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Ruwisc · 01-22-2020, 09:32 AM

Week 13: June 19-25, 2023

Before getting into this week's games, I did a little bit of minor league overhauling. As I played through this season I noticed two things:
- every team has a somewhat bloated minor league system, with about 40-50 too many players, and we could all stand to benefit from an additional minor league team
- and because our AA team was located in Mexico in an all-Mexican league with 7 other teams, there was a preference for the AI teams and my own to try to only play Hispanic players. That isn't really the focus of the AA level

So, I've created a new set of rookie leagues called the Pan-Am Leagues, with ten teams each located in Mexico, Panama, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico. Each team gets an affiliate assigned at random (our team is in Puerto Rico). This is basically meant to be the equivalent of the current Dominican and Venezuelan Summer Leagues.

I also moved the AA teams out of Mexico, and put them in the general Four Corners area in a new made-up league called the Desert League. Our AA team is now known as the Cedar City Bees, representing us in the southern parts of Utah.

So, both sets of rookie-ball leagues get under way this week - we have one team in Arizona and another in Puerto Rico.

June 19-20: Bees (43-29) @ New Mexico Suns (38-36)
The Suns have been really struggling. When we visited Albuquerque the first time, at the beginning of May, they won both games from us, pulling into the division lead in the process. They were then in first for almost the entire month of May before we finally pulled back ahead in the last couple days of the month. In June, though, they're fallin' apart. They're 5-10 in June coming in and haven't won a series since sweeping Nashville on May 25-26. CL Roberto Osuna is still injured, although Durbin Feltman has filled in admirably and is probably on his way to the All-Star Game, in fact. SP Tristan Beck is on the mend as well, and NM will be without him for another month or so.

Game 1 - Joey Lucchesi (7-4, 3.87) vs. Andrew Quezada (2-4, 5.02)
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, CF Garry, P Lucchesi
NMS: SS Turang, 1B White, 2B Fitzgerald, LF DeLuca, 3B Hicks, CF Deveaux, C Kahle, RF Pompey, P Quezada

An odd lineup for New Mexico today, I thought, until I remembered that we have a lefty going. A number of the Suns' regulars are left-handed hitters, or in the case of regular catcher Cal Raleigh, switch-hitters who have dreadful splits anyway... Quezada, I think, is the first starting pitcher that we're seeing for the second time. We smoked him on the first Sunday of the season in Salt Lake City, as he gave up 6 runs (4 earned) in just 2.2 innings... last time out he had a tough-luck no-decision against the Giants despite pitching quite well... Lucchesi left his last outing with a bitter taste in the mouth, in the middle of a 7-run inning we allowed to the Rangers that evaporated our 6-0 lead, though we did eventually win... with two outs in the first, we struck off Quezada. Guerrero singled, Ishihara drew a walk and Shirah connected with a 1-2 pitch out to deep right for a 3-run shot! The next two reached as well with hits but it remained 3-0... a bit of small-ball for the Suns in the first. Brice Turang walked and went to second on a grounder, and scored on Scott Fitzgerald's hit... our second began with three straight singles producing a run, Robles driving in Lucchesi... Jonny DeLuca had an RBI single in the 3rd to make it 4-2... teams keep trying to run on Garry! In the 4th, he nailed Trent Deveaux trying to go 1st-to-3rd... that neutered a Suns rally in which they had three hits but couldn't score... Shirah led off the 6th with a homer, and stole second and went to third when Nick Kahle's throw flew into center field. But the steal wouldn't matter, because Travis Maezes crushed a home run into the right field seats that ended Quezada's day and made it 6-0! Lucchesi would exit after 6.2 innings, giving up just the two runs... in the 8th, the Suns' manager for some reason brought in a right-handed pitcher to replace his lefty, specifically for lefty pinch-hitter Ben Gamel, who went deep as well with Garry aboard to make it 8-2... they'd put a scare into us in the 8th. Christian Hicks homered off of Martin Perez, and later in the inning, pinch-hitter Maikel Franco hit a two-run double that made it 8-5... they didn't make any threat in the 9th, though.

W: Joey Lucchesi (8-4) L: Andrew Quezada (2-5) S: Sam Bennerman (2)
PotG: Will Shirah

Game 2 - Ray Gaither (0-1, 7.20) vs. Blair Calvo (3-2, 3.83)
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, 2B Maezes, CF Garry, C Phegley, P Gaither
NMS: 2B Watts, C Raleigh, SS Turang, 3B Hicks, LF DeLuca, RF Reddick, 1B White, CF Deveaux, P Calvo

Unlike Quezada, we have not yet seen Calvo pitch this year. He's been in and out of the bullpen and rotation, but avoided us in both series so far. This is his ninth start, and third since returning to the rotation... Gaither allowed 4 runs over 5 innings in his Bees debut against Cleveland, but was skipped the last time through the rotation due to the timeliness of Pineda's return from injury... we got through Calvo in the top of the first with 3 singles, the last from Shirah driving in Mota, but New Mexico responded via a Turang home run in the first... we began the 2nd inning by making two outs, but Gaither hit a ball that just snuck by Hicks at third, and then the merry-go-round began. Mota walked, Robles had an infield hit that loaded the bases, and then Calvo threw eight consecutive balls to Guerrero and Ishihara, walking in two runs. Then, after a ninth straight ball, he got Shirah to a 1-2 count... and boom! A grand slam! Shirah's second home run in the series, and 11th of the year, exploded the score to 7-1... that seemed to tucker everyone out. Neither team had a baserunner from then until the fifth, when Ishihara led off with a double. We did see the newly-acquired Johnny Cueto come in to make his Suns debut, and his first pitch in that red uniform was hit out of the ballpark by Maezes, his second HR of the series as well! Gaither had a slip-up in the 6th, allowing a single and then 2-run homer by Cal Raleigh, but those were the Suns' first hits since the first inning... there would be another two-run homer in the 8th, this one by Christian Hicks against Ben Parks... the bottom of the 9th would be... interesting. Bennerman came in for the final inning, and got two men out, but then as rallies so often have been this year, they got started at that point. Fitzgerald singled, Mike Watts walked, and Raleigh singled off of new pitcher Jared Miller to load the bases. Miller then walked in a run, which brought the winning run to the plate in the form of Hicks, who'd just homered an inning ago, but he popped up to first to end the game!

