[Bub13]

Final twelve games--four series--of the regular season. We stay on the road for the first two, then finish off things with two sets at home. Hoping to regain some momentum for the post-season. With the division clinched, we get to watch everyone else play for a bit, so our lineup should be set and rested, fingers crossed.

September 16-18 @ TEXAS
Would have been a dynamite series last year, with the division still in doubt. This year, the Rangers are hoping for a late push to reach 100 wins (they're 90-60), with a three-game lead over Chicago for the first wildcard slot, and eleven games over the trailing Yankees. No real changes from our last meet-up in August: the lineup is healthy, three regulars pitchers are done for the year, and they're still hitting and pitching well. Second-best record in baseball, and still a strong chance to repeat as champions. William Swanson (.320/60/151) is looking for his 4th MVP trophy, and 3rd in a row. Ryan Boers has banged out 52 home runs and leadoff batter Ronnie Halvorson has 42. Mike Olivera still leads all AL batters with a .370 average, and don't sleep on ho-hum #5 batter Eric Robbins, only hitting .344 with 38 home runs. A relentless lineup.

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (5-1, 3.81) / RH Mike Bader (15-6, 3.98) / RH Chris Liles (10-7, 5.45)
TEX pitchers: RH Paul Labbe (13-8, 4.45) / LH Steve Means (3-0, 2.55) / RH Jesus Aguilar (14-10, 5.00)

#151: WIN 4-3 ... 2 RBI from Lynn and one from Daley in a 3-run 9th for the win...3 hits for Frederick...3 shutout innings from the pen
#152: WIN 10-1 ... two HR by Royer, one by Daley, both now at 29...Bader leaves with an injury in the first
#153: WIN 7-5 ... Covington hits his 20th, Medici his 49th...4 hits for Lynn...Liles gets pushed around, but the pen nails it down late

There's some momentum regained.... Bader's injury is a tired arm, and he may miss his next start, or he may not. Life is full of mysteries.... Covington becomes the first catcher to hit 20 HR for us since Alexis Mercedes hit 30 back in '43.... Tenth win for RP Jordan Ruiz, giving us six pitchers in double figures.... Short A Poughkeepsie won their first round playoff series, sweeping State College in three.... ELSEWHERE: Although neither has clinched, Texas and Chicago look like sure bets for the AL wildcards, with NY's tragic number down to one.... Philly's magic number is now two, but they suffered a loss with 3B Byron Wilmoth (.321/27/66, 38 steals) out for the year.... The Cubs clinched a playoff spot, and in the NL West LA and SF are tied for the division lead.... All hail San Diego 2B Pat Eden, an excellent fielder but a genuine debacle at the plate. He has the worst WAR in baseball, -1.6, and is batting .143 with an OPS+ of 20. How he's made 69 starts is anyone's guess. He's also been intentionally walked five times, meaning there's maybe...someone...worse? in the lineup?


September 20-22 @ SEATTLE
Having sealed a second consecutive last-place finish in the division, the M's are also looking at a sub-70 win season. Much of the blame can be directed at the pitching staff: 16th in runs against, with the next-to-last rotation ERA, at 6.43. None of the starters has come through the season looking like anything approaching a big leaguer, except for Phil Bishop and Mario Portillo...and both spent much of the year on the DL. There is good news: the offense ranks 7th and only (vastly) overpaid vet Jose Rodriguez won't be back. Plus top pitching prospects Ron Rivera (#4 in MLB) and Vince Push (#25 and off to a rough start after his recent callup) should be ready for the rotation next season. Rookie RF Paul Stough (22, and adding 33 HR) has arrived, giving vets Jon Terrell and Ger van Mourik (only 24 and 25, but grizzled already) some support. With Rodriguez's $38M coming off the books, maybe they can mount up and grab some useful free agents this fall.

HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (19-5, 2.56) / RH Biff Skiff (15-5, 3.84) / RH Mike Pearse (5-1, 3.86)
SEA pitchers: RH Chris Grauer (10-12, 6.30) / RH Vince Push (0-5, 10.41) / RH Dan Crews (8-9, 5.32)

#154: WIN 6-1 ... 20th win for Waugh, 25th HR for Matson...Mariners LF Rogelio Pena goes 0-for-5, fanning every time
#155: WIN 5-1 ... CG for Skiff, 3-for-3 night for Simmons...Covington hurt tho, might miss some post-season time
#156: WIN 9-0 ... 12 K CG for Pearse, his best effort in a long while, yielding just 2 hits...3 hits for Ulkini, 3-run HR for Hed

Sweep gives us 117 wins, a franchise record. Won't mean much more than that without a title though.... Waugh's 20th win and 2.47 ERA will top the AL. He's also 3rd in strikeouts and WAR, and so has to be the inside runner for AL Cy Young. Right?... Covington's out for two weeks, so it'll be close as to whether or not he'll be ready to go.... Minor league playoff update: Poughkeepsie will begin the NY-Penn league championship series, fighting the New York Empire (NOZ) for the title; AA Androscoggin took out Reading in four to claim the Eastern League title; AAA Santa Barbara will face Salt Lake for the PCL crown.... ELSEWHERE: the AL playoff picture is all set, with Detroit and Tampa Bay claiming their divisions, and Texas and Chicago the wildcards. Philly and Chicago have claimed divisions in the NL, but everything else is up in the air: LA leads SF by a game in the West, and one of those two will be a wildcard along with Cincinnati (unless the Mets can sweep their last six games).... Arizona fired manager Chase Spears, with a 59-94 mark. (Why now rather than wait a week?) Spears was in his 5th year and had only one semi-decent campaign, a 79-win effort a year ago. He's replaced by the completely unknown Phil Garber, who apparently was plucked from a hedge fund somewhere as this is his first MLB post of any kind.


September 23-25 vs CLEVELAND
In my continuing effort to see some good in every backmarker team, let me just say that there are promising signs for this 67-89 club. The top half of the lineup averages 24 years old, they're all good, and all are signed for next year. When I say "good" I mean generally decent, but they could definitely use some more zazz in the lineup--a big power bat, or a couple of guys who hit for high average, say. Prospect CF Scott Hull fits that "high average" bill, and he should start next year. The rotation needs a complete overhaul (33-year-old former Isle Ryan Ratliff should not be anyone's ace, for example) but the good news is they have three guys--Sam Tedder, Dudley Mele, Eric Nelson--ready for spring. If they don't blow it, this could be a contending team as soon as next season: add a nice bat, a couple of mid-level SP, and the usual cheap-but-solid RP, and I say they're a 90 win team, boom. It'll be tough though, with Detroit and Chicago in the same division.

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Bader (15-6, 3.97) / RH Chris Liles (11-7, 5.51) / LH Matt Waugh (20-5, 2.47)
CLE pitchers: RH Conrad Robertson (7-12, 5.95) / LH Taylor Baxter (8-12, 5.58) / RH Jaden Daniels (0-1, 19.29)

#157: WIN 3-2 ... Matson's solo shot in the 6th is the GW...2 hits for Simmons...Bader goes 8, then Collier fans the side in the 9th
#158: WIN 7-6 ... outhit 10-8, and Liles is a trash fire again, but the bullpen slams the door on a late rally with 2.1 shutout innings
#159: WIN 8-7 ... a tired pen yields a 5-run 9th...Royer blasts his 30th, and Groff has a rare 2-hit night

Well alrighty then: three one-run games, and we reach the lofty heights of a 120 win season.... Royer becomes the third player to reach 30 HR on the season, with Daley stuck at 29. Medici needs one more for 50. Come on!... ELSEWHERE: wild game in the Bronx, with Tampa Bay outslugging the Yanks 21-6, and thirteen dingers--eight by the visitors.... the NL West is still tight, but LA has at least clinched a playoff spot. They're one up on the Giants, who look solid to claim one of the wildcards. Cincinnati has the inside line on the second one, with New Orleans, Portland, and NY still in the hunt.... Phillie 2B Mike Oatis was just arrested for weaselnapping.... No 10 WAR players this year, but Rick Logston (PHI, 9.4) and Chris Mitchell (NYY, 9.2) gave it a run.... Three teams--Montreal, Milwaukee, and Baltimore--have joined the 100-loss club. If Arizona gets swept by San Diego, they'll join the party.


