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Ruwisc · 01-07-2020, 03:30 PM

March 25-26: Bees (0-0) vs. New Mexico Suns (0-0)
This is the only opening series in the NL between two returning playoff teams so there'll be some eyes on us.

Game 1 - Jack Flaherty (0-0) vs. Tristan Beck (0-0)
NMS: SS Turang, RF Reddick, C Raleigh, 3B Hicks, LF DeLuca, 2B Fitzgerald, 1B Mangieri, CF Deveaux, P Beck
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, P Flaherty

Guerrero picked up exactly where he left off last year, smashing a 2-run HR in the first, but it was answered right back by a Luke Mangieri 2-run HR in the second... Both teams would waste their next opportunity, with us failing to score in the 2nd after having 2 on and nobody out, and the Suns having a runner erased trying to tag up from second to third on a fly ball in the fourth... Neither team would cross home plate again until the 6th, when Raleigh's single converted Turang's double into a run for NM... But the Bees wouldn't wait long to tie it back up... in the 7th, Te'Kwaan Whyte pinch-hit for Flaherty with two outs and delivered a clutch RBI double to score Maezes. Both SPs will leave with a no-decision now... I mentioned Antoni Flores in the Suns' preview as a really good player the team was letting rot on the bench... this came to pass in the 8th inning when they used him as a PH only to have him sacrifice bunt... Robles came up to lead off our 8th inning and hit the first pitch for a long HR and a 4-3 lead! Guerrero followed with a double, then Ishihara was IBB'd, but we failed to score further... With Jared Miller on for the save, Raleigh and Hicks were retired on strikeouts, and with two outs DeLuca snuck a single just inside the first-base line. Up comes Scott Fitzgerald and... uh oh. That's a two-run shot to left-center. Miller strikes out Mangieri to end the inning but the damage is done... Roberto Osuna now on to close things out for the Suns... Cottam's double with one out is his second hit in his Bees debut, but he would be stranded there as Phyo and Mota are put out.

PotG: Jack Flaherty

A painful start to our Central Division title defense.

Game 2 - Jonathan Holder (0-0) vs. Andrew Quezada (0-0)
NMS: SS Turang, RF Reddick, 3B Hicks, C Raleigh, 2B Fitzgerald, LF DeLuca, 1B Mangieri, CF Deveaux, P Quezada
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, P Holder

I expected Joey Lucchesi to start this game, but he apparently was still not fully rested after pitching 4 innings in our final spring game? Holder gets the ball for game 2 instead... a flying start for our offense with the first five reaching safely, including Guerrero's second straight first-inning HR... Maezes would plate Ishihara with a sac fly to make it 4-0... Holder was content to hand part of that lead back, allowing a Raleigh HR leading off the 2nd... Cottam extended our lead with a 2-run triple making it 6-1... that would be it for Quezada... Suns RP Ryan Feltner would leave the game with an injury in the 4th... the Suns would load the bases in the 6th but come up empty... we loaded the bases ourselves in the bottom of the sixth on three walks, bringing one home on a Shirah single... Raleigh hit his second home run of the game in the 8th, and Fitzgerald followed him by making it back-to-back jacks... the rest of the game passed without incident!

PotG: Jonathan Holder

A split in a series we probably should have taken, but overall I'm happy with these first two games.

March 28-29: Bees (1-1) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (0-2)
The D'backs dropped both games in St. Louis to open their season.

Game 1 - Joey Lucchesi (0-0) vs. Chase Anderson (0-0)
ARI: 2B Glowenke, RF J. Johnson, 1B K. Johnson, LF J. Upton, CF Pederson, 3B Duffy, SS Sabino, C Zunino, P Anderson
SLC: CF Mesa, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, C Cottam, 2B Maezes, SS Phyo, P Lucchesi

A couple of Arizona's top players are getting a rest today, JJ Schwarz and Robbie Grossman, strange since both teams had a Monday off day before this Tuesday game... Our 1st-inning offense has been a story through these first three games - Mesa was plunked to lead off, and Robles made Anderson pay with a 2-run shot... Ishihara would score on a single by Maezes, and then Cottam would score on a double by Phyo. We even batted around, Lucchesi drawing an unlikely walk to load the bases, but Mesa would ground out to third to keep it 4-0. That's 10 runs in the first inning through three games... Lucchesi is rolling, allowing only two baserunners over the first five innings and stranding both... Pinch-hitter Josh Shaw led off the 6th with a hit in Anderson's place, ending his day after 5 innings... Matheny pinch-hit for Lucchesi with two outs and no one on in the 6th, a bit surprising though he did have over 100 pitches thrown... the first reliever out for us was Nolan Blackwood making his first appearance of the year, and he allowed a HR to his first batter faced, Joc Pederson. No further damage in the 7th though, nor in the 8th for Blackwood... Miller on for the save, and despite a single and an error in that inning, nothing doing.

