[ayaghmour2]

June 20th, 1904: New York RF Armando Chavez and Baltimore CF Jonathan Nagy were Players of the Week.

We remained 5th in the Power Rankings. At 39-32, we are in 2nd place, 9 behind out opponent today, the St. Louis Lightning, and 1 ahead of our next opponent, the New York Rebels.

We were in St. Louis for a three game set with the previously mentioned Lightning. The opener saw Josh Fisher (1-4, 4.99 ERA, 1.45 WHIP) go against Ron Howard (6-1, 4.66 ERA, 1.39 WHIP). We couldn't get anything going on offense, and we were topped 3-1.

Fisher went 8, allowing 7 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, and striking out 6.

Andy Palme was 1-for-3 with a double, walk, and RBI. Zack Lawrence was 1-for-4 with a run scored.

June 21st, 1904: We looked to even up the series in a very fair match-up, Cody Hall (5-4, 5.55 ERA, 1.43 WHIP) versus Bobby Brosius (8-4, 2.11 ERA, 0.86 WHIP). But, sometimes baseball doesn't make sense, and we destroyed our hosts 8-2!

Yeah, not too sure what happened here...

Hall looked good, 7 innings with 6 hits, 2 runs (1 earned), a walk, and 3 strikeouts. Simon Ellingson struck out 1 in 2 innings of relief.

Jesus Camargo was a perfect 4-for-4 with 2 homers and 4 RBI's. Jeremy Bell was 3-for-5 with a double and 2 runs scored. Justin Arrington was 2-for-4 with a steal, 2 homers, and 4 RBI's. Zack Lawrence was 2-for-5 with a double. Andy Palme was 1-for-4 with a walk and 2 runs scored.

June 22nd, 1904: We looked to take the rubber match and steal the series with Matt Puckett (7-3, 4.35 ERA, 1.19 WHIP) facing Eddie Long (9-4, 3.50 ERA, 1.15 WHIP). I almost had flashbacks of yesterday, and we won again, 8-2!

One new occurrence was Jesus Camargo leaving with mild shoulder inflammation. He'll miss about 2 weeks.

Giobbe Capauana was 3-for-5 with a double, homer, 3 runs, and 2 RBI's. Justin Arrington was 2-for-5 with a walk and 2 runs scored. Andy Palme was 2-for-5 with a double, run scored, and RBI. Zack Lawrence was 2-for-5 with a double and run scored. Mike Koski was 1-for-3 with a walk and grand slam.

It wasn't really the move I wanted to do, but I DFA'd LF Keith Mundt and purchased the contract of SS Seth Bland.

Bland, 36, will now make a major league at bat for the 12th consecutive season. A longtime defense first shortstop, he's won 5 Gold Gloves and hit a below average .251/.346/.341 with 55 homers and 434 RBI's in 1,361 career games. In Grand Rapids this year, he's hit a little bit better, .266/.372/.365 with 2 homers and 24 RBI's, but he's getting the call for his still elite defense. He'll start at short, Mike Legg at second, and Andy Palme at third while Camargo is on the DL.

We'll return home for a four game series with the Rebels, who are tied with us for second place. We'd see Lorenzo Guzman (1-0, 0.98 ERA), Kevin Miller (8-5, 4.40 ERA), Chris Brown (6-4, 3.66 ERA), and Jimmy Headley (1-3, 3.30 ERA).

June 23rd, 1904: D.J. Ruhnke (10-5, 3.84 ERA, 1.13 WHIP) got the ball in the opener against Lorenzo Guzman (1-0, 0.98 ERA, 1.09 WHIP), who's making his first start of the season after 16 appearances out of the pen. Bland would make his season debut, hitting 8th and playing short. I think our new favorite thing is 8-2 wins, and I'm more then okay with it!

Ruhnke looked better, 7 innings with 8 hits, 2 runs, and 10 strikeouts. Pat Peters went 2 with a hit and walk.

Zack Lawrence was 3-for-5 with a run scored and two driven in. Omar Atillio was 2-for-5 with a homer and 6 RBI's. Jorge Rancier was 2-for-4 with a double. Seth Bland was 1-for-3 with a walk and run scored. Mike Legg was 1-for-4 with a run scored.