September 26-28 vs CALIFORNIA
Didn't we just play these guys? Not sure what else I can say about them. Unlike the Indians, I'm not as bullish on this franchise's near-term future. Of their top ten prospects, only P Aaron Moore will be ready for next season, and he's a good-not-great SP. The good news is that they're dumping some overpriced vets onto the free agent market this fall. The bad news is that they've stopped spending money so I don't see them chasing any big names this fall. Slugger Mauricio Marquez (.326/38/101) has fully matured into a genuine star, but there's just little else behind him. Two years ago Ricky Ochoa banged out 56 HR and looked to be a future star. Now he's a sub-2 WAR guy and probably won't be extended this fall. They've got a couple of young SP and some decent arms in the pen, so maybe there's more hope there. Although 20-year-old prospect Leo Ortiz has huge potential, but is a head case and didn't light it up in AAA this year. They've been rebuilding for over a decade now and show no sign of getting back to the top anytime soon.

HAW pitchers: RH Biff Skiff (16-5, 3.72) / RH Mike Pearse (6-1, 3.52) / RH Mike Bader (16-6, 3.91)
CAL pitchers: RH Nate Elder (12-9, 3.53) / RH Ryan Kuehner (3-3, 4.56) / RH George Millard (10-12, 4.17)

#160: WIN 4-3 ... Royer homers early, and we win it on an 8th inning sac fly from Frederick
#161: LOSS 3-5 ... Kolb's two doubles and first MLB RBI are the only highlights here
#162: WIN 7-3 ... Kolb homers, congrats!...Simmons singles twice, walks twice, scores twice...no other milestones set

Finally a non-one-run win here. The winning streak ended, but as they say: time to start another one.... started some reserves this series, with Groff, Kelley, Kolb, and Hed all seeing regular at bats. Kolb looked really good, which of course is highly meaningful for next season.... J.J. Simmons swiped two bags in the last game to tie Chicago's Zeke de la Rosa for the AL steals title with 35.... ELSEWHERE: SF dropped their first two games to LA but won the finale to hold off hard-charging New Orleans and claim the second wildcard spot.... the AL wild card series will feature Texas (98 wins) versus the White Sox (96 wins). Shame that one of those teams will be knocked out early. I believe we'll get the winner in the 2nd round.... Home runs kind of dried up late, as William Swanson (TEX, 62) and Rick Logston (PHI, 61) only hit one each over their last ten games. Poor guys.... Only two qualified pitchers ended up with ERA under three: Matt Waugh (HAW, 2.50) and Everett Cronk (LA, 2.72).

......

TL;DR Version: Okay, finishing 11-1 is fine with me I GUESS. Heading into the post-season, the good news is that just about everyone is going great on the field, and that means we're winning nearly all the time. The bad news...well, there isn't any really, but a GM always worries. We went 31-9 in one-run games this season: will that extend into the playoffs? We were third in runs scored, which is a low placement for us in recent times, so does that indicate forthcoming struggles? Our offense is usually--no pun intended--hit-or-miss in the playoffs. What's around the corner then? All this is just catastrophising, I know, but it can't be helped. You win 122 games and anything less than a title is a letdown. (Btw, if you're interested, our Pythag. number was 111 wins.) Only other note is that we're healthy save for Covington's back injury, which has one week left to run. Given that there's a wildcard series (not just one game) he may be healthy enough to play by the time we take the field again.