W: Ray Gaither (1-1) L: Blair Calvo (3-3) S: Jared Miller (15)
PotG: Will Shirah

Big series from Shirah - he was 4-8 with a walk, 2 HR and 8 RBI across two games. Good also to get Gaither his first W in our uniform. The series win extends the Suns' losing skid to 5 games, and they're now at .500 and eight games behind us.

June 22-23: Bees (45-29) vs. Charlotte Flyers (35-40)
The Flyers were expected to be absolutely awful in 2023, so the fact that they're basically an average team is a big win. When we won our series in Charlotte at the end of April (by a combined 20-4 over two games), they were 12-20, but 23-20 since to vault themselves into 3rd place, well behind the stellar Colts but in a respectable spot. SS Addison Barger was missing at the beginning of the year, and still out when we visited them, but he came back in early May and has elevated their offense, and 22-year-old Mack Anglin has made a big difference in the rotation.

Game 1 - Will Shirah (5-4, 4.95) vs. Logan Gilbert (3-5, 3.53)
CHA: 2B Wade, LF Abraham, SS Barger, 1B Olson, RF Myers, CF Jones, 3B Steel, C Hedges, P Gilbert
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, P Shirah, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, CF Garry, LF Granite

We faced Gilbert back on April 30 in Charlotte, where he held us to three runs on 3 hits over five innings in a game where we poured it on late and won 8-0. He was an All-Star in 2021 and is really quite a bit better than a 3-5 record would indicate... Shirah was deposed in the 3rd inning last Thursday against San Antonio, and is pitching on six days rest today thanks to an off day and Pineda's return from injury... the first action of note was in the bottom of the 2nd. With two out, Maezes hit a sharp single to center, and Cottam crushed the next pitch way out to left for a two-run homer... Shirah only allowed a single through 3 innings, but the fourth was a bit dicey. Ryan Abraham and Addison Barger singled to start, but Will powered through getting the next three men in order... in the 5th, Cottam singled. After a fielder's choice, Granite tripled into the right-field corner allowing Garry to score, and Mota followed with an RBI single to make it 4-0... Shirah had probably his best game ever on the mound. Just 6.1 innings, but only three hits allowed, no walks, no runs and 12 strikeouts! Spectacular from Will. 91 pitches in total so we'll have to work on him working more efficiently but a really good game out of him... Nolan Blackwood came in to replace him and retired all five batters he faced. Nolan is definitely our breakout contributor out of the bullpen this year, I've been impressed with him... Holder allowed two hits in the ninth inning, which created a save situation for Miller to come in and clean up, and he did.

W: Will Shirah (6-4) L: Logan Gilbert (3-6) S: Jared Miller (16)
PotG: Will Shirah

12 K isn't just a career high for Shirah, it's the most K he's recorded as a professional! His previous high was 10, which he did while pitching for Buffalo's AAA team before we acquired him. Also his third PotG award in a row - he's put the team on his back this week in a major way.

Game 2 - Michael Pineda (3-2, 3.61) vs. Willian Soto (2-4, 4.25)
CHA: LF Abraham, 2B Wade, SS Barger, 1B Olson, RF Guimbarda, CF Jones, 3B Talley, C Hedges, P Soto
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, C Cottam, 2B Maezes, CF Garry, LF Gamel, P Pineda

Soto hasn't actually played affiliated ball since 2017 IRL, but here he caught on with more opportunities available, even making a half-season worth of starts for Charlotte in the first year (2018). Last year he finally seemed to take the leap, winning 12 games and being a rotation mainstay, but this year hasn't been quite as good. Last time out, he allowed 3 runs in 5 innings as the Flyers came back late to win in Oakland... Pineda pitched well last week in Hartford, but came out with a no-decision when we won late... the first inning was paved with disappointment for Charlotte. Robles walked with 1 out, and Guerrero just barely beat out what would have been a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play. Ishihara then walked on 4 pitches, before Cottam became the third Bee this week to homer in back-to-back games. That made it 3-0... Ryan Abraham led off the game for Charlotte with a single, but Pineda would retire every batter until Abraham came up again to record his second hit... in the fifth, the Flyers would finally score their first runs of the series. JaCoby Jones hit Pineda's first pitch of the inning out to left-center for a home run, and Austin Hedges got in scoring position ahead of Abraham's 3rd single of the day, which made it 3-2...Ishihara added a solo homer in the 6th to double our lead... Pineda was done after 6, another quality outing from Mike. The bullpen would make things interesting, as they sometimes do... in the 7th, a hit and two walks loaded the bases for Tyler Wade, who singled in two runs to tie the game... next half inning, though, Maezes led off with a solo HR to put us back in front. Back to a lead, with the only change being Pineda's not in line for the win anymore. We would put reliever Juan Carlos Medina through a lot in that inning, though. Gamel singled, Shirah walked while pinch-hitting, Robles singled, Guerrero walked and Ishihara had a two-run single that finally made it 8-4. In all Medina had thrown 44 pitches and only gotten two outs, including 8 pitches on Garry's groundout, 11 to Robles and 9 to Guerrero... Jones hit his 2nd homer of the day in the 8th, a two run shot to get Charlotte within two... Miller came on to pitch a 1-2-3 ninth, though.

