[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 4-3
Seasonal Record: 15-17 (7th, 6 GB)
Stars of the Week
Ray Ford : 28 AB, 11 H, 3 HR, 8 RBI, .393 AVG, 1.114 OPS
Freddie Jones : 21 AB, 9 H, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .429 AVG, 1.377 OPS
John Lawson : 29 AB, 9 H, 3 HR, 4 RBI, .310 AVG, .954 OPS

Schedule
5-22: Loss at Sailors (5-9)
5-23: Loss vs Kings (8-2)
5-24: Win vs Kings (3-5)
5-26: Win vs Kings (6-9)
5-27: Win vs Saints (0-9)
5-28: Loss vs Saints (3-2)
5-29: Win vs Cannons (7-8)

Recap
The week was much better, but we moved up just a half game with one more win then loss. We let the Sailors sweep us, but we took four out of six at home to inch a bit closer to .500. The offense exploded, and we launched homer after homer, 13 in total, equal to half of our season total. I also made a minor trade last night, sending Doc Love back to Detroit for the 14th Pick in the 8th Round. Love had a rough season last year, but he did a great job coming off the bench to start this season. He was 5-for-14 with a double, homer, three walks, and two RBIs. This allows me to bring up Aart MacDonald, who is hitting well down in AAA. The 27-year-old is hitting .321/.432/.619 (145 OPS+) with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 5 homers, 5 steals, and 15 RBIs. As a lefty, he can give Carlos Montes a few days off against tough righties, and with Montes' struggles, it will be hard for Aart to do any worse.

Freddie Jones may have deserved Player of the Week, 9-for-21 with 2 doubles, 2 triples, a homer, 4 walks, 4 RBIs, and 6 runs scored. Ray Ford also had an incredible week, 11-for-28 with 3 homers, 5 runs, and 8 RBIs. John Lawson matched his homers, and was 9-for-29 with 4 RBIs and 7 runs scored. Billy Hunter was 8-for-21 with a homer, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs, 3 runs, and 3 walks. Leo Mitchell was 9-for-28 with 3 doubles, a homer, 4 runs, and 5 RBIs. Even Rich Langton turned things around, 8-for-28 with a triple, 2 doubles, 2 homers, 4 runs, and 6 RBIs. Mike Taylor was outstanding in his four starts, 5-for-13 with a double, homer, 2 runs, 3 walks, and 4 RBIs. Only one guy struggled, and you could guess who that was, as Montes was just 2-for-18 with an RBI, two runs, and three walks.

We weren't great on the mound, but Dick Lyons was. He tossed a 4-hit, 1 walk, 4 strikeout shutout in our 9-0 win over the Saints. Lyons isn't quite pitching like an Allen Winner, but his 3.56 ERA (120 ERA+) and 1.29 WHIP aren't bad at all. What was bad, was Peter the Heater, who lost both starts. His second one wasn't really that bad, but he combined for 13 innings, 12 hits, 9 runs, 8 walks, and 12 strikeouts. Pete has really struggled this year, 2-4 with a 6.53 ERA (65 ERA+), 1.65 WHIP, 29 walks, and 27 strikeouts in 40 innings pitched. Our other two start pitcher, Milt Fritz, lost one and then got a no decision, 14 innings with 24 hits, 14 runs (12 earned), 5 walks, and 5 strikeouts. Cy won his start, but allowed 11 hits and 6 runs (5 earned) with a walk. Harry Parker looked good, a complete game win with 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts. The pen allowed their share of runs, 4 runs in 8 innings with just Allen Purvis not allowing a run.

Looking Ahead
We won the opener with the now last place Cannons, and after two more games, hopefully they drop to 13-23. We'll get to see the two highest ERAs in the staff, starting with Glenn Payne. He dropped to 0-2 with a 5.60 ERA (77 ERA+) and 1.64 WHIP with 10 walks and 17 strikeouts. Rusty Petrick is next, and he's just 1-4 with a 6.98 ERA (62 ERA+), 1.92 WHIP, 34 walks, and 20 strikeouts. At the plate, Ken Mayhugh has looked fine, batting .300/.370/.431 (107 OPS+) with 11 doubles, 2 homers, and 19 RBIs. Above him is Bunny Stapleton, who is slashing a nice .375/.416/.472 (129 OPS+) with 8 doubles, 2 homers, and 24 RBIs. Calvin Brown is challenging to hit .350, batting .344/.390/.416 (109 OPS+) in his first season in Baltimore while longtime Cannon Whit Williams is hitting .297/.357/.471 (113 OPS+) while matching his five homer total from last season. These are two must win games, and I like our chances at home.

