A rare 5-game series as the originally scheduled 4-gamer is expanded with a Saturday doubleheader to make up one of the games lost to the lockout.
Game 1: 1-7 L. LP-Kluber (3-5, 5 7 4 4 2 5). Kluber really didn't pitch all that badly but the two men he put on to start the 6th were allowed to score. The offense was pitiful again with 3 hits.
Game 2: 3-4 L. LP-Feyereisen (4-3). Starter-Patino (7 3 1 1 0 9). A heartbreaker as Feyereisen put two on in the 9th up 3-1, whiffed Bo Bichette and Vlad Jr, but then gave up a 3-run HR to Gleyber Torres to blow the game and waste Patino's best start of the season. Wander was 2-4 with an RBI.
Game 3: 4-2 W. WP-Wisler (2-2). S-Kittredge (11). Starter-McClanahan (4.2 5 2 2 1 5). HR-W.Franco (10). Finally a win in the first game of the doubleheader. The big hit was a 2-run triple from Lars Nootbaar, while Wander was 3-3 with the homer.
Game 4: 2-8 L. LP-Yarbrough (1-5, 4 4 5 5 1 2). HR-J.Bell (2/20). Ryan Yarbrough was brought up to start the nightcap and he was just as bad as we remembered him when he was up. Brooks Raley left the game with elbow inflammation and will be out the 15 days on the IL.
Game 5: 6-0 W. WP-Rasmussen (7-2, 7 4 0 0 1 9). HR-B.Lowe (14), W.Franco (11). Needed a big game and length from Rasmussen and got it, while Wander capped a huge extended weekend by going 4-5 with the homer, raising his average from .269 to .286 in the series.
Transactions: Aside from bringing Yarbrough up as the 27th man for the doubleheader and sending him back down, we put Raley on the IL as mentioned and optioned Lars Nootbaar back to Durham so we could have a couple of fresh arms for the finale with Ryan Thompson and Calvin Faucher called up. Also we sent Pete Fairbanks to Durham on a rehab assignment, he's been missed in the pen.
Team record: 37-42. Normally I'd be ready to blow this team up right now with that kind of record at almost the midway point, but thanks to the mediocrity of the AL and the third wild card, we're still in the thick of it. Still without some progress over the next week or two I still will likely deal the impending free agents (Bell, Kluber, Zunino, Margot, Conforto, Wisler) although I wonder how much I'll get since they're all underachieving.
Some great news for the future, as we signed this beast-in-the-making in the July 2 international window:
Wander 2.0? He's an OF (and a mediocre one at that), so probably no, but man oh man can we dream on that hitting potential. I almost want to sim 5 years ahead just to see what he becomes. This is some heady stuff from my scout:
Elsewhere around MLB there was plenty of wheelin' and dealin' over the holiday weekend with the Yankees getting their shortstop in Nick Ahmed from Arizona for Deivi Garcia and a prospect; the Giants sent Darin Ruf to the Nationals in a 4-player deal; the Cubs dealt former Ray and their current closer David Robertson to the A's for a prospect; and Oakland picked up Jean Segura from the 26-55 Phillies for a prospect as they are trying to make a run at the wild card themselves. Also, Minnesota claimed 1B Rowdy Tellez off waivers from Milwaukee.