W: Sam Bennerman (3-2) L: Juan Carlos Medina (3-3) S: Jared Miller (17)
PotG: Morio Ishihara

Nice gut-it-out win for us, these are the games you gotta win to be a playoff team. We sweep the season series from Charlotte, which you love to see; fun fact, in all four games both teams scored an even number of runs (12-4, 8-0, 4-0, 8-6). Time to move onto the weekend and our final interleague series of the year!

June 24-25: Bees (47-29) vs. New Orleans Crescents (44-33)
We have definitely enjoyed playing against the American League this season, going 16-6 so far, so it's a bummer that these are our final two interleague games. (The last group of interleague games are all being played this weekend.) The Crescents are playing really good ball, though, coming in riding a 4-game win streak all on the road. They're coming in thinking they might sweep the road trip, so hopefully we can put a pin in that. New Orleans currently find themselves in sole possession of the final American League playoff spot. It's almost the time of year to start paying attention to that - we're basically at the halfway point.

Game 1 - Jack Flaherty (8-4, 3.47) vs. Elieser Hernandez (6-3, 4.81)
NOR: CF Jones, 1B Lockhart, RF La Madrid, 3B Candelario, LF Theisen, 2B Moncada, SS Howell, C Susi, P Hernandez
SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, CF Garry, P Flaherty

Elieser Hernandez hasn't won any of his last six starts, and in 4 of them has given up 5 or more runs in fewer than 5 innings, so he can be gotten... last year was his best season, with a 2.50 ERA, but I wouldn't say he's been terribly bad this year... Flaherty took a no-decision on Sunday when we were walked off by Hartford... Hernandez retired the first two Bees he faced, but we really got rolling then. Guerrero walked, and an Ishi single and Shirah double put a run on the board and two men in scoring position. Maezes walked to load 'em up, and Cottam put a ball into the left field corner that scored all three runners! 4-0 Bees! Flaherty allowed a hit to Lael Lockhart in the 1st but retired the next 10 Crescents... Ishihara had an RBI single in the 4th to make it 5-0... in the 6th, things got dicey. Brock Jones, Lockhart and Matt Theisen all singled, scoring 1 run, but then Yoan Moncada crushed a ball 416 feet to right-center for a 3 run shot that brought New Orleans within a run... Justin Wilson came on to pitch the 7th, and immediately plunked two straight batters. Luckily Paul Goodwin was able to rescue us... a badly-needed insurance run came home in the 8th, Robles doubling Mesa around from first... Jared Miller was unavailable today, having gotten the save in the last three games, but I was still surprised that AI Mike chose to go with Brad Hand for the save against a not-particularly-left-handed part of the order. He walked both Korry Howell and Kevin Maldonado, and here we go, I guess. That put the tying runs on base. Thankfully, pinch-hitter Xavier Edwards hit into a clutch 6-4-3 double play. Clutch for us, I mean. Finally with the matchup advantage in his favor, Hand gets Brock Jones to... hit a run-scoring double off the wall, putting the tying run now in scoring position. Sigh... my most mortal fears turned out to be unfounded, though, when Hand struck out Lockhart to preserve the W for good.

W: Jack Flaherty (9-4) L: Elieser Hernandez (6-4) S: Brad Hand (1)
PotG: Kole Cottam

Game 2 - Joey Lucchesi (8-4, 3.78) vs. Thomas Spinelli (3-3, 5.47)
NOR: 2B Maldonado, 1B Lockhart, RF La Madrid, 3B Candelario, LF Theisen, CF Jones, SS Howell, C Susi, P Spinelli
SLC: SS Mota, LF Shirah, 3B Guerrero, RF Robles, 1B Ishihara, C Phegley, 2B Maezes, CF Mesa, P Lucchesi

Spinelli has wholly average numbers on the year, but last time out he was magical, taking a no-hitter into the 8th inning at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. He hadn't made it through the fifth inning of any of his previous three starts, so this guy's maybe a Jekyll-and-Hyde type... the Crescents' 6th-round pick in 2019, he finally cracked the big-league roster at age 24 last year... Joey got the win on Monday in Albuquerque, scattering 9 hits over 6.2 innings in a game we'd eventually win 8-5... We had the bases loaded and no out in the first inning but could not score. You wonder if that might turn into an omen for the day... Mota had the game's first RBI in the 2nd, hitting a triple that Mesa circled the bases on. That made up for Lucchesi's failed bunt attempt earlier, which had been caught on the fly... No matter, the Crescents didn't get their first hit until Zac Susi singled in the third... the 4th was interesting for Lucchesi on both ends. First, he got out of a bases-loaded jam in the top half, and then had an RBI infield single in the bottom half, scoring Maezes who had reached on an error by Matt Theisen in left... Lucchesi exited after 6.1 innings, scoreless with only 4 hits allowed. After two batters, Sam Bennerman had spoiled the shutout. Susi singled and Yoan Moncada had a pinch double... Jeimer Candelario tied the game in the top of the 8th with a solo homer, ruining Joey Lucchesi's shot at his 9th win of the year. It'll be a no-decision... Morio Ishihara started the 8th with a single off Hunter Gaddis, and Phegley came up next, smashing a two-run homer to put us back in front! Later in the inning, Mesa was hit by a pitch, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on a pinch hit by Gamel. 5-2 now... Miller on for the save. Kevin Maldonado grounds to 3rd... Lael Lockhart Jr strikes out... he does walk Alexis La Madrid, and now AI Mike is gonna go take the ball. I guess he wants to turn around Candelario and... have him bat from his stronger side? And put Jonathan Holder into the game? OK Mike... Anyway, Holder validates that decision in every way by striking Candelario out!

W: Paul Goodwin (1-0) L: Hunter Gaddis (3-2) S: Jonathan Holder (1)
PotG: Joey Lucchesi

Some close fought games this week... but we won them all! We actually swept the week! This was our first win on a Sunday since May 14, but it comes at a great time.

