[ayaghmour2]

July 29th, 1903: The Cajuns were in town to start a three game set. Mark Weir (3-8, 4.47 ERA, 1.40 WHIP) was bumped up for the opener against Cody Hall (7-5, 4.34 ERA, 1.27 WHIP). It was a crazy game with crazy league changes, but we managed to edge out a 6-5 win.

Hall went 4 innings with 3 hits, 2 runs )1 eanred), 6 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Pat Peters struggled, allowing 2 runs in 2 innings with 4 hits, a walk, and 3 srikeouts. Simon Ellingson got the win, but also blew the lead, allowing a run, walk, and 3 hits with a strikeout in 1.2 innings. Tobias Laranjeira pitched a perfect 9th for his 15th save.

Jesus Camargo was 3-for-4 with a walk and 2 runs scored. Giobbe Capuana was 2-for-4 with a walk, run scored, and three driven in. Brett Olsen was 1-for-3 with a run scored, driven in, and 2 walks.

What's this, so called win streak, we are on?

Three wins not seperated with a loss? Is it May again?

July 30th, 1903: Travis Walters (2-2, 5.58 ERA, 1.49 WHIP) would be pitching for his rotation spot against Jaime Bottorff (5-10, 6.14 ERA, 1.64 WHIP). Let's just say he's best suited for the pen, as opposed to getting blown out 11-2...

Walters allowed 8 hits and 8 runs in 2.2 innings with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. Juan de Loera pitched 5.1 innings out of the pen, allowing 7 hits, 3 runs, and 2 walks. No strikeouts dspite 84 pitches...

Josh Stevens was 2-for-4 with a double and solo homer. Jim Raines was 2-for-5 with a steal and run scored. Mike Legg was 1-for-3 with a double and walk.

Cardinals 3B Peter Dider was 5-for-6 in a 12- win over the Rebels.

July 31st, 1903: Happy Deadline Day!

The Cajuns acquired LHP Nate Henry from the Rebels for RHP Casey Cecil and RHP Ethan Tuberville. They also recieved RF Ronnie Wooldridge and RHP Brent Serrette from the Hornets for RHP Bobby Miller and LHP Enrique Neri.

I questioned the Rebels logic in their trades, and it continued when they were willing to send me Ernie Morris for Robby Aguilar, the definition of a PTBNL that you'd prefer the cash considerations over. Granted, Morris is on an expiring deal, but the Iron Man is 8-2 with a 3.42 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 15 starts and 4 releif appearences.

I then moved Justin Pezzetti to the Baltiore Hornets for Jonathan Hyde.

Hyde, who just turned 24, was the Hornets 3rd Round selection last year out of USC. Rated a 2.5/5*, he's got elite stuff with plus movement and control. He's an extreme groundballer who can touch triple digits. He's got a plus-plus cut, a 97 rated curve, and a poor change that's the only thing preventing him from starting. He's on the 40, but will head to Grand Rapids.

That's all the deadline action for today, which lead to Jason Campbell (7-11, 4.22 ERA, 1.25 WHIP) taking on Jesse Salvetti (7-4, 5.23 ERA, 1.45 WHIP) in the must-win rubber match. I'm really shocked with the outcome, and we were hammered 10-4.

I should've traded everyone...

Campbell allowed 5 hits and 5 runs with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts in 6 innings. Tyler Bienvenu allowed 4 hits and 4 runs while striking out 2. Peters allowed 2 hits, a run, walk, and 2 strikeouts in 1.1 innings.

Jesus Camargo was 1-for-5 with a solo homer. Giobbe Capuana was 1-for-3 with a double, walk, and RBI. Justin Arrington was 1-for-3 with walk and run scored. Damain Salcido was 1-for-3 with a hit by pitch and RBI.

Lightning SP Matt Nesgoda tossed a 6-hit shutout as he lead his team to a 4-0 win over the Wildcats.

We'd look to shut those Wildcats out in our nation's capital, as we'd face Rod Velasco (0-1, 11.05 ERA), Marcos Hernandez (14-5, 2.83 ERA), and Jose Gonzalez (8-8, 3.65 ERA). Washington is in 5th, 4 games behind us and 32 out of first.

August 1st, 1903: Philadelphia got awful news, finding out MVP frontrunner Jon Alvarado will miss the rest of the season with a herniated disc. The star centerfielder was hitting .349 with 24 homers and 62 RBI's, as well as 83 runs scored and 16 steals. His .349 average is good for a tie with Pittsburgh David Carbajal, but he's leading the NL in OPS, WAR, OBP, and OPS+.

