[Bub13]

Month #2 gets underway with the completion of our road swing in Texas and Boston. The rest of the month gives us three days off, for a total of 28 games, equally split at home and on the road. As usual, we'll see everyone in the division, including home series against Houston and California. I tweaked the batting lineup a bit, and also made one roster adjustment, calling up AAA catcher Bentley Kolb for his first taste of MLB action while Covington rests on the DL. I waive/DFA RP Jeremy Black, as he's the least likely player to get claimed on waivers. Although if we lose him, we lose him.

May 1-2 @ TEXAS
Finishing up this series. We dropped the first game. Can't keep doing that.

HAW pitchers: RH Josh Irvin (1-2, 4.80) / Biff Skiff (1-1, 5.15)
TEX pitchers: RH Jesus Aguilar (4-1, 2.92) / LH Noah Sims (0-0, 13.50)

#29: LOSS 6-10 ... bad blood: three HBP lead to two bench-clearing brawls and four ejections...oh, and we officially can't get anyone out now
#30: LOSS 2-3 ... better pitching from Skiff, but no offense tonight...and Johnson is done as closer, blowing another save: 0 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 R

Just terrible all-around. The only plus here is that no one got injured.... Those brawls led to four suspensions, which of course we got the worse of. Josh Irvin (9 games!) and Doug Pederson (four) are out, as opposed to two Rangers cretins who got 4 and 2 games in comparison. And the fun thing about suspensions? You can't replace the players, as they're still on the roster! Stupid.... ELSEWHERE: It saddens me to say that, 30 games into the season, no team is in single digits in victories. I've been getting used to 50-win (and below!) teams of late.... Big props to the Hawaii pitchers who helped Rangers LF Mike Olivera bring his average up to a league-leading .408. Giants SS Mitch Elmore tops everyone, however, at .415.... Hey, it's a good thing I knew Shamar Jackson was washed up! Especially after he emailed me a pic of his "April NL Pitcher of the Month" award, for going 5-0 with a 2.45 ERA with St Louis. Shoot me.


May 3-5 @ BOSTON
Now we pile into the cah, off to happy fun land, in hopes of recovering a bit from that last series. The Sox have started slowly, at 12-18, but are just four games out of first in the East. Almost no one is hitting, and the team places 15th in runs, dead last in AVG. Leadoff man Dan Larson is batting .325, and #2 guy Alex Sierra .294, but outside of tossing in Rich Dragos' 9 HR, there's a lot of sadness in the lineup. Pitching is mid-pack, at 9th in runs allowed. Soph Kaoru Tanaka (3-1, 3.09) has been the lone bright spot, however. None of this should be surprising, really, as MLB picked them to win just 56 games. Weird thing is, this team has so much money, and so much free cash (11th in budget, but 23rd in payroll), that losing like this is solely due to mismanagement. (*cough*TaxWriteoff*cough*) The good news is that the prospect system ranks 6th, despite only having one sure thing (#2 guy Yuya Watabe, currently in the pen but who should be in the rotation by the all-star break, imo). #1 guy Angelo Luna is an 18-year-old in the international complex, and those guys almost NEVER fail to pan out, right?

HAW pitchers: RH Chris Liles (2-1, 8.16) / LH Matt Waugh (4-1, 1.60) / RH Mike Bader (1-2, 3.63)
BOS pitchers: RH Josh Williamson (0-1, 6.00) / LH Jonathan Esquivel (1-0, 4.32) / RH Arturo Verdazco (2-3, 5.09)

#31: WIN 9-1 ... Liles shows up: complete game 7-hitter...Matson homers, getting red hot after moving into the #3 slot
#32: WIN 4-1 ... a solid 5-hitter through 8 IP for Waugh, and Collier earns his first save...a bases-loaded double by Daley is our big hit
#33: WIN 4-2 ... Bader walks 4, but escapes with minimal damage...three RBI doubles are keys tonight, and Collier saves another, how nice

Ahhh, very good. At 20-13, we're back to a game behind Texas, and will be gunning for revenge soon enough.... Odd lineup in that third game, with J.J. Simmons batting cleanup: yep, Mr. "8 HR in 8 Seasons" was our power bat for that game.... Two saves, two shutout innings for Collier as closer. I'd almost forgotten what that's like. Btw, Johnson's ERA is over ten now.... ELSEWHERE: Philly creamed San Diego 25-4 on the back of ELEVEN home runs. And one bench-clearing brawl, natch. No beanballs here, but man it's getting ugly out there of late.... Detroit and Chicago share the AL Central at 25-8, the only two teams with single-digit losses.... The NL West is still under water, with zero winning teams right now. Last place Arizona, at 13-20, is only three games out of first.