Bees' Player of the Week:
Gotta go with LF/SP Will Shirah, who was 6-18 with 2 HR and 9 RBI, and threw his best game of the season on Thursday against the Flyers with 12 K.

On the Leaderboard:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 4th in RBI (68)
Morio Ishihara: 8th in RBI (66)
Victor Victor Mesa: T-5th in triples (7)
Jack Flaherty: T-3rd in wins (9), 4th in pitcher WAR (2.5), 4th in innings pitched (102.0), 6th in K/BB (4.6), 5th in BB/9 (1.8), 6th in WHIP (1.15), 2nd in QS (12)
Joey Lucchesi: T-6th in wins (8), 5th in pitcher WAR (2.4), 9th in RA9-WAR (2.9), 7th in FIP (3.84)

Minor League Bees:
The AAA All-Star Game was this week, and a ton of our players ended up featuring. We had two starters: CF Gabriel Perez, who's spent a little time with the big club this year, and SP Santiago Elizondo, who will be up in September for sure. Elizondo pitched a scoreless inning, & Juan Geraldo and Zeke Young both pitched as well for the Pacific Division team, but Perez was named the game MVP for his heroics! He had two hits, including a two-run single in the 3rd that put the Pacific up 4-0. They'd eventually hold on to win 4-3.
Surrounding those games, the AAA Hawaii Islanders were 3-1, pulling one game ahead of Hollywood (Dodgers) for the PCL Pacific lead.
AA Cedar City had a great 5-1 week, beating Havasu (Missions) 2 out of 3 and sweeping Flagstaff (Saguaros). The AA Bees are still trying to fully recover from their 13-game losing streak a couple of weeks ago, but now sit just 6 games behind Grand Junction (Oilers).
The Midwest League All-Star Game was also this week, and we had six players taking part. 3B Cam McDonald had a two-run homer that scored RF Dylan Cloonan, another of our players, and gave the West the lead for good. C Carlos Hurtado also had an RBI, and Justin Zerbe/Harry Dockter each pitched a scoreless inning. Our division, the West, won the game 5-4.
The Lil' Bees came out strong after the break as well, sweeping a series at Joliet (Mets).
The AZL Bees started their season 5-1, winning 3 of 4 from Seattle and two games against Texas. Early days but they're tied with Tucson for first in Division 3
Conversely, our other rookie ball team in Puerto Rico lost two of three in both their series, against Las Vegas and West Texas to sit at 2-4, T-6th of 10 teams in that league.

All-Star Voting Update:
Morio Ishihara has moved up to 2nd among NL first-basemen, but I don't see him catching Cody Bellinger in voting. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. still leads among 3B, but his lead over Miami's Drew Mendoza seems to be shrinking. Cottam holds strong in 2nd among NL catchers, but similarly I don't think he'll catch Posey. New leaders - Colts CL Hidekazu Hirose overtakes Suns RP Durbin Feltman for NL relievers; Angels CF Parker Meadows overtakes Scorpions CF Nick Schnell in the AL.

Standings:

League News:
June 22: The Cincinnati Reds have one of baseball's best bullpens, but that was dealt a major blow when Adam Cimber was lost for the season today. Cimber is not the closer, but actually had been pitching well enough to appear in the top-5 of All-Star voting for NL relievers. His season ends with a 4.01 ERA, 3-0 record and 1 save in 36 appearances.
June 22: After we went home from Albuquerque, the Suns went out to the East Coast for a road trip, and the first game had some fireworks. Suns SP Ronald Herrera and Mets LF Caleb Adams have both been suspended by the commissioner for inciting a brawl. We had this earlier in the year with Shirah so I can't point and laugh too hard, but the Suns, already on a long losing streak and with some injured pitchers, will now be without Herrera for a week.
June 24: Angels RF Troy LaNeve hits for an unlikely cycle in a win over the Mets. He had just a double and a home run when he came to bat in the bottom of the 8th in a 3-3 tie, and when he scored the go-ahead run after tripling it looked like he probably wouldn't come up again. But the Angels kept on hitting, batting around and giving Troy the chance at the cycle and he got it with an RBI single that put the Halos up 9-3. They'd eventually win 10-3.
June 25: A flurry of minor trades on this Sunday. The Royals acquire RP Danny Barnes from the Blizzard for a minor prospect; the Rounders acquire SP Jon Gray from Oakland for C Peter Zyla and a minor leaguer; in a trade wholly within our division, SP Jake Junis was traded from the Blackbirds to Marshals for a minor-league outfielder; and Oakland also trades 2B Wilmer Flores to Atlanta for CL Rex Brothers and a decent 3B prospect, Alex Tappen.

Players of the Week:
Las Vegas C Brad Debo - 13-23, 2 HR, 10 RBI. Debo has amassed 4.3 WAR in just 68 games behind the plate & should probably be considered the game's best catcher right now.
New Mexico 1B Tyler White - 14-25, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 5 R. White was 4-8 in our series, but didn't drive in a run. He made up for it with 6 RBI in two games against the Mets and 4 in two games against the Blizzard.

Power Rankings:
Big time week. We won all six of our games, and I think deservedly get into the top 5 for the first time this year. As we round the halfway point of the season, we sit in 2nd place in the power rankings, up from 8th last week.
1. Las Vegas Scorpions (55-25)
2. Salt Lake Bees (49-29)
3. Louisville Colts (51-29)
4. Oklahoma Oilers (50-30)
5. Ottawa Lynx (49-31)
56. Norfolk Navigators (30-50)
57. Hartford Oaks (28-52)
58. Syracuse Blizzard (32-48)
59. Boston Red Sox (29-51)
60. Colorado Rockies (26-53)

Next Week: we finish out this homestand by welcoming in the Giants, then head out on what will be our longest road trip of the season, first to Brooklyn for the Burros, then Houston.

