[Bub13]

[With a couple of weeks off, I hope to get back to playing and posting more. Thanks for reading!]

May 16-18 @ TORONTO
Last in the East, 15-27, but only eight games out. The offense is dragging, 16th in runs and near-bottom in almost every other category. Leadoff guy Corey Murray is hitting .326, and 1B Ian Logan has 14 HR, but that's pretty much it for production. Pitching ranks 12th, with the rotation far outpacing the pen. Four pitchers--three of them starters--are also on the DL, which doesn't help matters. Manager Paul Trashini, who went unemployed last year after three straight playoff appearances with Miami, hasn't been able to work any magic yet. Team budget is 24th, but payroll is only 32nd, so they're also not spending to get better right now. They won 81 games last year but their last playoff appearance came in 2040. With only two players ranked in the top ten positionally, and a middling prospect pool, near-term improvement is no sure thing.

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Bader (3-2, 3.32) / RH Mike Pearse (2-1, 3.27) / RH Biff Skiff (3-1, 3.86)
TOR pitchers: RH Adam Arriaga (2-2, 5.49) / RH Jaden Buchanan (3-5, 4.41) / RH Josh Gordon (1-2, 6.16)

#43: WIN 10-0 ... combined 4-hitter, but Bader leaves after 2 IP...HR and 4 RBI from Ulkini, and HR from Pederson and Matson
#44: WIN 9-8 ... 19 hits and 8 walks...we also allow 15 hits...everyone gets a hit: 4 by Simmons, 3 for Matson
#45: WIN 9-1 ... Matson homers again, Medici adds one too...Skiff goes the distance, allowing six hits...4 more hits by Simmons

Feels good, man. We're riding on an 11-game winning streak now, and are three games up on Texas.... Offense is now up to 4th place; pitching in first.... Bader's injury is just dtd, he won't miss a start.... Waugh leads all AL pitchers in all-star voting, but no teammate is close anywhere else.... ELSEWHERE: Others on streaks include the Mets, winners of 7 straight, and six-game losing streaks for Brooklyn and Milwaukee.... no more .400 hitters are left, but Hawaii's Josh Matson has sped to a league-leading .392; while Giants SS Mitch Elmore tops everyone at .398.... 43-year-old Cards pitcher Ryan Galletto announced his retirement at the end of the year, then went out and one-hit the Reds. Galletto was a 4-5 WAR guy at his best, and was effective through age 39. He'll retire with over 55 WAR and 180 wins.


May 20-22 vs CALIFORNIA
The Angels have dropped to the bottom of the division, 18-27, although they are an almost-respectable 8-9 this month. The offense ranks 16th, and only Mauricio Marquez (.347/10/31) looks to be showing up right now. Pitching is an okay 10th: a couple of middle relievers, and starters Ryan Kuehner and Jay Sanford have looked solid. That's it. I should probably expect our winning streak to come crashing down, shouldn't I.

HAW pitchers: RH Chris Liles (4-1, 5.56) / LH Matt Waugh (6-1, 2.11) / RH Mike Bader (3-2, 3.21)
CAL pitchers: RH Jay Sanford (2-5, 3.29) / RH George Millard (1-5, 5.40) / RH Ryan Kuehner (3-3, 3.97)

#46: WIN 5-4 ... down 4-0 in the 9th, we tie it on Pederson's 3-run blast and Ulkini's RBI single...Medici wins it in the 10th with a single
#47: WIN 9-1 ... Waugh pitches all but the final out, and Royer goes 4-for-4 with 2 RBI...3 hits for Daley, lots for everyone else too
#48: LOSS 7-12 ... our turn to lose it late, giving up 5 in the last 3 innings...Bader is shelled through 2.2 IP, Irvin and Kearns not much better in relief

Awww, dang, the streak is over. Still, two out of three is okay.... Royer went 9-for-13 and is now batting .404. His platoon status means he isn't qualified for the the batting title race, however.... Everyone is contributing at the moment, and the team is batting .313, which is only good for *second* in the AL. Wow.... We're 2nd in AL steals with 45, but rank just 15th in total baserunning. Why? Dunno, but maybe we're getting thrown out at the plate a lot. Or maybe we're just kinda dumb.... ELSEWHERE: A rarity: Zephs pitcher Marvin Diaz tossed a ten inning no-hitter, beating the Pirates 3-0. This is the first MLB no-no since Conor MacLeod tossed one in September, 2051.... Phillies OF Rick Logston exploded onto the scene last year by going .343/44/110. His follow-up? Merely .367/25/56 so far, in 47 GP. Nothing special.... Milwaukee is the latest to go cold, dropping 9 straight and falling to the bottom of the Central at 19-29. Guess who we've got next?


