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Ruwisc · 01-07-2020, 08:18 PM

April 4-5: Bees (5-3) @ Buffalo Beacons (3-5)
The Beacons, defending National League champs, have lost 4 in a row - a pair of sweeps at the hands of the Dodgers and Burros, so they're going up against a third straight 2022 playoff team. The Burros are off to a really hot start atop the NL East and Buffalo might already have to be worried about falling too far behind.

Game 1 - Joey Lucchesi (1-0, 0.00) vs. Rafael Ramirez (1-0, 1.80)
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, P Lucchesi
BUF: SS Franco, CF Siani, 1B Toglia, LF Swaggerty, 3B Groshans, RF Kjerstad, C Krause, 2B Schuetz, P Ramirez

Ozzie Albies suffered a minor back injury over the weekend against the Burros, so good luck for us as he won't play in the series. Instead, it's Tanner Schuetz manning the keystone. Still, this is gonna be a really tough offensive team even without one of their top players... Lucchesi saw his perfect 0.00 ERA ruined in the first inning when Swaggerty's double drove in Siani, who had walked... we got to Ramirez in the top of the 3rd inning even after the first two made outs. Mota walked, Robles doubled him around, and Guerrero singled him in. Just like that, Salt Lake had the lead... Cottam would add a sacrifice fly in the fourth, scoring Shirah... the big bopper struck in the fifth. Mota and Robles each walked to start the frame, prompting the Buffalo manager Filas to make a pitching change; Ramirez was done after 4.0 innings. The new pitcher, Brandon Woodruff, was able to strike out Guerrero, but Ishihara ambushed him on an 0-2 pitch and just snuck his fly ball over the right-center field fence to make it 6-1... the Buffalo offense really came alive in the sixth, and knocked Lucchesi out for the count after 5.1 innings. A leadoff double from Franco was followed by 4 singles in the next five batters, scoring three runs; the final single, by Kjerstad, was the last pitch for Joey. Nolan Blackwood was the reliever of choice for Matheny, and he needed some help from the defense. The final out was made at the plate, Robles throwing out Groshans trying to score on Schuetz's hit... Blackwood would get into some trouble of his own making in the 7th, but he was rescued in turn by Sam Bennerman coming out of the pen, this time with no runs allowed... the Bees added another run in the ninth without the benefit of a hit. Cottam walked, moved up on a bunt by pinch-hitter Te'Kwaan Whyte, was balked to third and scored on Mota's ground ball to second... on comes Jared Miller for the save, 8-9-1 in the order coming for Buffalo... Schuetz singles, pinch-hitter Rosier singles, Franco singles, Miller walks Siani to force in a run and put the winning run on base. Eeeeexcellent. I would personally have gone to Ferrell after the third single, but Matheny makes the switch now. On a 1-2 pitch to Toglia, Ferrell spins one to the backstop, scoring another run... they get Toglia to strike out, and then intentionally walk Swaggerty (definitely the right call)... I say "definitely the right call" but that only applies when you don't then go and walk in the tying run on four pitches, which Ferrell does to David Gonzalez... the very next pitch is a walk-off sac-fly by Kjerstad.

PotG: Sammy Siani

This team is already really starting to test my patience... we really ought to be 8-1, not 5-4 right now.

Game 2 - Postponed due to rain. I always like to move the makeup game to a spot where it makes logistical sense in the schedule, so we'll be headed back to Buffalo on Wednesday, July 5 - the Beacons will be getting ready for a homestand to start, and we are visiting the Mets starting the next day.

April 6-7: Bees (5-4) vs. Houston Astros (5-5)
5-4 actually puts us in first place at the moment - we were tied with Houston at the end of the last update, but they played at Arizona and lost both games - I guess the Diamondbacks are back on track.