01-22-2020, 09:32 AM	#29
Ruwisc All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Southwestern Illinois Posts: 610	Week 13: June 19-25, 2023 Before getting into this week's games, I did a little bit of minor league overhauling. As I played through this season I noticed two things: - every team has a somewhat bloated minor league system, with about 40-50 too many players, and we could all stand to benefit from an additional minor league team - and because our AA team was located in Mexico in an all-Mexican league with 7 other teams, there was a preference for the AI teams and my own to try to only play Hispanic players. That isn't really the focus of the AA level So, I've created a new set of rookie leagues called the Pan-Am Leagues, with ten teams each located in Mexico, Panama, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico. Each team gets an affiliate assigned at random (our team is in Puerto Rico). This is basically meant to be the equivalent of the current Dominican and Venezuelan Summer Leagues. I also moved the AA teams out of Mexico, and put them in the general Four Corners area in a new made-up league called the Desert League. Our AA team is now known as the Cedar City Bees, representing us in the southern parts of Utah. So, both sets of rookie-ball leagues get under way this week - we have one team in Arizona and another in Puerto Rico. June 19-20: Bees (43-29) @ New Mexico Suns (38-36) The Suns have been really struggling. When we visited Albuquerque the first time, at the beginning of May, they won both games from us, pulling into the division lead in the process. They were then in first for almost the entire month of May before we finally pulled back ahead in the last couple days of the month. In June, though, they're fallin' apart. They're 5-10 in June coming in and haven't won a series since sweeping Nashville on May 25-26. CL Roberto Osuna is still injured, although Durbin Feltman has filled in admirably and is probably on his way to the All-Star Game, in fact. SP Tristan Beck is on the mend as well, and NM will be without him for another month or so. Game 1 - Joey Lucchesi (7-4, 3.87) vs. Andrew Quezada (2-4, 5.02) SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, CF Garry, P Lucchesi NMS: SS Turang, 1B White, 2B Fitzgerald, LF DeLuca, 3B Hicks, CF Deveaux, C Kahle, RF Pompey, P Quezada An odd lineup for New Mexico today, I thought, until I remembered that we have a lefty going. A number of the Suns' regulars are left-handed hitters, or in the case of regular catcher Cal Raleigh, switch-hitters who have dreadful splits anyway... Quezada, I think, is the first starting pitcher that we're seeing for the second time. We smoked him on the first Sunday of the season in Salt Lake City, as he gave up 6 runs (4 earned) in just 2.2 innings... last time out he had a tough-luck no-decision against the Giants despite pitching quite well... Lucchesi left his last outing with a bitter taste in the mouth, in the middle of a 7-run inning we allowed to the Rangers that evaporated our 6-0 lead, though we did eventually win... with two outs in the first, we struck off Quezada. Guerrero singled, Ishihara drew a walk and Shirah connected with a 1-2 pitch out to deep right for a 3-run shot! The next two reached as well with hits but it remained 3-0... a bit of small-ball for the Suns in the first. Brice Turang walked and went to second on a grounder, and scored on Scott Fitzgerald's hit... our second began with three straight singles producing a run, Robles driving in Lucchesi... Jonny DeLuca had an RBI single in the 3rd to make it 4-2... teams keep trying to run on Garry! In the 4th, he nailed Trent Deveaux trying to go 1st-to-3rd... that neutered a Suns rally in which they had three hits but couldn't score... Shirah led off the 6th with a homer, and stole second and went to third when Nick Kahle's throw flew into center field. But the steal wouldn't matter, because Travis Maezes crushed a home run into the right field seats that ended Quezada's day and made it 6-0! Lucchesi would exit after 6.2 innings, giving up just the two runs... in the 8th, the Suns' manager for some reason brought in a right-handed pitcher to replace his lefty, specifically for lefty pinch-hitter Ben Gamel, who went deep as well with Garry aboard to make it 8-2... they'd put a scare into us in the 8th. Christian Hicks homered off of Martin Perez, and later in the inning, pinch-hitter Maikel Franco hit a two-run double that made it 8-5... they didn't make any threat in the 9th, though. W: Joey Lucchesi (8-4) L: Andrew Quezada (2-5) S: Sam Bennerman (2) PotG: Will Shirah Game 2 - Ray Gaither (0-1, 7.20) vs. Blair Calvo (3-2, 3.83) SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, 2B Maezes, CF Garry, C Phegley, P Gaither NMS: 2B Watts, C Raleigh, SS Turang, 3B Hicks, LF DeLuca, RF Reddick, 1B White, CF Deveaux, P Calvo Unlike Quezada, we have not yet seen Calvo pitch this year. He's been in and out of the bullpen and rotation, but avoided us in both series so far. This is his ninth start, and third since returning to the rotation... Gaither allowed 4 runs over 5 innings in his Bees debut against Cleveland, but was skipped the last time through the rotation due to the timeliness of Pineda's return from injury... we got through Calvo in the top of the first with 3 singles, the last from Shirah driving in Mota, but New Mexico responded via a Turang home run in the first... we began the 2nd inning by making two outs, but Gaither hit a ball that just snuck by Hicks at third, and then the merry-go-round began. Mota walked, Robles had an infield hit that loaded the bases, and then Calvo threw eight consecutive balls to Guerrero and Ishihara, walking in two runs. Then, after a ninth straight ball, he got Shirah to a 1-2 count... and boom! A grand slam! Shirah's second home run in the series, and 11th of the year, exploded the score to 7-1... that seemed to tucker everyone out. Neither team had a baserunner from then until the fifth, when Ishihara led off with a double. We did see the newly-acquired Johnny Cueto come in to make his Suns