Finishing off the Canadian Games
After suffering the loss on the road against Hamilton we come back with 1 more with the white hot Mounties and then start our final homestand of the season with 11 games. First up will be North of the Border 5th place team, the Windsor Vigilantes. Then South of the Border last place Milwaukee. Taking at least 4 out of 5 against these two teams seems pretty critical. Then we host the two biggest series of the season against 3rd place Toledo and 2nd place Duluth. If we can avoid being swept in both of those series then a playoff spot seems secure.
But first it's the 2nd game against the Mounties.
Game #2 - Tuesday August 24, 2055
Chicago @ Hamilton
@ Hamilton’s Harbour Field
A - 33,723
Val Imbert 9-8 4.34 vs RHSP (21-year old rookie) Roy Lapointe 2-3 5.03
The rookies step up for Hamilton. Recent draft pick Roy Lapointe (7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 7 K) holds the Tects to one run and just 3 hits and the bullpen takes it the rest of the way. R.C. Burt hits a three-run home run.
Hamilton 7, Chicago 1.
Nothing to talk about
CH HR - None
Summary - Hamilton has come from nowhere and is now threatening to gain the wildcard spot as they are in a 3-team race with Owen Sound and Toronto. Can the Mounties stay this hot? Will Thunder Bay who has gone on the skids since taking 2 against us at the beginning of the month hold everyone off? They should since they had 12-13+ game leads on all those teams at one point.
For us the loss dropped us into a tie for first in the USA with Duluth. It will be good to be home and hopefully with Windsor and Milwaukee coming up we can regain the lead.
Windsor Vigilantes 62-65 5th in Canada vs Chicago Architects 76-51 T-1st in the US
Wednesday August 25th and Thursday August 26th 2055
The Vigilantes come to town and we need to win both games to even up our record against the mighty Canadian teams to 12-12. The Architects split the first 2 games at Windsor back in June. The Vigilantes are holding faint playoff hopes alive and these are truly must win games for them, but they are also important games for us as well.
This is the start of an 11-game homestand where we could clinch a playoff spot and if we are lucky clinch the division title. Time to finish the season strong and be ready for the playoffs. Let’s get it going!
Game #1 - Wednesday August 25th 2055
Chicago’s Pier IV Grounds
A - 39,906
RHSP Kawanari Ohayashi 9-3 4.28 vs Stan Storey 1-0 0.00
Chicago’s Reagan Osborn is walked three times. He doubles and singles in the two times he’s given pitches to hit. He steals two bases and scores three runs. Sean White hits a two-run triple.
Chicago 9, Windsor 5
RF J Ashley 2-5 DB 2R RBI, 1B R Osborn 2-2 3BB DB 2SB 3R, C S White 2-5 TP, R 4RBI, CF C Luna 2-4 DB BB R RBI
CH HR - None
Game #2 - Thursday August 26th 2055
Chicago’s Pier IV Grounds
A - 39,589
RHSP Kevin Simonin 6-5 5.15 vs Cliff Simpson 10-6 3.88 (1-2 in Chicago)
Windsor plates four in the fourth, with Carlos Alomar tripling in the last two. That gives the Vigilantes a 5-3, and they take that lead into the late innings. The Tects score one in the eighth. Thomas Arnaud singles in Reagan Osborn. In the bottom of the ninth, with two on and one out, Prowler Ashley doubles in the tying run. With two outs and the bases loaded, Sean White singles in the winning run. Closer Pat Wright picks up his 8th win of the season (8-3). This was a big sweep for the Architects as Duluth lost both of their games and Chicago holds a 2-game lead in the South of the Border standings.
Chicago 6, Windsor 5.
P A Gonzalez 3.1IP 1H, 0R BB 2K, LF M Graves 2-5 DB R, 2B W Dunse 0-4 BB 2R, 1B R Osborn 3-5 R RBI, C S White 2-5 HR 3RBI R
CH HR - C S White (14)
Summary - A sweep against Windsor closes our inter-league battles with the Canadian teams at 12-12. More importantly is with Duluth losing 2 games we have re-taken a 2 game lead in the USA division.
It’s great to see C Sean White start to reheat. White had an outstanding first half of the season, but had slumped badly in July around the time we called up C Juan Duran. If we can get White going again down the stretch and into the playoffs, our lineup will be that much better. CF Cris Luna has also had a good 2nd half of the season. Luna’s batting average is now up to 252 on the season where he was hovering around the Mendoza line and lower for the first few months.
The homestand continues with Milwaukee coming next.