[ayaghmour2]

August 3rd, 2021: Zach Davies (5-6, 3.77 ERA, 1.32 WHIP) toed the rubber as we opened up the series in St. Louis against Jack Flaherty (8-4, 4.78 ERA, 1.26 WHIP). We needed to start out the series on top, and in a close one, we pulled ahead 2-1 to take the opener.

Davies was strong, 7 innings with 5 hits and just 1 run, while striking out three. Tanner Rainey got a hold, pitching a perfect 8th, and Bulldozer Shiotani threw a perfect 9th to earn his 35th save.

Cole Brannen was 2-for-3 in steals, bringing his total up to 43. He's on track for 64 this season. He was 1-for-4 with a run scored. Keston Hiura was 1-for-2 with 2 walks, a run scored, and an RBI. He's already got 3 RBI's in 3 games in a Marlins uniform.

August 4th, 2021: Game two of three saw A.J. Puckett (1-2, 2.26 ERA, 1.17 WHIP) and Miguel Diaz (3-3, 3.04 ERA, 1.12 WHIP) go head-to-head. It took 12 innings, but we pulled ahead with 2 in the top half to outlast St. Louis 4-2. Both teams scored single runs in the 6th and 9th, but we were the only team to cash in during extras.

Puckett was brilliant despite only striking out two. The 26-year-old went 6.2 innings, allowing just 4 hits and a run, and pretty much has locked up a rotation spot for next season. Shiotani blew the save, but pitched a scorless 10th as well. Tanner Rainey got the win and Corbin Clouse earned the save.

Cole Brannen was 3-for-4 with 2 walks, 2 runs scored, and 1-for-2 in steals. Ryan Mountcastle took Paul Sewald deep in the 12th for a 2 run homer. He was 2-for-6 on the night. Victor Caratini singled home a run in a 1-for-4 game and scored on an Andrelton Simmons single.

August 5th, 2021: Danny Duffy (7-5, 3.14 ERA, 1.10 WHIP) took on Carlos Martinez (210-7, 3.14 ERA, 1.08 WHIP) as the Cards looked to avoid a road sweep, although we'd do anything we could to spoil the home fans' outing. It took extras again, but with 1 in the 9th and 1 in the 10th, we finished the sweep with a 5-4 win.

Duffy could've been better, lasting just 5 innings with 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts to his name. Tyler Jay allowed a single run in the 7th on a Eugenio Suarez homer. James Farris earned the win and Tanner Rainey the save.

Scott Kingery was 2-for-4 with an RBI single off Paul Sewald in the extra frame. Andrelton Simmons had a double and two singles in four at bats, scoring twice and driving in two. Keston Hiura was 2-for-5 with a triple and a run scored. Cole Brannen was 2-for-4 with a double and 2 runs driven in. Lewis Brinson was 3-for-5 with a double and run scored.

Now 65-46, we're still 4 back of the Mets, but have a nice 3 game cushion over the Cubs for the 1st Wild Card. We'd head home to host the last place Nationals for three, and these were three must-win games. We'd see Jerad Eickhoff (4-5, 7.42 ERA), Freicer Perez (1-5, 3.77 ERA), and Mike Leake (3-12, 5.44 ERA).

August 6th, 2021: It's been a while since a season ending injury, but the Astros will be without SP Francisco Rios for the rest of the year with a damage elbow ligament.

Jordan Montgomery (5-4, 4.15 ERA, 1.28 WHIP) opened the three game series against Eickhoff (4-5, 7.42 ERA, 1.56 WHIP) as we'd look to keep our win streak going. The Nats had other ideas, scoring 5 in the 8th and 2 in the 9th to take a 10-6 lead after an error lead to 3 unearned runs. We battled back for 4 in the 9th and then 1 more in the 10th to win an 11-10 slugfest.

Montgomery actually pitched good, allowing just 1 of the 10 runs in his 5 innings of work. He allowed 4 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 3 as well. Koda Glover allowed a run in the 6th to his former team, and James Farris allowed another in the 7th. Kenyan Middleton got just 1 out in the 8th before allowing 4 runs (2 earned) off 3 hits and a walk). Corbin Clouse got the second out on a 5 pitch strikeout, but then Max Povse allowed 3 runs (2 earned) between the remainder of the 8th and the 9th. Tyler Jay pitched a perfect 10th, and improved his record to 9-2 on the year. He's actually the team leader in wins out of the pen, and has appeared in an impressive 58 games.

