Week 11

Record: 40-29, .548, 0 games back
Position: 1st place (1/2 game ahead of Chicago)
Runs Scored: 333 (3rd in NL)
Runs Allowed: 296 (6th in NL)
Defense: .688 (5th in NL)
Power Ranking: 111.3 (5th in ML)
Owner Mood: Delighted, Fan Interest: 67/100



Last Week (6-1): 3-1 vs. STL, 3-0 @ WAS

• 6/16: STL 4, PIT 7 - Liriano was solid (6 IP 2 ER) while earning his 9th win. The big hit came in the 7th when McCutchen hit a 3 run HR off of Jaime Garcia. Inoue earned his 3rd save as he got the last 2 outs of the 9th inning.
• 6/17: STL 3, PIT 7 - A.J. Burnett made a rousing return to as he pitched 8 innings allowing 2 earned to pick up the win and had the Pittsburgh fans on their feet when Hurdle pulled him in the 8th.
• 6/18: STL 2, PIT 3 - Strong start by Wandy (7.1 IP 2 ER) and the bullpen shut em down until McCutchen hit a walk off HR in the 10th. Marte was also big for us going 2-3 with 2 RBI.
• 6/19: STL 7, PIT 5 - Thought we might have a chance for a sweep after a 2 run HR by Alvarez gave us the lead heading into the 9th but Hererra gave up a 3 run blast to Oscar Tavarez who killed us all day (4-5 3 R 5 RBI) and that was all she wrote.
• 6/20: PIT 9, WAS 2 - Nice to see the bats break out for us. Pedro led the way (3-4 HR 2 RBI 3 RS) and Jed Lowrie chipped in with a HR and 4 RBI to give Lincecum (6 IP 2 ER) his 4th win of the season.
• 6/21: PIT 9, WAS 2 - Liriano pitched a heck of a game (9 IP 2 ER 5 H 2 BB 4 K's) to earn his 10th victory. The bats came alive with McCutchen hitting his 14th HR, Lowrie driving in 3 runs and Davis knocking in a pair as we copied our score from yesterday.
• 6/22: PIT 3, WAS 2 - Burnett did well in his 2nd start of the season (6 IP 2 ER) and the bullpen held them the rest of the way as we went ahead on an RBI single by Russell Martin in the 8th inning. Perez earned his 4th save of the year in the 9th.

We came up big as a team this week. The series sweep of a very good Nationals team was huge for us. The bats woke up this week which was definitley part of it but I can't stress enough how much the bullpen has meant to this team. We are ranked 3rd in the league in bullpen ERA and they just seem to always be able to keep us in the game through 9 full innings. Chris Perez has been pitching much better over the last couple weeks so we feel he has earned his closer's role back. Herrera will be the left handed set up man with Jhan Marinez working as the right handed late inning reliever. We now head to Chicago to play a hot Cubs team whom we only lead by a half game in the NL Central.

Who's Hot: Jed Lowrie 7-22 2 HR 10 RBI 3 RS, Pedro Alvarez 10-27 2 HR 5 RBI 7 RS, Starling Marte NL Player of the Week, Francisco Liriano 2-0 15.1 IP 13 H 4 ER 5 BB 9 K's
Who's Not: Neil Walker 4-31 7 K's

Next Week: 4 @ CHI, 3 vs. LAA

News from around the league:

AL Player of the Week: 2B Dustin Ackley (SEA) 10-16 1 HR 8 RBI 3 RS
NL Player of the Week: RF Starling Marte (PIT) 14-29 0 HR 6 RBI 4 RS

6/18: LF Ryan Braun (MIL) Out 4 weeks with a sprained ankle.
6/15: Toronto and Houston have agreed on a trade that will send 29 year old SP Bud Norris and $3 mil. in cash to the Blue Jays with 19 year old minor league SS Andy McGuire and 19 year old minor league 3B Dawel Lugo going to the Astros.
6/15: The Yankees have acquired 27 year old SP Andrew Cashner from the Padres in exchange for 21 year old minor league 3B Colin Moran and 20 year old minor league 2B Christopher Tamarez.
6/22: The Phillies have acquired 27 year old minor league LF Derrick Mitchell and 22 year old minor league 2B Alejandro Villalobos from the Royals in exchange for 30 year old RF John Mayberry Jr.
6/22: The White Sox have traded 29 year old SP John Danks to the Cubs in exchange for 21 year old minor league 2B Daniel Lockhart and 22 year old minor league LF Kevin Encarnacion.
6/23: RF Oswaldo Arcia (MIN) Out 6-7 months with a concussion.