Filed from above the stadium lights, where the canopy of Donkey Kong Jungle swallowed more than a few high fly balls on Saturday afternoon. Lucas built a lead the slow, patient way — a brick at a time — and then survived a frantic finish to walk off the field with an 11-9 victory over Ryan's club in a Week 6 affair that tested the nerves of everyone in the press box. The line score reads like a staircase climbing toward the sky: Lucas scratched across two in the first, then kept adding, posting three-spots in both the fifth and sixth to stretch the margin to what looked like a comfortable cushion. But Ryan's side, true to The Dealmaker's reputation for never closing the books early, refused to go quietly. After answering with two of their own in the second and another pair in the seventh, Ryan's bats erupted for four runs in the bottom of the ninth — the kind of last-gasp rally that empties dugouts and silences vines. It was enough to make it interesting, not enough to make it a win. The final out landed with the tying runs still on Ryan's mind and Lucas clinging to a two-run edge. With the result, Lucas climbs to 4-2 and holds firm in second place, trailing only the Big City Bangers, while Ryan settles at 2-2 in fifth. A jungle, a comeback that fell short, and a box score that defies arithmetic. Just another week in Mariobaseball. — Inky the Blooper