Team Record: 31-55
Sim Record: 5-4
Games
7/1 - 5-4 loss vs Illinois - Steelman pitches well, but was kept in a little too long allowing 3 runs in the 7th and 8th innings to allow Illinois to tie the game up. Leroy Briscoe let up the winning run.
7/2 - 5-1 WIN vs New Mexico - John O'Parra went 6.2 innings allowing only 1 earned run to earn the win. Rafael Souza went 2 innings for the save. The big hitting story this game was Kyle Warner and his 3-4 day with 2 runs.
7/3 - 4-0 WIN vs New Mexico - Paul Long pitches a complete game, 3-hit shutout (with 3 Ks) and James Walsh has 3 hits, including a double and a triple, and 3 RBI.
7/4 - 2-1 WIN vs New Mexico - Alex Acevedo, fresh from AAA, pitches a 7 inning, 5 hit, 1 run gem to win player of the game in his very first major league appearance. He doesn't get the win, however, as Nori Mutsuhito grounds into a fielders choice which allows Kenneth Biel to come across with the winning run.
7/5 - 3-2 WIN vs Texas - We were up 3-0 early on and never allowed them to catch back up. Chet McKie allows 4 hits and 1 run in 7 innings and James Walsh again stars for us with 3 hits, 2 RBI, and a run for himself.
7/6 - 7-5 loss vs Texas (10 innings) - Arnie Stier allows 2 runs on 3 hits while causing zero outs to occur in the top of the 10th. Kind of wastes a 3-5 day by Walsh (3 RBI and a Run scored).
7/7 - 6-4 loss vs Texas - We just lost this one. Our pitching wasn't spectacular, O'Parra (4 runs) and Chee (2 runs) were the main culprits for the loss. Koenig went 3 for 3 and Oakley hit his 9th homerun of the year.
7/8 - Off Day
7/9 - 2-0 WIN @ Minnesota - Paul Long goes 6 innings allowing 6 hits, but zero runs. The bullpen finishes off the job. James Walsh (2) and Oscar Oakley (10) each hit solo homeruns.
7/10 - 3-1 loss @ Minnesota - When you don't score runs, you can't win. McKie allowed 3 runs in 6 innings, but the lone offense came when Richard Jerkins had a pinch-hit double and eventually scored on Jesus Carmona's fly out.
Standings
Code:
Great Explorers Standings
East
Team W L PCT GB Stk L10
Wisconsin 53 33 .616 - W4 5-5
Kansas 52 34 .605 1.0 W1 6-4
Texas 46 42 .523 8.0 W1 5-5
Illinois 43 44 .494 10.5 L2 4-6
Minnesota 34 52 .395 19.0 W1 4-6
New Mexico 26 61 .299 27.5 W1 2-8
West
Team W L PCT GB Stk L10
Washington 63 24 .724 - W5 9-1
Idaho 49 37 .570 13.5 L1 6-4
Utah 43 44 .494 20.0 L1 5-5
Nevada 40 46 .465 22.5 L5 4-6
California 40 48 .455 23.5 L1 4-6
Colorado 31 55 .360 31.5 L1 6-4
We are 3 games better than our pythagorean record. Yay! Seriously though, it looks like the races aren't even close. Wisconsin and Kansas have comanding leads to grab the spots in the East. No one is touching Washington. Idaho has a comfy lead for the Wild Card, and more than likely won't give it up.
Pitchers
Code:
Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K
s1 P. Long 16 16 5 8 0 4.28 94.2 104 49 45 21 28
s2 C. McKie 20 20 6 6 0 4.07 121.2 135 58 55 23 59
s3 C. Steelman 18 18 4 10 0 4.24 104.0 109 54 49 31 54
s4 A. Acevedo 1 1 0 0 0 1.29 7.0 5 1 1 3 3
s5 J. O'Parra 14 14 2 9 0 4.67 71.1 88 44 37 13 28
mr R. Souza 54 0 4 1 1 3.12 57.2 42 21 20 15 42
mr D. MacKenzie 33 0 2 2 0 4.44 48.2 50 31 24 20 16
mr B. Suggs 9 0 1 1 0 5.02 14.1 15 12 8 10 6
su W. Chee 36 0 3 1 8 4.82 37.1 38 20 20 16 27
su L. Briscoe 39 0 0 2 2 3.33 46.0 39 19 17 16 30
cl A. Stier 36 0 3 2 3 3.41 37.0 46 15 14 11 14
Where to start?
Long pitched out of his mind this sim allowing 0 runs in his 2 starts. Hopefully that's a sign of things to come.
I brought up Alex Acevedo to take over Crosswell's spot in the rotation. A donkey could throw better than that guy, so I thought I'd give someone else a shot. Acevedo was my (late) first round pick back in 2019. He never developed like I had hoped, mostly playing in AA for his time in the minors. But now he's getting pitching with the big boys. He'll eat up some innings for us, which is definitely a good thing. Especially considering that...
SAD NEWS:
I got an e-mail this week from Jose Langlois declaring that he was retiring effective immediately. His last game was on June 27th in the 17-11 win over his former team, the Nevada Dragons. He went 1.1 innings and allowed no hits or runs. We lost a good one in Langlois. He'll probably get nominated for the Hall of Fame, but probably won't be elected.
Lineup
Code:
Name G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG
1 LF L. Mingo 80 287 75 19 2 0 18 40 37 46 .261 .352 .341
2 C J. Walsh 79 284 86 17 3 2 41 30 23 36 .303 .354 .405
3 CF F. Diaz 82 298 80 15 2 5 29 30 18 54 .268 .315 .383
4 2B V. Koenig 83 289 91 6 0 5 33 34 24 33 .315 .374 .388
5 RF O. Oakley 82 302 61 7 3 10 32 24 28 68 .202 .271 .344
6 SS K. Warner 18 66 17 3 0 2 7 7 3 8 .258 .310 .394
7 1B S. McLaughlin 74 216 58 4 0 2 22 19 10 43 .269 .303 .315
8 3B J. Carmona 48 77 20 3 0 0 6 7 8 13 .260 .333 .299
A. Oberlin 64 125 28 5 1 2 15 8 7 16 .224 .281 .328
N. Mutsuhito 38 87 17 2 0 0 6 3 3 19 .195 .220 .218
C. Baker 51 84 15 4 0 2 6 9 5 15 .179 .225 .298
R. Jerkins 81 279 48 12 5 0 18 27 22 37 .172 .243 .251
K. Biel 44 79 13 5 0 0 5 8 5 14 .165 .212 .228
I'm just going to have to deal with the fact that our offense is awful right now. I'm not really looking to rush my prospects, so there is very little help this year. I wonder if any of our guys are going to make the All-Star game next week?
Team Rankings
Batting AVG: .242 (20th)
Homeruns: 39 (24th)
Walks: 212 (21st)
Stolen Bases: 63 (12th)
Runs Scored: 286 (23rd)
Pitching ERA: 4.41 (22nd)
Opponents AVG: .272 (20th)
HRs Allowed: 74 (19th)
Walks Allowed: 245 (11th)
Runs Allowed: 411 (21st)