[Bub13]

We have 28 games over the next 30 days; 17 on the road, 11 at home. Nine more games--three series--against NL teams, to finish up interleague play. We start the month with a nine-game, ten-day road trip. Fifteen games against division opponents. Schedule getting real now, summer heating up.


June 1-3 @ BALTIMORE
Fifth place, 24-26, 7 games back. Hitting a lot of home runs, but not hitting well overall. Pitching is pretty good, starters better than bullpen, although closer Rogelio Crespin is sporting an ERA below 1. Nestor Corredor is in his second year as manager, and was batting coach for two years before that.

#52: WIN 13-0...21 hits, McArthur 2 HR, Groff his 15th...DiFranco 5-hitter, 12 K, complete game...everyone got a hit, six guys got 3 each
#53: WIN 4-2...McArthur another HR...Brock 7 strong innings...solo HR in 7th and 8th make the difference
#54: WIN 2-1...Martinez 2-run HR is the game winner...Little (8-1) seven innings, five hits

Sweep! And five wins in a row. Oakland is still winning, but now we're tied for first. Hebert's BA has gone up 30 points the last two weeks, and replacement RF Ernesto Martinez (in for Wiggins) has gone up 40 points, plus 4 HR. One third of the way through the season, and we're on pace for 99 wins. I'll take it.


June 4-7 @ TEXAS
Our second go-round with the Rangers; we won 2 of 3 in May. Texas is 26-29, fourth place and 7.5 games back. They're 3-7 in their last ten, and have lost the last four. Pitching and defense are near the bottom in the AL, and batting has been subpar, aside from their 75 HR (5th). RF Sean Holliday and 1B Raul Molina have 15 HR each, and Holliday is also hitting .311.

#55: WIN 7-4...Dunklee and Mullen three hits apiece...Wunderlich 7 innings, is not horrible
#56: LOSS 3-4...Clark 6 IP, 2 more HR given up...Hebert 2 more hits, has been stout in his new leadoff role
#57: WIN 7-2...Groff 3 hits, 16th HR...DiFranco 8.1 IP, 2 runs
#58: WIN 12-5...12 runs on 13 hits, HR for Dunklee (6) and Collins (7)...3 more hits for Hebert

Not a sweep, but the next best thing, as we repeatedly batter Rangers pitching. We remain tied with Oakland, at 36-22, three games up on Seattle. So...I am now waiting for the other shoe to drop.


June 9-10 @ HOUSTON
Our second series against the Astros, and first of two this month. We took one of three from them in April. Since then, they've slipped to last in the division, sporting a 24-33 record, half a game behind the equally struggling Angels. Team stats are near the bottom in every category, including a league worst OBP. CF Joe Osmun is having a great year, sitting at third in average at .352, and SS Sean Boothe is hitting .320 and is third in stolen bases. Everyone else is struggling, and having six players on the DL is not helping. Let's see if we can keep them under water. Fun fact: one of their top prospects is Butch 'Pop' Santos. ("So...your real name is Butch?")

#59: LOSS 0-4...Little has one bad inning (a four-run 3rd), but our hitters have nine bad ones...Ugh.
#60: LOSS 2-3...What joy, swept by the worst team in the division. Move along, nothing good to see here.

We left our bats in Arlington, apparently. Sigh. Okay, get over it and move along. Big series up next.


June 11-14 vs. OAKLAND
We took four in a row from them in April. They've lost 3 in a row now, allowing us a slim half game lead. Vinny Vargas has 'slumped' to just .331, and leadoff hitter Kevin Beasley is hitting a comical .154, but recent callup OF Ben Hild has been crushing it, hitting .384 in 20 games. Hitting has been average, but they hit a lot of HR (bad for us), and thus are 3rd in runs. Bullpen has been subpar (good for us), so maybe we can take advantage. Let's hope our bats went straight from Arlington to Honolulu, and we can just forget about those last two games.

#61: LOSS 4-7...Surprise! Clark gives up three more HR. Our staff ace, everybody
#62: WIN 12-2...Our turn: we hit 5 HR, Groff with two (18 now)...DiFranco 8.2 IP, 9 K, 1 ER...Groff is Player of Day with 4-for-4, 5 RBI
#63: LOSS 3-8...Screw you and your 2 HR, Ben Hild...three more hits for Groff...Brock getting lit up more frequently (3 of last 5 starts now)
#64: WIN 7-1...Our ace (Little, 9-2) beat their ace (Ricky Hose, 7-3)...this could be our first home game where we didn't give up a HR

A 2-2 split is okay, considering. We outhit them every game, so the results could be directly attributed to our starting pitching. Eh, maybe I'm overthinking this. On a side note, they did lose their starting CF Tim Manske (he's very, very good) for the season. That's gotta be good for us, right? Oh, and the fans finally turned out for this series: over 48K every game. Season attendance is still below 40K, but our fan interest is up to 86. Let's see what that means next time the White Sox roll into town for a midweek series.

Heading into three series of interleague play, we're 38-26, half a game up on the A's. Seattle is 36-28, two games back. Fun fact: Oakland gets nine games against the three best teams in the NL (Chicago, Pittsburgh, Montreal), whereas we get six against the two worst (St Louis, New Orleans), and three against the Pirates. I've just cursed us, haven't I.


Next up: June, part two