debut, and his first pitch in that red uniform was hit out of the ballpark by Maezes, his second HR of the series as well! Gaither had a slip-up in the 6th, allowing a single and then 2-run homer by Cal Raleigh, but those were the Suns' first hits since the first inning... there would be another two-run homer in the 8th, this one by Christian Hicks against Ben Parks... the bottom of the 9th would be... interesting. Bennerman came in for the final inning, and got two men out, but then as rallies so often have been this year, they got started at that point. Fitzgerald singled, Mike Watts walked, and Raleigh singled off of new pitcher Jared Miller to load the bases. Miller then walked in a run, which brought the winning run to the plate in the form of Hicks, who'd just homered an inning ago, but he popped up to first to end the game! W: Ray Gaither (1-1) L: Blair Calvo (3-3) S: Jared Miller (15) PotG: Will Shirah Big series from Shirah - he was 4-8 with a walk, 2 HR and 8 RBI across two games. Good also to get Gaither his first W in our uniform. The series win extends the Suns' losing skid to 5 games, and they're now at .500 and eight games behind us. June 22-23: Bees (45-29) vs. Charlotte Flyers (35-40) The Flyers were expected to be absolutely awful in 2023, so the fact that they're basically an average team is a big win. When we won our series in Charlotte at the end of April (by a combined 20-4 over two games), they were 12-20, but 23-20 since to vault themselves into 3rd place, well behind the stellar Colts but in a respectable spot. SS Addison Barger was missing at the beginning of the year, and still out when we visited them, but he came back in early May and has elevated their offense, and 22-year-old Mack Anglin has made a big difference in the rotation. Game 1 - Will Shirah (5-4, 4.95) vs. Logan Gilbert (3-5, 3.53) CHA: 2B Wade, LF Abraham, SS Barger, 1B Olson, RF Myers, CF Jones, 3B Steel, C Hedges, P Gilbert SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, P Shirah, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, CF Garry, LF Granite We faced Gilbert back on April 30 in Charlotte, where he held us to three runs on 3 hits over five innings in a game where we poured it on late and won 8-0. He was an All-Star in 2021 and is really quite a bit better than a 3-5 record would indicate... Shirah was deposed in the 3rd inning last Thursday against San Antonio, and is pitching on six days rest today thanks to an off day and Pineda's return from injury... the first action of note was in the bottom of the 2nd. With two out, Maezes hit a sharp single to center, and Cottam crushed the next pitch way out to left for a two-run homer... Shirah only allowed a single through 3 innings, but the fourth was a bit dicey. Ryan Abraham and Addison Barger singled to start, but Will powered through getting the next three men in order... in the 5th, Cottam singled. After a fielder's choice, Granite tripled into the right-field corner allowing Garry to score, and Mota followed with an RBI single to make it 4-0... Shirah had probably his best game ever on the mound. Just 6.1 innings, but only three hits allowed, no walks, no runs and 12 strikeouts! Spectacular from Will. 91 pitches in total so we'll have to work on him working more efficiently but a really good game out of him... Nolan Blackwood came in to replace him and retired all five batters he faced. Nolan is definitely our breakout contributor out of the bullpen this year, I've been impressed with him... Holder allowed two hits in the ninth inning, which created a save situation for Miller to come in and clean up, and he did. W: Will Shirah (6-4) L: Logan Gilbert (3-6) S: Jared Miller (16) PotG: Will Shirah 12 K isn't just a career high for Shirah, it's the most K he's recorded as a professional! His previous high was 10, which he did while pitching for Buffalo's AAA team before we acquired him. Also his third PotG award in a row - he's put the team on his back this week in a major way. Game 2 - Michael Pineda (3-2, 3.61) vs. Willian Soto (2-4, 4.25) CHA: LF Abraham, 2B Wade, SS Barger, 1B Olson, RF Guimbarda, CF Jones, 3B Talley, C Hedges, P Soto SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, C Cottam, 2B Maezes, CF Garry, LF Gamel, P Pineda Soto hasn't actually played affiliated ball since 2017 IRL, but here he caught on with more opportunities available, even making a half-season worth of starts for Charlotte in the first year (2018). Last year he finally seemed to take the leap, winning 12 games and being a rotation mainstay, but this year hasn't been quite as good. Last time out, he allowed 3 runs in 5 innings as the Flyers came back late to win in Oakland... Pineda pitched well last week in Hartford, but came out with a no-decision when we won late... the first inning was paved with disappointment for Charlotte. Robles walked with 1 out, and Guerrero just barely beat out what would have been a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play. Ishihara then walked on 4 pitches, before Cottam became the third Bee this week to homer in back-to-back games. That made it 3-0... Ryan Abraham led off the game for Charlotte with a single, but Pineda would retire every batter until Abraham came up again to record his second hit... in the fifth, the Flyers would finally score their first runs of the series. JaCoby Jones hit Pineda's first pitch of the inning out to left-center for a home run, and Austin Hedges got in scoring position ahead of Abraham's 3rd single of the day, which made it 3-2...Ishihara added a solo homer in the 6th to double our lead... Pineda was done after 6, another quality outing from Mike. The bullpen would make things interesting, as they sometimes do... in the 7th, a hit and two walks loaded the bases for Tyler Wade, who singled in two runs to tie the game... next half inning, though, Maezes led off with a solo HR to put us back in front. Back to a lead, with the only change being Pineda's not in line for the win anymore. We would put reliever Juan Carlos Medina through a lot in that inning, though. Gamel singled, Shirah walked while