Next visitor will be the new look Stars, who we welcome to town for a pair of games. New York is 20-14, powered by the bat of Moxie Pidgeon. The 32-year-old vet is off to a .331/.384/.561 (139 OPS+) start with 5 doubles, 9 homers, an 28 RBIs. Another new face, Ray Cochran, has really looked good in the leadoff spot, slashing .338/.420/.500 (135 OPS+) with 6 doubles, 6 triples, a homer, 6 steals, 11 RBIs, and 19 walks. Rookie Bill Barrett hasn't started every game, but he's hitting a respectable .261/.362/.493 (117 OPS+) with 5 doubles, a triple, 3 homers, and 16 RBIs with five times as many walks (10) as strikeouts (2). Even the ageless Dave Trowbridge is flexing with the bat, a robust .341/.419/.504 (135 OPS+) line to his credit. He added 7 doubles, 5 homers, and 27 RBIs, and is on track for another above average offensive season, something he's done in each season since joining the Stars in 1928. The recently required Clark Car has taken short with Joe Angevine hurt, and is hitting an average .289/.368/.447 (108 OPS+) with 4 doubles, 4 triples, and 13 RBIs. The pitching, however, has been their downfall, just one of their four starters sporting a sub 5 ERA. That would be George Philips, who saw his ERA jump to 4.19 (104 ERA+). He is 5-1 with a 1.43 WHIP, 29 walks, and 30 strikeouts, but the rest of the staff hasn't been so lucky. New acquisition Chuck Cole has been disappointing, 2-2 with a 5.92 ERA (74 ERA+), 1.74 WHIP, 32 walks, and 25 strikeouts.

Our homestand finishes with three against the 17-16 Sailors. Somehow other have four starters with ERAs above 5, including No-Hit Newell. Doc is just 3-3 with a 5.44 ERA (82 ERA+) and 1.46 WHIP with 17 walks and strikeouts. #2 Walt Wells has had similar struggles, 2-2 with a 5.25 ERA (84 ERA+), 1.56 WHIP, 23 walks, and 14 strikeouts. Dutch Sheldon is the only one with much success, 2-2 with a 3.79 ERA (117 ERA+), 1.59 WHIP, 19 walks, and 18 strikeouts. Reigning Player of the Week Bob Smith is on a nice little tear, slashing .375/.464/.613 (168 OPS+) with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 3 homers, 4 steals, and 23 RBIs. Don Homer has started to be productive in the eight spot, .328/.381/.451 (108 OPS+) with 9 doubles, 3 triples, a steal, 14 RBIs, and 11 walks. Joe Watson is continuing strong as well, slashing .331/.406/.540 (136 OPS+) with 7 doubles, 5 triples, 3 homers, and 20 RBIs. All weeks have been tough for us, and we need to start winning sooner rather then later.

Minor League Report
1B Marv Smith (A Lincoln Legislators): One of the initial useless lottery picks, Marv Smith had a big three homer game as the Legislators topped the Hustlers 10-8. In fact, not only was Smith a star in this game, but in the Springfield series he was 10-for-14 with 10 runs, 2 walks, and 4 RBIs. I'm still in awe of why he didn't win Player of the Week, but the natural outfielder is having an excellent season. Not only has he looked good at first, but he's hitting .304/.420/.520 (132 OPS+) with 6 doubles, 7 homers, and 18 RBIs in 150 trips to the plate. On the older side, he is 24, but he's a very experienced and disciplined hitter who knows what pitches to lay off of and he's already matched his homer total from last year and the season before. Even with all my displeasure in him, Smith actually is a solid hitter and he's never had a below average stop in the minors. He doesn't feature in our top prospect lists, but he could still end up as a decent bench bat, just not quite you want from a first round pick.