Game 1 - Jack Flaherty (0-0, 2.77) vs. Clayton Kershaw (0-2, 6.75)
HOU: SS Irizarry, 3B Hartung, RF Gutierrez, LF Martinez, 1B Bird, C Posey, CF DeLoach, 2B Vaughn, P Kershaw
SLC: CF Mesa, 2B Phyo, 3B Guerrero, RF Robles, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, C Phegley, SS Mota, P Flaherty

Our usual changes for a lefty starter; no Cottam or Maezes, and Ishi slides down below Robles... Kershaw had a tough matchup last time out against reigning Cy Young winner Wu-Shiun Chen and the Pirates, and gave up 5 first-inning runs... overall, the Houston pitching staff has been pretty poor... the game got off to a terrible start for Flaherty; well, actually, it started OK and then quickly spun out of control. With no one on and two outs, Ramon Gutierrez reached on an error by Ishihara at 1st that should have ended the inning. JD Martinez followed with a hit, and then Greg Bird sliced a ball the other way that just barely stayed fair and just barely topped the fence, a three-run shot. The next two batters reached with singles before Flaherty finally got Vaughn to end the frame... We got one back in the bottom half, Guerrero delivering a sac fly that scored Mesa... then the whole thing went to hell... Jack started the inning with three straight walks, the first being to the opposing pitcher Kershaw, and Gutierrez' two-run single that followed knocked him out. Griffin Canning came in to try to stop the bleeding, and utterly failed to do so... Martinez reached on another walk, and Bird reached on another error by Ishihara, and then Posey's grand slam made it 10-1. Unlike Bird's homer in the first, this one was no cheapie... seven runs in and still no one out, the Astros managed to scrape together another rally to get one more run, this one driven in by Irizarry... Martin Perez came in to finally stop the bleeding at 11-1... the game was basically over at this point even in the 2nd inning, but Houston added one more in the 5th and two in the 6th on an Irizarry HR... Salt Lake scratched up single runs in the 7th and 8th, the first on a wild pitch and the second on a double by Robles... and that's all she wrote.

PotG: Kenen Irizarry

Absolutely miserable game. On the plus side... only 9 of the 14 runs were earned thanks to Ishi's two errors.

Game 2 - Jonathan Holder (1-0, 3.09) vs. Gerrit Cole (1-0, 1.29)
HOU: SS Irizarry, 3B Hartung, RF Gutierrez, LF Martinez, 1B Bird, C Posey, CF DeLoach, 2B Vaughn, P Cole
SLC: CF Mesa, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, C Cottam, 2B Maezes, SS Phyo, P Holder

Cole is off to a really great start, with only 2 runs allowed in 14 innings... both pitchers would work around trouble in each of the first two innings, with the Bees getting a runner into scoring position in both frames but nothing doing... same for Holder again in the third, Irizarry with a walk and a steal, but Hartung's single was hit too hard to score him from second and he would be stranded at third... the Bees finally connect in the third, and in a big way. Both Victors would reach, Mesa on a double and Robles on a single, putting men at first and third for Guerrero and bang! Vladdy's 5th home run of the year made it 3-0 Bees in the blink of an eye. Ishihara next and bang! Our two monsters go back-to-back for the first time this year (Morio's 4th HR) and it's 4-0... after a Shirah strikeout, Cottam would reach on a double in a ten-pitch at bat and would move up on Maezes' groundout, and after Phyo was intentionally walked Jonathan Holder came through with his first hit of the year to score Cottam! That was the death blow that ended Gerrit Cole's day and nearly tripled his ERA on the day... Holder would run into more trouble in the 5th, and the running theme comes up again as it all happened after the Astros had already made two outs... Irizarry doubled, and then Hartung doubled him straight back home. Holder threw a wild pitch while Gutierrez was up, and then walked him, and that was all... Griffin Canning on again to try to rescue us, and it went about as well as it did for him yesterday. He walks Martinez to load the bases, allows three straight bases-loaded singles to Bird, Posey, and DeLoach, the last one scoring the two tying runs, and only then gets Vaughn to end the inning. 5-5... after Canning allowed another single leading off the 6th, he's replaced by Gadsby who does his best to muck it up; Shirah drops a ball in left field hit by Irizarry, and then after a walk, Gutierrez gives Houston the lead with a 2 run double... Houston would tack on two more in the inning via a Martinez sac fly and Posey RBI single, making it 9-5... after making two outs in the bottom half of the 6th, the Bees would show some life... Robles walked and Guerrero singled before Ishihara was able to double them both home, and he was then knocked in by Shirah to make it 9-8... but the Astros would really put the game away in the 8th... 4 more runs in that frame, all charged to Ferrell, highlighted by Irizarry's two-run single... the Bees never really lost hope, though, with Ishihara driving in his 4th run of the game in the 8th, and then the team scoring two in the ninth and even bringing the tying run to the plate in the forms of Robles and Guerrero, but neither could get it done. 13-11.

