[ayaghmour2]

June 6th, 1903: Oh man...

Carlos Sandate will miss the rest of the season with a torn labrum. Losing someone who was hitting .305/.400/.594 with 15 homers and 38 RBI's is really hard. Pair that with 9 steals and elite defense and he's nearly impossible to replace.

Worst part is, I really don't have anyone else who can play center...

I had to purchase the contract of LF Kevin Duane, who's only rated a 30 in center field. A 31-year-old minor league signing, he's got a .252/.340/.402 line with 49 homers, 59 steals, and 205 RBI's in 1,990 career UBL at bats. The former Baltimore 3rd Rounder has spent time with the Titans/Hornets, Pilots, Cardinals, and Calvary.

Duane, who was hitting .245/.434/.394 in Grand Rapids will come off the bench, while Jim Raines will start in center. Raines is rated just a 32 himself...

Bob Brenkus declined his offer, but Arturo Sanchez, who was seleced right after him, netted just a $80 bonus despite being a 2nd rounder.

Well, to make matters worse, we had to face the best team in the league, the St. Louis Lightning. Eddie Long (6-2, 3.22 ERA, 1.06 WHIP) jumped ahead in the rotation, and he'd face fellow southpaw D.J. Ruhnke (6-3, 3.23 ERA, 1.17 WHIP). I didn't really expect to win after all that happened, so losing 6-2 wasn't the worst thing that could happen.

Ruhnke went 6 with 10 hits, 6 runs, 4 walks, and 7 strikeouts. Tim Weiss, who I thought was getting the spot start for Hall, went 2 innings with 3 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts.

Damian Salcido had the only extra base hit, going 2-for-5 with a double. Jim Raines was 2-for-5 with an RBI. Mike Legg was 2-for-4 with a run scored. Muhan Takin was 1-for-3 with a walk and run scored.

June 7th, 1903: 5th Round Pick Jordan Stinson signed a $43 signing bonus.

We looked to even the series up with Carlos Ramirez (3-6, 5.06 ERA, 1.29 WHIP) facing Matt Nesgoda (6-1, 2.97 ERA, 1.19 WHIP). Nesgoda beat us earlier in the year, but we put up a bunch of runs on him. It would be hard to call this one a contest, as we were domianted 8-1.

Ramirez went 5.2 with 10 hits, 5 runs, 4 walks, and 7 strikeouts. Ben Follmar allowed a hit, run, walk, and got a strikeout in an inning. All-Star hopeful Juan de Loera allowed 2 hits and 2 runs in an inning.

Mike Shaddox was 2-for-5 with a solo homer. Josh Steven was 2-for-4 with 2 doubles.

June 8th, 1903: Brett Olsen suffered a 4 game setback and now Juan Vela has an unknown return, so the injuries are really sucking right now.

Washington CF Danny Dala and Buffalo 2B John McKenzie were named Player of the Week.

We dropped a spot down to 7, and at 32-28 are now 14.5 games out of first, but just a half game out of second.

We looked to avoid getting swept with Nate McCue (8-3, 3.41 ERA, 1.11 WHIP) taking on Ron Howard (6-4, 3.50 ERA, 1.15 WHIP). Thankfully, McCue was so great that we were able to salvage the finale with a 4-1 win.

Luckily, we get tomorrow off!

Anyways, McCue went 7.2 innings, allowing 4 hits, a walk, and an unearned run while striking out 5. Simon Ellingson got a save, 1.1 innings with a strikeout.

Justin Arrington was 2-for-4 with a steal and solo homer. Jesus Camargo was 1-for-4 with a two run homer. Jim Raines was 1-for-4 with a solo shot.

Cardinals lefty Andy Riffle tossed a 2-hit shutout in a 9-0 win over the Red Hawks.

June 9th, 1903: Thankfully, we got today off so I could focus on getting a beautiful new center fielder. I managed to find one rather easy, wrestling CF Jorge Rancier from Cinncinati's Class A team for LF Jay Morgan.

