[Bub13]

August 15-17 vs KANSAS CITY
With our next four series coming against some AL bottom-dwellers, we have got to make up some ground these next two weeks. Starting with the AL-worst Royals, at 42-78. Hitting is 17th in runs, pitching 15th, for a -143 differential. Julius Burrows has been rock solid since we traded him, batting .347/11/32, and 1B Tim Chapman is batting .273 in leadoff. LF Dan Dellinger was batting .340 until a recent high ankle sprain; he's out for an unknown length of time. The other part of the Liles trade, pitcher Greg Van Tilburg, has been in and out of the rotation, and with a 5.27 ERA, he's been a bit better for them than he was for us. Yet another former Isle, Nick Kramer, is the closer: 5.63 ERA, 18 saves.

HAW pitchers: RH Shamar Jackson (10-8, 5.00) / RH Chris Liles (5-7, 3.59) / RH Josh Irvin (10-4, 4.22)
KCR pitchers: RH Adam Grossman (3-12, 5.31) / RH Arturo Bernal (4-11, 5.96) / LH Greg Van Tilburg (4-5, 5.83)

#121: WIN 10-3 ... Medici salts this one away with a GRAND SLAM in the 7th...4 hits for Daley...8.1 strong IP from Jackson too
#122: LOSS 4-5 ... we outhit them 11-6, and Liles goes 9 IP, fanning 10...two of his runs were unearned...Johnson, tho, blows it in the 10th
#123: WIN 4-3 ... only six hits, but we add ten walks too...we fall behind in the 8th, tie it in the bottom half, then win in the 9th

Whew, saving some face again in that final game. Wakabayashi walked three times in that game, then Medici pinch hit for him in the 9th, and also walked.... Much better pitching over these games. I guess it takes a terrible offense to whip us into shape. Eh, it'll do.... Still, we lose a game to both Oakland and Texas.... ELSEWHERE: Atlanta took a big blow when Cy Young front-runner Jose Gutierrez tore his labrum and will miss the rest of the season. They're well behind the Philles (13 games), but sitting in the first wildcard slot at the moment.... NL Central update: Pittsburgh's won four straight, Chicago has lost five. The Cubs lead is now down to just three games.... Felix Reyes has 476 AB. Of those, 54 have left the park, but 147 have resulted in strikeouts. That's an All-or-Nothing rate of 42%.


August 18-20 @ NY YANKEES
The best team we'll face over this twelve-game stretch, at 58-65 and probably not heading to the post-season. Only 13th in runs, 15th in AVG. Best hitter Aaron Harrison (.286/27/84) is out, and OF Chris Mitchell (.266/30/85) can't do it all by himself. They signed unwanted free agent 3B Alexis Alonzo in early June, and he's batted .314 since. (He's also angry that he's not in the starting lineup, when...he is.) Leadoff man Aaron Blocker is hitting .229, just part of a fine trend of subpar leadoff batters around the league right now. Pitching is okay, 7th in runs against. Ace Elijah Bragg has been far and away their best pitcher, but vets Brian Whitney and Tim Mitchell have also been fine. As I mentioned earlier: five RP are on the DL, including a run of three closers over just a couple of weeks. New closer Joe Waggoner just earned his first MLB save a few days ago. Better store him safely, guys.

HAW pitchers: RH Biffy Skiffy (13-9, 4.73) / RH Mike Bader (10-8, 4.39) / RH Shamar Jackson (11-8, 4.91)
NYY pitchers: LH Jose Sedillo (4-7, 6.23) / LH Elijah Bragg (14-6, 3.57) / RH Bob Garner (4-12, 6.02)

#124: LOSS 4-5 ... we waste a 2-HR effort by Grace...Skiff is pulled in the 6th after allowing all five runs...back to mediocre hitting, I see
#125: WIN 6-0 ... HR for Frederick and Medici, and Bader goes 8 scoreless IP...why he's pulled with a 5-0 lead in the 8th is a mystery to me
#126: LOSS 1-7 ... good feelings evaporate in the 6th, when Jackson allows 3 HR and 6 runs...two more scoreless bullpen innings tho!

