Week 16 Notes: 4 at Maine (4-0), 3 vs Ohio (2-1)
· 07/20: MI 7, ME 2 – Gustavo Garza 4-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R – Steve Muller 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
· Muller had just had the dreaded snowflake hung on him, so lets see if that solid start drops it from his name. Garza is now hitting .400 since his call-up last week.
· The Motors announced today that they have extended star 2B Brandon Sublet's contract for three more seasons. He will make 7.2M per season for each of the three years.
· Sublet's arbitration estimate was almost 7.6M and it appears he is only getting better, so this extension could be a real bargain.
· 07/21: MI 1, ME 0 – Rob Higgin 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (11-5, 3.31) – Brandon Sublet 2-4, R
· Zach Lux suffered a concussion making a play going into the wall in the 7th inning and is now expected to miss 2 months with post-concussion syndrome.
· Rodrigo Miranda was activated from the disabled list today. With the injury to Lux, we will forego his rehab assignment and bring him right to the big club.
· 07/22: MI 4, ME 3 (11) – Rodrigo Miranda 3-6, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R – Jose Cuevas 8.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 10 K
· Miranda apparently did not miss a beat, hitting a lead-off home run on his first pitch back off Maine hurler Gavin Beshears to start his 3-6 day.
· Skipper Ramos has a day-to-day injury, and according to Motors policy, he will miss the next 4 days of action.
· 07/23: MI 13, ME 4 – Brandon Sublet 4-5, HR, 8 RBI – Jesse Cook 3-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI – Jim Jeansonne 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, 1-3, RBI
· Brandon Sublet set the ESL record for RBI in a game with his 8 RBI performance, and Joe Nicholas tied the ESL record for runs scored with 4. He was 4-4 with a walk and the four runs.
· It feels great to get a sweep of anyone, even if Maine is tied for the second-worst record in all of USB at 35-61. It feels even better to be playing well with first place Ohio coming to town.
· Going into the three-game set, the Motors trail the Aviators by 3.5 games. The Pennsylvania Keystones sit in 2nd only a game back of Ohio.
· 07/24: OH 9, MI 5 – Chris Hague (OH) 3-4, HR, 2 RBI, 3 R – Adam Penney 2-5, now on a 12-game hitting streak.
· Wyoming GM Jamie Knupp called us up with a trade offer, which we accepted. We trade minor league SP Gordie Tanner and CL David Linder for SP Danny Hernandez and $1.32M.
· The cash was what really got this deal done. Hernandez is a 26 year old starter with 3 pitches all rated a 60 on the 20-80.
· Tanner and Linder were minor prospects, but we picked up a solid relief prospect just recently in CL Josh Babb.
· 07/25: MI 4, OH 3 (10) – Steve Muller 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 9 K (ND) – Jesse Cook 1-3, HR, 3 RBI, BB
· Chris Kearns picked up the win after blowing his 4th save in 21 chances. He is such a talented pitcher, but he's not inspiring confidence currently.
· 07/26: MI 5, OH 1 – Rob Higgin 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 2 K, W (12-5, 3.21) – Steve Krauskopf 3-4, 2 RBI
· His twelfth win brings Higgin into a tie for the most wins in the USB! The win also keeps us only 2.5 games behind Ohio, with Pennsylvania still lurking one game back.
· Next Week: 2 at Kentucky, 4 at Alabama –
TRADING DEADLINE FRIDAY!