PotG: Joey Lucchesi

Game 2 - Michael Pineda (0-0) vs. Jack Perkins (0-0)
ARI: 2B Glowenke, RF Grossman, CF Pederson, 1B K. Johnson, LF J. Upton, C Schwarz, 3B Duffy, SS Sabino, P Perkins
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, P Pineda

Our streak of first-inning offense ended in this one... it was made up for in the second, though, with Cottam smashing his first home run in a Bees uniform! That scored Shirah and Mesa as well, and Pineda even followed with a hit but was stranded... Pineda allowed his first hit in the third, a Duffy double, but both he and Sabino were stranded... Maezes got himself a third-inning RBI by beating out a potential double play with the bases loaded and one out, and the very next pitch was wild, allowing another run to score... in the 4th, Arizona got three consecutive hits from Johnson, Upton and Schwarz to manufacture a run... Jack Perkins exited after 3 innings down 5-0... not much doing in the middle innings, Pineda was cruising as was Diamondbacks reliever Reid Birlingmair... Pineda left after 6 innings... probably could've thrown one more but it's a chance to get the relievers some work, first Brian Gadsby making his first appearance in a Bees uniform (he was acquired in an offseason trade with New Orleans)... in Gadsby's second inning, he served up a 2-run home run to Justin Upton to make things a bit more interesting... Miller on for the ninth, and after a one-out walk Matheny makes the quick hook! Set-up man Riley Ferrell comes on for the save, and immediately walks the tying run, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate, but even after a wild pitch puts the tying runs in scoring position, Ferrell comes up with two strikeouts, getting Grossman and Pederson to end it.

PotG: Kole Cottam

Arizona's not a bad team (at least they're not supposed to be) so I'm happy with a sweep. Time to go out on the road!

March 30-31: Bees (3-1) @ St. Louis Cardinals (3-1)
St. Louis is off to the same start as us, almost exactly: a two-game sweep of Arizona and then a tough split with a playoff team from last year (Louisville for them).

Game 1 - Griffin Canning (0-0) vs. Josiah Sightler (0-0)
SLC: CF Mesa, 2B Phyo, 3B Guerrero, RF Robles, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, C Phegley, SS Mota, P Canning
STL: SS Martin, 3B Meola, 1B Bellinger, LF Larnach, RF Salinas, 2B Rodriguez, C Ledford, CF Kehoe, P Sightler

A bit of a different lineup today against the lefty Sightler... it pays off quickly, with Mesa singling, stealing second, going to third on Phyo's long fly out, and scoring on a Guerrero hit that was misplayed by the Cardinal CF Kehoe... the next three batters are walk, HBP, walk to score Guerrero, but Sightler avoids further damage by turning Phegley's grounder into a spectacular 1-2-3 double play... Luis Mota is off to a dreadful start, now 0-14 after striking out to begin the second... the fourth inning turned quickly for Sightler... after a one-out triple by Guerrero, Robles fouled off a few tough pitches before lining a single right back up the box to score Vlad Jr... the very next pitch was a mammoth 451ft HR by Ishihara to extend the lead to 5-0, and it would be Sightler's last pitch of the day... Mota finally recorded his first hit of the season leading off the 6th, but would be thrown out at the plate trying to score on a base hit by Phyo... Canning was finally chased after 7.1 innings by a home run from pinch hitter Chandler Taylor, but he pitched spectacularly... 2 insurance runs came home in the 9th on a wild pitch and a Robles single... St. Louis down easily in the 9th.

PotG: Griffin Canning

Game 2 - Jack Flaherty (0-0, 3.86) vs. Josh Hader (0-0, 0.00)
SLC: CF Mesa, 2B Phyo, 3B Guerrero, RF Robles, 1B Ishihara, C Phegley, SS Mota, LF Granite, P Flaherty
STL: SS Martin, 3B Meola, 1B Bellinger, LF Larnach, RF Salinas, C Williams, CF Kehoe, 2B Brown, P Hader

