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21 May 2050
GM’s notebook - Series 15 and 16
Magpies 1-2 Phoenix
Magpies 7-1 Phoenix
Magpies 0-4 Phoenix
Baton Rouge 7-3 Magpies
Baton Rouge 1-9 Magpies
Baton Rouge 7-9 Magpies
- Phoenix’s starter Kenny Young (7-0, 2.65) had too much for us in the opener down in Arizona. We have faced a couple of the game’s premier pitchers in the last couple of days, but that’s the fourth game in the row where the offense has struggled to get anything going.
- I made a change to the batting order vs righties in an effort to get something going on offense. Ángel Márquez moves to #3, Gonzalo Torralda (.999 OPS) moves up to #5, and Ángel Ochoa move down to #6.
- That seemed to work, as the new lineup scored 7 the next day. Enrique Limón went 2-3 with a HR and a walk. Tom Hart threw a beauty of a game: 9 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K.
- But the next day, 8 hits against our former starter Derek Jenkins failed to yield a run.
- Baton Rouge won the first game in our series after scoring 4 runs in the top of the 11th to break the 3-3 tie. The Magpies fans were muttering after Gabe Copeland threw 2 scoreless innings for the Deltas, but Ken James, his replacement as our closer, allowed 2 runs without retiring a batter.
- Hopeless St. Paul (13-33) have traded their veteran superstar and 7-time Outstanding Hitter winner Sam Jordan to Raleigh in exchange for 20-year-old shortstop Pedro De La Garza. Rockets’ fans are absolutely up in arms about the move. In principle, it’s a good move to shift a large veteran contract for prospects for a rebuild, but Jordan was a very special case. And the Rockets did not get enough of a return to justify the trade, in my opinion. De La Garza is a defense-first shortstop.
- The 9-1 victory in game two against the Deltas was a brilliant performance. Israel Padilla was again magnificent (9 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 H), as were Jeffrey White (3-4, HR, DBL) and Terry Lawrence (3-4, DBL, 2 SB).
- We sit only 4 games above .500 and are 5 games back from the Brown Bears. Yet we are 1st in the Western League for runs scored (225), 2nd for runs against (172), 1st in batting average (.274), 2nd in team ERA (2.26) and 1st for defensive efficiency (.732). We are 4 games behind our Pythagorean record of 30-18. My conclusion: don’t panic, we’re playing well.
This week: 3-3
Record: 26-22, =2nd place, 5 GB from Madison
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