pinch-hitting, Robles singled, Guerrero walked and Ishihara had a two-run single that finally made it 8-4. In all Medina had thrown 44 pitches and only gotten two outs, including 8 pitches on Garry's groundout, 11 to Robles and 9 to Guerrero... Jones hit his 2nd homer of the day in the 8th, a two run shot to get Charlotte within two... Miller came on to pitch a 1-2-3 ninth, though. W: Sam Bennerman (3-2) L: Juan Carlos Medina (3-3) S: Jared Miller (17) PotG: Morio Ishihara Nice gut-it-out win for us, these are the games you gotta win to be a playoff team. We sweep the season series from Charlotte, which you love to see; fun fact, in all four games both teams scored an even number of runs (12-4, 8-0, 4-0, 8-6). Time to move onto the weekend and our final interleague series of the year! June 24-25: Bees (47-29) vs. New Orleans Crescents (44-33) We have definitely enjoyed playing against the American League this season, going 16-6 so far, so it's a bummer that these are our final two interleague games. (The last group of interleague games are all being played this weekend.) The Crescents are playing really good ball, though, coming in riding a 4-game win streak all on the road. They're coming in thinking they might sweep the road trip, so hopefully we can put a pin in that. New Orleans currently find themselves in sole possession of the final American League playoff spot. It's almost the time of year to start paying attention to that - we're basically at the halfway point. Game 1 - Jack Flaherty (8-4, 3.47) vs. Elieser Hernandez (6-3, 4.81) NOR: CF Jones, 1B Lockhart, RF La Madrid, 3B Candelario, LF Theisen, 2B Moncada, SS Howell, C Susi, P Hernandez SLC: SS Mota, RF Robles, 3B Guerrero, 1B Ishihara, LF Shirah, 2B Maezes, C Cottam, CF Garry, P Flaherty Elieser Hernandez hasn't won any of his last six starts, and in 4 of them has given up 5 or more runs in fewer than 5 innings, so he can be gotten... last year was his best season, with a 2.50 ERA, but I wouldn't say he's been terribly bad this year... Flaherty took a no-decision on Sunday when we were walked off by Hartford... Hernandez retired the first two Bees he faced, but we really got rolling then. Guerrero walked, and an Ishi single and Shirah double put a run on the board and two men in scoring position. Maezes walked to load 'em up, and Cottam put a ball into the left field corner that scored all three runners! 4-0 Bees! Flaherty allowed a hit to Lael Lockhart in the 1st but retired the next 10 Crescents... Ishihara had an RBI single in the 4th to make it 5-0... in the 6th, things got dicey. Brock Jones, Lockhart and Matt Theisen all singled, scoring 1 run, but then Yoan Moncada crushed a ball 416 feet to right-center for a 3 run shot that brought New Orleans within a run... Justin Wilson came on to pitch the 7th, and immediately plunked two straight batters. Luckily Paul Goodwin was able to rescue us... a badly-needed insurance run came home in the 8th, Robles doubling Mesa around from first... Jared Miller was unavailable today, having gotten the save in the last three games, but I was still surprised that AI Mike chose to go with Brad Hand for the save against a not-particularly-left-handed part of the order. He walked both Korry Howell and Kevin Maldonado, and here we go, I guess. That put the tying runs on base. Thankfully, pinch-hitter Xavier Edwards hit into a clutch 6-4-3 double play. Clutch for us, I mean. Finally with the matchup advantage in his favor, Hand gets Brock Jones to... hit a run-scoring double off the wall, putting the tying run now in scoring position. Sigh... my most mortal fears turned out to be unfounded, though, when Hand struck out Lockhart to preserve the W for good. W: Jack Flaherty (9-4) L: Elieser Hernandez (6-4) S: Brad Hand (1) PotG: Kole Cottam Game 2 - Joey Lucchesi (8-4, 3.78) vs. Thomas Spinelli (3-3, 5.47) NOR: 2B Maldonado, 1B Lockhart, RF La Madrid, 3B Candelario, LF Theisen, CF Jones, SS Howell, C Susi, P Spinelli SLC: SS Mota, LF Shirah, 3B Guerrero, RF Robles, 1B Ishihara, C Phegley, 2B Maezes, CF Mesa, P Lucchesi Spinelli has wholly average numbers on the year, but last time out he was magical, taking a no-hitter into the 8th inning at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. He hadn't made it through the fifth inning of any of his previous three starts, so this guy's maybe a Jekyll-and-Hyde type... the Crescents' 6th-round pick in 2019, he finally cracked the big-league roster at age 24 last year... Joey got the win on Monday in Albuquerque, scattering 9 hits over 6.2 innings in a game we'd eventually win 8-5... We had the bases loaded and no out in the first inning but could not score. You wonder if that might turn into an omen for the day... Mota had the game's first RBI in the 2nd, hitting a triple that Mesa circled the bases on. That made up for Lucchesi's failed bunt attempt earlier, which had been caught on the fly... No matter, the Crescents didn't get their first hit until Zac Susi singled in the third... the 4th was interesting for Lucchesi on both ends. First, he got out of a bases-loaded jam in the top half, and then had an RBI infield single in the bottom half, scoring Maezes who had reached on an error by Matt Theisen in left... Lucchesi exited after 6.1 innings, scoreless with only 4 hits allowed. After two batters, Sam Bennerman had spoiled the shutout. Susi singled and Yoan Moncada had a pinch double... Jeimer Candelario tied the game in the top of the 8th with a solo homer, ruining Joey Lucchesi's shot at his 9th win of the year. It'll be a no-decision... Morio Ishihara started the 8th with a single off Hunter Gaddis, and Phegley came up next, smashing a two-run homer to put us back in front! Later in the inning, Mesa was hit by a pitch, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on a pinch hit by Gamel. 