Another lefty in there, so another day off for Maezes/Cottam, and Shirah sits today as well... It appears the Cardinals are still trying to stretch out Hader, who's in his first year as a starting pitcher... he allowed just one hit on Opening Day against Arizona, but lasted just 4.2 innings so no decision... both Flaherty and Hader were on their game in the early innings, with two hits a side after three and no damage done... it's the first time this season that we haven't scored in either of the first two innings... the tie is broken leading off the 4th by Bellinger's long home run, a no-doubter to right field... we finally get to Hader in the 6th by starting the inning with four consecutive singles from the top of the order... after a pitching change, Phegley delivers a sac fly to put us in front, and Cardinal reliever Matt West throws a wild pitch allowing Guerrero to score. Matheny elects to leave Flaherty in to hit with the bases loaded, and he strikes out to end the threat... Flaherty only pitches one more inning after that, leaving after 6 with one run allowed... St. Louis turns a leadoff walk into a run against Sam Bennerman in the 7th, with Raimfer Salinas stealing second, advancing to 3rd on a groundout, and scoring on Brown's hit... Ferrell pitches a spotless eighth striking out the side... Jared Miller back out for the ninth, and, well, I might have to do something about this guy. All with two outs, Chris Williams doubles down the line, pinch-hitter Manny Rodriguez ties the game with a double off the wall, and Turner Brown wins it with a single. Yikes.

PotG: Jack Flaherty

If games were 8 innings long, we'd be 6-0. Miller needs to get his act together, especially with Ferrell pitching well behind him.

April 1-2: Bees (4-2) @ Omaha Thunder (3-3)
Omaha just won a series against the Giants for their home opener, so they're feeling good.

Game 1 - Jonathan Holder (1-0, 1.50) vs. Kendall Graveman (1-0, 5.62)
SLC: CF Mesa, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, C Cottam, 2B Maezes, SS Phyo, LF Granite, P Holder
OMA: LF Hillman, SS Anderson, 3B Senzel, RF Witherspoon, CF Pollock, 1B Trejo, 2B LeMahieu, C Oliver, P Graveman

Graveman allowed 5 runs over 8 innings in his first start, and was helped out by the Omaha offense in a 10-8 win... it's the only time thus far that the Thunder have scored more than 4 runs, but we'll see what happens this weekend... an auspicious start for Holder, as his second pitch goes over the wall in left-center, a home run for Hillman, and Grant Witherspoon also goes deep in that frame to make it 2-0... Holder also escapes a bases-loaded jam in the second inning, and I wonder if he might not be long for this game... the Bees offense shows a little life in the third, collecting our first two hits, but not scoring... Holder actually settled down quite nicely over the next few innings, even pitching pretty efficiently, so not much damage done there... the combo of Guerrero and Ishihara can strike at a moment's notice, and they do just that leading off the sixth. A Guerrero single precedes an Ishihara homer and suddenly we're tied! Cottam's single to follow forces Graveman out after just 5.0 innings... and Holder seems content to give the lead back. A one-out double by Witherspoon becomes a sac fly for Trejo, and Omaha's back in front... and in the 8th, Guerrero strikes again! His third home run of the year ties things up once again. Ishihara and Cottam both reach as well, but the lower part of the order can't drive them in... I think my team has a pretty good bullpen all things considered, but this time it's Riley Ferrell's turn to be the goat. He balks in the go-ahead run, and then, as if to remove any doubt, immediately allows a two-run home run to LeMahieu. Robles gets aboard in the ninth but nothing really doing.

PotG: DJ LeMahieu

From the moment Hillman's leadoff home run went out it seemed like this one wouldn't be our day. We now actually have a loss that I can't blame on the closer. Surprising news after the game, as we announced Will Shirah as the starter for Sunday.

Game 2 - Will Shirah (0-0) vs. Jonathan Jones (0-0)
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, P Shirah, CF Mesa, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, LF Granite
OMA: LF Hillman, SS Anderson, 3B Senzel, RF Witherspoon, CF Pollock, 2B LeMahieu, 1B Trejo, C Telis, P Jones

It's Shirah's first pitching appearance of the season, and a major league debut for Omaha's Jonathan Jones, who IRL is a community college sophomore in Texas - I love learning about these guys on the fly. Shirah is a real-life college player as well, BTW, playing for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, but hasn't played a ton for them... one of my favorite improvements from OOTP19 to OOTP20 is the AI's handling of lineups around two-way players - in previous versions, AI Mike Matheny would automatically have plugged Shirah in the #9 spot, but now it basically considers it as a DH-type lineup instead, so he goes to his normal spot in the order. Adds a whole new dimension to NL starting pitchers who can hit.

