[ayaghmour2]

May 16th, 1903: We arrived in Cinncinati for a three game set with the Red Hawks to finish up our road trip. Vince Brown (5-0, 4.70 ERA, 1.30 WHIP) took the opener over McCue (who I guess wasn't rested) against Eric Thomas (4-3, 3.28 ERA, 1.38 WHIP). Brett Olsen was happy to see Thomas on the mound, as he's an impressive 31-for-60 with 5 homers against the 32-year-old veteran. Tied at 4 in the 9th, both teams got solo homers, Juan Vela for us, and former Charger Carlos Ruiz for them, to force extras. Vela came through again in the 11th, hitting an RBI single off Carl Firestone, and we won the opener 5-4.

Brown went 7 innings with 5 hits, 3 runs, a walk, and 5 strikeouts. Simon Ellingson blew the save, but also got the win, allowing 2 hits, a run, and a walk with a strikeout in 2 innings. Justin Pezzeti and Rick Gunter split up a perfect 9th inning.

Carlos Sandate was 2-for-5 with a steal, 2 runs, 2 RBI's, and a homer. Vela was 2-for-5. Justin Arrington was 1-for-5 with a steal and solo homer.

May 17th, 1903: The middle match saw Cody Hall (2-2, 5.94 ERA) face Matt Puckett (4-3, 4.33 ERA, 0.93 WHIP), who jumped a spot in the rotaiton. We hit him hard earlier in the year, as he was charged with 7 runs in 5.1 innings. He's also pitching on short rest. In a great performance by Hall, we took a step closer to a sweep with a nice 4-1 win.

Hall went 8 with 6 hits, a run, a walk, and 3 strikeouts. Ellingson earned his 7th save with a strikeout and perfect 9th inning.

Mike Shaddox went 3-for-4. Carlos Sandate was 2-for-4 with a walk, homer, and 2 runs scored. Damian Salcido was 1-for-4 with a two run homer. Omar Attilio was 2-for-4 with a double. Brett Olsen was 1-for-4 with a solo shot.

May 18th, 1903: Milwaukee 1B Al Birkbeck and Philadelphia 1B Mario Rabago wre named Player of the Week.

A little something new, I'll include our power ranking and record at the start of every week. We moved up to 4th, and are currently 23-17, 6 games behind the Lightning and just 1 behind the Rebels.

Eddie Silva cleared waivers, but refused an assignment to Class A Grand Rapids. After trying to dump him on someone, I just bit the bullet and released him. I offered him a minor league deal to come back, but I doubt he'll accept it.

We looked to finish off the sweep with Carlos Ramirez (1-4, 5.66 ERA, 1.39 WHIP) facing 36-year-old Dave Rennie (0-3, 5.89 ERA, 1.64 WHIP). Despite the off day tomorrow, most of the starters were given the day off because they were exhausted. It's really hard to blame Ramirez for the loss, but he was left in for the whole game, and we were topped 5-4.

Oh, and one run was unearned...

Ramirez pitched 8 innings, allowing 11 hits, 5 runs (4 earned...), a walk, and 5 strikeouts.

Mike Shaddox was 3-for-4 with a walk and run scored. Mike Leff was 2-for-4 with a double. Damian Salcido was 1-for-4 with a double, run scored, and 2 RBI's. Ramirez was 1-for-3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.

Lightning lefty Ron Howard tossed a 4-hit shutout in a 5-0 win over the Cardinals.

We're off tomorrow, and will head back home!

May 19th, 1903: Before even appearing in a game for us, Nate McCue inked a 5-year, $2,744 per year deal, with the final season a player option. The former 9th Overall Pick out of Washington has had an up and down career, but I'm really betting on his ratings over his stats.

Brooklyn SP Tim Allday tossed a 6-hit shutout in a 7-0 win over the Freedom.

The Cardinals, who sit at 11-29 and are in dead last, will be in town for a three game set. We'd see Bobby Goldberg (1-6, 4.57 ERA), Roland Rehrig (0-0, 3.00 ERA), and Andy Riffle (1-4, 6.68 ERA).

May 20th, 1903: Nate McCue (6-2, 2.69 ERA, 1.05 WHIP) would make his Chargers debut as Bobby Goldberg (1-6, 4.57 ERA, 1.31 WHIP) and the Chicago Cardinals came to town. McCue would have to watch out for Ben Etienne, who's 23-for-49 with 4 homers in his career against McCue, although there are very few pitchers who can get him out. McCue was brilliant (although Etienne was 2-for-4 with a run scored), and we topped the guests 4-1.

McCue was out away from finishing the game, and allowed just 6 hits, 2 walks, and a run with 9 strikeouts. Ellingson got the final out to earn his 8th save.

We were actually outhit 6 to 4. Brett Olsen had half of them, going 2-for-3 with 2 doubles, 2 runs scored, and an RBI. Juan Vlea was 1-for-3 with a two run homer. Omar Atillio was 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Down in Grand Rapids, 2B Carlos Martinez was 5-for-5 as the Bulls destoryed the Louisville Condors 17-2.

May 21st, 1903: Game 2 saw Roland Rehrig (0-0, 3.00 ERA, 1.25 WHIP) make his first start of the season after 11 appearences out of the pen. He'd face Vince Brown (5-0, 4.58 ERA, 1.25 WHIP) who looked to stay perfect on the season. A huge 5 run 5th helped us cruise to a 9-2 win.

Brown went the distance, allowing just 3 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks with 8 strikeouts.

Muhan Yakin was 2-for-4 with 2 runs, a double, and RBI. Carlos Sandate was 2-for-4 with a run scored and two driven in. Jesus Cmargo was 1-for-4 with a grand slam. Mike Legg was 1-for-3 with 2 runs and an RBI. Brown was 1-for-2 with 2 runs and a sac-bunt.

Washington's Marcos Hernandez tossed a 3-hit shutout ina 3-0 win over the Mustangs.

May 22nd, 1903: New Orleans will be without 23-year-old Simone Botte for the rest of the season with a torn labrum. The promising youngster was 2-4 with a 3.02 ERA in 9 starts.

The brooms were ready as D.J. Ruhnke (5-1, 3.77 ERA, 1.21 WHIP) went to battle with Jimmy Miller (2-6, 4.53 ERA, 1.32 WHIP). These two met on April 8th, when we came out on top in a 7-5 road win. The result was much different today, as the Cardinals avoided a sweep with a 6-1 finale win.

Ruhnke pitched well, going 6 innings with 5 hits, 2 runs (1 earned), 2 walks, and 7 strikeouts. Justin Pezzetti was roughed up for 4 runs off 2 hits and 2 walks in 0.1 innings. Juan de Loera went 2.2 innings with 3 hits and 2 strikeouts.

Brett Olsen was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Jesus Camargo was 3-for-4. Mike Shaddox was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Our homestand would continue as the Washington Wildcats came to town for four. At 21-22, they are 12 games out of first and 4.5 games behind us. We'd likely see Chris Brown (1-5, 5.87 ERA), Hector Perez (4-1, 6.15 ERA), Willis Salinas (6-0, 2.17 ERA), and Marcos Hernandez (6-4, 3.59 ERA).