[Bub13]

May has to be a better month, right? Let's hope. Twenty-eight games, thirteen at home, fifteen on the road. We'll see everyone in the division again. Can we get some better pitching this month? Is there an 800 number I can try?

May 1-3 @ SEATTLE
Not hitting (15th), not pitching (17th), with a -38 run differential. And yet they have the same record we do, 13-14. *Bitter laughing.* 2B Jose Rodriguez (.330/10/22) and 1B Jon Terrell (.344/6/21) are the hitting stars, while Shaun Ostrander is the only SP throwing consistently well. Future watch: 11th ranked system, three guys in the top 100. OF Paul Stough is tops (#13), looks like a huge power bat. P John Warner (#48) looks a lot like our top pitching prospects...but that's not really working for us right now.

HAW pitchers: RH Henry Skiffington (3-2, 6.03) / RH Mike Bader (0-2, 5.17) / LH Shane Walker (season debut)
SEA pitchers: RH Dan Welker (2-2, 4.21) / LH Shaun Ostrander (3-0, 3.19) / RH Ron Voss (1-0, 5.40)

#28: LOSS 1-4 ... more hits? check...worse pitching? check...season in a nutshell
#29: WIN 18-1 ... lol what...26 hits, 8 walks, runs in every inning but the 9th...probably should have saved some of these for later...5 hits for Grace
#30: WIN 7-4 ... 15 more hits, so we're still drumming out the baserunners...4 hits, 5 RBI from Daley...2nd straight game with 2 doubles by Groff

Back to winning series 2-1. A marked improvement, and we're back at .500.... The offense is really humming in most respects: 1st in AVG, OBP, fewest strikeouts, 2nd in doubles. But with only 19 HR (next to last; we have 19 and the team ahead of us has 35) our SLG is 14th, despite all those runners. Other than trading for a power bat--which I'm avoiding for now--the only thing to do is keep hitting and hope our guys come around. We have plenty of guys who can hit 20-30 in an average year; but almost everyone is on pace for well under that. Law of averages has to take hold at some point, right? Let's just hope it's this year and not next.... The less said about our pitching, the better.... ELSEWHERE: Oakland and Atlanta lead MLB with 20 wins; KC is on the bottom with just 8, California has 9.... Thirty games into the season and the Giants have NINE players on the DL. Are they playing under a curse?


May 4-6 @ TAMPA BAY
Not really the team I wanted to see right now: 18-12, first in the East, 5th in runs and 6th in runs against. Leadoff and 3B Orlando Navarro leads the way at .367/7/23, and five other batters have six or more HR. (I wonder what that's like...) Pitching looks more hit-or-miss, although John Odom (1.75 ERA) has been great from the #5 slot, but closer Roberto Melo sports a gaudy 10.95 ERA. Former Isle Rich Stoneback signed on for four years over the winter, but hasn't gotten on track yet, at only .188/2/6. But at least he's healthy for a change. First-year manager Julian Morillo is pushing all the right buttons so far. Team budget is 19th, payroll 17th. Owner Stuart Sternberg is all about profit, but seems to have figured out that you can make more money with a fun playoff team than with a pile of deadbeats.

HAW pitchers: RH Shamar Jackson (2-2, 5.84) / RH Josh Irvin (1-0, 5.25) / RH Biff Skiff (3-3, 5.72)
TBR pitchers: RH Carlos Munoz (5-0, 3.73) / RH Greg Drake (3-2, 6.75) / RH Travis Calhoun (1-2, 3.40)

#31: LOSS 1-11 ... 3 hits, -4 HR differential too...grand slam for Stoneback too, yippee!
#32: WIN 12-3 ... our turn: 18 hits, GRAND SLAM for Groff, and 4-for-4 from Matson...we used four pinch hitters too, for some reason
#33: WIN 2-0 ... pitching! Skiff tosses a 4-hit CG, fanning 5...3 hits and a triple for Simmons, 2 hits and a triple for Groff

Hey, two more wins! Jackson, after that start, looks like he's regressing to the stone age. Stinkeroo.... First time in a while that four SP have ERA below five.... Still batting an inflated team average of .316, and we finally reached 20 HR on the season.... 27 steals, if you're keeping count.... ELSEWHERE: Oakland's Felix Reyes keeps banging homers, up to 19 now. That's a pace for 93, which seems eminently reachable. In the race between Reyes and our entire team, we're +1 at the moment.... Seven wins in a row for Boston, bringing them up to 15-18 after their terrible start.... 13 saves out of 14 team wins for Brookyln's Kymani Rhymes.


May 7-9 vs MILWAUKEE
Last year's 80-win water treaders really sank beneath the waves out of the gate, going 9-18 last month. A 5-1 start to May has them feeling a bit better, however. They threw some huge chunks of cash at several free agents, but the lineup is only 14th in runs. Having said that, only rich old man Dan Starr is really struggling, at .179 at the plate, and a fairly immobile behemoth behind it. Fan fave CF Oscar Espinosa is batting just .260, about 35 points below his career average, but has already socked 11 HR. Pitching also ranks 14th, with a surprisingly solid pen--lead by new closer Xavier Pride--and a floundering rotation. HR-machine (not the good kind) Danny Salgado has been a pleasant surprise at the top of the rotation, but three vets needing bouncebacks after terrible '51s--Bryan Shaheen, Daniel Becker, and Ryan Crawley--have gotten even worse, with a combined ERA over 8. Manager SG Che nearly won a Series in his rookie season seven years ago, but has only made the playoffs once since then. With a 17th-ranked budget and a 10th-ranked payroll, owner Chris Attanasio is officially "worried," especially with attendance not ticking upwards. [NB: look at that SP match-up in the third game: you just know someone is going to throw a 2-hit shutout, right?]