This time both teams went yard in the first inning, but it was the Bees who got the better of the frame; Robles and Guerrero went yard on back-to-back pitches, greeting Jones very rudely in his first MLB inning. Tim Anderson got one back for the hosts, though, in the bottom half... Maezes put the two-run lead right back in the next inning, smacking his first homer of the year, but the seesaw continued with AJ Pollock sneaking one inside the foul pole. That's five solo homers in the first two innings and a 3-2 Bees lead... both pitchers finally put up a scoreless frame in the 3rd... the Bees put together a more extended rally in the fourth, a walk and two singles producing a run (Granite driving in Mesa) and Robles scoring Cottam with a sac fly... Starting the 5th with a walk to Ishihara, Jones would be taken out, probably a somewhat disappointing debut... Shirah followed with an RBI double to help his own cause and make it 6-2... he did not go back out for the 6th, which makes the batting order look a bit strange, but we'll fill that #5 spot in the order with pinch hitters going forward... all smooth sailing until the 8th, when Senzel took Brian Gadsby deep for a two-run shot, and Witherspoon reached third base with one out but thankfully didn't score... Justin Wilson came on for the final out of the 8th, and got a chance at the save as well. The ninth was a bit shaky as per usual with this team - Hillman reached with a two-out single, and Anderson drove him in with a ball off the wall - and Senzel's ball into the gap looked awfully scary until our perennial Gold Glover in left, Zack Granite, laid out for a game-saving catch!

PotG: Tim Anderson

Week in Review:
I'm pretty happy with this start in every way except for how it turned into wins and losses. I think we played better than 5-3 would suggest. The offense looked pretty strong and the starting pitching has been amazing. Bullpen had a bad week but I think they'll improve over the course of the season.

Bees' Player of the Week: Tough call but I'm gonna go with C Kole Cottam, whose first week-plus in a Bees uniform was stellar; 11-23 with a homer and 5 RBI over 6 games while catching some great games as well. Vlad Guerrero was the better hitter probably, but he's gonna win this award a lot.

On the Leaderboard:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: T-1st in HR(4), 2nd in SLG(.879), 5th in OPS(1.338), 1st in WAR(0.9), 2nd in runs(9), 1st in TB(29)
Victor Victor Mesa: T-1st in SB(4)
Victor Robles: T-4th in SB(3)
Jonathan Holder: T-4th in strikeouts(16)
Jack Flaherty: 8th in WHIP(0.77)

Standings:

League News
March 25: HFD's Eduardo Rodriguez and NOC's Elieser Hernandez pick up opening day shutouts, defeating Montréal and Nashville, respectively
March 26: NEW's Tyler Myrick no-hits the mighty Yankees at Yankee Stadium, with only two walks and an error spoiling perfection. In a high-profile rivalry series between two of the AL's best teams, the Cherries win both games
March 26: POR's Johan Camargo hits for the cycle in a win vs. Oakland
March 27: Unsigned 1B Jesus Aguilar finally signs with Louisville. Didn't realize he was still out there but this is a big move for the Colts since 1B was their weakest position
March 27: White Sox catcher Jake Taylor has his season ended prematurely - a torn MCL suffered while taking a wide turn at first base. Luckily for Chicago, they have a capable (and very expensive) backup in Yasmani Grandal
March 27: The potent Las Vegas offense explodes for 20 runs against Seattle, led by a 3-homer day from Bryce Harper
March 28: WTX's Jeff Riedel makes his major league debut count, shutting out the Silver Sox. He was the Blackbirds' 2nd round pick just last year out of Fullerton
March 30: Dodgers backup outfielder Frank Maldonado will miss six months with an undisclosed partying injury. Never seen that one before.
March 30: Another one! POR Matt Andriese throws a no-hitter at Syracuse, putting up 10 K and just 2 walks in a 1-0 game. In a strange coincidence, both starting pitchers in the game were Bees last season, both Andriese and Syracuse's Victor Muñoz
March 30: A really strange outcome as Jacksonville defeats Ottawa 20-11 in 13 innings! Ottawa's stellar bullpen gets absolutely shredded by the Anchors for 9 runs in that final inning
April 2: Another cycle as well, again in the AL West - this time Seattle RF Cole Roederer vs. San Bernardino

Players of the Week - this week both coming from the state of Nevada!
Las Vegas RF Bryce Harper - 11-22, 5 HR, 18 RBI
Reno 3B John Valente - 12-24, 3 HR, 9 RBI

Power Rankings - not enough to separate all of these teams at this date, but we are listed 17th, in a tie with 4 other teams.

Next Week: We finish out the road trip in Buffalo, then return home to face Houston and Montréal. Really tough week, facing the two teams who contested the NLCS last year.

