[luckymann]

Florida Panthers (20-13) @ Virginia Fury (10-23)
Bethlehem Ballpark – Richmond, VA; 7.05 pm
VIRG: Bob Caruthers (0-2, 4.25)
LASV: Larry Jackson (2-2, 5.08)


Good evening folks and welcome to stunning Bethlehem Ballpark here in Richmond for what should be another titanic tussle. A tale of two cities for our combatants tonight, with the visiting Florida Panthers sitting pretty at 20 and 13, while their hosts the Virginia Fury have really struggled to this point, although a 4-2 run in May has seen them able to improve their record to 10 and 23.

The home side may have caught a bit of a break as apparently Albert Pujols won’t be starting tonight. Not sure if he has a niggle or if it’s a strategic move. If it’s the latter then it’s a strange one, as he has terrorised pitchers so far with an astonishing 1.071 OPS along with with 7 homers and 26 RBI and his 2.2 WAR leads both leagues. Third-baseman Evan Longoria has also been fantastic for the Panthers, hitting .352 with 5 homers and 22 batted in, so the Fury pitchers will still have to watch themselves despite Pujols’ absence.

Perhaps the man who our field reporter Juliana Scott has got with her might be able to shed some light on the matter. Juliana, over to you.

Juliana Scott: Thanks Nik, I’m down here with Fury skipper Earl Weaver. Earl – as Nick just pointed out, no Pujols in the Panthers’ starting lineup tonight. Any reason why that you know of?

Earl Weaver: No, Juliana, none at all. I’m sure Tony has a good reason for it. It doesn’t change much for us – we kept him, and Longoria for that matter, quiet in our first series against them and still got whipped. That’s the thing about this league: there are very few weak spots in any team’s lineup. So you focus on one guy at your own peril because there’s danger lurking at every turn.

JS: How do you try and counteract that?

EW: Mistakes tend to get punished brutally by the big bats going around, so the key is to limit not just the number of mistakes you make but when you make them. A solo home run doesn’t hurt like a grand slam does. So our pitchers need to do all they can to keep them off the bags to limit any potential damage, damage that is almost inevitable. And then, when there are guys on base, they need to bear down and do all the things any manager’ll tell you are crucial to the art of pitching well – stay ahead in the count, spot your pitches, keep the ball down in the zone. Nothing revolutionary, we’re not reinventing the wheel here. On the flip-side, our bats need to make every post a winner when the opportunities present themselves. Our contact hitters need to get on base and in scoring position, our power hitters need to bring ‘em in with the longball. Chunks of runs, that’s how I like it. Three at a time does me just fine.

JS: A bit of a rough start for your club but things seem to be coming together a bit with 4 wins from your last 5 games. How do you explain the turnaround?

EW: There’s no doubt we played poorly in April, as our record reflects. 6 and 21 is fairly definitive in that respect. But we were also incredibly unlucky and way more competitive than that record would have you believe. We lost 7 of 8 one-run games and had plenty of times when the bounce of the ball or a close call didn’t go our way. That’s more often than not the difference between winning and losing those tight games. On other occasions we kept hitting the ball right where our opponents could show off their defensive skills (laughs). Lately that’s been flipped on its head to some degree, as usually happens over the course of any and every season. They say you make your own luck and, by and large, I believe this to be true. We’ve started making more of our own luck through doing the key things better so far in May.

JS: A big loss last night to end what had been a good series for you guys on a bad note.

EW: Wasn’t much to do with luck, that one. We were terrible and ran into an absolute buzzsaw with Seager and company just lighting us up. Jack Morris has really struggled and we may need a rethink in the rotation if he can’t turn it around soon. But I don’t know if anyone could have contained the Pirates’ hitters last night, the mood they were in. It was impressive. A bit scary, even.

JS: Your slow start, combined with Washington’s hot one, means you are forced to play catch-up from here on in. Does that change your approach at all?

EW: Not yet, no. It’s still real early in the season and with so many games left you’d be a fool to concern yourself with the standings at this point other than as a reflection of how many games you’ve won and how many you’ve lost. I’ve always seen the regular season as a war of accretion, not attrition—especially the first few months. You just have to win enough games to be thereabouts, then anything can happen down the stretch when it does become more a war of attrition. So for now, our goal is to get back to .500. Festina lente, as the Italians say. Go slowly, baby steps, then take it from there. You know?

JS: You’ve got a reputation as a meticulous planner and user of statistical analysis. How do you go about that when so little is known of the players?

