[Bub13]

May 1-2 @ HOUSTON
Wrapping up our three-game set against the FIRST PLACE Astros...

HAW pitchers: Khalil Palmer (3-0, 3.49) / Ryan Ratliff (1-0, 2.25)
HOU pitchers: Chris Harris (1-1, 5.26) / Dustin Springer (3-2, 2.92)

#26: LOSS 1-3 ... how nice that we give up Hi-yuan Qu's first big league home run; and first two doubles; and first four-hit game...we only muster a weak five singles tonight
#27: WIN 9-8 ... this one was tied 4-4 after 8, and only went 9...7 doubles out of 15 hits tonight...Willard goes 1.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, and gets the win, huzzah

Well, that last game was pretty ugly for the bullpen, but a win is a win, and avoids the sweep.... Trying to jumpstart Simmons (.289), I swap him with Klein (.316) from leadoff to the #8 spot. *shrugs* I dunno either.... Ramirez blows a save in that last game, and his ERA is now up to 6.23. I need a voodoo doll, or an exorcist, or something for this guy.... ELSEWHERE: Yee-haw! It's only May 2nd and already everybody in Boston's clubhouse hates everybody else. Congrats guys!.... Somebody named Alvin Phillips is leading the AL in WAR (with 2.0) atm. He had earned 2.1 WAR combined in 263 games over the previous two seasons. So, way to step it up, mystery man. Oh, it says here he's in a contract year. Say no more.... Cubs RF Ryan Annand is not having a time of it in his first starting season: 1 HR in 86 AB, with a wicked slash of .140/.174/.186. And Seattle's Brett McGee has been a pretty fair starter for them for several years now. But not yet this year: in 5 starts he's 0-4 with an 8.80 ERA, and has given up 50 H (and 14 HR) in just 29.2 innings.


May 3-6 @ LA ANGELS
Part of the muddled middle/bottom in the AL West, as once you're past Houston and us you get to four teams vying for last place. The Angels are 12-16, are 9th in runs and 11th in runs against, with a -2 run differential. They are hitting more than they're scoring, and their starters have the 3rd best ERA in the AL. Signs of life, then. Over the winter they lost superstar 2B Juan Rodriquez, and replace him with last year's DH, Shamel Jackson; he's hitting .306, but with little power, or anything else really. They did address losing the big guy's bat by signing OF Coby Sandu, who hits a ton of home runs (four seasons of 45+ HR), but is an indifferent fielder and is generally lazy and slapdash. They also added SP Jon Carlsen (from CIN), who, at 27, is the oldest starter in the rotation. I'm not surprised these guys are pitching well, as top to bottom it's a pretty solid group. Manager: Miguel Rodriguez, who somehow has parlayed a 21-year (non-managerial) career in Mexico into into nine blah years with the Yankees and now a third season with the Angels. Owner: Arturo Moreno, Jr., another tolerant economizer. He's delighted--delighted!--with a losing team that doesn't draw well.

HAW pitchers: Eric Jones (3-1, 3.09) / Tim Pinksen (5-0, 2.65) / Taylor Barnett (3-2, 3.44) / Khalil Palmer (3-1, 3.57)
LAA pitchers: Arturo Sosa (1-0, 4.78) / Jon Carlsen (1-2, 2.97) / Noah Sims (1-3, 4.85) / Alex Diaz (3-0, 2.50)

#28: WIN 9-2 ... Klein leads off the game with a HR, and we don't look back...throw in 13 more hits and NINE walks, and we're good...complete game for Jones
#29: WIN 13-9 ... 5 in the 6th, and 7 in the 8th, helped out by Klump's GRAND SLAM and a pile of doubles...the pen flounders again, giving up 6 more runs...Pinksen hurt
#30: WIN 10-7 ... 3 hits for Groff, 3 RBI for Davila...we walk nine more times tonight...Barnett gives up 5 in the first, but calms down after that to allow us to catch up
#31: WIN 7-3 ... 14 hits, and the offense is just on fire this series...Palmer fans 10 in 6 IP...Masuda hurt running the bases. Note: never run guys

Did not expect this, even against the struggling Angels. And with Houston getting swept by Seattle, we suddenly find ourselves in first place, 2.5 games up.... Pinksen just has a strained oblique and won't miss any starts.... I move some parts around in the bullpen: Dan Brown is finally reinstalled as closer, Ramirez goes from closer to setup, Willard goes to MR, and Nick Kramer moves to the other setup role. Everybody but Brown has an ERA over 4.50.... ELSEWHERE: Four teams have won 20 games: Milwaukee (22), Baltimore (21), Hawaii (20), and the Mets (20).... Washington has just 10 wins, and is on a 6-game losing streak.... Brooklyn's Chris White (.444) and Baltimore's Cesar Alvarenga (.407), are the only batters remaining above the Ted Williams line.... San Diego signed John Cannon away from us, and while he's just batting .212, he is leading the NL with 10 HR, and is helping to power the Padres to the top of the NL West, at 19-12.