01-07-2020, 03:30 PM	#15
Ruwisc All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Southwestern Illinois Posts: 610	March 25-26: Bees (0-0) vs. New Mexico Suns (0-0) This is the only opening series in the NL between two returning playoff teams so there'll be some eyes on us. Game 1 - Jack Flaherty (0-0) vs. Tristan Beck (0-0) NMS: SS Turang, RF Reddick, C Raleigh, 3B Hicks, LF DeLuca, 2B Fitzgerald, 1B Mangieri, CF Deveaux, P Beck SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, P Flaherty Guerrero picked up exactly where he left off last year, smashing a 2-run HR in the first, but it was answered right back by a Luke Mangieri 2-run HR in the second... Both teams would waste their next opportunity, with us failing to score in the 2nd after having 2 on and nobody out, and the Suns having a runner erased trying to tag up from second to third on a fly ball in the fourth... Neither team would cross home plate again until the 6th, when Raleigh's single converted Turang's double into a run for NM... But the Bees wouldn't wait long to tie it back up... in the 7th, Te'Kwaan Whyte pinch-hit for Flaherty with two outs and delivered a clutch RBI double to score Maezes. Both SPs will leave with a no-decision now... I mentioned Antoni Flores in the Suns' preview as a really good player the team was letting rot on the bench... this came to pass in the 8th inning when they used him as a PH only to have him sacrifice bunt... Robles came up to lead off our 8th inning and hit the first pitch for a long HR and a 4-3 lead! Guerrero followed with a double, then Ishihara was IBB'd, but we failed to score further... With Jared Miller on for the save, Raleigh and Hicks were retired on strikeouts, and with two outs DeLuca snuck a single just inside the first-base line. Up comes Scott Fitzgerald and... uh oh. That's a two-run shot to left-center. Miller strikes out Mangieri to end the inning but the damage is done... Roberto Osuna now on to close things out for the Suns... Cottam's double with one out is his second hit in his Bees debut, but he would be stranded there as Phyo and Mota are put out. PotG: Jack Flaherty A painful start to our Central Division title defense. Game 2 - Jonathan Holder (0-0) vs. Andrew Quezada (0-0) NMS: SS Turang, RF Reddick, 3B Hicks, C Raleigh, 2B Fitzgerald, LF DeLuca, 1B Mangieri, CF Deveaux, P Quezada SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, P Holder I expected Joey Lucchesi to start this game, but he apparently was still not fully rested after pitching 4 innings in our final spring game? Holder gets the ball for game 2 instead... a flying start for our offense with the first five reaching safely, including Guerrero's second straight first-inning HR... Maezes would plate Ishihara with a sac fly to make it 4-0... Holder was content to hand part of that lead back, allowing a Raleigh HR leading off the 2nd... Cottam extended our lead with a 2-run triple making it 6-1... that would be it for Quezada... Suns RP Ryan Feltner would leave the game with an injury in the 4th... the Suns would load the bases in the 6th but come up empty... we loaded the bases ourselves in the bottom of the sixth on three walks, bringing one home on a Shirah single... Raleigh hit his second home run of the game in the 8th, and Fitzgerald followed him by making it back-to-back jacks... the rest of the game passed without incident! PotG: Jonathan Holder A split in a series we probably should have taken, but overall I'm happy with these first two games. March 28-29: Bees (1-1) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (0-2) The D'backs dropped both games in St. Louis to open their season. Game 1 - Joey Lucchesi (0-0) vs. Chase Anderson (0-0) ARI: 2B Glowenke, RF J. Johnson, 1B K. Johnson, LF J. Upton, CF Pederson, 3B Duffy, SS Sabino, C Zunino, P Anderson SLC: CF Mesa, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, C Cottam, 2B Maezes, SS Phyo, P Lucchesi A couple of Arizona's top players are getting a rest today, JJ Schwarz and Robbie Grossman, strange since both teams had a Monday off day before this Tuesday game... Our 1st-inning offense has been a story through these first three games - Mesa was plunked to lead off, and Robles made Anderson pay with a 2-run shot... Ishihara would score on a single by Maezes, and then Cottam would score on a double by Phyo. We even batted around, Lucchesi drawing an unlikely walk to load the bases, but Mesa would ground out to third to keep it 4-0. That's 10 runs in the first inning through three games... Lucchesi is rolling, allowing only two baserunners over the first five innings and stranding both... Pinch-hitter Josh Shaw led off the 6th with a hit in Anderson's place, ending his day after 5 innings... Matheny pinch-hit for Lucchesi with