5-2 now... Miller on for the save. Kevin Maldonado grounds to 3rd... Lael Lockhart Jr strikes out... he does walk Alexis La Madrid, and now AI Mike is gonna go take the ball. I guess he wants to turn around Candelario and... have him bat from his stronger side? And put Jonathan Holder into the game? OK Mike... Anyway, Holder validates that decision in every way by striking Candelario out! W: Paul Goodwin (1-0) L: Hunter Gaddis (3-2) S: Jonathan Holder (1) PotG: Joey Lucchesi Some close fought games this week... but we won them all! We actually swept the week! This was our first win on a Sunday since May 14, but it comes at a great time. Bees' Player of the Week: Gotta go with LF/SP Will Shirah, who was 6-18 with 2 HR and 9 RBI, and threw his best game of the season on Thursday against the Flyers with 12 K. On the Leaderboard: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 4th in RBI (68) Morio Ishihara: 8th in RBI (66) Victor Victor Mesa: T-5th in triples (7) Jack Flaherty: T-3rd in wins (9), 4th in pitcher WAR (2.5), 4th in innings pitched (102.0), 6th in K/BB (4.6), 5th in BB/9 (1.8), 6th in WHIP (1.15), 2nd in QS (12) Joey Lucchesi: T-6th in wins (8), 5th in pitcher WAR (2.4), 9th in RA9-WAR (2.9), 7th in FIP (3.84) Minor League Bees: The AAA All-Star Game was this week, and a ton of our players ended up featuring. We had two starters: CF Gabriel Perez, who's spent a little time with the big club this year, and SP Santiago Elizondo, who will be up in September for sure. Elizondo pitched a scoreless inning, & Juan Geraldo and Zeke Young both pitched as well for the Pacific Division team, but Perez was named the game MVP for his heroics! He had two hits, including a two-run single in the 3rd that put the Pacific up 4-0. They'd eventually hold on to win 4-3. Surrounding those games, the AAA Hawaii Islanders were 3-1, pulling one game ahead of Hollywood (Dodgers) for the PCL Pacific lead. AA Cedar City had a great 5-1 week, beating Havasu (Missions) 2 out of 3 and sweeping Flagstaff (Saguaros). The AA Bees are still trying to fully recover from their 13-game losing streak a couple of weeks ago, but now sit just 6 games behind Grand Junction (Oilers). The Midwest League All-Star Game was also this week, and we had six players taking part. 3B Cam McDonald had a two-run homer that scored RF Dylan Cloonan, another of our players, and gave the West the lead for good. C Carlos Hurtado also had an RBI, and Justin Zerbe/Harry Dockter each pitched a scoreless inning. Our division, the West, won the game 5-4. The Lil' Bees came out strong after the break as well, sweeping a series at Joliet (Mets). The AZL Bees started their season 5-1, winning 3 of 4 from Seattle and two games against Texas. Early days but they're tied with Tucson for first in Division 3 Conversely, our other rookie ball team in Puerto Rico lost two of three in both their series, against Las Vegas and West Texas to sit at 2-4, T-6th of 10 teams in that league. All-Star Voting Update: Morio Ishihara has moved up to 2nd among NL first-basemen, but I don't see him catching Cody Bellinger in voting. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. still leads among 3B, but his lead over Miami's Drew Mendoza seems to be shrinking. Cottam holds strong in 2nd among NL catchers, but similarly I don't think he'll catch Posey. New leaders - Colts CL Hidekazu Hirose overtakes Suns RP Durbin Feltman for NL relievers; Angels CF Parker Meadows overtakes Scorpions CF Nick Schnell in the AL. Standings: League News: June 22: The Cincinnati Reds have one of baseball's best bullpens, but that was dealt a major blow when Adam Cimber was lost for the season today. Cimber is not the closer, but actually had been pitching well enough to appear in the top-5 of All-Star voting for NL relievers. His season ends with a 4.01 ERA, 3-0 record and 1 save in 36 appearances. June 22: After we went home from Albuquerque, the Suns went out to the East Coast for a road trip, and the first game had some fireworks. Suns SP Ronald Herrera and Mets LF Caleb Adams have both been suspended by the commissioner for inciting a brawl. We had this earlier in the year with Shirah so I can't point and laugh too hard, but the Suns, already on a long losing streak and with some injured pitchers, will now be without Herrera for a week. June 24: Angels RF Troy LaNeve hits for an unlikely cycle in a win over the Mets. He had just a double and a home run when he came to bat in the bottom of the 8th in a 3-3 tie, and when he scored the go-ahead run after tripling it looked like he probably wouldn't come up again. But the Angels kept on hitting, batting around and giving Troy the chance at the cycle and he got it with an RBI single that put the Halos up 9-3. They'd eventually win 10-3. June 25: A flurry of minor trades on this Sunday. The Royals acquire RP Danny Barnes from the Blizzard for a minor prospect; the Rounders acquire SP Jon Gray from Oakland for C Peter Zyla and a minor leaguer; in a trade wholly within our division, SP Jake Junis was traded from the Blackbirds to Marshals for a minor-league outfielder; and Oakland also trades 2B Wilmer Flores to Atlanta for CL Rex Brothers and a decent 3B prospect, Alex Tappen. Players of the Week: Las Vegas C Brad Debo - 13-23, 2 HR, 10 RBI. Debo has amassed 4.3 WAR in just 68 games behind the plate & should probably be considered the game's best catcher right now. New Mexico 1B Tyler White - 14-25, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 5 R. White was 4-8 in our series, but didn't drive in a run. He made up for it with 6 RBI in two games against the Mets and 4 in two games against the Blizzard. Power Rankings: Big time week. We won all six of our games, and I think deservedly get into the top 5 for the first time this year. As we round the halfway point of the season, we sit in 2nd place in the power rankings, up from 8th last week. 1. Las Vegas Scorpions (55-25) 2. Salt Lake Bees (49-29) 3. Louisville Colts (51-29) 4. Oklahoma Oilers (50-30) 5. Ottawa Lynx (49-31) 56. Norfolk Navigators (30-50) 57. Hartford Oaks (28-52) 58. Syracuse Blizzard (32-48) 59. Boston Red Sox (29-51) 60. Colorado Rockies (26-53) Next Week: we finish out this homestand by welcoming in the Giants, then head out on what will be our longest road trip of the season, first to Brooklyn for the Burros, then Houston. Last edited by Ruwisc; 01-22-2020 at 10:32 AM.