[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 3-3
Seasonal Record: 6-6 (5th, 3.5 GB)
Stars of the Week
John Kincaid : 27 AB, 10 H, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .370 AVG, .824 OPS
Joe Masters : 24 AB, 7 H, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .292 AVG, .974 OPS
Tom Taylor : 26 AB, 9 H, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .346 AVG, .875 OPS

Weekly Schedule
4-23: Loss at Wolves (4-5)
4-24: Loss at Wolves (4-5)
4-25: Loss at Wolves (3-6)
4-26: Win at Foresters (12-6)
4-27: Win at Foresters (7-5): 12 innings
4-28: Win at Foresters (2-0)

Summary
So we swept the Foresters and got swept by the Wolves? I sort of expected the opposite... Out in Toronto the bats were silent. After a pair of 5-4 losses at the hands of Chuck Cole and Bill Anderson, the Wolves doubled our run total in a 6-3 win for the sweep. The Foresters series was shockingly so much better. Riding a four game losing streak, we piled on 17 hits and 12 runs in a 12-6 win in the opener. The middle game was much more exciting, as we needed 12 innings to determine a winner. From the 8th on, Don Grossman and Bill Kline combined to toss five scoreless with 4 hits and 2 walks in a 7-5 12 inning win. Bill Ashbaugh didn't start the game, but he pinch hit for Mike Taylor in the 12th and his two run double won us the game. Dave Rankin was brilliant in the finale, and on the shoulders of his 4-hit, 2 walk, 5 strikeouts shutout we swept the defending champion Foresters in Cleveland.

I should have mentioned this yesterday, but on Opening Day we sold 23,017 tickets. Not sure what our highest is, but it's pretty close to our 28,450 capacity at the North Side Grounds. We are back home now for a three game series with the Philadelphia Sailors. They're 8-4 to start the season and sitting in second place despite the struggles of Ace William Jones. Doc Newell, a trade target of mine in the offseason, has gotten off to a great start in Cleveland where he tossed a 4-hit shutout of his own. We'll likely see him, and southpaws Russ Reel and Herb Flynn. This is the back three in their rotation, so they could potentially skip Flynn and go to Jones. The offense isn't too potent, but they got a corner outfielder Curt Dickerson who reminds me a lot of Doc Love. We'll also get to see former Cougar Mack Deal who's off to a nice start to the season. He's got 2 homers, 2 steals, and 11 RBI's and a nice .282/.326/.487 (119 OPS+) batting line. We're off on the second, but then head to New York for three with the struggling Stars. They're in last and just 3-10. John Lawson is off to a dreadful start to the season and Dave Trowbridge and Pete Layton are both having slow starts (by their standards). Rookie shortstop Larry Colaianni has already bashed two homers and drove in 10 with a .320/.370/.500 (128 OPS+) triple slash. The top two in their rotation is very strong, as both Gene Stevens and Lou Martino boast sub 3.00 ERA's. Both have made three starts and Marino has a 1.83 ERA and two of their three wins.

After a tough start in Toronto where he allowed 6 runs (5 earned) and 11 hits with a walk and 4 strikeouts in 6 innings, Hank Spencer will be pushed to the pen for the week. Dick Sexton will start the opener and it will be his second big league appearance. He tossed two and a third hitless innings with a strikeout. He's set to go head-to-head against Russ Reel. Spencer wasn't the only starter who struggled, as Lyons and Leudtke allowed 16 runs (14 earned) in three starts (20.2 innings) while allowing 29 hits and 6 walks. Leudtke struck out 5 in 14 and Lyons 3 in 6.2, but both struggled to keep runs off the board. The second best start of the week might have been Rankin's first, 8 innings with 8 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts in one of the 5-4 losses to the Wolves.

We only hit two homers, but the offense didn't look bad. Bill Ashbaugh and John Kincaid are running nice hit streaks, and went 15-for-39 with 7 RBI's. Ashbaugh played less (14 PA's), but doubled once and tripled twice. Tom Taylor didn't add any homers, but was 9-for-26 with a double, triple, and a pair of RBI's. Joe Masters was 7-for-24 with a homer and six driven in while looking alright at first. Part time player Mike Smith got a start, but also came of the bench four times and went 2-for-7 with a double, RBI, and walk.

EDIT: Forgot to add waiver claim information. Brooklyn got both Chick Meehan and Phil Vaughan. We got OF Joe Snider off waivers from the Cannons. He'll head down to AAA. The 29-year-old has hit .289/.327/.390 (94 OPS+) in 2,825 career plate appearances with the Stars and Cannons.