two outs and no one on in the 6th, a bit surprising though he did have over 100 pitches thrown... the first reliever out for us was Nolan Blackwood making his first appearance of the year, and he allowed a HR to his first batter faced, Joc Pederson. No further damage in the 7th though, nor in the 8th for Blackwood... Miller on for the save, and despite a single and an error in that inning, nothing doing. PotG: Joey Lucchesi Game 2 - Michael Pineda (0-0) vs. Jack Perkins (0-0) ARI: 2B Glowenke, RF Grossman, CF Pederson, 1B K. Johnson, LF J. Upton, C Schwarz, 3B Duffy, SS Sabino, P Perkins SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, P Pineda Our streak of first-inning offense ended in this one... it was made up for in the second, though, with Cottam smashing his first home run in a Bees uniform! That scored Shirah and Mesa as well, and Pineda even followed with a hit but was stranded... Pineda allowed his first hit in the third, a Duffy double, but both he and Sabino were stranded... Maezes got himself a third-inning RBI by beating out a potential double play with the bases loaded and one out, and the very next pitch was wild, allowing another run to score... in the 4th, Arizona got three consecutive hits from Johnson, Upton and Schwarz to manufacture a run... Jack Perkins exited after 3 innings down 5-0... not much doing in the middle innings, Pineda was cruising as was Diamondbacks reliever Reid Birlingmair... Pineda left after 6 innings... probably could've thrown one more but it's a chance to get the relievers some work, first Brian Gadsby making his first appearance in a Bees uniform (he was acquired in an offseason trade with New Orleans)... in Gadsby's second inning, he served up a 2-run home run to Justin Upton to make things a bit more interesting... Miller on for the ninth, and after a one-out walk Matheny makes the quick hook! Set-up man Riley Ferrell comes on for the save, and immediately walks the tying run, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate, but even after a wild pitch puts the tying runs in scoring position, Ferrell comes up with two strikeouts, getting Grossman and Pederson to end it. PotG: Kole Cottam Arizona's not a bad team (at least they're not supposed to be) so I'm happy with a sweep. Time to go out on the road! March 30-31: Bees (3-1) @ St. Louis Cardinals (3-1) St. Louis is off to the same start as us, almost exactly: a two-game sweep of Arizona and then a tough split with a playoff team from last year (Louisville for them). Game 1 - Griffin Canning (0-0) vs. Josiah Sightler (0-0) SLC: CF Mesa, 2B Phyo, 3B Guerrero, RF Robles, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, C Phegley, SS Mota, P Canning STL: SS Martin, 3B Meola, 1B Bellinger, LF Larnach, RF Salinas, 2B Rodriguez, C Ledford, CF Kehoe, P Sightler A bit of a different lineup today against the lefty Sightler... it pays off quickly, with Mesa singling, stealing second, going to third on Phyo's long fly out, and scoring on a Guerrero hit that was misplayed by the Cardinal CF Kehoe... the next three batters are walk, HBP, walk to score Guerrero, but Sightler avoids further damage by turning Phegley's grounder into a spectacular 1-2-3 double play... Luis Mota is off to a dreadful start, now 0-14 after striking out to begin the second... the fourth inning turned quickly for Sightler... after a one-out triple by Guerrero, Robles fouled off a few tough pitches before lining a single right back up the box to score Vlad Jr... the very next pitch was a mammoth 451ft HR by Ishihara to extend the lead to 5-0, and it would be Sightler's last pitch of the day... Mota finally recorded his first hit of the season leading off the 6th, but would be thrown out at the plate trying to score on a base hit by Phyo... Canning was finally chased after 7.1 innings by a home run from pinch hitter Chandler Taylor, but he pitched spectacularly... 2 insurance runs came home in the 9th on a wild pitch and a Robles single... St. Louis down easily in the 9th. PotG: Griffin Canning Game 2 - Jack Flaherty (0-0, 3.86) vs. Josh Hader (0-0, 0.00) SLC: CF Mesa, 2B Phyo, 3B Guerrero, RF Robles, 1B Ishihara, C Phegley, SS Mota, LF Granite, P Flaherty STL: SS Martin, 3B Meola, 1B Bellinger, LF Larnach, RF Salinas, C Williams, CF Kehoe, 2B Brown, P Hader Another lefty in there, so another day off for Maezes/Cottam, and Shirah sits today as well... It appears the Cardinals are still trying to stretch out Hader, who's in his first year as a starting pitcher... he allowed just one hit on Opening Day against Arizona, but lasted just 4.2 innings so no decision... both Flaherty and Hader were on their game in the early innings, with two hits a side after three and no damage done... it's the first time this season that we