[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 3-4
Seasonal Record: 34-28 (2nd, 6 GB)
Stars of the Week
Leo Mitchell : 32 AB, 13 H, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .406 AVG, .844 OPS
Harry Mead : 22 AB, 8 H, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .364 AVG, 1.008 OPS
Skipper Schneider : 26 AB, 9 H, 0 HR, 4 RBI, .346 AVG, .854 OPS

Schedule
6-9: Win at Wolves (6-2)
6-10: Loss at Wolves (2-6)
6-11: Loss at Wolves (1-9)
6-12: Win at Foresters (3-0)
6-13: Loss at Foresters (4-8)
6-14: Loss at Foresters (5-8)
6-14: Win at Foresters (7-2)

Recap
Our road woes continue, as we put together another losing week away from home. We are now below .500, 18-19 away from North Side Park while a far more impressive 16-9 in Chicago. Lucky for us, the Stars slumped as well, so we're now six games out of first. Montreal is red hot, up to 33-29, and they sit just a single game behind us. We really threw away a chance to make up significant ground, as we couldn't spit with the Foresters and won just one against Wolves. We're back home for this week, and with a ton of off days coming up, we have a chance to turn things around.

We did not pitch well this week, mainly Harry Parker, who has really fallen into tough times. Parker lost both his starts this week, allowing 6 in 8 innings at Toronto and 6 more in just 6 at Cleveland. His record has dropped to 7-6, his ERA jumped to 3.78 (93 ERA+), and his WHIP to 1.25. We'll need Parker to turn things around if we want to compete, but he's dropped four of his last five starts after starting the year 6-2 with a 2.42 ERA. Our vets were also hit hard, with both Dick Lyons and Jim Lonardo getting hit hard. Lonardo is also now 7-6 after allowing 12 hits and 8 runs with 2 walks and a strikeout. Lyons was an out shy of completing six innings, 11 hits, 7 runs, and 2 walks in a lost to the Foresters. Joe Brown was much better, picking up a pair of complete game wins. He allowed 2 runs in each, with 14 hits, 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts split between them. Donnie Jones, however, was the best of the staff, adding another shutout to his young career. He allowed just 3 walks and 4 hits with 7 strikeouts. Jones has been excellent in 11 starts, 6-5 with a 2.66 ERA (132 ERA+), 1.13 WHIP, 32 walks, and 46 strikeouts. He leads our staff in ERA and strikeouts and is a win behind Lonardo, Parker, and Brown. The pen struggled too, but Pug got some more times, 2 hits, a walk, and unearned in 2.1 innings split between two appearances. Curtin allowed 3 hits, 2 runs, and a walk in two outings while Hooks allowed a run with 3 hits in a 2 inning outing.

The offense wasn't much better, but that didn't stop Harry Mead. He was 8-for-22 with 2 doubles, 2 walks, 3 runs, a homer, and 5 RBIs. That's 7 homers now for Mead, a new career best, and his season line is now up to .302/.367/.487 (141 OPS+) as he's slowly developed into one of the top backstops in the league. We got a good week from Skipper too, but he finally struck out. For the first time in 218 plate appearances, Skipper was set down on strikes by Wolves co-ace George Garrison. Despite the punch out, he was 9-for-26 with 3 doubles, 4 runs, and 4 RBIs. Cliff Moss had a rare good week, 6-for-17 with a triple, 3 runs, 2 walks, and 2 RBIs. Both Ray Ford and Leo Mitchell hit over .400 for the week, with Ford 5-for-12 and Mitchell 13-for-32. The hits were almost all singles, just a double for Mitchell, who upped his batting line yet again to .362/.385/.519 (155 OPS+), and while he hasn't homered in nearly a month, he's still tied for second their and has hit over 20 points better then Bill Barrett. Barrett is also the only hitter with a higher OPS then him, while Mitchell and Mead round out the top three. More struggles for John Lawson, this week just 6-for-27, as his season line fell to .253/.286/.323 (73 OPS+). Things continue to get worse for him, and now the position rankings have Johnny McDowell (10th) ahead of him. I'm really not sure what to do with him, but he has to start hitting. Right??? Right...

