Week 13

Record: 48-34, .585, 0 games back
Position: 1st place (3 games ahead of Chicago)
Runs Scored: 399 (4th in NL)
Runs Allowed: 345 (4th in NL)
Defense: .697 (2nd in NL)
Power Ranking: 109.4 (4th in ML)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic, Fan Interest: 68/100
Last Week (4-2): 2-1 @ MIL, 2-1 @ SEA

• 7/1: PIT 5, MIL 3 - Liriano was awesome through 7.1 IP but Watson came in with 2 men on base and gave up a 3 run jack to Mitch Moreland. We would eventually take the lead on an RBI single by Russell Martin in the 11th and Chris Perez earned his 2nd save in the bottom half of the inning. Gaby Sanchez shined offensively going 3-5 with 2 HR and 2 RBI.
• 7/2: PIT 4, MIL 5 - Lincecum had a good start (7.1 ER 3 ER) and it looked like we were going to get the win after a 2 run HR by Russell Martin in the 8th. Chris Perez blew the save in the 9th though as he allowed a bunt single to Carlos Gomez then a triple to Jean Segura and finally a sac fly to Norichika Aoki to take the loss.
• 7/3: PIT 1, MIL 0 - Burnett (7.1 IP 0 ER) was able to come out on top in the pitcher's duel with Mark Rodgers (8 IP 1 ER) to earn his 2nd W as Jed Lowrie hit a solo shot in the 8th to give us the win.
• 7/4: PIT 1, SEA 5 - Wilson calmed down after a rough 1st inning to post a quality start(6.1 IP 3 ER) but the story of the game was King Felix who was so dominant (7 IP 0 ER 11 K's) that we never really had a chance.
• 7/5: PIT 6, SEA 3 - Castro had a good start (6 IP 1 ER) to earn his 6th win as Alvarez led the way offensively going 3-5 with a HR and 2 RBI and Hererra earned his 7th save of the season with a perfect 9th inning.
• 7/6: PIT 15, SEA 1 -Crawford and Snider opened the game with back to back solo homers which opened the flood gates as we went on to punish the Seattle pitchers for 15 runs on 23 hits. Liriano pitched well (7 IP 1 ER 10 K's) for his NL leading 12th win.
• We could not come to terms with our 5th round pick Rich Tremel so we will recieve a compensation pick in the 2015 draft.

We managed to win both series this week and that leaves us 3 games ahead of Chicago in the division. As we head toward the trade deadline I think were going to be content to stand pat. We have about $1.9 mil. in budget room but I'd like to keep that as we head into the off-season. My one worry is that we don't have the dominant starting staff that is needed to compete in the playoffs. But as long as Liriano stays healthy all it would take is 1 other starter getting hot and I think we could compete with any other team in the league.

Who's Hot: Pedro Alvarez 9-25 3 HR 7 RBI 7 RS, Simon Castro 2-0 15.1 IP 3 ER 11 H 3 BB 7 K's

Who's Not: Neil Walker 4-21 6 K's, Chris Perez 3 IP 4 ER 2 BS

Next Week: 3 @ HOU, 3 vs. CIN

News from around the league:

7/1: Jon Lester out 3-4 months with shoulder inflammation.
7/2: The San Diego Padres have acquired 29 year old 1B Brandon Belt and $3 mil. in cash from the Giants in exchange for 25 year old 2B Jedd Gyorko and 19 year old minor league RF Darryn Shepard.
7/3: The Rockies have aquired 25 year old right handed reliever Blake Beavan and $506,700 from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for 22 year old minor league RF Julian Yan
7/3: The Astros have acquired 33 year old right handed reliever Ryan Madson and $2.12 Mil. in cash from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for 22 year old minor league CF James Ramsay and 21 year old minor league CF Ericson Leonora.
7/4: The Athletics have acquired 31 year old shortstop Jose Reyes from the Blue Jays in exchange for 30 year old C John Jaso and 19 year old minor league 1B Dominic Smith.
7/4: The Mets have acquired 31 year old SS J.J. Hardy and $3 mil. in cash from the Orioles in exchange for 21 year old minor league CF Joe Tuschak.
7/4: Jason Castro (HOU) Out 4 weeks with a fractured thumb.
7/5: The Braves have acquired Logan Schafer from the Brewers in exchange for 22 year old minor league RF Aaron Judge and 18 year old minor league Kelvin Estevez
7/5: The Rockies have acquired 33 year old 1B Justin Morneau and 19 year old minor league C Jonah Heim from the White Sox in exchange for 28 year old RF Carlos Gonzalez and $3 mil. in cash.
I know this deal seems insane but to be fair it doesnt seem that Cargo has developed into the quite the player that he is in real life. He's more of a 20 HR 90 RBI guy and the Rockies have quite a few OF prospects so this is more of a salary dump to clear a spot for one of those prospects.
7/5: Detroit has acquired 25 year old minor league reliever Edwin Carl from the Royals in exchange for 18 year old minor league SS Zach Shepherd

AL Player of the Week: Shane Victorino (BOS) 14-22 2 HR 9 RBI 7 RS
NL Player of the Week: Jay Bruce (CIN) 8-17 3 HR 6 RBI 5 RS

Monthly Awards (June):

AL Top Hitter: Colby Rasmus (TOR) .353 BA 14 HR 28 RBI 24 RS
NL Top Hitter: Bryce Harper (WAS) .376 BA 15 HR 26 RBI 25 RS
AL Top Pitcher: Fred Mason (HOU) 4-0 1.41 ERA 38.1 IP 25 K's
NL Top Pitcher: Matt Cain (SF) 5-1 2.00 ERA 45 IP 28 K's
AL Rookie of the Month: 1B Jose Felix (TEX) 44-113 0 HR 20 RBI 14 RS
NL Rookie of the Month: 2B Ryan Gennett (MIL) .372 1 HR 11 RBI 11 RS