8-5 so far on the home stand, with two 4-game series remaining with New York and Detroit. There is a doubleheader with Detroit on Saturday, so we'll squeeze in 8 games in the 7 days. And then we'll be at the all-star break for a few days of rest. With luck, we'll still be in first place too.
6/22 vs Philadelphia, L, 10-0
6/23 vs Philadelphia, W, 3-4
6/24 vs Philadelphia, W, 4-5
6/25 vs Philadelphia, W, 10-11
6/26 vs Washington, L, 8-1
6/27 vs Washington, W, 2-6
6/28 vs Washington, L, 13-4
Top Performances:
* Ron Rattigan: .433/.419/.667, 2 HR, 7 R, 5 RBI
* Bennie Griffith: .438/.471/.563, 1 3B
* Bill White: .417/.444/.458, 1 2B, 3 RBI
* Paddy Smith: .500/.500/.700, 2 2B, 2 RBI
Pete Layton looked good in his Chicago debut (.370/.393/.444). But overall the offense is still a little stagnant. We made a change at hitting coach last week, moving
Joe Ward to bench coach and hiring
Jack Seibers. Seibers has an approach to hitting that appeals to power hitters. Rattigan and Griffith seemed to respond well to the change.
One big reason for the offense doldrums is
Jim Hampton. Hampton had some knee issues during the first two weeks of June, and he hasn't looked like himself all month. During June, Hampton is hitting just .212/.272/.306.
You probably noticed that I didn't list any pitcher in the Top Performances. The week was ugly for the pitchers. ERAs for the week:
* Max Plourde, 6.14
* Ron Coles, 8.31
* Al Miller, 4.50
* Jack Beach, 4.00
* Charlie Bingham, 15.75
Weeks like that will happen, and the pitching has been carrying the under performing offense all season. A somewhat worrying sign is that the Chiefs actual won loss record is 7 games better than their Pythagorean won loss record. Chicago has been good at winning close games (13-6 in one run games), but it's a situation that could reverse itself quickly.