Listless. We're coming down to crunch time, and we look listless.... Pitching has been a little better, at least overall. But hitting is taking a downturn right when we need it.... Groff is down to .256, and has lost his place against LHP to Medici.... We're down to 8 games out of first, 3 behind Texas for second.... In some good news, Simmons is third in the batting race, at .346.... ELSEWHERE: LA is hot, winning eight in a row and opening up a six game lead over the Giants.... Division leads overall are opening up a bit. The closest are the AL West (Oakland-Texas) and the NL Central (Chicago-Pittsburgh), both at 5 games.


August 22-24 @ SEATTLE
The first of two series against the division's weak sisters, both on the road. The Mariners combine 12th-ranked hitting with AL-worst pitching. Time for our bats to wake up! 2B Jose Rodriguez has been a bright spot, at .297/36/78, while sophomore 1B Jon Terrell has 26 HR. The vets they signed this winter haven't worked out, although Isle flameout OF/P Daniel Newell has hit .280 in leadoff. Both the rotation and bullpen feature the league's worst ERA, with only two back-end RP having ERA below 4. I don't know if it's a positive or a negative that most of their top twenty or so players will be back again next year. (Although almost all of the aforementioned disappointing free agents won't be.)

HAW pitchers: RH Chris Liles (5-7, 3.48) / RH Josh Irvin (10-4, 4.09) / RH Biff Skiff (13-10, 4.78)
SEA pitchers: RH Jesus Aguilar (3-14, 7.48) / RH Dan Welker (9-11, 5.21) / RH Erik Ramey (7-11, 5.65)

#127: WIN 10-3 ... healthy hitting (17 hits) and a win for Liles...Simmons, Grace, and Daley all with 3 hits
#128: WIN 9-8 ... we blow an 8-0 lead but win on Grace's RBI single in the 10th...all five of Irvin's runs were unearned...Groff homers, a rarity now
#129: WIN 6-4 ... more late-inning heroics: Alonzo's 2-run HR in the 9th is the winner...Germann faces one batter, gets the win. Seems fair

Finally! Just what we needed, even though those last two weren't pretty.... We gain a game on Oakland, but none on Texas. Now seven games out of first. Still just two up on Tampa Bay for the second wildcard.... Matson suffers a dtd injury in the last game, so will probably sit out the next series. Anthony Booker also gets hurt, his diagnosis is pending. After a rough start to things in April, he's bounced back to a 3.23 ERA in 47.1 IP, and has stabilized the back part of the bullpen. Fingers crossed.... ELSEWHERE: William Swanson has probably already clinched the AL MVP, but he is only two HR behind Felix Reyes to take the triple crown.... No changes in any of the divisions, but the White Sox have gone 15-6 this month and have closed to just 8 behind the Tigers. They're seven games behind us in the wildcard standings.... With 805 runs scored, the Phillies have an outside shot at becoming the second NL team to score 1000 in a season.


August 25-27 @ CALIFORNIA
Their 55 wins looks much better than Seattle's 49, which means we'll probably struggle this series. Here we see a team with 14th-place hitting and 15th-ranked pitching. Rookie OF Maricio Marquez (.308/21/65) looks like the real deal, and 24-year-old Ricky Ochoa has 29 HR. On paper, the lineup looks half-decent, and they do have a decent (better than us) amount of HR, at 192. Pitching has fallen apart, tho, with two starters and two relievers now on the DL. They thrown in their #2 prospect, 23-year-old John Demerath, into the fire, and he's looked decent with a 2.16 ERA from the pen. They'll be counting on him for the rotation next year. It feels like a generation ago that this was the most-feared franchise in the AL.

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Bader (11-8, 4.18) / RH Shamar Jackson (11-9, 5.12) / RH Chris Liles (6-7, 3.38)
CAL pitchers: RH Jay Sanford (2-5, 5.23) / RH Nate Elder (5-11, 4.66) / RH Ryan Kuehner (9-11, 6.37)

#130: WIN 7-3 ... Frederick and Grace homer, and we add four more XBH...2 errors for Bader, but a CG...29th steal by Simmons, now batting .353
#131: LOSS 6-7 ... looking good until we give up runs in the 7th, 8th, and 9th...3 hits for Simmons, and Matson and Daley homer
#132: WIN 6-0 ... there's the Liles I trade for: 5 hits, 8 K, CG shutout...Matty and Freds homer again...everyone gets a hit, even Groff