haven't scored in either of the first two innings... the tie is broken leading off the 4th by Bellinger's long home run, a no-doubter to right field... we finally get to Hader in the 6th by starting the inning with four consecutive singles from the top of the order... after a pitching change, Phegley delivers a sac fly to put us in front, and Cardinal reliever Matt West throws a wild pitch allowing Guerrero to score. Matheny elects to leave Flaherty in to hit with the bases loaded, and he strikes out to end the threat... Flaherty only pitches one more inning after that, leaving after 6 with one run allowed... St. Louis turns a leadoff walk into a run against Sam Bennerman in the 7th, with Raimfer Salinas stealing second, advancing to 3rd on a groundout, and scoring on Brown's hit... Ferrell pitches a spotless eighth striking out the side... Jared Miller back out for the ninth, and, well, I might have to do something about this guy. All with two outs, Chris Williams doubles down the line, pinch-hitter Manny Rodriguez ties the game with a double off the wall, and Turner Brown wins it with a single. Yikes. PotG: Jack Flaherty If games were 8 innings long, we'd be 6-0. Miller needs to get his act together, especially with Ferrell pitching well behind him. April 1-2: Bees (4-2) @ Omaha Thunder (3-3) Omaha just won a series against the Giants for their home opener, so they're feeling good. Game 1 - Jonathan Holder (1-0, 1.50) vs. Kendall Graveman (1-0, 5.62) SLC: CF Mesa, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, C Cottam, 2B Maezes, SS Phyo, LF Granite, P Holder OMA: LF Hillman, SS Anderson, 3B Senzel, RF Witherspoon, CF Pollock, 1B Trejo, 2B LeMahieu, C Oliver, P Graveman Graveman allowed 5 runs over 8 innings in his first start, and was helped out by the Omaha offense in a 10-8 win... it's the only time thus far that the Thunder have scored more than 4 runs, but we'll see what happens this weekend... an auspicious start for Holder, as his second pitch goes over the wall in left-center, a home run for Hillman, and Grant Witherspoon also goes deep in that frame to make it 2-0... Holder also escapes a bases-loaded jam in the second inning, and I wonder if he might not be long for this game... the Bees offense shows a little life in the third, collecting our first two hits, but not scoring... Holder actually settled down quite nicely over the next few innings, even pitching pretty efficiently, so not much damage done there... the combo of Guerrero and Ishihara can strike at a moment's notice, and they do just that leading off the sixth. A Guerrero single precedes an Ishihara homer and suddenly we're tied! Cottam's single to follow forces Graveman out after just 5.0 innings... and Holder seems content to give the lead back. A one-out double by Witherspoon becomes a sac fly for Trejo, and Omaha's back in front... and in the 8th, Guerrero strikes again! His third home run of the year ties things up once again. Ishihara and Cottam both reach as well, but the lower part of the order can't drive them in... I think my team has a pretty good bullpen all things considered, but this time it's Riley Ferrell's turn to be the goat. He balks in the go-ahead run, and then, as if to remove any doubt, immediately allows a two-run home run to LeMahieu. Robles gets aboard in the ninth but nothing really doing. PotG: DJ LeMahieu From the moment Hillman's leadoff home run went out it seemed like this one wouldn't be our day. We now actually have a loss that I can't blame on the closer. Surprising news after the game, as we announced Will Shirah as the starter for Sunday. Game 2 - Will Shirah (0-0) vs. Jonathan Jones (0-0) SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, P Shirah, CF Mesa, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, LF Granite OMA: LF Hillman, SS Anderson, 3B Senzel, RF Witherspoon, CF Pollock, 2B LeMahieu, 1B Trejo, C Telis, P Jones It's Shirah's first pitching appearance of the season, and a major league debut for Omaha's Jonathan Jones, who IRL is a community college sophomore in Texas - I love learning about these guys on the fly. Shirah is a real-life college player as well, BTW, playing for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, but hasn't played a ton for them... one of my favorite improvements from OOTP19 to OOTP20 is the AI's handling of lineups around two-way players - in previous versions, AI Mike Matheny would automatically have plugged Shirah in the #9 spot, but now it basically considers it as a DH-type lineup instead, so he goes to his normal spot in the order. Adds a whole new dimension to NL starting pitchers who can hit. This time both teams went yard in the first inning, but it was the Bees who got the better of the frame; Robles and Guerrero went