May 7-10 vs SEATTLE
Both teams are riding 5-game winning streaks coming into this series. Playoff atmosphere! In May! Seattle finally is starting to look like the playoff contender I picked them to be this off-season. Third in runs, 2nd in HR, but pitching...oy...17th in runs against. Former Angel Juan Rodriquez has been as advertised (.358/7/19), but the surprise is that they're hitting so well with two of their other big guns--OF Aaron Harrison and OF Mike Wapner--on the DL. Miguel Moreno won the AL Cy Young last year, and has picked right up where he left off, at 2-0 with a 2.14 ERA. But their bottom three starters are a combined 1-11 with a 7.90 ERA. Manager: Jose Jimenez, in his sixth season. Owner: Adam Yamauchi, who is UNMERCIFUL, like Emperor Ming, yet charitable. He's also a meddling profit-hog. Keep me far, far away from this guy.

HAW pitchers: Ryan Ratliff (1-0, 1.80) / Eric Jones (4-1, 2.86) / Tim Pinksen (5-0, 2.95) / Taylor Barnett (4-2, 4.12)
SEA pitchers: Miguel Moreno (2-0, 2.14) / Brett McGee (0-4, 8.83) / Carlos Zenon 1-3, 6.91) / Steve Maki (3-2, 4.19)

#32: WIN 18-1 ... wow, this against Moreno too...hits were 21 to 3...3 HR for us, and 4 RBI for Klump and Davila, and a HR for Sanborn (see below)
#33: WIN 5-3 ... Groff homers again (last night as well), and Jones throws another solid, low-key 8 IP...Brown does his job and earns a save in the 9th
#34: WIN 4-1 ... Pinksen gets another win, despite us being outhit tonight...2 RBI for Heath, in a rare start, and another save for Brown
#35: LOSS 1-3 ... streak ends with a flat effort...Barnett is fine through 6 IP, then gets hurt...2 more hits for Sanborn, having a nice restart to his MLB career

That last loss took the shine off a bit, but three out of four is still fabulous. We're 23-12 now, 4.5 up on Houston.... From our LA series: Sen Masuda suffered a hip strain, and will miss 5-6 weeks. We call up 1B/DH Chris Sanborn, batting .342 in AAA. He did fine this series, going 6-for-16 with a HR and 5 RBI.... Barnett has a dtd injury, back tightness, which is expected to last 1-2 weeks. I'm not sure what to do with him atm; Rob Hart came off the DL and started a rehab stint in AAA, looking very rusty in his first start (3 ER, 5 IP, 3 K, 3 BB). If I put Barnett on the DL, I might just give our two-way wonder boy, Phil Lasky, a shot at the rotation. Dunno yet.... ELSEWHERE: Detroit's Raul Bravo tied a dynasty record with a 19-K effort against the White Sox. Dave Gonzalez (CLE, 2038) and Hall member Jon Talley (TB, 2026), also had 19 strikeout games.... Only Chris White (BKN) is now batting above .400. It's not something I think anyone will ever do again, but it's always fun to see how late into the season someone can go. I'll be shocked if he's still above .400 at the end of the month.... White also leads the bigs with 3.3 WAR, and is tied for 1st in NL home runs, and 2nd in RBI.... Toronto, bless their hearts, is still starting Jordan Cruz at short. In 31 games, he's batting .144 with 1 HR and 2 RBI. And 48 K in 111 AB. That's pretty bad, you say. But wait: Cincy's Antonio Chamorro has fanned 58 times in 113 AB, and STL's Jonathan Salas 54 in 111. These guys are getting paid for this!


May 11-13 vs PITTSBURGH
Interleague Play is finally here! Everyone's been clamoring for it, seriously. First up, Pittsburgh: at 18-17, they're already 1/3 of the way towards matching last year's victory total. The offense has holes, but is producing: 7th in runs, 4th in AVG, but only 13th in OBP and HR. LF Jimmy Taylor is having a breakout season (at 31), batting .341, and 3B D.J. Flores is hitting .306, about 40 points higher than his career average. Pitching is also decent: 8th in runs against. SP Manny Gomez and David Fults are carrying the load right now, and new closer James Clemons has 9 saves. For fans longing for the glory days of the '20s, they've got some nice prospects coming too: SS Phil Laybolt and 2B Cortez Ortiz look like a keystone combination for a decade. Manager: Nathan Culp, in his third year, and with a fine .373 winning percentage. Owner: Ecstatic 84-year-old Robert Nutting, a tolerant penny-pincher.