Two wins is still good, but we lose a game to Oakland in the meantime. Still two behind Texas, but now three up on Tampa Bay in the wildcard race.... Some needed perspective on the season: our 78 wins is still tied for 5th best in all of baseball.... Groff has just 47 RBI, seventh among our hitters and the worst ever in his long career.... Booker's diagnosis comes in: stretched elbow ligament, out for ELEVEN months. Just how far did that thing stretch? So call up Deshawn Card for his first taste of MLB action. He's got average stuff and movement, but elite control. I thought about recalling one of Pearse, Kearns, or Yaung instead, but wanted to see some of another one of the kids, given that we'll be refiguring the pen yet again this winter. Card was a 2nd round pick in '49, and his stuff needs to be a liiiiittle bit better to get into the action for a spot in the rotation, which he really really wants.... ELSEWHERE: KC is the first team eliminated from the playoffs, and one of two teams with less than 50 wins (at 46; Baltimore has 49).... He hasn't been on the radar like he was last year, but Cincy's Cris Frias became the first pitcher to fan 300, after a 15 K outing against the Phils. He's struck out 311 batters; also has walked 117.


August 28-30 vs DETROIT
I talk up Oakland a lot, but these guys have been our real nemeses over the years, knocking some good squads out of the playoffs at least three times (too lazy to check right now), often in game five or game seven heartbreaks. Jerks. Once again, they're first in the Central, but the lead has closed to just 7 over the surging White Sox. Fifth in runs scored, 4th in runs against, for a +132 differential and a really balanced team. Third in HR with 240 too. Slugging CF Luis Rodela is done for the year, and his replacement Ed Haley, hasn't been up to snuff, batting just .220/1/14. 2B Hideki Matsuro is just off the DL, and has 2 HR in his first week back. Ace Raul Bravo has two shutouts in his last three starts, and #2 T.J. Carroll is the rare SP with an ERA under 3. Old (he's 37) vet Mike Head was a solid pickup for the pen (3.22, 7-3), but equally old Rafa Maldonado has not been: 8.03, 11 BB and 6 K in 24.2 IP. He's retiring at year's end, ending an 18-year career that has seen him win 2 Cy Youngs and 2 MVPs, win 224 games, and earn 102 WAR.

HAW pitchers: RH Josh Irvin (10-4, 3.95) / RH Biff Skiff (13-10, 4.78) / RH Mike Bader (12-8, 4.12)
DET pitchers: RH Tony Gamez (11-8, 4.35) / LH Carlos Zenon (11-7, 4.85) / LH Carlton Saunders (9-8, 4.35)

#133: WIN 6-1 ... Daley stays hot with another HR, and Irvin tosses a 4-hit CG, fanning 12
#134: WIN 4-3 ... Skiff goes 8 quality IP, but we only tie it on Ryder's RBI single in the 8th and win on Medici's walk-off HR in the 9th
#135: WIN 8-0 ... wow...Bader gives up just 3 hits, and Grace and Goodloe hits HR...Grace adds three more hits, and Waka and Goodloe also get 3

Very very surprising series here. Our pitching shows up for three straight games, for once, and we looked pretty comfortable at both ends of the team for nearly every inning.... Still, we gain nothing on Oakland, but get one on Texas: still 8 out of first, just one behind the Rangers. We're five up on Tampa Bay in the wildcard.... ELSEWHERE: Philly tops the charts with 90 wins, Oakland right behind with 89. The Cubs have the worst record for a division leader, at 73-62.... Baltimore is eliminated from the post-season in a Baltimore way: Mike Zulick goes ten innings, yielding just four hits and no earned runs. But loses on two unearned runs in the 10th.... Eleven straight losses for Montreal, now flirting with KC and BAL for the worst record.... The home run race has really slowed, but Felix Reyes (with 58) does have a chance to catch the all-time record of 73.

......

TL;DR Version: A much better 11-4 run here, especially that critical 8-1 finish. At 81-54, but 8 games out of first, we're probably not catching Oakland for the division, barring something really dramatic. But we have the fifth-best record in MLB right now, and we've solidified our wildcard standing. (Remember that wildcard playoffs are now best-of-three, not one-and-done, which surely won't bite us on the ass.) Key to this run has been some much better pitching: now 7th in runs against, and the rotation ERA has jumped to 6th place. Suddenly, three starters have ERA below 4.00 too. What a world. Now we need to keep it going, and solidify our playoff position, even if there's no catching Oakland.