[ayaghmour2]

July 5th, 2022: There were a pair of season ending injuries and a trade to account for before the highly anticipated matchup in the Big Apple.

The Rays will be without 25-year-old righty Drew Strotman for the rest of the year after he suffered bone chips in his elbow. He hasn't had the best year, and has split time in the rotation and pen with a 2-8 record, 5.14 ERA, and 1.42 WHIP in 61.1 innings. They also lost rookie and former 41st overall pick CF Travis Swaggerty to the year with a torn PCL. The top prospect appeared in 18 big league games, hitting .286/.403/.444 with a homer and 6 RBI's.

The Cubs traded former Marlins farmhand RHP Brett Graves to Detroit for LF Austin Jackson. I have no idea how the Cubs thought this trade had any value for them, as Jackson is just not a good player.

Anyways, two top arms in Walker Buehler (8-5, 3.01 ERA, 1.07 WHIP) and Jacob deGrom (12-4, 2.88 ERA, 1.07 WHIP) battled in the opener. I extremely envy the Mets lineup, especially young superstar 2B Gregorio Alvarenga who's an elite contact hitter with elite speed and can play literally all over the diamond. I don't know what happened, honestly, but we somehowe managed to win 9-1. Yes, we scored 9 runs, and again allowed just 1!

I feel like every pitching recap is the same now: are guys were dominant. Buehler tossed 6.2 innnings with 6 hits, a run scored, 0 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Edward Cabrera finished the final 2.1 innings, allowing just 2 hits, a walk, and striking out 2.

We made the most of 11 hits, and Ryan Mountcastle was especially excellent. He was 3-for-5 with a grand slam and he scored twice. Carlos Soler was 3-for-5 with a run scored. Dustin Fowler was 1-for-5 with a 2 run shot off Joe Kelly. Buehler himself was 1-for-3 with a 2 run double off former Marlin farmhand Luke Heimlich. We acquired Heimlich from the Orioles along with Ryan Mountcastle and Martin Cevenka for Jeff Hoffman and Igor Baez back in the 2019 offseason, and then shipped him to New York in the 2021 preseason with Chris Joyce for Matt Purke. He's been roughed up in 12 innings, allowing 14 runs and 21 hits.

We're just 1.5 games back!

July 6th, 2022: The injuries keep piling up, as Strotman's replacement and former Marlin LHP Braxton Garrett tore his rotator cuff in his MLB debut and will miss the rest of this year and most likely, the start of next season. He allowed a hit and struck out a batter before leaving the game hurt.

I also found out where all my unsigned draft picks will attend college and when they will become eligible to be drafted again:

5th Rounder: SS Arturo Sepulbeda (Boston College 2025)
9th Rounder: SS Shiloh Lias (Pitt-Greensburg 2023)
12th Rounder: 2B Sam Holt (Stanford 2025)
14th Rounder: 3B Steve Thompson (North Carolina 2023)
18th Rounder: C Jeff Bryant (Virginia 2025)
20th Rounder: 2B Jon Shelton (Oregon State 2023)
23rd Rounder: C Josh Palmer (Mississippi State 2025)
27th Rounder: 2B Harland Jauregui (Coppin State 2025)
28th Rounder: C Kevin Kendrick (San Diego State 2023)
32nd Rounder: CF Brad Maynard (Oregon State 2025)
33rd Rounder: SP Brad Roberts (Michigan 2025)
37th Rounder: LF Jon Dye (Wichita State 2023)
38th Rounder: SP Mike Wood (Yale 2025)
39th Rounder: SS Kevin Charles (UCLA 2025).

Game two would be a tough one, A.J. Puckett (6-4, 3.64 ERA, 1.19 WHIP) against Chris Sale (4-2, 3.57 ERA, 0.91 WHIP) as our win streak approaches double digits. Lewis Brinson loves sale, 10-for-27 with 5 homers, and he'd leadoff the game, and eventually walked. Again, I'm in utter disbelief, as we won 9-1, and this time did it was only 9 hits.

Puckett was great, 5.2 innings with 4 hits, an unearned run, 3 walks, and 3 strikeouts. That means our ERA during this win streak has dropped to 0.78. If we can keep hitting like this, look out! Tanner Rainey, Joe Jimenez, and Tyler Jay earned holds, but no save was needed as we scored 2 in the 8th and 3 more in the 9th.

Brinson may not have taken Sale deep, but Dustin Fowler and Keston Hiura did. Fowler was 2-for-5 with a 2 run shot and he scored twice in total. Hiura was 3-for-5 with a solo shot, a double, and two total runs and RBI's. Brinson did, however double off Sale, and finished 1-for-3 with 2 walks, 2 runs scored, an RBI, and a steal. Scott Kingery was charged with the error, but was 1-for-5 with a pair of RBI's, so I'd say it made up for it.

Ryan McMahon had the bat working for the Rockies, going 5-for-5 in a 10-7 win over the Diamondbacks.

July 7th, 2022: Our entire rotation deserves to go to the All-Star game, but just Tyler Mahle ranks in the top 5, and sits at 5th still. Shiotani remains 2nd for relievers.

Arizona will lose veteran Oliver Drake for the year with a torn flexor tendon. The 35-year-old righty had 8 saves and a 3.38 ERA this year.

The Yankees lost closer Tommy Kahnle for the year with a torn labrum. He was 1-2 with 17 saves and a 2.31 ERA as the Yankees 9th inning guy.