PotG: Morio Ishihara

A completely miserable series that sees us fall below .500. I knew this was gonna be a tough couple of games, but that was difficult to watch. One thing that I haven't really touched on yet is our location - Utah is high-altitude, and the stadium that I'm using accounts for this, so it's pretty easy to hit here.

Martin Perez suffered an injury in this game pitching in the 9th, but it doesn't appear serious and he'll avoid the IL. After this game, SP Griffin Canning was optioned to AAA Hawaii and RP William Gonzalez was recalled. Canning will certainly be back, but he's been awful these few days and we need bodies. Matheny seems to prefer Shirah in the rotation at the moment so when the minor league season starts (next week) Canning can get some starts in.

April 8-9: Bees (5-6) vs. Monarques de Montréal (6-6)
Montréal is one of those middling teams that's just kinda there, you know? Kinda like the real-life Diamondbacks. Despite being .500 they have a -11 run differential in 12 games, so perhaps a bit lucky.

Game 1 - Michael Pineda (1-0, 1.50) vs. Javier Rivas (0-2, 5.40)
MTL: CF Dixon, LF Pillar, 3B Donaldson, 2B Martin, 1B Wolf, C Perez, SS Yeager, RF Anderson, P Rivas
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, CF Mesa, C Cottam, 2B Maezes, LF Granite, P Pineda

This is just Pineda's second start due to all the off days we've had and the rotation shuffling Matheny's already done... Rivas hasn't been terribly bad in either of his two starts, but has almost no run support to speak of. Of course, the team's probably got their ears perked up about being in the high altitude of Utah for the weekend... the Monarques were able to strike in the top of the 1st, Donaldson crushing a first-pitch homer to the opposite field, but that was the only baserunner... the real indignity came in the second inning, when, again after having no one on and two out, a rally came that was punctuated by the opposing pitcher's two-run single... The bottom of the Bees order would work one across in the second as well, Granite driving in Ishihara to put the Bees on the board at 3-1... both pitchers got into a real groove after that, and there wasn't a threat from either team until the Bees came up in the 6th... Guerrero singled and Mesa reached on a throwing error, but Cottam would ground out to end things... it would all go to pot in the next half-inning. I bet you can guess. Pineda retired the first two in order, but allowed a single to Pillar, and that was the end of his day... Justin Wilson came on and allowed two doubles, a walk to Wolf, and then a three-run home run courtesy of Salvador Perez, and suddenly it was 8-1... Salt Lake would claw back two of those after the stretch, a Robles single driving in Maezes and a Guerrero single driving in Mota, but 8-3 isn't much nicer than 8-1... and it's definitely not nicer than 12-3, which it was after Perez tattooed Ferrell for a mammoth grand slam in the ninth to really put it away.

PotG: Salvador Perez

It was noted after the game that Perez became the first Monarque to drive in 7 runs in a game. We're honored that we could make that happen for ya, Sal.

