Originally posted by joshuaaaaaa, Long Beach Surfers GM. (Remember what I said about him being a pretty prolific writer...)
Despite being outscored 37-30, the Surfers won 6 of the 10 games played in mid-June to improve to 55-44, still tied with Seattle atop the FLP standings and 3 games up in the Wild Card standings. Lonf Beach defeated Las Vegas in the series finale, then lost 2 of 3 to Buffalo before bouncing back to take 2 of 3 from both New Orleans and Atlantic City. The team was shut out twice and scored more than 4 runs only twice. The team gave up 3 or less runs in 6 of the 10 games and even notched a shutout. For a change of pace, lets do a game by game review.
July 11:
Long Beach 5, Las Vegas 1 - A 3 run homerun by
Donnie Rotten in the 3rd breaks a 1-1 tie and the Surfers cruise behind
Ken Gladden, who tosses a complete game 6 hitter for his 13th win.
July 12:
Buffalo 3, Long Beach 0 - The Surfers manage only 4 singles against Richard Tolleson and Melvin Ripken, spoiling a solid outing by
Tim Regina, who falls to 11-5 on the year.
July 13:
Long Beach 4, Buffalo 3 -
Brian Fantana's 2 run homerun with 1 down in the bottom of the 9th caps a comeback from an early 3-0 deficit. In his MBBA debut,
Ramon Ayala has a rough first inning, then settles down and tosses a complete game, allowing 8 hits and 2 walks while striking out 10.
July 14:
Buffalo 9, Long Beach 0 - Once again, the Surfers are unable to score against Buffalo pitching, this time Angus MacGyver.
Curt Wilson is knocked around for 6 earned runs in 7 innings and falls to 7-7 on the season.
July 15:
Long Beach 4, New Orleans 3 in 10 innings - A 2 run homerun by
Adrian Cabrera in the top of the 9th off of Gunga ties this one and
Ice Cube wins it with another homerun off of Gunga in the top of the 10th.
Rob Dibble picks up the win in relief of
Sam Morton, who has his best outing in some time.
July 16:
New Orleans 6, Long Beach 3 - Ken Gladden allows 4 runs (2 earned) in 6 innings to take the loss and fall to 13-8.
Tim Scott allows runs for the first time in 1995 to put the game farther out of reach.
Ted Sale and
Billy Ashley both homer in the loss, its just not enough.
July 17:
Long Beach 2, New Orleans 0 - Tim Regina tosses 7 shutout innings and 3 relievers combine to complete the 6 hit shutout. The Surfers only get 6 hits of their own, the two critical ones being a run scoring double by Brian Fantana and a run scoring single by Ice Cube in the 2nd inning that provided the games only runs.
July 18:
Long Beach 7, Atlantic City 4 - Long Beach touches up Oriol Hernandez for 5 runs in the bottom of the first, keyed by homeruns by Adrian Cabrera and
Mazz and help Ramon Ayala move to 2-0 in his young MBBA career. Ayala gives up 4 runs in 8 innings, allowing 7 hits and 1 walk while striking out 9. Rob Dibble pitches the 9th for his 24th save.
July 19:
Long Beach 3, Atlantic City 1 - Curt Wilson tosses 8 innings of 4 hit ball and Rob Dibble moves to 25 for 25 in save opportunities as the Sufers stifle the Gamblers offense.
David Hulse has a 3 hit day for the Surfers and Billy Ashley's homerun in the 4th gives the Surfers their 2nd run of the game, which was all they needed.
July 20:
Atlantic City 7, Long Beach 2 - Sam Morton falls to 3-9 after giving up 6 runs in 6 innings as his not-so-slow deterioration continues. The Surfers score both of their runs via the long ball, as Ted Sale and Ice Cube go deep.
The Surfers haven't made any trades, but are still searching for another starting pitcher to replace Morton, assuming
Charlie Lindquist isn't recalled from AAA Santa Monica.