A really interesting trade was made between the Reds and the Pirates as the teams swapped minor leaguers. SP Ryan Weiss is headed to Cincy and CF Quentin Holmes is headed to the Pirates. Not too sure what to make of this trade, but I prefer Holmes.

Can we make it 10 straight? And sweep the Mets to take 1st place? It would be tough, as we'd face the untouchable Luis Marrero (4-1, 1.94 ERA, 0.83 WHIP). We had a lefty of our own, Jordan Montgomery (7-5, 3.30 ERA, 1.12 WHIP) looking to shutdown another offense. All good things must come to an end, as we dropped the finale 4-2. I can't be mad, a sweep in New York would be insane.

Montgomery was our first starter roughed up in a while, 4 runs off 6 hits in 6.2 innings. His stuff was still good, just 1 walk and 9 strikeouts. Corbin Clouse finished the game, 1.1 perfect innings with 2 strikeouts.

Montgomery did double, and was 1-for-3 with a run scored. Ryan Mountcastle drove him in on a 2-run homer in a 2-for-4 effort. Keston Hiura was 2-for-4 with a steal.

We're still tied with Atlanta, as they copied us the entire series. and 1.5 games out with our beautiful 53-35 record. We're off to Philly to face the Phillies who have dropped all the way back under .500 to 43-45 and are now 11.5 games out of first. We were looking at former Met Marcos Molina (4-3, 2.08 ERA), Adbert Alzolay (5-7, 4.38 ERA), and Sixto Sanchez (4-5, 4.74 ERA).

July 8th, 2022: The Diamondbacks lost RF Eduardo Diaz for the season with a broken kneecap. The rookie was struggling enough to start with, hitting .189/.267/.245 in 53 at bats.

We started the Philly series with Jameson Taillon (7-5, 2.06 ERA, 1.20 WHIP) facing Marcos Molina (4-3, 2.08 ERA, 1.17 WHIP). Imagine the Mets rotation if he was still there... Brinson, however, loves facing Molina and is 13-for-26 against him. We couldn't hit, and fell 3-2, although both teams had just 4 hits. I was hoping we wouldn't begin a long losing streak...

Worst part, we should've won, as 2 of Taillon's 3 runs were uneared after a Victor Caratini error. Taillon went 7 strong, 4 hits, a walk, and 6 strikeouts. Victor Arano tossed a perfect 8th against his former team and struck out 2.

Keston Hiura was 2-for-3 with his 30th double of the season. Carlos Soler accounted for the entirety of the offense, 1-for-3 with a 2 run homer in the 6th. He drove in Jameson Taillon, who drew a walk.

The Pirates SP Mitch Keller tossed a 7-hit shutout as they beat the Brewers 4-0.

July 9th, 2022: The Dodgers will be without RHP Chase Whitely for the year with shoulder inflammation as the serious injuries pile up. He's had a rough year, but is 6-3 despite his 5.06 ERA.

We're a game behind Atlanta and 2.5 behind the Mets as we try to start winning again. Tyler Mahle (5-4, 3.17 ERA, 0.97 WHIP) will face Adbert Alzolay (5-7, 4.38 ERA, 1.27 WHIP) as we looked to bounce back. We couldn't score again, and fell 3-1.

Mahle allowed 6 hits and 3 runs with a walk and 7 strikeouts in 4.1 innings. The rest of the pen combined for 3.2 hitless innings with just a single walk and 6 strikeouts.

Again, just 4 hits, but all singles. Hiura was 2-for-4, Fowler was 1-for-3 with an RBI, and Lewis Brinson was 1-for-4 with a run scored.

The Mets SP Brady Singer tossed a 2-hit shutout in a 14-0 win over the Nationals. In the same game, Dominic Smith extended his hit streak to 25, so I guess I was wrong about it ending soon. He's hitting .292 with 19 homrs and 55 RBI's so far.

The Brewers and SP Jimmy Nelson tossed a 5-0 shutout against the Pirates.

July 10th, 2022: We looked to avoid the sweep with Walker Buehler (9-5, 2.90 ERA, 1.06 WHIP) taking on Sixto Sanchez (4-5, 4.74 ERA, 1.27 WHIP). No Bryce Harper in the lineup to day for the Phillies, so we gotta take advanage of that. And we couldn't score, losing 1-0 on a walkoff homer by Kyle Seager off Yasukazu Shiotani.

Buehler was excellent, 6 innings with 4 hits, 2 walks, and 7 strikeouts. Shiotani allowed the homer on the 2nd pitch of the inning.

We actually outhit them 6-5. Caratini was 1-for-4 with a double. Soler, Brinson, Kingery, Buehler, and Wilson all had singles. We got swept by the Phillies, however, and I'm am beyond angry. I hate how streaky we are, and now we're 3 out of the 1st Wild Card and 4.5 out of first.

Smith's hit streak was stopped, but they won 10-2, so I doubt he cares too much.

We got to return home to host the 44-48 Pirates in the last series before the All-Star Break. I'm spending the All-Star break looking to find a way to improve the offense, but I really don't know what to do. I don't want to give up on anyone, but at the same time, nothing is working. I think the one thing I can do is add another OF, and deal with the crowded situation later when Brannen is healthy. Losing him hurt a lot more then I thought for our offense, as having him on the basepaths made things happened.

Anyways, we were looking at Gage Hinsz (5-2, 2.09 ERA), Christopher A. Reynolds (2-6, 3.64 ERA), Mitch Keller (5-7, 4.61 ERA), and Nathan Eovaldi (4-10, 3.20 ERA) as we looked to turn things around.