gareth. She also went the distance for the Syndicate, but the Nightmare kept the line moving all day — fourteen hits in all, with Shy Guy (Blue) chipping in a pair of RBI and Monty Mole burrowing his way to a 3-for-4 afternoon. Fourteen hits against six earned runs tells you the offense was patient rather than explosive, a slow leak instead of a burst pipe. Da Plumber Syndicate showed a pulse. Pianta (Yellow) got the home crowd up with a solo shot and finished with two RBI, and the ninth produced a two-run flourish that made the scoreboard look closer than the game felt. Mario added a hit and a run driven in, and Noki (Red) matched Monty Mole with three knocks of his own. But by the time the rally arrived, Diddy Kong had already spent eight innings pulling the rug out from under Syndicate bats. The result leaves Granbel at 2-0 and second in the standings, tucked in behind Birdo's Magik Mushrooms and their eye-catching 22-1 run differential. Gareth drops to 1-1, still comfortably in the pack. Early days, but the Nightmare has a starter who can eat a whole game by himself, and in Week 1 that is worth more than any nickname I could hand out. — Inky the Blooper