May 23-25 vs MILWAUKEE
The ice-cold Brewers come to town, looking to break out of their nine-game funk. Hitting ranks 17th, and pitching one worse, at 18th and dead last. There are few bright spots. Leadoff man Emilio Valdez is batting .294, and the middle of the lineup has popped 40 HR (but only hitting a combined .250). The rotation is a mess right now, but closer Xavier Pride has been fantastic, with a 0.83 ERA, 0.74 WHIP, and 11 saves. Former Isle RP Dan Brown has an ERA near twenty, while 3B Dante Padilla has 11 HR. Ancient catcher Dan Starr has a pending injury: at 42, I suspect it might just be fatal.

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (2-1, 4.06) / RH Biff Skiff (4-1, 3.49) / RH Chris Liles (4-1, 5.40)
MIL pitchers: RH John Landers (4-2, 6.10) / RH Louwe Bergman (2-5, 6.10) / RH Danny Salgado, 2-6, 4.32)

#49: WIN 6-5 ... we blow a 5-1 lead, but Covington saves it with a double in the 8th...Pearse is meh through six, meaning Irvin might get another shot at SP
#50: WIN 9-2 ... four HR tonight and Skiff's CG tell the tale...everyone got a hit but Matson, but who's complaining
#51: LOSS 2-8 ... Liles manages just four outs, ouch...only five hits for us, probably just tired

Tired bats are heavy bats, explaining that last game.... Matson's .385 average has him on top of the AL. Royer's batting .392, but is about ten PA short of qualifying.... Lynn has gotten hot too, raising his average 50 points this month, up to .321.... Remember our '51 draft, when we added four supplemental picks to our existing first rounder, and took five pitchers? How are they coming along, you ask? Well, in order: Andy Burke has declined to AAA-ish ceilings; Travis Harris has been healthy enough for just ten starts in his two-plus seasons; Elias Tena (the only RP) has control issues and an ERA over 9 in AAA; Manny Reyes still has promise, but is two months away from making his first pitch of this season, and has made only seven starts as an Isles prospect; and Larry Hensley, after making 14, 11, and 9 starts so far, just blew out his elbow and may be done for good. Sigh, you just never know do you.... ELSEWHERE: Turmoil in the AL East, as the Yankees win six in a row to surge to the top, at 28-23; Chicago and Detroit have stretched the gap to 11 games over third place Cleveland; and Texas has kept a three-game deficit to the hot Islanders.... Those White Sox have MLB's best offense: scoring 351 runs, and tops in every major offensive category except HR, where they're fourth.... Detroit's 35-year-old ace Raul Bravo is just four games from 200 career wins. He only trails LA's Eric Jones (my man!) on the active leaderboard. Jones has 221, but finds himself as a $10.5M AAA pitcher, in steep decline. Aging sucks.


May 26-28 @ SEATTLE
Still over .500, at 26-25 and tied for fourth with Oakland. The offense has come into shape, at 6th in runs. Nobody is really studding it up, but newbie Sam Moore (brought over from TOR) is batting .290/15/32, about 30+ points higher than his career average. Even Arturo Sena--usually good for 30 HR and a nifty .190ish average--is batting .247. Rookie OF Paul Stough has 12 HR on the season, and by this time next year could be one of the true power hitting monsters in the game. (Just what we need, another Texas in the division.) Pitching has been a chore, however, only 17th in runs against, and the worst rotation going: the top three SP on the staff all have ERA over six. Dan Crews has made three starts since returning from injury, so he'll help. But losing rookie Phil Bishop and his awesome-by-comparison 4.22 ERA for the year does hurt. But the pen looks good, so if they can get ANY kind of semisolid starting pitching going, they could possibly make a push for a wildcard.

HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (7-1, 1.98) / RH Mike Bader (3-2, 4.06) / RH Mike Pearse (2-1, 4.33)
SEA pitchers: RH Dan Welker (3-4, 7.47) / RH Chris Grauer (3-4, 7.21) / RH Dan Crews (1-1, 2.18)

#52: WIN 10-5 ... Waugh isn't sharp but we bail him out with 16 hits...everyone gets on base, with Matson leading the way with 3 H, 3 RBI
#53: WIN 7-5 ... Medici's two-run shot caps a five-run 6th, sealing the win...Matson stays hot with two doubles...Bader is meh, bullpen is stout
#54: LOSS 4-5 ... we can't make a 3-0 lead hold up, and lose it in the 10th...Germann and Collier combine to blow it, giving up 3 late runs

Back on the two-out-of-three train, I see. Sweeps are nice, but a .667 win pct? Also nice.... Texas is keeping up that three game gap, too. No pressure, guys.... Jules Medici started a little slowly, but like everyone else has come on of late, now batting .318/14/36.... AAA Santa Barbara has cooled off, dropping six of their last seven. And they've slotted a guy hitting .140 into the leadoff role. Wtf.... ELSEWHERE: Nine straight wins now for the Yanks, opening up a five game lead over the Rays.... Philly's 3B Byron Wilmoth had himself a game, knocking five hits--including 2 HR and a Cycle--in a 10-2 pasting of the Cubs. Those Phils still have the best offense in the NL by a wide margin, but near-bottom pitching is keeping them in a tight race with the Mets.... And speaking of the Mets, the Wilponers have quietly built themselves a nice team, 2nd in offense and 3rd in pitching, for a 32-22 record.


May 30-31 vs BALTIMORE
So it's surprising that the recently-putrid O's are tied for third in the East, which sounds pretty good. But they're also four games under .500, so let's not get carried away just yet. Hitting still lacks punch, at 14th in runs and 17th in average. 1B Miguel Echevaria is carrying most of the load, at .261/13/34, and DH Paul Stroot is batting .294. Elsewhere...it's a desert. Pitching is fine, sitting at 8th in runs against, although closer Michael Buckland isn't helping with his rancid 5.54 ERA and 12 BB in 20 IP. Former Isles RP Dan Neumann--who couldn't get anyone out after I traded for him last year--has found religion and a 1.47 ERA, so bully for him, the loser. Manager Shermayn Balentien has one of the best names going in MLB, although the fact that he likes yelling at everyone is causing some unrest in the clubhouse. Owner Reg Ehrlich has meted out a tiny budget (35th), a tiny payroll (also 35th), has few expectations, yet is VERY UPSET about something. Yacht prices on the rise.

HAW pitchers: RH Biff Skiff (5-1, 3.32) / RH Chris Liles (4-2, 6.24)
BAL pitchers: RH Bob Garner (4-3, 4.30) / RH Cody Brown (3-4, 5.35)

#55: WIN 6-1 ... CG for Skiff, and Groff turns back the clock with a 2 HR and 4 RBI night off the bench
#56: WIN 6-3 ... a 4-0 lead after two holds up tonight...Pederson's 2-run shot in the 1st is the big blow, and Lynn adds 2 RBI on a pair of doubles

Solid way to close out a strong month, and maintaining a four game lead over Texas.... Goodloe has been quietly effective all season, but did just see a 29-game hitting streak end. He's batting .305 on the year, and last failed to get a hit on 4/26, before that final game here.... ELSEWHERE: The Yankees win streak is now 11, putting them 6 up on Tampa Bay. That's the largest division lead going so far.... Philly's Rick Logston is the closest to a Triple Crown right now: 3rd in average, 1st in HR and RBI.... Quite a spread in AL team fielding stats: Detroit leads with a +16.9 ZR, while Oakland trails everyone at -16.9.

......

TL;DR Version: May was just tremendous: going 22-6, bringing us up to 39-17 overall and 4 games ahead of Texas. While pitching is still going well--2nd in runs against--the offensive recovery really sparked the turnaround. We're batting .311, with six regulars hitting over .300, and two others over .280. The only guy not going well is catcher Mike Covington, at .238, but he's at least fielding well and getting on base well above his average. On the staff, Liles is still struggling, with a 5.93 ERA, and former closer Kyle Johnson is still over 8...which is still lower than he was when I moved him to a setup role. Defensively, while we're tied for the fewest errors, our team ZR ranks just 12th. And RF Doug Pederson is leading most every rookie batting stat in the AL. Let's see if we can keep it going into June...