Game 2 - Will Shirah (1-0, 3.60) vs. Brandon Boone (0-2, 10.29)
MTL: CF Dixon, LF Pillar, 3B Donaldson, C Perez, 1B Wolf, 2B Martin, SS Yeager, RF Casey, P Boone
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, P Shirah, CF Mesa, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, LF Granite

Boone has given up 8 runs in just 7 innings over his two starts, so hopefully we can jump on him early like the Burros and Reds have... both teams got a hit in the first inning, but no more... both teams went 1-2-3 in the second... both teams got one baserunner in the third, but no score... and finally in the 4th, things start to diverge. Shirah set down the Monarques in order, and then the heart of the Bees' order got going... Robles led off with a double, and then Guerrero drove him in. Ishihara was plunked, and Shirah drew a walk to load the bases. Mesa dribbled a 1-2 pitch into the hole at short that resulted in an infield hit and a run, and Maezes was walked on 4 pitches. Still with no one out, Cottam grounded into a run-scoring 5-4-3 double play and Granite drove in the one remaining runner, Mesa, with a single, to make it 5-0... Montréal got one back in the fifth on a solo shot by Yeager... but Mota returned the favor, canceling out his shortstop counterpart leading off the fifth. It was Mota's first homer of the year and third of his major league career... Salvador Perez continued to terrorize the Bees, hitting his third home run in two days, this one a two-run shot to score Pillar, in the 6th... Shirah was finished after that sixth inning, with the team's first quality start since Flaherty's against the Cardinals... the Monarques would threaten in the 7th, but Blackwood and Gadsby combined to hold them scoreless... but in the 8th, Justin Wilson continued to struggle... consecutive hits by Pillar and Donaldson scored a run, and when Hermeling came in to face Perez, he did it again! Perez's fourth home run in the series tied the game at 6... yikes... there were still no outs at this point, but Hermeling finished the inning not scathed any further... the Bees squandered Ishihara's one-out double in the eighth... Miller came on to pitch the ninth (hasn't had a save situation in five days), and Guerrero committed an error in the inning but there were no hits. Finally a positive for Jared... in the bottom half of the ninth, Cottam reached on a 1-out single against Montréal's Colton Eastman after an eight-pitch AB, and after Granite's groundout moved him up to second, Luis Mota got his chance to be the hero... his single through the right side scored Cottam and sent the Bees home as walk-off winners!

PotG: Salvador Perez

When one guy hits 4 home runs for 11 RBI in a single two-game series against us, I can be happy with a split, definitely. This was a horrible week so it's a relief that we didn't lose every game...

Bees' Player of the Week: I almost said "pass" but the hitters had an alright week as a group - the failure was almost all on pitching. I'll choose 3B Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who could probably win this award every week but definitely earned it. He was 10-22 in the five games, with a home run and 7 RBI. It was either him or Victor Victor Mesa, who had 10 hits as well, and no strikeouts, but only 1 RBI. A great week for both guys, and for Ishihara as well to be honest.

On the Leaderboard:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 4th in average(.418), T-4th in HR(5), T-6th in RBI(15), 3rd in SLG(.782), 2nd in OPS(1.232), 2nd in WAR(1.1), 4th in hits(23), 1st in TB(43)
Victor Victor Mesa: T-1st in SB(5)
Jonathan Holder: T-8th in strikeouts(21), 8th in BB/9 (1.1)

Standings:

League News
April 3: Columbus 1B Alec Bohm suffered a fractured ankle in Monday's win over the Cardinals, and will miss 4 months. That's a real bummer for Columbus and for Bohm, who was off to a really fast start with 4 home runs in 9 games.
April 4: A pair of veteran pitchers have been ruled out for the season and need Tommy John surgery - San Diego's Ryan Yarbrough and Norfolk's Greg Holland. Neither is a major component of their team but they're names that we know, at least
April 9: Previously unsigned free agent SS Brandon Crawford gets a 1-year deal for $9.7MM from the Nationals.
April 9: Pittsburgh's Madison Bumgarner will be out three months with a partial labrum tear. A big blow to the Pirates, although if any team can battle through it they can.

Players of the Week:
Tampa Bay 2B Jose Altuve - 14-27, 1 HR, 8 RBI
West Texas LF Mike Trout - 11-24, 3 HR, 10 RBI

Next Week: we finish our homestand against the Marlins, then head out east to Philadelphia and Louisville.