Rancier, 29, is a 2* 26-year-old who's on an affordable $840 first time arbitration deal. He's an excellent defender, rated 90, 63, and 77 at the outfield positions with elite speed, although he's not the best base runner. He's just an average hitter, but he's having a solid season between Cinncy and Class A Columbus, hitting .317/.378/.455 in the majors and .321/.409/.420 in the minors. In his big league career, he's recorded 1,149 at bats and has slashed .287/.350/.436 with 28 homers and 116 RBI's.

We'll head to New York to face the 32-26 Rebels. They have a small half game lead over us that I really want to flip. We'll face Joe Miller (6-2, 2.83 ERA), Bill Peet (0-1, 9.95 ERA), and Ernie Morris (4-2, 4.35 ERA).

June 10th, 1903: We got to face break out star Joe Miller (6-2, 2.83 ERA, 0.98 WHIP) who's done a great job of replicating the incapacitated Kevin Miller. Vince Brown (8-1, 3.80 ERA, 1.10 WHIP) would do his best to keep us in this one. Rancier made his debut in center, hitting 8th. Down 5-3, we tied it after single runs in the 7th and 8th. In the 9th, Jesus Camargo launched a 2-run shot off the generally shutdown George Mars, who's been awful this season, giving us a 7-5 comeback win.

And a playoff spot!

Brown had a rough start, 5.2 innings with 9 hits, 5 runs, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Jeremy Gotwals, with an ERA still north of 10, got the win and Simon Ellingson got the save. Both allowed a hit in a scorless inning.

Mike Legg was 3-for-5 with a double, 3 runs, and 2 solo homers. Damain Salcido was 2-for-5 with a two run homer. Camargo was 2-for-4 with 2 runs, a walk, a double, and the two run homer. Giobbe Capuana was 2-for-4 with a double and solo homer.

If you remember, I traded Jose Morales a while back in the McCue trade. A former 6th Overall Pick, the Seattle Rainmen (Class C) starting pitcher tossed a perfect game in a win over the Portland Wolfpack.

So yeah...

June 11th, 1903: We looked to keep rolling, with D.J. Ruhnke (6-4, 3.73 ERA, 1.27 WHIP) taking on surprise starter Bill Peet (0-1, 9.95 ERA, 1.74 WHIP) who's making just his 2nd start and appearence on the year. It was a close game, but the Rebels broke a way a bit late to take the middle match 6-3.

Ruhnke allowed 4 runs off 8 hits in 6 innings. He walked 5 and struck out 3. Justin Pezzetti allowed 2 runs off 3 hits in an inning.

We had just 4 hits, half from Damian Salcido who was 2-for-4 with a run scored. Giobbe Capuana was 1-for-4 with a three run homer.

June 12th, 1903: Brett Olsen will begin a quick rehab assignment while I brought back Tobias Larienjeira from his. I optioned Follmar back down to Grand Rapids.

1st Rounder Dave Melton signed a $160 bonus and 4th Rounder Mark Pinette inked a $62 bonus.

Another fan vote update, Jesus Camargo has a 20,000+ vote lead for 2B, 3B Giobbe Capuana is a far third for 3B. Damian Salcido has a nearlhy 15,000 vote lead at SS. Justin Arrington has a 10,000+ vote lead for LF. The injured Carlos Sandate has a slim 3,000 point lead at CF and will likely fall out. Brett Olsen is a distant third for RF. Juan de Loera is 4th for RP and barely behind 2nd, but way behind 1st.

We looked to put ourselves back in 2nd and take a road series win with Cody Hall (4-3, 5.33 ERA, 1.33 WHIP) making his first start since the suspension. Erik Pike (4-5, 3.81 ERA, 1.08 WHIP) would look to defend homefield. Despite being outhit, we managed to top the Rebels 7-4, and retake a half game lead in the Wildcard.

Hall went 8 innings with 10 hits, 4 runs (just 1 earned)..., a walk, and 2 strikeouts. A fresh Laranjeira picked up the save, giving up a hit with a strikeout in his return.

Josh Stevens was 3-for-5 with 2 homers, 3 runs, and 3 RBI's. Damian Salcido was 3-for-4 with a double and two run homer. Justin Arrington was 2-for-4 with a walk and 2 solo homers.