yard on back-to-back pitches, greeting Jones very rudely in his first MLB inning. Tim Anderson got one back for the hosts, though, in the bottom half... Maezes put the two-run lead right back in the next inning, smacking his first homer of the year, but the seesaw continued with AJ Pollock sneaking one inside the foul pole. That's five solo homers in the first two innings and a 3-2 Bees lead... both pitchers finally put up a scoreless frame in the 3rd... the Bees put together a more extended rally in the fourth, a walk and two singles producing a run (Granite driving in Mesa) and Robles scoring Cottam with a sac fly... Starting the 5th with a walk to Ishihara, Jones would be taken out, probably a somewhat disappointing debut... Shirah followed with an RBI double to help his own cause and make it 6-2... he did not go back out for the 6th, which makes the batting order look a bit strange, but we'll fill that #5 spot in the order with pinch hitters going forward... all smooth sailing until the 8th, when Senzel took Brian Gadsby deep for a two-run shot, and Witherspoon reached third base with one out but thankfully didn't score... Justin Wilson came on for the final out of the 8th, and got a chance at the save as well. The ninth was a bit shaky as per usual with this team - Hillman reached with a two-out single, and Anderson drove him in with a ball off the wall - and Senzel's ball into the gap looked awfully scary until our perennial Gold Glover in left, Zack Granite, laid out for a game-saving catch! PotG: Tim Anderson Week in Review: I'm pretty happy with this start in every way except for how it turned into wins and losses. I think we played better than 5-3 would suggest. The offense looked pretty strong and the starting pitching has been amazing. Bullpen had a bad week but I think they'll improve over the course of the season. Bees' Player of the Week: Tough call but I'm gonna go with C Kole Cottam, whose first week-plus in a Bees uniform was stellar; 11-23 with a homer and 5 RBI over 6 games while catching some great games as well. Vlad Guerrero was the better hitter probably, but he's gonna win this award a lot. On the Leaderboard: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: T-1st in HR(4), 2nd in SLG(.879), 5th in OPS(1.338), 1st in WAR(0.9), 2nd in runs(9), 1st in TB(29) Victor Victor Mesa: T-1st in SB(4) Victor Robles: T-4th in SB(3) Jonathan Holder: T-4th in strikeouts(16) Jack Flaherty: 8th in WHIP(0.77) Standings: League News March 25: HFD's Eduardo Rodriguez and NOC's Elieser Hernandez pick up opening day shutouts, defeating Montréal and Nashville, respectively March 26: NEW's Tyler Myrick no-hits the mighty Yankees at Yankee Stadium, with only two walks and an error spoiling perfection. In a high-profile rivalry series between two of the AL's best teams, the Cherries win both games March 26: POR's Johan Camargo hits for the cycle in a win vs. Oakland March 27: Unsigned 1B Jesus Aguilar finally signs with Louisville. Didn't realize he was still out there but this is a big move for the Colts since 1B was their weakest position March 27: White Sox catcher Jake Taylor has his season ended prematurely - a torn MCL suffered while taking a wide turn at first base. Luckily for Chicago, they have a capable (and very expensive) backup in Yasmani Grandal March 27: The potent Las Vegas offense explodes for 20 runs against Seattle, led by a 3-homer day from Bryce Harper March 28: WTX's Jeff Riedel makes his major league debut count, shutting out the Silver Sox. He was the Blackbirds' 2nd round pick just last year out of Fullerton March 30: Dodgers backup outfielder Frank Maldonado will miss six months with an undisclosed partying injury. Never seen that one before. March 30: Another one! POR Matt Andriese throws a no-hitter at Syracuse, putting up 10 K and just 2 walks in a 1-0 game. In a strange coincidence, both starting pitchers in the game were Bees last season, both Andriese and Syracuse's Victor Muñoz March 30: A really strange outcome as Jacksonville defeats Ottawa 20-11 in 13 innings! Ottawa's stellar bullpen gets absolutely shredded by the Anchors for 9 runs in that final inning April 2: Another cycle as well, again in the AL West - this time Seattle RF Cole Roederer vs. San Bernardino Players of the Week - this week both coming from the state of Nevada! Las Vegas RF Bryce Harper - 11-22, 5 HR, 18 RBI Reno 3B John Valente - 12-24, 3 HR, 9 RBI Power Rankings - not enough to separate all of these teams at this date, but we are listed 17th, in a tie with 4 other teams. Next Week: We finish out the road trip in Buffalo, then return home to face Houston and Montréal. Really tough week, facing the two teams who contested the NLCS last year. Last edited by Ruwisc; 01-07-2020 at 03:37 PM.