01-07-2020, 08:18 PM	#16
Ruwisc All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Southwestern Illinois Posts: 610	Week 2: April 3-9 April 4-5: Bees (5-3) @ Buffalo Beacons (3-5) The Beacons, defending National League champs, have lost 4 in a row - a pair of sweeps at the hands of the Dodgers and Burros, so they're going up against a third straight 2022 playoff team. The Burros are off to a really hot start atop the NL East and Buffalo might already have to be worried about falling too far behind. Game 1 - Joey Lucchesi (1-0, 0.00) vs. Rafael Ramirez (1-0, 1.80) SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, CF Mesa, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, P Lucchesi BUF: SS Franco, CF Siani, 1B Toglia, LF Swaggerty, 3B Groshans, RF Kjerstad, C Krause, 2B Schuetz, P Ramirez Ozzie Albies suffered a minor back injury over the weekend against the Burros, so good luck for us as he won't play in the series. Instead, it's Tanner Schuetz manning the keystone. Still, this is gonna be a really tough offensive team even without one of their top players... Lucchesi saw his perfect 0.00 ERA ruined in the first inning when Swaggerty's double drove in Siani, who had walked... we got to Ramirez in the top of the 3rd inning even after the first two made outs. Mota walked, Robles doubled him around, and Guerrero singled him in. Just like that, Salt Lake had the lead... Cottam would add a sacrifice fly in the fourth, scoring Shirah... the big bopper struck in the fifth. Mota and Robles each walked to start the frame, prompting the Buffalo manager Filas to make a pitching change; Ramirez was done after 4.0 innings. The new pitcher, Brandon Woodruff, was able to strike out Guerrero, but Ishihara ambushed him on an 0-2 pitch and just snuck his fly ball over the right-center field fence to make it 6-1... the Buffalo offense really came alive in the sixth, and knocked Lucchesi out for the count after 5.1 innings. A leadoff double from Franco was followed by 4 singles in the next five batters, scoring three runs; the final single, by Kjerstad, was the last pitch for Joey. Nolan Blackwood was the reliever of choice for Matheny, and he needed some help from the defense. The final out was made at the plate, Robles throwing out Groshans trying to score on Schuetz's hit... Blackwood would get into some trouble of his own making in the 7th, but he was rescued in turn by Sam Bennerman coming out of the pen, this time with no runs allowed... the Bees added another run in the ninth without the benefit of a hit. Cottam walked, moved up on a bunt by pinch-hitter Te'Kwaan Whyte, was balked to third and scored on Mota's ground ball to second... on comes Jared Miller for the save, 8-9-1 in the order coming for Buffalo... Schuetz singles, pinch-hitter Rosier singles, Franco singles, Miller walks Siani to force in a run and put the winning run on base. Eeeeexcellent. I would personally have gone to Ferrell after the third single, but Matheny makes the switch now. On a 1-2 pitch to Toglia, Ferrell spins one to the backstop, scoring another run... they get Toglia to strike out, and then intentionally walk Swaggerty (definitely the right call)... I say "definitely the right call" but that only applies when you don't then go and walk in the tying run on four pitches, which Ferrell does to David Gonzalez... the very next pitch is a walk-off sac-fly by Kjerstad. PotG: Sammy Siani This team is already really starting to test my patience... we really ought to be 8-1, not 5-4 right now. Game 2 - Postponed due to rain. I always like to move the makeup game to a spot where it makes logistical sense in the schedule, so we'll be headed back to Buffalo on Wednesday, July 5 - the Beacons will be getting ready for a homestand to start, and we are visiting the Mets starting the next day. April 6-7: Bees (5-4) vs. Houston Astros (5-5) 5-4 actually puts us in first place at the moment - we were tied with Houston at the end of the last update, but they played at Arizona and lost both games - I guess the Diamondbacks are back on track. Game 1 - Jack Flaherty (0-0, 2.77) vs. Clayton Kershaw (0-2, 6.75) HOU: SS Irizarry, 3B Hartung, RF Gutierrez, LF Martinez, 1B Bird, C Posey, CF DeLoach, 2B Vaughn, P Kershaw SLC: CF Mesa, 2B Phyo, 3B Guerrero, RF