May 6-8 vs DETROIT
Oh man, am I glad we swept Boston, since we're playing one of the hottest teams in the game right now in Detroit. Although they haven't been the powerhouse hitting team this year, at only 8th in runs and 9th in HR, they have the best pitching going in the AL. Just three batters are hitting .300, but it turns out that us basically giving them 3B D.J. Grace (.383/5/18) was a real boon, who coulda guessed it. Everyone has at least ten RBI, and only one batter is below .250, so there's at least production all up and the down the lineup. In the rotation, three guys have ERA below four, a rarity these days; and closer Jose Hernandez has fanned 16 in 11 innings and owns a 0.82 ERA with a 0.55 WHIP. Oh, and the prospect system? #1, baby. Although it's a little concerning that their top two guys--OFs Roberto Gomez and Manny Molina--are on the shelf with long-term injuries. Throw in another OF, #4 Donnie Bloomberg, and they've got their next outfield nearly ready to go, should they all recover. Damn them all to hell.

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (1-1, 4.05) / RH Biff Skiff (1-1, 4.43) / RH Chris Liles (3-1, 6.59)
DET pitchers: LH Carlos Zenon (4-2, 3.02) / RH Joe Britton (2-3, 5.30) / LH T.J. Carroll (4-1, 3.59)

#34: LOSS 4-6 ... we outhit them 17-8, dammit...Collier destroys my recent good will by giving up FIVE runs in the 9th to blow it, sigh
#35: WIN 8-2 ... 2 HR from Matson, and 7 solid IP from Skiff...no pen blowup either, shockingly...tied for first again, too
#36: WIN 2-0 ... Liles is sharp again, going the distance and allowing just 4 hits...HR for Daley, and 2 hits apiece for Lynn and Goodloe

A nice comeback after the heartbreak of game one.... Still 6th in runs, mostly because we're also just 6th in OBP and now 13th in HR.... Bentley Kolb has hit 6-for-14 since getting called up, and Hiro Wakabayashi is down to just .167. With Covington coming off the DL in two days, I might have to move out the vet instead of the rookie.... Despite his blast in that last game, Cam Daley is batting .255 with 5 HR. Not exactly earning that extension, Cam.... I moved Matson up from sixth to third in the lineup, and he's reponded with 15 hits (and 4 HR) in eight games.... ELSEWHERE: Three teams are now at .500 in the NL West, praise be.... Philly is finally living up to MLB's prediction from two years ago: league-best batting, with 78 HR and 222 runs in 36 games, but near-last pitching, allowing 209 runs.... White Sox ace Luke Weaver is 8 for 8 in his starts, helping the Sox to a league-best 27-9 start.


May 10-12 vs HOUSTON
Still hanging in, in the topsy-turvy AL West, at 21-15 and a game out of first. Second in runs scored (23 more than us!) and third in runs against, for a +58 differential already. OF Kevin Mazurowski has played 35 games this year, and saw 62 last year: his .321/17/35 this season is already better than last year's numbers. RF Matt Dippel has made 20 starts in place of the injured J.R. Hansen, and has only gone .367/8/19. So yeah, they can hit. Although the staff has decent numbers across the board, no one really stands out, beyond #5 SP Pat Wise and his 3.43 ERA. Former Isles? SP Tim Ciotta was a free agent disappointment a couple years back; now he's the #1 SP here, and doing okay, but on for only 1.0 WAR. Also, he's not an old Isle, but Matt Sargent Jr, son of our former manager Matt Sargent, is in AA, but will probably only top out at the next level.

HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (5-1, 1.53) / RH Mike Bader (2-2, 3.42) / RH Mike Pearse (1-1, 3.00)
HOU pitchers: RH Ron Mills (2-3, 5.74) / RH Chris James (3-1, 3.78) / RH Alex Trujillo (3-1, 4.57)

#37: WIN 6-3 ... we go a little slack with a 6-0 lead, but hold on...2-run HR by Goodloe, solo shot from Daley...6 IP from Waugh
#38: WIN 5-2 ... strong 7 IP from Bader, fanning 8...2 H, 2 RBI by Royer, batting .383 now
#39: WIN 16-3 ... 3 hits for Lynn, Daley, and Matson, plus 2 bombs from Daley...7 doubles too...solid start from Pearse

Very strong--and surprising--series here.... Our pitching is going great guns right now, first in runs against, and so Josh Irvin--back from suspension--will move to the pen and long relief.... The third base platoon is hitting on all cylinders too: Royer has 112 AB and is .384/7/30, while Ulkini has 33 AB and is at .364/2/5. Not surprisingly, the fielding side isn't great, with Royer fielding at a .944 clip and -1.8 ZR, Ulkini at .957 and -0.1.... ELSEWHERE: KC outfielder Julius Burrows--we sent him away in the Liles trade, remember--is batting .344 and holding on to a 31-game hitting streak. But he just now tore his labrum and is out for the year. At 16-23, KC isn't going anywhere anyway, but it still stings.... Since it's former Isle week, Pirates 1B Chris Goldthwait is still slugging away, leading the NL with 16 HR and 41 RBI.... Three-way tie atop the NL West, with LA, SF, and Austin all finally above .500, at 20-19.


May 13-15 @ OAKLAND
Now 21-18, four games out of first: 2nd in runs scored, but way back in 16th in pitching. Three pitchers are on the shelf, but at least C Roger Morales and OF Danny Venegas will come off the DL in a couple of days, helping out an already-solid offense. Felix Reyes has kept up his power game, leading the AL wit 18 HR, while Ryan Walton has 15. Former Isles? None on the big club, but 2B Scott Bachant is in AAA Sacramento, where he's been fo ten seasons now. He hits .300 every year with solid defense, but a lack of power (16 HR in 14 minor league seasons), has kept him from ever taking that final step.

HAW pitchers: RH Biff Skiff (2-1, 4.18) / RH Chris Liles (4-1, 5.40) / LH Matt Waugh (6-1, 1.68)
OAK pitchers: RH Conrad Robertson (1-2, 7.36) / LH Mike Thomas (2-3, 6.51) / LH Chris Larimer (5-2, 3.73)

#40: WIN 3-2 ... five runs, five solo HR. Simple...Matson hits the winner in the top of the 10th...we outhit them 12-6, with Lynn going 4-for-5
#41: WIN 7-6 ... another extra inning winning HR, this one from Groff in the 10th...4 hits by Frederick, back from rehab, including a solo HR too
#42: WIN 6-5 ... 6 more HR, combined, including 4 from the bad guys...Pederson wins this one with a 2-run 8th inning blast

Another sweep! And against the hated A's! Eight straight wins too. I'll take it.... We're getting healthy again, with Covington back from the DL, and Frederick from his rehab stint. The outfield is little crowded now, with Daley, Lynn, and Pederson all hitting well, and Freds wanting his starting slot back.... With Freds back, we send Stephen Eason to AAA, after batting just .216 in 37 AB. Santa Barbara is off to its own hot start, sitting at 22-5.... ELSEWHERE: Hawaii ties Chicago and Detroit at 28-14, tops in baseball. Toronto and Montreal are at the bottom, 15-27 each. Oh, Canada.... Oakland's Reyes now has 21 HR, while Texas OF Mike Olivera leads everyone at .408.... Baltimore finally looks like a decent team again, at 22-20 and an 8-game winning streak.

......

TL;DR Version: A very nice start to the month, 11-3, and three sweeps. We're now 28-14 and in first place by three games over Texas. Team runs now sit 5th, starting to catch up to the other stats (2nd in AVG, 3rd in OBP). Five regulars are batting over. 300, and Pederson (12) and Medici (10) have reached double figures in HR. Pitching is now first in runs against, with the top rotation in the AL, but an 11th place bullpen.