So, if you haven't read my other recent posts... I am in my inaugural season as manager of the rookie league Titusville Barracudas in my league. They're not all that good, although after a brutal 12-game losing streak I have managed to turn things around a bit recently, going 16-6 in June. That is, until I ran into the interleague buzzsaw called the Ft. Myers Bluegills. They currently lead all teams in the 12-team league with a 45-20 record on the season. First game of the three-game set, they rode a 5-run fourth to a 6-1 victory.
Second game, the wheels came off. ALL of them. Including some I didn't know I even had. As manager, I don't do any GMing at all, but just days earlier my GM had depleted my pitching staff, leaving me with just 9 pitchers (5 starters, 4 relievers), so I set aside my house rules for a moment and at least signed a few bullpen arms. Now, this is for rookie ball, so I picked up rookies, just for realism. One righty and one southpaw.
Anyway, SP Ned Scott had been decent good so far this season, comparatively speaking, with a FIP- of 105, almost 1 strikeout per inning, and a 1.34 WHIP. Not today. They tuned him up for 6 runs in 4 innings.
In comes Ralph Miles, my most reliable long reliever. 5 runs in 2.1 innings. Meanwhile, our bats are silent through six. Not a no hitter, but no runs either.
At this point, I'm thinking, "I need someone to just eat up these innings. My bullpen is already tired, I just want to get out of here and go home!" So, I bring in recent scrap-heap signee "Wynn Belt."
Please note Wynn's impressive line:
That's right, he gave up NINE RUNS without getting an out. And somehow, even more impressively, only one of the runs was earned! He came in with the bases loaded. All three of those guys scored. (He also had the gall to tell me he was "fine" when I went to the mound to delay a bit while I warmed up another pitcher haha.)
Although, honestly, I'm not sure how that works. Here's what the game log looked like:
Anyway, quite a debut, eh?