Robles, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, C Phegley, SS Mota, P Flaherty Our usual changes for a lefty starter; no Cottam or Maezes, and Ishi slides down below Robles... Kershaw had a tough matchup last time out against reigning Cy Young winner Wu-Shiun Chen and the Pirates, and gave up 5 first-inning runs... overall, the Houston pitching staff has been pretty poor... the game got off to a terrible start for Flaherty; well, actually, it started OK and then quickly spun out of control. With no one on and two outs, Ramon Gutierrez reached on an error by Ishihara at 1st that should have ended the inning. JD Martinez followed with a hit, and then Greg Bird sliced a ball the other way that just barely stayed fair and just barely topped the fence, a three-run shot. The next two batters reached with singles before Flaherty finally got Vaughn to end the frame... We got one back in the bottom half, Guerrero delivering a sac fly that scored Mesa... then the whole thing went to hell... Jack started the inning with three straight walks, the first being to the opposing pitcher Kershaw, and Gutierrez' two-run single that followed knocked him out. Griffin Canning came in to try to stop the bleeding, and utterly failed to do so... Martinez reached on another walk, and Bird reached on another error by Ishihara, and then Posey's grand slam made it 10-1. Unlike Bird's homer in the first, this one was no cheapie... seven runs in and still no one out, the Astros managed to scrape together another rally to get one more run, this one driven in by Irizarry... Martin Perez came in to finally stop the bleeding at 11-1... the game was basically over at this point even in the 2nd inning, but Houston added one more in the 5th and two in the 6th on an Irizarry HR... Salt Lake scratched up single runs in the 7th and 8th, the first on a wild pitch and the second on a double by Robles... and that's all she wrote. PotG: Kenen Irizarry Absolutely miserable game. On the plus side... only 9 of the 14 runs were earned thanks to Ishi's two errors. Game 2 - Jonathan Holder (1-0, 3.09) vs. Gerrit Cole (1-0, 1.29) HOU: SS Irizarry, 3B Hartung, RF Gutierrez, LF Martinez, 1B Bird, C Posey, CF DeLoach, 2B Vaughn, P Cole SLC: CF Mesa, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, C Cottam, 2B Maezes, SS Phyo, P Holder Cole is off to a really great start, with only 2 runs allowed in 14 innings... both pitchers would work around trouble in each of the first two innings, with the Bees getting a runner into scoring position in both frames but nothing doing... same for Holder again in the third, Irizarry with a walk and a steal, but Hartung's single was hit too hard to score him from second and he would be stranded at third... the Bees finally connect in the third, and in a big way. Both Victors would reach, Mesa on a double and Robles on a single, putting men at first and third for Guerrero and bang! Vladdy's 5th home run of the year made it 3-0 Bees in the blink of an eye. Ishihara next and bang! Our two monsters go back-to-back for the first time this year (Morio's 4th HR) and it's 4-0... after a Shirah strikeout, Cottam would reach on a double in a ten-pitch at bat and would move up on Maezes' groundout, and after Phyo was intentionally walked Jonathan Holder came through with his first hit of the year to score Cottam! That was the death blow that ended Gerrit Cole's day and nearly tripled his ERA on the day... Holder would run into more trouble in the 5th, and the running theme comes up again as it all happened after the Astros had already made two outs... Irizarry doubled, and then Hartung doubled him straight back home. Holder threw a wild pitch while Gutierrez was up, and then walked him, and that was all... Griffin Canning on again to try to rescue us, and it went about as well as it did for him yesterday. He walks Martinez to load the bases, allows three straight bases-loaded singles to Bird, Posey, and DeLoach, the last one scoring the two tying runs, and only then gets Vaughn to end the inning. 