June 24th, 1904: We looked to stretch our lead over the Rebels to two, with Nate McCue (3-3, 4.11 ERA, 1.04 WHIP) facing Chris Brown (6-4, 3.66 ERA, 1.47 WHIP). Selfishly, I wanted another 8-2 win, so it only makes sense that we'd drop this one 6-1.

Even better, Tobias Laranjeira decided to pitch in this game, and injured himself...

...

McCue went 7 with 8 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Toshiya Hayashi went an inning with 2 hits, a run, walk, and 2 strikeouts. Matt Macias allowed 3 hits and a run with a strikeout in 0.2 innings.

Andy Palme was 3-for-4. Giobbe Capuana was 2-for-3 with a walk. Jorge Rancier was 1-for-4 with a run scored.

June 25th, 1904: Mundt cleared waivers and was outrighted to Grand Rapids.

We looked to get back in the win column with Josh Fisher (1-5, 4.80 ERA, 1.41 WHIP) facing the southpaw Kevin Miller (8-5, 4.40 ERA, 1.10 WHIP). Juan Villanueva made his first big league start, hitting 8th and playing second. It was close all game, but we fell short in a 4-2 loss...

Fisher went 8.2 innings with 7 hits, 4 runs, a walk, and 5 strikeouts. Juan Londono finished the ninth with a hit and strikeout.

Justin Arrington was 2-for-4 with a triple and two run homer. Andy Palme was 1-for-4 with a run scored. Giobbe Capuana was 1-for-4.

Fresh of the DL, Lightning SP Matt Nesgoda tossed a 3-hit shutout as St. Louis edged Washington 1-0.

June 26th, 1904: Fan Vote Update: Giobbe Capuana is 2nd for 1B. Damian Salcido is 3rd for SS. Justin Arrington is 3rd for LF. D.J. Ruhnke is 5th for SP. Tobias Laranjeira is 2nd and Juan Londono 5th for RP.

The Rebels locked up CL George Mars to a 3-year, $2,100 per year extension. The former 4th Overall pick out of Long Beach State has been one of the best closers in the UBL, with 289 career saves, a 2.97 ERA, 740 strikeouts, and a 1.06 WHIP in 614.2 career innings. He's having a down year, with a 4.50 ERA and 1.36 WHIP with 53 strikeouts in 36 innings, and I can't help but think he would've got more in Free Agency.

We'd look to beat his team and battle back for the split, with Cody Hall (6-4, 5.10 ERA, 1.39 WHIP) taking on Jimmy Headley (1-3, 3.30 ERA, 1.10 WHIP). The game was just pathetic on the pitching side, and we were humiliated 17-8...

Hall, who I think I'm just going to release, went 4 with 8 hits, 8 runs, 4 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Pat Peters was pummeled, 1.2 innings with 7 hits and 5 runs. Matt Macias went 2.1 innings with 4 hits, a run, walk, and 2 strikeouts. Rhett Wigmore allowed 3 runs off a hit, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts in an inning.

Justin Arrington was 2-for-3 with a pair of homers, 2 walks, and 3 RBI's. Giobbe Capuana was 2-for-5 with a three run homer. Jorge Rancier was 2-for-5 with an RBI. Andy Palme was 2-for-4 with 2 runs and a walk. Zack Lawrence was 1-for-4 with a walk and 3 runs scored. Omar Atillio was 1-for-3 with a walk and sac-fly. Hall was 1-for-1 with a triple.

Philadelphia LF Jim Moran hit his 300th career homer. What looks like one of the best value picks, the former 16th Round selection of Milwaukee owns a career .273/.343/.539 line with 137 steals and 815 RBI's. He spent most of his career with Milwaukee before signing with Philadelphia before last season. This year, the 30-year-old is hitting .249/.317/.521 with 7 steals, 18 homers, and 49 RBI's.

I sent Peters down to Grand Rapids and recalled Jonathan Hyde. The 24-year-old has a 1.64 ERA and 0.82 WHIP with 21 strikeouts in 22 innings with the Bulls.

We're off tomorrow!