EW: It’s not easy. The thing is, I just don’t trust my gut instincts as strongly as guys like Tommy Lasorda do. I’m more methodical in my philosophy on the game. I find my hunches are never as successful as when I have some background knowledge on the opponent in any given situation at my disposal. And I’m the first to admit, because of the dearth of data, I’ve been forced to make gut decisions more than I’d like, most of which I’d like to have back because they’ve turned out poorly. So I’ll be a much better manager in this league as time progresses and empirical evidence starts to accumulate for me to use. I just hope we don’t go so bad in the meantime that I get fired (laughs)!

JS: Well, we hope so too. Thanks for your time Earl and all the best in the game tonight.

EW: Thanks, Juliana.


Great, we appreciate Earl’s time as I’m sure he’s got plenty to do with the first pitch just minutes away. And I’ve got to say, with or without Pujols in the lineup, I like the Fury’s chances in this one. Back after this break to see if I’m right.


TOP 1ST
Caruthers starts well with a 1-2-3 inning.

BOTTOM 1ST
Likewise for Jackson.

TOP 2ND
A rather innocuous-looking two-out hit by shortstop Trevor Story eventually results in the first run of the game after he ends up at third when a caught stealing attempt by Fury catcher Jim Sundberg ends up in CF and Stan Musial knocks him in with a single.
Florida 1, Virginia 0

BOTTOM 2ND
One of those plays Earl Weaver mentioned in the pre-game snuffs out a promising rally for the home side when Yelich, after a leadoff walk, is nailed at third on a Mays single by a terrific Jack Clark throw.

TOP 3RD
The Fury returns serve as Damon throws out Aparicio trying to stretch a single into a double.

BOTTOM 3RD
Damon then delivers on offence as well. Jeff Kent’s 5th error of the season puts Boudreau aboard with two out and he goes to third on a Spalding single, then scores on another one by Damon to tie the game.
Virginia 1, Florida 1

TOP 4TH
The Panthers get two hits but they lead nowhere when Musial grounds into a DP to end the inning.

BOTTOM 4TH
Nothing for the Fury.

TOP 5TH
Davis leads off with a single but is cut down by Sundberg trying to swipe second.

BOTTOM 5TH
A two-out walk to Kinsler but that’s it.

TOP 6TH
The Panthers have looked the more likely to score, and do so when Longoria bombs out his 6th dinger of the season. They get two more aboard, but Caruthers manages to escape without further damage.
Florida 2, Virginia 1

BOTTOM 6TH
A hit and no more for the home side.

TOP 7TH
A two-out hit by Fisk ends Caruthers’ game, with Cuppy in to replace him. Aparicio grounds out to 3B to end the inning.

BOTTOM 7TH
Nothing doing for Virginia, who have been limited to just three hits and looked pretty toothless to this point.

TOP 8TH
Kent singles with one out and Florida skipper Tony LaRussa sends in the Prince, who also singles. Another hit to Helton scores Kent for an insurance run.

BOTTOM 8TH
Pud Galvin comes in to pitch for the Panthers and the Fury jumps on him immediately, with a double to Kinsler and then a two-out triple by Damon cutting the lead to one again. But Galvin manages to get Yelich to ground out to SS to end the inning.
Florida 3, Virginia 2

TOP 9TH
Cuppy retires them in order.

BOTTOM 9TH
Galvin dispatches them without incident to give Florida a tight road win.

Florida 3, Las Vegas 2 (final).

WP: Larry Jackson (3-2)
LP: Bob Caruthers (0-3)
SV: Pud Galvin (7)
POTG: Larry Jackson 7 IP / 3 H / 0 ER / 7 K.

Well, apart from Longoria’s home run, the Fury managed to corral the big Florida bats but still lost and that will undoubtedly frustrate Earl Weaver and his staff no end. Jackson was superb, allowing just 3 hits over 7 and never letting the Fury get anything much going. To be fair, in the end the home side was pretty lucky to be as close as they were, it certainly never really felt like they were in it. They certainly have plenty of work to do if they want to be competitive this season and beyond. Full credit to the Panthers, they weren’t at their best in this one and yet they got the job done like good sides do.

I trust you enjoyed tonight’s coverage, next week we get our first look at the Blues and Pirates as we head to Green Canyon Park in New Orleans. Should be another ripper, really looking forward to it and hope you’ll join us then. Goodnight!