5-5... after Canning allowed another single leading off the 6th, he's replaced by Gadsby who does his best to muck it up; Shirah drops a ball in left field hit by Irizarry, and then after a walk, Gutierrez gives Houston the lead with a 2 run double... Houston would tack on two more in the inning via a Martinez sac fly and Posey RBI single, making it 9-5... after making two outs in the bottom half of the 6th, the Bees would show some life... Robles walked and Guerrero singled before Ishihara was able to double them both home, and he was then knocked in by Shirah to make it 9-8... but the Astros would really put the game away in the 8th... 4 more runs in that frame, all charged to Ferrell, highlighted by Irizarry's two-run single... the Bees never really lost hope, though, with Ishihara driving in his 4th run of the game in the 8th, and then the team scoring two in the ninth and even bringing the tying run to the plate in the forms of Robles and Guerrero, but neither could get it done. 13-11. PotG: Morio Ishihara A completely miserable series that sees us fall below .500. I knew this was gonna be a tough couple of games, but that was difficult to watch. One thing that I haven't really touched on yet is our location - Utah is high-altitude, and the stadium that I'm using accounts for this, so it's pretty easy to hit here. Martin Perez suffered an injury in this game pitching in the 9th, but it doesn't appear serious and he'll avoid the IL. After this game, SP Griffin Canning was optioned to AAA Hawaii and RP William Gonzalez was recalled. Canning will certainly be back, but he's been awful these few days and we need bodies. Matheny seems to prefer Shirah in the rotation at the moment so when the minor league season starts (next week) Canning can get some starts in. April 8-9: Bees (5-6) vs. Monarques de Montréal (6-6) Montréal is one of those middling teams that's just kinda there, you know? Kinda like the real-life Diamondbacks. Despite being .500 they have a -11 run differential in 12 games, so perhaps a bit lucky. Game 1 - Michael Pineda (1-0, 1.50) vs. Javier Rivas (0-2, 5.40) MTL: CF Dixon, LF Pillar, 3B Donaldson, 2B Martin, 1B Wolf, C Perez, SS Yeager, RF Anderson, P Rivas SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, CF Mesa, C Cottam, 2B Maezes, LF Granite, P Pineda This is just Pineda's second start due to all the off days we've had and the rotation shuffling Matheny's already done... Rivas hasn't been terribly bad in either of his two starts, but has almost no run support to speak of. Of course, the team's probably got their ears perked up about being in the high altitude of Utah for the weekend... the Monarques were able to strike in the top of the 1st, Donaldson crushing a first-pitch homer to the opposite field, but that was the only baserunner... the real indignity came in the second inning, when, again after having no one on and two out, a rally came that was punctuated by the opposing pitcher's two-run single... The bottom of the Bees order would work one across in the second as well, Granite driving in Ishihara to put the Bees on the board at 3-1... both pitchers got into a real groove after that, and there wasn't a threat from either team until the Bees came up in the 6th... Guerrero singled and Mesa reached on a throwing error, but Cottam would ground out to end things... it would all go to pot in the next half-inning. I bet you can guess. Pineda retired the first two in order, but allowed a single to Pillar, and that was the end of his day... Justin Wilson came on and allowed two doubles, a walk to Wolf, and then a three-run home run courtesy of Salvador Perez, and suddenly it was 8-1... Salt Lake would claw back two of those after the stretch, a Robles single driving in Maezes and a Guerrero single driving in Mota, but 8-3 isn't much nicer than 8-1... and it's definitely not nicer than 12-3, which it was after Perez tattooed Ferrell for a mammoth grand slam in the ninth to really put it away. PotG: Salvador Perez It was noted after the game that Perez became the first Monarque to drive in 7 runs in a game. We're honored that we could make that happen for ya, Sal. Game 2 - Will Shirah (1-0, 3.60) vs. Brandon Boone (0-2, 10.29) MTL: CF Dixon, LF Pillar, 3B Donaldson, C Perez, 1B Wolf, 2B Martin, SS Yeager, RF Casey, P Boone SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, P Shirah, CF Mesa, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, LF Granite Boone has given up 8 runs in just 7 innings over his two starts, so