HAW pitchers: Khalil Palmer (4-1, 3.27) / Ryan Ratliff (2-0, 1.21) / Eric Jones (5-1, 2.94)
PIT pitchers: Manny Gomez (2-1, 2.13) / Chris Liles (2-2, 5.35) / Daniel Brister (1-1, 5.96)

#36: WIN 6-1 ... another GRAND SLAM for Klump, and a complete game with 9 K from Palmer...2 RBI double for Simmons, now hitting .310 after moving to 8th
#37: WIN 3-1 ... only 11 combined hits (6 to 5, us) in this one, but we manage 7 walks in addition...Ratliff goes 8, fans 7, while Brown strikes out the side in the 9th
#38: WIN 7-4 ... Klein busts loose, with 4 singles and 3 RBI, and Groff hits a 2-run triple...Jones gives up 4 R in 7 IP, but the pen proves stout tonight, setting down six straight to close

I don't know how that switch got thrown, but now we're winning games all sorts of ways, when we couldn't buy much over the first two weeks. The patchwork rotation is still holding up, and while not everyone is hitting right now, we've got five regulars batting over .300.... I'm not putting Barnett on the DL. He'll probably be affected for only one start, and a couple of injuries on farm teams means I'd rather not stretch those staffs any more for the moment.... ELSEWHERE: Portland is the current hot team, having won 8 in a row and 9 out of 10. They're now 20-18, so not setting things on fire overall. They haven't had a winning season, btw, since 2042.... CHW's catcher Dan "35 Million Dollar Man" Starr becomes the fourth active player to reach 400 career home runs. He's also now fifth all-time in home runs for catchers, and trails leader Devin "Soon-to-be-HoFer" Ransberger by 89 dingers.


May 14-16 vs CHICAGO CUBS
The Cubs haven't really been a playoff threat since the late '30s, but are currently tied for first at 22-17. Hitting has been a real drag, 18th in runs, and 17th in AVG and OBP. Three regulars are hitting at a sub-Mendoza clip, and two others just barely above it. Pitching has been just the opposite: 1st in runs against, with the 2nd best starters ERA and best bullpen ERA. Closer Tim Wormald has been fantastic, with a 0.44 ERA and 27 K in 20 IP. Manager: Alexis Lara, in his 6th year. Owner: David Woronski, described as lenient, charitable, and meddling. He's worried, too, despite all his owner goals being in the black at the moment.

HAW pitchers: Tim Pinksen (6-0, 2.66) / Taylor Barnett (4-3, 4.17) / Khalil Palmer (5-1, 2.86)
CHC pitchers: Tim Ciotta (3-1, 2.02) / Danny Zarate (1-3, 6.11) / John Baldwin (1-3, 6.81)

#39: LOSS 0-10 ... oof...oddly, this is the first loss as an Islander for Pinksen, after 12 straight wins...only five hits for us...this is a week's scoring for the Cubs
#40: WIN 3-2 ... scoreless after 9, all runs were scored in the 10th...Sanborn's 2-run HR tied it, and Klein's RBI single won it...bullpen has been cranky (again) this series
#41: WIN 12-8 ... leads of 6-1 and 7-2 vanish, until a 5-run 8th wins it, spaked by JHart's 3-run blast...he also had a 2-run shot earlier, and drove in 6 runs tonight

Nice series, hitting-wise. The bullpen was trash, tho, giving up 10 of the 20 runs.... Attendance is down too, 15% per game. Despite our recent World Series success (and, uh, occasional lack thereof) and fielding yet another winning team, our fans are proving incredibly fickle. FINE WE'LL JUST TRADE EVERYONE THEN.... Barnett pitched well despite his tight back, and Eric Jones now has the flu. We have a day off coming tho, so both should be good to go in our next series.... ELSEWHERE: Ten wins in a row now for Portland, who find themselves a 1/2 game out of first, now that LA has lost 4 straight. Yeah, I know, it's only May.... Washington has been hapless for nearly a generation: their last playoff visit was in 2031, and they've only had four winning seasons since. After a decade at the bottom of the NL East, the combination of savvy free agent signings and homegrown youth finally paid off in a hopeful 86-win season last year. This year: 13-27, dead last in MLB. No hitting, and worse pitching. Sorry guys.

......

TL;DR Version: A nifty 13-3 start to May is fine by me. At the quarter pole we're 28-13, now 4.5 games up on Houston. Hitting is league-best, and we're actually 7th in runs against, despite my constant kvetching. One worrying spot is our 14th-ranked bullpen. Even the normally reliable Pat Stanley is struggling: 7.16 ERA, 20 H and 6 HR in 16 IP. So after the Chicago series I send down Ben Willard (7.62 ERA), and call up Nate Moore (2.61, 6 SV in AAA). And Rob Hart is really not feeling it in his rehab stint: 2 starts, 8.00 ERA, 9 IP, 9 BB. Some good news from AAA is that two-way guy Phil Lasky is pitching really well, and is not embarrassing himself at the plate. I really have no idea what to do with him in the bigs, tbh.