[Bub13]

Trade deadline has come and gone. Some 18 trades were made across MLB; very few of them involved decent talent, and most of those featured relief pitchers. For our part, we made three deals, one of which I'm hoping will pay off. We needed a power bat (hello, Steve Wallace) and wanted to cut ties with a disappointing off-season pickup (goodbye, Tim Ciotta). And for the month, we'll have 26 games: 11 on the road, 15 at home.

August 1-2 @ TEXAS
Finishing off this series. Let's hope for some better results...

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (12-2, 2.83) / RH Dennis Perry (7-7, 4.69)
TEX pitchers: LH Bobby Daniel (9-8, 3.29) / RH Greg Buchanan (14-4, 3.60)

#108: WIN 6-5 ... two RBI singles, Simmons in the 8th and Goodloe in the 9th, tie and then win it
#109: LOSS 5-6 ... Groff's first HR in weeks isn't enough to overcome Perry's poor pitching...we outhit them 13-9, but it doesn't matter

We got one win, but we're still in a funk. One more road series then we get some home cooking for a couple of weeks.... Yi's injury is a sprained elbow; he'll miss 1-2 weeks. So we DL him and call up Kevin Walker. Walker, 23, was a supplemental round pick in '46 who's been winding his way through the system. He has 62 K in 46.2 IP in AAA, over 23 appearances. Big-time stuff, decent movement, but so-so control (see also: 21 walks). This is his first MLB recall.... ELSEWHERE: Portland's Gerardo Nieto's 3-HR game moved him to just 4 dingers behind NL leader Phil Imel (STL, with 36). Nieto leads NL batters in average (.369) and RBI (102).... Baltimore (37 wins) and Austin (39) are the last teams without at least 40 wins.... The NL East is the only division where every team has at least 50 wins: last place Brooklyn has 51. The next-closest is the AL Central, with KC at 46 wins.


August 4-6 @ NY YANKEES
The annual pilgrimage for Highlanders vs. Islanders. The everyday lineup is nearly intact from the team that won 92 and 104 games the last two years, but they just are not hitting this time around: 14th in runs, 17th in average. One big reason is the loss to injury of LF Chris Mitchell, a 44-HR guy from a year ago who's been limited to just 39 games. The Yanks did most of their off-season tinkering to the rotation, getting rid of three veterans, and only lately has the new setup responded. They're now 2nd in runs against, with the 5th best rotation ERA in the AL. Brian Whitney has yet to rebound from his early-season injury concerns, but big FA acquisition Elijah Bragg has been as advertised. And 30-year-old reclamation project Ed Holmes has been a revelation. Signing closer Rick Ramirez to a big contract in May helped the bullpen, as he has a 1.70 ERA and went to the All-Star game. Still, they've been up-and-down so far, alternating winning and losing months. July was a down month; so expect August to be better. Maybe just not yet, tho, huh?

HAW pitchers: RH Josh Irvin (debut) / LH Eric Jones (11-9, 4.06) / RH Shamar Jackson (13-4, 4.03)
NYY pitchers: LH Ed Holmes (2-0, 2.35) / RH Thomas Cannaday (2-5, 5.00) / RH Lee Robinson (6-12, 4.51)

#110: WIN 9-6 ... 4 hits, HR and 2 RBI from Daley, 2 hits and a 2-run HR from Groff...Irvin does okay in his debut, then Mahoney nearly blows it
#111: WIN 15-0 ... as if Jones' 1-hitter weren't enough...we blitz through three pitchers in a 12-run 3rd, racking up 23 hits...Jones is MLB 1st star for the day
#112: WIN 11-5 ... only 18 hits tonight...3-run HR for Wallace, and 3rd HR for Capp in the series...Jackson wins, but ERA keeps going up up

That's a way to snap out of a funk: 35 runs, 56 hits, and 8 HR.... Cappuccilli is making me rethink my off-season plans: he's batted .351 with 9 HR in mostly full-time play since 6/1. The lefty "platoon-only" guy is also batting .369 (24-for-65) against LHP. He's got another year of arbitration, so maybe keeping him on for another season isn't such a bad idea.... Irvin went 7 IP, 5 K, 1 BB, 3 ER, and the win in his debut.... AAA Santa Barbara is now 71-28. Other news from the minors: 26 guys currently have injuries, including 8 at AA.... ELSEWHERE: Division leads are still holding up, although there are a couple of races worth watching even at this early stage. Miami (+9 over Tampa), Detroit (+12.5 over Milwaukee), and Atlanta (+12 over NY Mets) have big leads. Pittsburgh still commands the NL Central by 7 over Cincy, but the Reds are still hot (9 wins in last 10) and moving up. In the NL West, Portland is 3.5 ahead of San Diego.... Detroit's Luis Rodela is the first to reach 40 HR.


August 8-10 vs TAMPA BAY
After our second day off in just the first week of the month, we come back to start a two-week homestand. The Rays are 61-50, but slipped in July and are now 9 games out of first. Sixth in runs, 9th in runs against, with a +32 run differential. 1B Vance Wise (.283/31/69), DH Jorge Arriola (.315/15/44), and LF Tim Marinaccio (.265/18/48) have led the offense. Few have impressed on the pitching staff: pretty much only SP D.J. Pasquarelli and closer Carlos Munoz (15 SV, 2.62) have done much. Former Isle Dante Padilla (.301/17/62) is out for another month, while other former Isle Ian McGowan (.226/17/39) is the starting CF. Fun fact: stadium capacity is just over 31K, and they've drawn at least 30K for every home game but one.