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Bader (1-2, 4.24) / LH Shane Walker (1-0, 3.86) / RH Shamar Jackson (2-3, 6.80)
MIL pitchers: LH Daniel Becker (3-3, 6.89) / RH Danny Salgado (3-2, 2.86) / RH Ryan Crawley (0-6, 9.82)

#34: WIN 8-3 ... 11 H + 6 BB + 1 HPB = 8 runs. Very efficient...3 hits for Grace, now officially tearing it up, and 7 nice IP from Bader
#35: WIN 7-5 ... for once we're outhit (13 to 7) but come away with a win...a Burrows GRAND SLAM is the keynote, despite Walker yielding 3 HR in the 8th
#36: WIN 4-3 ... no promised shutout, but two well pitched outings...Lynn's 2-run single in the 6th is the GW...11th save for Johnson

Very satisfying series. Mike Bader has been really good of late, and even Jackson looked like a big league pitcher for once.... D.J. Grace is now batting .384, but with early season wackiness isn't even in the top three AL batters.... Johnson has 11 saves and a win in 15 outings.... Frederick is back from the DL in four days *knocks on wood* but will miss the Oakland series.... ELSEWHERE: Detroit (5 straight wins) and San Diego (8-2 of late) sit atop the leaderboards at 24-12. Boston is still hot, winning 9 out of 10 and getting to just two games below .500.... KC has dropped 5 straight and still has only 9 wins.... Boston's Rich Dragos (.415) and Atlanta's Michael Rinehart (.425) are last holdouts in the never-ending quest to break the .400 mark. Just 36 games into the season...think they can keep it up? Sure, why not.... Cincy's Cris Frias is on pace for 441 K, while Oakland Felix Reyes now has 21 HR, which would give him 95 if he keeps that going.


May 11-13 vs OAKLAND
They've slowed a bit, to just 5-4 this month, but are still atop the division at 22-14, tied with Texas. A big attack has them 2nd in runs and 1st in HR (with 88). Reyes you just read about; to him add ex-Isle John Cannon (10 HR) and surprise 1B Justin Sandy (10 HR). Usual 40+ guy Ryan Walton has "only" 7, but will likely get it in gear soon. Pitching sits 8th in runs. The rotation looks a bit wobbly of late, as only ace Jim Schwartz is still looking sharp. Closer Tim Stoner (6.28 ERA) hasn't been good, but the pen still ranks 4th in ERA. Former Isles prospect Jayden Grant has been tossed up on the shore here after five years with KC and one in ATL. He's going great in the pen (1.32 ERA in 13.2 IP) but is a bit cranky because he'd rather be a terrible starter instead. Despite being fleeced for four quality pitching prospects by Cleveland a few months back, they still hung onto #7 prospect Tom Baker and #32 Josh Foggie, two guys who are just a developed changeup away from becoming top-of-the-rotation guys.

HAW pitchers: RH Josh Irvin (2-0, 4.91) / RH Biff Skiff (4-3, 4.66) / RH Mike Bader (2-2, 3.99)
OAK pitchers: RH Conrad Robertson (1-3, 8.24) / RH Jim Schwartz (5-1, 3.02) / LH Chris Larimer (5-1, 4.37)

#37: WIN 2-1 ... Irvin goes 8, fanning 9 with zero walks...Groff shows up, going 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI...Johnson notches another save
#38: WIN 5-3 ... 7 H, 3 RBI, and 5 R from the top three, and Skiff is sharp enough through 7, and the pen shuts them down for the final six outs
#39: LOSS 8-16 ... dang...we actually managed 15 hits, to their 16...but they added 5 HR...Groff did knock a GRAND SLAM, the 12th of his career

That last one was pretty ugly, huh. That ended our seven-game winning streak, put our pitching back to 13th in runs allowed, and dropped us into a tie with Houston for third in the division.... Speaking of that, I knew the division would be tough this year: Texas leads, Oakland is a game back, then Houston and us another game behind.... Frederick comes off the DL and goes 3-for-4 in his first game back. Josh Hed (2-for-9, 1 HR) goes back to AAA. He looked decent, and will get another look, in September at least.... ELSEWHERE: KC finally won their 10th game, and are just a game behind the hapless Angels.... Cleveland's Victor Guillen came off the DL and requalified for the batting race, moving into 2nd at .411. He's also got 18 HR in 112 AB, which seems pretty good.... KC isn't winning games but does have 38-year-old Vinny Vargas, who needs just a couple good seasons to reach 3000 career hits. He's batting .366 this season, so of course the Royals have moved him into a platoon role. (He went 7-for-10 in his last series.).... Detroit lost CF Luis Rodela for the season. Rodela banged 51 HR last year, and had 13 so far this season. He's out with post-concussion symptoms, not good. (Teammate Pat Townsand just reached the 20 HR mark.) Plus: I just noticed that Rodela's replacement in center is relief pitcher Brian Carney.

......

TL;DR Version: An improved 9-3 this month has pushed us back to five games over .500, 22-17. Like I said above, the division is tough this year, and we'll face Texas and Houston over the final half of the month. We're still smacking hits to the tune of a .316 average and getting on base at a .378 clip, but are only 6th in runs scored. Our 24 HR is only one ahead of Oakland's Reyes, so it's possible that is a key reason why we're struggling for any kind of sustained scoring success. Pitching ranks 13th in runs, and has been all over the map. The pen, however, did look pretty good until that last game against the A's. I'm trying to remain optimistic tho.