Offensively we had 16 hits, and all positional starters except Hiura recorded one, although he did get a walk. Lewis Brinson was a perfect 4-for-4 with a 3-run-homer in the 9th off Jesen Therrien. He had a steal, a walk, scored twice, and drove in 5 in an offensive explosion. Of course, Cole Brannen swpied a bag and was 1-for-4 with a walk and 2 runs scored. Brian Anderson hit a pinch hit homer in the 9th off Josh Ravin and Dustin Fowler hit a solo shot in the 6th off Trevor Cahill. Fowler was 2-for-5 with a total of 2 RBI's. Ryan Mountcastle made the error that cost 3 runs, but was 2-for-5 with a double and 2 runs scored. Nick Feight was 3-for-5 and scored once. It was a scary one, but the offense eventually pervailed.

Down in New Orleans, Garrett Hampson recorded 2 hits in a 17-7 loss to Las Vegas, the Mets AAA team, but boosted his streak to 20 games. Technically, in 2021 the Mets AAA team should be the Syracuse Chiefs, so if I remember, I'd swap the Aces to the Nationals and Chiefs to New York.

And in MLB News, Craig Kimbrel, now 33, recorded his 400th save in a Red Sox 6-4 win over the Astros. The veteran from Huntsville, Alabama is making a climb on the All-Time saves list, currently 7th and 22 saves behind Billy Wagner. He still has 252 saves to go to reach Mariano Rivera, but anything is possible.

August 7th, 2021: Two more pitchers saw thier season end today, the first RHP Kyle Weatherly of the Blue Jays. The Rookie tore his ulnar collateral ligament, and his 2022 is in jeopardy as well.

The often injured Julio Urias of the Reds was the second, tearing his labrum, which will cost him 13-14 months. This is his 4th major injury since 2018, and while he's still just 24, the former futuer star looks like a shell of his former self.

Jameson Taillon (5-7, 3.81 ERA, 1.23 WHIP) looked to right the ship against Freicer Perez (1-5, 3.77 ERA, 1.50 WHIP) who is having a season better then his abilities may be. Our bats stayed awake, while the Nationals' took a day off, and we crushed them 10-1.

Taillon did in fact right the ship, going 8 strong with 5 hits, a run, no walks, and 8 strikeouts. Corbin Clouse struck out the side in the 9th to end the Nationals' pitching staff's nightmare.

15 hits were used in the slaughter. Keston Hiura was the main culprit, going 4-for-5 with 6 RBI's and 3 doubles. Shockingly, he didn't score all game. Cole Brannen went 3-for-4 with a run scored, 2 driven in, and his 46th steal. Dustin Fowler picked up his 32nd steal despite going 0-for-4 with a walk and run scored. I didn't know how to check this, but I wonder when the last time a pair of teammates had over 40 steals each? We certainley had a change, although even two with 30+ is impressive. Even Ryan Mountcastle got in on the thievery, swiping two bags in a 1-for-3 game that saw him touch home three times and draw two walks. Scott Kingery was a perfect 4-for-4 with a double, 2 runs scored, and an RBI. Andrelton Simmons was 2-for-4 wiht a run scored, an RBI, and a double. Een Taillon got a hit, 1-for-3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.

August 8th, 2021: The Astros announced a huge extension for superstar Lance McCullers Jr., despite his down season. The 27-year-old occasionally refered to as 'Snap Dragon 1' although not as commonly mentioned since 'Snap Dragon 2' Collin McHugh hasn't been his teammate in a while, agreed to a 7-year, $182,400,000 extension. In his career, he's 64-43 with a 4.01 ERA and 1.29 WHIP with 1,006 strikeouts in 927.1 innings.

We looked to push our win streak to 6 with Zach Davies (6-6, 3.63 ERA, 1.28 WHIP) taking on Mike Leake (3-12, 5.44 ERA, 1.42 WHIP). We could not, as the Nationals rallied for 5 runs in the top of the 11th and won 10-5.