hopefully we can jump on him early like the Burros and Reds have... both teams got a hit in the first inning, but no more... both teams went 1-2-3 in the second... both teams got one baserunner in the third, but no score... and finally in the 4th, things start to diverge. Shirah set down the Monarques in order, and then the heart of the Bees' order got going... Robles led off with a double, and then Guerrero drove him in. Ishihara was plunked, and Shirah drew a walk to load the bases. Mesa dribbled a 1-2 pitch into the hole at short that resulted in an infield hit and a run, and Maezes was walked on 4 pitches. Still with no one out, Cottam grounded into a run-scoring 5-4-3 double play and Granite drove in the one remaining runner, Mesa, with a single, to make it 5-0... Montréal got one back in the fifth on a solo shot by Yeager... but Mota returned the favor, canceling out his shortstop counterpart leading off the fifth. It was Mota's first homer of the year and third of his major league career... Salvador Perez continued to terrorize the Bees, hitting his third home run in two days, this one a two-run shot to score Pillar, in the 6th... Shirah was finished after that sixth inning, with the team's first quality start since Flaherty's against the Cardinals... the Monarques would threaten in the 7th, but Blackwood and Gadsby combined to hold them scoreless... but in the 8th, Justin Wilson continued to struggle... consecutive hits by Pillar and Donaldson scored a run, and when Hermeling came in to face Perez, he did it again! Perez's fourth home run in the series tied the game at 6... yikes... there were still no outs at this point, but Hermeling finished the inning not scathed any further... the Bees squandered Ishihara's one-out double in the eighth... Miller came on to pitch the ninth (hasn't had a save situation in five days), and Guerrero committed an error in the inning but there were no hits. Finally a positive for Jared... in the bottom half of the ninth, Cottam reached on a 1-out single against Montréal's Colton Eastman after an eight-pitch AB, and after Granite's groundout moved him up to second, Luis Mota got his chance to be the hero... his single through the right side scored Cottam and sent the Bees home as walk-off winners! PotG: Salvador Perez When one guy hits 4 home runs for 11 RBI in a single two-game series against us, I can be happy with a split, definitely. This was a horrible week so it's a relief that we didn't lose every game... Bees' Player of the Week: I almost said "pass" but the hitters had an alright week as a group - the failure was almost all on pitching. I'll choose 3B Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who could probably win this award every week but definitely earned it. He was 10-22 in the five games, with a home run and 7 RBI. It was either him or Victor Victor Mesa, who had 10 hits as well, and no strikeouts, but only 1 RBI. A great week for both guys, and for Ishihara as well to be honest. On the Leaderboard: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 4th in average(.418), T-4th in HR(5), T-6th in RBI(15), 3rd in SLG(.782), 2nd in OPS(1.232), 2nd in WAR(1.1), 4th in hits(23), 1st in TB(43) Victor Victor Mesa: T-1st in SB(5) Jonathan Holder: T-8th in strikeouts(21), 8th in BB/9 (1.1) Standings: League News April 3: Columbus 1B Alec Bohm suffered a fractured ankle in Monday's win over the Cardinals, and will miss 4 months. That's a real bummer for Columbus and for Bohm, who was off to a really fast start with 4 home runs in 9 games. April 4: A pair of veteran pitchers have been ruled out for the season and need Tommy John surgery - San Diego's Ryan Yarbrough and Norfolk's Greg Holland. Neither is a major component of their team but they're names that we know, at least April 9: Previously unsigned free agent SS Brandon Crawford gets a 1-year deal for $9.7MM from the Nationals. April 9: Pittsburgh's Madison Bumgarner will be out three months with a partial labrum tear. A big blow to the Pirates, although if any team can battle through it they can. Players of the Week: Tampa Bay 2B Jose Altuve - 14-27, 1 HR, 8 RBI West Texas LF Mike Trout - 11-24, 3 HR, 10 RBI Next Week: we finish our homestand against the Marlins, then head out east to Philadelphia and Louisville.