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (12-2, 3.04) / RH Dennis Perry (7-8, 4.88) / RH Josh Irvin (1-0, 3.86)
TBR pitchers: RH Travis Calhoun (6-7, 4.13) / RH D.J. Pasquarelli (9-7, 3.52) / Jon Jemison (7-8, 6.35)

#113: WIN 13-3 ... 17 more hits, including 2 HR and 5 RBI from Goodloe...11 K over 7 IP for Pearse, passing 200 K on the season
#114: LOSS 6-8 ... Goodloe and Groff homer, but Perry is pulled after 2 due to total ineffectiveness...14 hits, just not quite enough
#115: WIN 11-10 ... so many baserunners: 16 hits and 12 walks...20th HR for Daley...Irvin really struggles this time around

More offense, more! Our bats are on fire, pushing the team AVG to .304.... With good hitting, however, apparently comes some bad pitching. Pearse does well, but Perry continues to slide and Irvin gets a rude welcome in his second big-league start. At least the bullpen is holding things together, and newbie Kenny Walker hasn't been scored on in his first 4.2 IP.... Steve Wallace is batting .300 with 2 HR in 10 games since joining the squad.... ELSEWHERE: Seven wins in a row for Miami; they're off to Hawaii next.... Baltimore has 38 wins, the last team without 40.... Portland's Gerardo Nieto has reached 8.0 WAR, and has 110 RBI in 113 games. Philly's Ricky Hughes has 102, and has matched his HR total from last year, at 39.... Every Tiger regular has reached double figures in HR, and the team has hit 253 already. Still some work to reach their own MLB record of 314, set in '45.


August 11-13 vs MIAMI
Coming in hot, winners of nine straight, pushing their record to 73-41 and an 11-game lead over Tampa. The offense is 7th in runs and paced by winter signee David Von Eschen (.286/35/83) and Japanese newbie Toshi Shimabukuro (21 HR, .363 OBP). Pitching has been the real strength, the best in the AL at present. All five starters have ERA well below league average--unheard of!--and the only guy really struggling right now is closer Dwaine Webb (5.75 ERA). Five pitchers (including ace Matt Rubin) and SS Mario Rivera (for another week) are on the DL too. Fun fact: Can they get even better? Sure: #2 rated prospect Dustin Panos is already in the bullpen, and should be in the rotation next year. He'll be very good. And Willie "Richest Intl FA Ever" Maya is only 18 and perking along in rookie ball. He should be ready for the big time in, say, two years.

HAW pitchers: LH Eric Jones (12-9, 3.80) / RH Shamar Jackson (14-4, 4.12) / RH Mike Pearse (13-2, 3.06)
MIA pitchers: RH Norm Rowsell (8-5, 4.08) / LH Victor Nunez (12-7, 4.20) / LH Jason Mangiaracina (7-4, 3.71)

#116: WIN 9-5 ... 5 runs to open and 3 in the 7th to win it...4 hits and a solo HR for Groff, 2 HR and 6 RBI for Goodloe
#117: LOSS 3-4 ... the pen has been great, but Jackson is left in for all 9 innings and gives up three late runs...sigh
#118: LOSS 5-8 ... another HR for Groff, but a 6-run 4th kill us...five of those runs were unearned, thanks to errors from Matson and Rich

The two losses stinks, but we didn't play poorly. Sloppy play cost the third game, and sloppy coaching the second.... Groff has heated up, batting .476 with 6 HR this month; Goodloe too, with 21 RBI in 11 games (and player of the week just now).... Some inconsistent pitching looks like our bugaboo again coming down the stretch. Who knows who might get hot, but right now Jackson, Perry, and newbie Irvin are not impressing.... ELSEWHERE: 77 wins for Hawaii, 75 for Miami. Every division has a 70 game winner. And poor Baltimore: stuck at 39 wins.... It's been a while since we've heard from the Giants: they now have 14 players on the DL, including 8 SP and 4 RP. The latest is SP Damien Bejar. Three guys in their rotation right now started the season in AA.... Former Isle Ryan Ratliff leads the AL with 37 HR allowed. He's also sporting a 5.76 ERA.

......

TL;DR Version: We go 7-4 to start the month; 77-41 record overall, still best in the majors. Oakland has been playing well, and they're still hanging around at 9.5 games behind. We've scored 702 runs, 58 more than second place Detroit. And while we're near the bottom in HR (135; KC has the fewest with 116), we lead in AVG, OBP, OPS, wOBA, 2b, 3b, SB (and CS). We've also struck out 591 times; who's second? Tampa Bay with 875. Crazy. Pitching has been less impressive, but still solid: 2nd in runs against, 5th-ranked rotation ERA, 2nd bullpen. Mike Pearse is pushing for 'ace' recognition, and is definitely in the running for rookie of the year. And everyone in the pen has an ERA under 4.00. Don't think we've ever had that happen before.