Davies allowed 5 runs on 12 hits in 6 innings while striking out 4. The other 5 runs were charged to Max Povse in his 2nd inning of work. He walked 4, struck out 4, and allowed 4 hits in 1.2 innings.

Lewis Brinson was 2-for-5 with a run score, a run driven in, and his 19th steal. We would likely have all 3 outfielders steal 20 bases this season. Scott Kingery was 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles. Cole Brannen was 1-for-6 with a solo homer and Victor Caratini was 1-for-4 with a 2-run homer and a base on balls.

We'd have tomorrow to recover before hosting the Philadelphia Phillies.

August 9th, 2021: While the Mets still remain at 2nd in the Power Rankings, we creep closer to 6th.

The Nationals and Orioles made a rare trade, swapping minor leaguers Kyle Johnston and Andrew Vaughn. Don't know what the Orioles were thinking, considering the 2B Vaughn is the much better player, but you can never have too much pitching.

Matt Purke, who missed about 3 months with bone chips in his elbow, has been sent to A- Batavia to begin a rehab assignment. I'd leave him there until rosters expand in Septmeber. I would, however, have to clear a 40-man roster spot for him eventually.

Now at 67-47, we sat 5 games behind the almost unbeatable 72-42 Mets, although we had a nice 3.5 game cushion over the 2nd Wild Card spot, a tie between St. Louis and Pittsburgh, who are tied for the NL Central lead. Chicago and Atlanta are half a fame behind both of them.

Quick note on the Mets, between July and August, they are an unbelievable 27-11, and 4 of those losses are against us. They also rank top 3 in all pitching categories. They're a really scary team,

Anyways, we'd face the 4th place Phillies, and they are projected to send former Met Marcos Molina (10-6, 3.49 ERA), JoJo Romero (3-7, 3.57 ERA), and Mike Clevinger (6-9, 4.38 ERA).

With the upcoming series, I decided to check in on how the Scott Kingery trade has played out so far: Kingery has produced, hitting .254/.305/.414 with 15 homers and 48 RBI's to go with 11 steals. He hasn't been as expected, but I definitely can't complain either. Hunter Harvey has spent most of the time in the Phillies pen pitching 43 innings in 36 relief appearences and 1 start. He has a 1-4 record with 1 save, a 4.40 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP and 50 strikeouts to go with 20 walks. Former #3 overall pick Tyler Callihan has spent all of the season in the GCL, hitting .361/.449.470 with 3 homers and 28 RBI's.

I may have botched that pick, as #5 Overall Pick Benni Vogel is a 4/5 CF and despite his struggles in his rookie year, his potentials are 73/82/100/81/64. On draft day they were much lower, but he was still a 4* prospect. Another player I missed out on is tearing things up for the Mets, the 32nd overall pick RF Dominic Fletcher. He's a 3/4.5 who was just a 3.5* on draft day. He's hitting .279/.358/.500 with 16 homers and 77 RBI's in his rookie campaign and is one of the few good hitters on that team. Taking him away would have been crucial. Even 2nd round pick 2B Sahid Valenzuela, who I passed on twice, is a 2.5/4.5 and just made his debut on the 5th for Arizona. He's grown a lot from being a 2.5* on draft day. These are just a few of the guys who have debuted in the majors, as I'm afraid to know who else I missed.

There is some good news for my drafting, as 2018 2nd Rounder J.P. Gates is now in AAA and approaching the majors. The SP/1B still has solid potential, and could join the big league club this year or next. Can't say the same for anyone else, but three more of my top 5 picks are progressing well throughout the system.

One more brief stat of note, only half of starters (Walker Buehler 2-1, Danny Duffy 7-5, Jordan Montgomery 5-4) are over .500, but as a team, we are 20 games over .500. If you look to the pen, Tyler Jay (9-2), Max Povse (6-4), James Farris (5-1), Corbin Clouse (4-1), Drew Steckenrider (3-2), Matt Purke (2-0), Brent Suter (2-0), and Tanner Rainey (2-1) are all over .500. My starters (counting Alex Balog) only account for 30 of the 67 wins. This makes sense, considering we are 13-4 in extra inning games (1 win to Zack Davies) and 28-11 in one-run games, a majority of which include comeback wins.