Looking Ahead
We finally return home, ending our awful 5-8 road trip that feels even worse because the Stars had a rare slump. We'll look to get things back on track against the Cannons, with one game, an off day, and then the finale. At 29-35, the Cannons are now out of last and into 7th. They are 12 out and 6 behind us, and I am really worried about this series. They're hot, we're not, and we may have to deal with Rufus Barrell. Barrell is having the breakout we all know he could, 11-2 with a 2.29 ERA (156 ERA+), 1.02 WHIP, 16 walks, and 86 strikeouts. We should also get Roger Perry (3-2, 4.11, 23), who is much easier to hit, and potentially former #1 pick Vic Carroll (1-2, 2.28, 12). Our offense could handle these guys, but if we draw Barrell, we might as well mark it up as a loss. Offensively, Chuck Adams has started to really heat up, slashing .299/.352/.500 (135 OPS+) with 7 homers and 22 RBIs. They've been searching for offensive support, and the slugging first basemen may be the answer to some of their problems. With Galloway (.273, 1, 23) and Mullins (.310, 2, 20) starting to cool down, I'm hoping we can limit the damage, but until we start performing well, I'm keeping my hopes down.

We then have another weird series with the Wolves, who took two of three from us. We have a game, off day, a game, and then a double header, before an off day and the draft. Toronto is now just a game under .500 as they took series from both us and the Stars. We had to deal with George Garrison (9-4, 2.43, 56) who had no issues with us before shutting out the Stars. Chances are we'll get him again, as well as Joe Hancock (7-6, 2.45, 48), who we avoided the first time. Juan Pomales (6-6, 3.84, 18; .279, 10, 3) had no issues with us, and since we haven't hit much at all, it might not matter who they send out. The offense got a huge jolt from Larry Vestal's (.280, 2, 7) return, and other then the struggling Okie Holliday (.216, 13) and backstop Clarence Howerton (.217, 2, 20), there is no easy out in the order. These are must win games, and while we more comfortable at home, the Wolves have been underperforming over the season and have started to turn things around. As I was confident the past few weeks, I'm going to try something new, and just hope for a sub .500 week. Can't hurt, right? Right...

Minor League Report
RHP/CF Danny Goff Jr. (AA Mobile Commodores): He hasn't pitched the best in AA, but things may be starting to turn around for Danny Goff Jr. The 24-year-old was brilliant against the Memphis Excelsiors as he tossed a 4-hit shutout in our 7-0 win. He then made a second start against Atlanta, another complete game win with 8 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts in a 4-2 win. He's now won three consecutive starts while allowing 2 or less runs, dropping his ERA from 7.34 to 4.98 (94 ERA+). Goff has, however, hit very well, slashing .361/.429/.477 (131 OPS+) with 9 doubles, 3 triples, a homer, 2 steals, and 16 RBIs with nearly four times as many walks (19) as strikeouts (5). I'd like to see better performance from him on the mound, but Goff has rejoined the top 100 list, and now checks in at 6th and 55th respectively. I really want him to develop into a quality big league pitcher, as he's got nice stuff but can be susceptible to free passes. That's holding him back now, as his 3.4 BB/9 this year is his highest since a 60.1 inning sample in his first pro year down in San Jose, and his minor league BB/9 is now 3.4; nearly a point higher then his 2.6 K/9. At least he has the bat to fall back on, as Goff has an elite contact tool and is developing into a really solid outfielder. I'm not sure center is his final spot, right seems like his future, and he'll be a really good one. Not much pop this year after 11 homers last year, but even the player he is now could be a good enough hitter for the big leagues. I may push Goff up to Milwaukee by season's end, with the chance of a late season promotion, but expect him to spend most of his time in the minors until he can either polish up is pitching, or pitch poorly enough that he converts to a full time outfielder.