[ayaghmour2]

July 27th, 2021: 5 games out of first, we hosted the first place Mets and Jacob deGrom (10-4, 3.42 ERA, 1.21 WHIP). Zach Davies (5-6, 3.86 ERA, 1.34 WHIP) took the mound for us as we looked to start the series out strong. Ryan Mountcastle took Rafael Montero deep for a walkoff homer to win the opener 3-2.

Davies pitched well, 7.1 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, a walk, and 3 strikeouts. Tyler Jay got the win, now 8-1 on the year. He rossed 1.2 innings with 2 strikeouts, a walk, and a hit.

Mountcastle was 2-for-3 with all 3 RBI's in the game. He's making his presence felt. Cole Brannen was 3-for-4 with a run scored. Victor Caratini had a pair of singles in four at bats.

July 28th, 2021: A.J. Puckett (1-2, 2.17 ERA, 1.17 WHIP) took on Michael Wacha (6-2, 3.34 ERA, 1.26 WHIP) as we looked to win the series a day early. Both teams scored 5 runs in the 8th, but we came out on top 10-7.

Puckett allowed just 2 runs in 5.2 innings off 5 hits, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts. Joe Jimenez struggled, and he hasn't been as good as expected, allowing 4 runs in the 8th, while just getting 1 out. The last run was charged to Clouse who got the final two outs, and eventually the win. Yasukazu Shiotani pitched a scorless 9th, and got the save.

Lewis Brinson had a monster game and was a triple away from the cycle. He was 4-for-5 with a homer, two doubles, 2 runs scored, and 4 RBI's. Dustin Fowler was 3-for-3 with 3 runs scored, 2 driven in, a double, and a steal in two attempts. Cole Brannen doubled and walked twice in 5 plate appearences, while scoring twice. Andrelton Simmons went 2-for-4 with a run scored, an RBI, and a double.

Down in Greensboro, 2B Hector Vizcanio did hit for the cycle, going 4-for-5 in a 13-8 Grasshoppers victory over the Greenville Drive. He's hitting just .205 in Class A, but was hitting .364 with Batavia.

Luke Voit of the Tecas Rangers was 5-for-5 in a 10-9 win over the Tigers.

July 29th, 2021: A pair of trades were made two days before the deadline. The Rays sent LF Oscar Rojas to the Royals for former Marlin and 3B Lucas Erceg. Win for the Royals, as Rojas is a much better player. The Phillies swapped RHP Nathan Eovaldi to the Cardinals for LF Tommy Pham. It's an even enough deal, but I'd say advantage St. Louis considering Pham is injured and has only played 8 games all year.

We looked for the sweep and to close the gap to just two with 32-year-old lefthanders Danny Duffy (7-5, 3.31 ERA, 1.11 WHIP) and Chris Sale (9-4, 3.75 ERA, 1.13 WHIP) battle in both pitchers' 20th start. The Mets bested us with 5 late runs to take the finale 5-2.

Duffy didn't allow a run in 6 innings, with just 4 hits and a walk to go with 9 strikeouts. Tanner Rainey allowed 2 in the 7th, Tyler Jay 2 (1 earned) in the 8th, and Kenyan Middleton one more in the 9th.

Cole Brannen may have been 0-for-4, but he walked and stole his 40th base of the season. Ryan Mountcastle had a monster game, 3-for-5 with 2 doubles and a run scored. Scott Kingery also had three hits, a double and two singles, while scoring a run and driving one in.

Tomorrow was an off day, and I'd look to swnig a trade. I didn't know what I'd do, but I'd probably do something.

July 30th, 2021: The Rangers sent 2B Andy Ibanez to the Giants for RHP Luis Cessa. I'd say the Rangers got the better end of the deal, although Ibanez is having a nice rookie season.

I acquired CL Koda Glover from the Nationals for RP Kenta Maeda. I signed Maeda to a minor league deal and was able to flip him for a solid reliever. The 28-year-old Glover has 20 saves on the year and a 1.93 ERA to go with a 0.91 WHIP. He's got three plus pitches, throws around 95-97, and gets almost 10 strikeouts per 9 innings. He'd take the recently acquired Joe Jimenez's spot on the active roster, and slide into the 7th inning role.

Tomorrow I might consider acquiring a first basemen, but for now, I'm done for the day. We'd head to Minnesota for two quick games against Blayne Enlow (4-3, 4.26 ERA) and Jose Berrios (7-5, 4.99 ERA).

July 31st, 2021: Today marks the trade deadline, but no one in the MLB made a move. I tried acquiring 1B Chris Devito from the Royals, but his price was far too high.

Eventually, I added a big bat, 1B Keston Hiura from the Brewers. It cost be SP Thomas Hatch, SP Doug Daniels, and starting 1B Nicky Delmonico. Delmonico was struggling, and Hiura is a significantly better offensive player.

The 24-year-old Hiura is a 3/3.5*, but if he was a better defender, he'd probably be a 4 or 5 star. He's got 78 contact and 91 gap power to go with 57 power, 64 eye, and 62 avoid K's. Not only that, he's hitting .285/.351/.495 with 15 homers and 54 RBI's, and has a lot more team control the Delmonico. It's a risky trade, but I think it will pay dividends, especially because the two SP's I gave up weren't that great anyways.

Jordan Montgomery (5-4, 4.33 ERA, 1.31 WHIP) was on the mound against Blayne Enlow (4-3, 4.26 ERA, 1.42 WHIP) to open up the quick two game series at Target Field. Hiura took the third spot in the batting order and will play first. The bats were silent, and we lost 3-1.

Montgomery was great, 6 innings with just 1 run, 4 hits, a walk, and 7 strikeouts, but he recorded a no decision. Tanner Rainey got the loss, allowing 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th off a hit and a walk.

Hiura went 1-for-4 in his Marlins debut, but we didn't have enough offense to beat the Twins. Dustin Fowler doubled, walked, and stole a base in four trips to the plate, while Cole Brannen was 1-for-4 with a caught stealing.

We needed to win tomorrow...

August 1st, 2021: Jameson Taillon (5-6, 3.44 ERA, 1.20 WHIP) took on Jose Berrios (7-5, 4.99 ERA, 1.39 WHIP) as we looked to earn the split. Our pitching was lit up, and we fell 13-6 to the now 60-47 Twins.

Taillon allowed 6 in 2.2 innings off 4 hits, 3 walks, and just 1 strikeout. Every pitcher excpet Corbin Clouse, who tossed a scorless 8th, allowed a run. Max POvse allowed 2 in 2.1, Kenyan Middleton 1 in the 6th, and James Farris four in the 7th.

Hiura went 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored, and two RBI's. Dustin Fowler was 2-for-4 with a double, run scored, and an RBI. Cole Brannen was 2-for-5, scored twice, and picked up a steal. Scott Kingery was 1-for-4 with an RBI double.

We got tomorrow off, but fell to 5.5 games back of New York, and half a game behind the Cubs for the 1st Wild Card.

August 2nd, 2021: The Mets stayed at 2nd in the Power Rankings, but we fell down to 10th.

Aaron Nola tossed a 3 hit shutout as the Phillies beat the Dodgers 5-0.

We had to look foward to three in St. Louis where we'd face the 63-45 1st place Cardinals. At 62-46, we're tied for Chicago for the 1st Wild Card spot and 5 behind the pesky Mets. We'd see Jack Flaherty (8-4, 4.78 ERA), Miguel Diaz (3-3, 3.04 ERA), and staff ace Carlos Martinez (10-7, 3.14 ERA).

Below are our stats so far as we enter the Dog Days of August. We've gotten worse each month, but we generally finish strong.