Rebels CF Adam Markley and Brookyln RF Mary Webb were named Batters of the Month. St. Louis SP Jim McNiff and Cleveland SP Danny Geffre were Pitchers of the Month. New Orleans 1B Jesus Falcon and Buffalo SS Joe Young were Rookies of the Year.

As expected, the Wildcats skipped the scrub Velasco for Marcos Hernandez (14-5, 2.83 ERA, 1.14 WHIP) who has dominated us the season (as well as nearly everyone else). Nate McCue (13-6, 3.67 ERA, 1.13 WHIP) has done well against the Wildcats, but I'm not too confident. As expected, we lost, this time 6-2.

I miss that "winning streak" we had just a few losses ago...

McCue looked bad, 9 hits and 6 runs with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. Giobbe Capuana was 1-for-2 with 2 walks and an RBI. Justin Arrington was 1-for-5 with a solo shot.

I really miss the "durable" Carlos Sandate... Since his injury, we've been just 22-30 which is not as terrible as I thought, but still a huge drop off.

August 2nd, 1903: Cincy lost their star CF Danny Boekhout for the rest of the season with a severely strained hip muscle. He was hitting .306 with 7 homers and 22 RBI's as he's been fightning injuries all season.

D.J. Runke (8-8, 4.13 ERA, 1.32 WHIP) took on Rod Velasco (0-1, 11.05 ERA, 1.77 WHIP) as we looked to not fall under .500. We played with a little fire today, and Damian Salcido helped overpower the Wildcas 8-4.

There were some fireworks as well, with Jesus Camargo getting plunked by David Gonzalez, which caused a bench clearing brawl in the 8th inning. Not quite sure why Camargo was so pissed, but maybe him and Gonzales have some beef I'm unaware of of...

He'll miss 3 or 4 games with a suspension...

Ruhnke went 7 with 6 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, and 7 strikeouts.

Salcido was 2-for-3 with 2 walks, 2 solo homers, and 3 RBI's. Justin Arrington was 2-for-3 with a homer, 2 RBI's, and 2 walks. Camargo was 2-for-4 with a run scored, 2 RBI's, and the infamous hit by pitch. Mike Legg was 2-for-5 with a run scored.

August 3rd, 1903: Just a fun fact I noted from making minor depth moves in the minors, I definitely struck gold on my supplemental pick Dave Melton, who's hitting .130/.202/.185 with a homer and 4 RBI's in 38 games at Class D Trenton. Oh yeah, that's after yesterday's performance where he was 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored and a solo homer in a 14-3 loss.

Man it doesn't get better then this...

Chicago 3B Peter Didier and Boston CF Chris Shifley were named Players of the Week. Shifley, the former 2nd Overall Pick in 1894 is one of the brightest stars in the UBL, not only because of the red ink that fills up his player page, but for his clever nick name "Grim Reaper" and his bright blonde "Circle 1" beard.

I'm a little confused on how we moved up to 7th in the Power Rankings, but maybe that's a sign of better things to come? At 54-53, we are 5.5 games out of 2nd and 29 out of first.

A rubber match that I already booked as a series loss saw Cody Hall (7-5, 4.27 ERA, 1.30 WHIP) take on Jose Gonzalez (8-8, 3.65 ERA, 1.20 WHIP). And it's not since Gonzalez is better then Hall (which he really isn't), it's just because of how bad we have been recently in series deciders. The loss was even more heartbreaking then I could've prediced, as Hall gave everything he had, but the H (please laugh at this amazing joke), and we wree topped 2-1.

He went 8, allowing 4 hits, 2 runs, and a walk with 9 strikeouts.

Mike Legg was 2-for-3 with 2 doubles and a run scored. Mike Shaddox was 1-for-2 with a steal, walk, and RBI. Damian Salcido was 1-for-4 with a double.

Stuck at 54-54, we head back home for a four game series with the 60-47 Rebels, who are starting to run away with the Wild Card spot. We'd likely see Erik Pike (10-7, 4.06 ERA), Antonio Gonzalez (2-3, 5.77 ERA), David Starkey (2-0, 2.65 ERA), and Jeff Rainey (1-0, 8.64 ERA). This is a team without their best hitter, pitcher, and they've pretty much traded anyone else they had with talent.

And they're still better then us...

It truly is going to be the dog days of August...