[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 3-4
Seasonal Record: 10-11 (t-6th, 2 GB)
Stars of the Week
Red Bond : 25 AB, 6 H, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .240 AVG, .749 OPS
Sal Pestilli : 24 AB, 7 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .292 AVG, .810 OPS
Jim Kenny : 1 Win, 1.1 IP, 0 BB, 0 K, 0.00 ERA

Schedule
5-4: Win at Wolves (4-3): 10 innings
5-5: Win at Wolves (8-4)
5-6: Loss at Cannons (1-4)
5-7: Loss at Cannons (1-2)
5-8: Loss at Cannons (0-1)
5-9: Loss at Sailors (2-7)
5-9: Win at Sailors (4-1): 19 innings

Recap
it's just three weeks and I already hate this team... When we hit, we can't pitch. When we pitch, we can't hit. We're losing one run games again and can only win in extras. Duke (1-2, 4.50, 9) sucks, Pap (1-2, 4.20, 19), Donnie (1-3, 3.77, 15) has had basically one good start. Mitchell (.250, 1, 6) can't hit, Sal (.213, 2, 8, 3) still sucks, and Hal Sharp (.268, 4) isn't hitting or fielding. Imagine what would be going on if Red Bond (.333, 8, 17) and George Oddo (2-0, 1.74, 20) weren't performing like two of the best players in the world! But luckily, no one in the CA is doing much of anything, so we're still just two back of the first place Cannons (11-8) and Sailors (12-9), with the Cannons recently sweeping us and holding us to just two runs in three innings.

One interesting game was the finale of the double header with the Sailors Donnie Jones made the start on short rest, and despite that, managed to throw 128 pitches in 10.2 innings pitched. We didn't score much, just a single run, so he left with 11 hits, a run, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. He allowed his run in the 6th, and the next 12 innings didn't see a single run cross the plate for either team. Thankfully, we got things going in the 19th, as Leo Mitchell singled, Red Bond doubled, and Carlos Montes was hit to load the bases. Hal Sharp flew out to shallow left, so the bases stayed loaded, but our usual extra inning hero Harry Mead did what he does best, help out his staff. It wasn't a hit, but a sac-fly gave us the 2-1 lead. Then Skipper cleared the bases with our second double of the inning, giving us a 4-1 lead that Jim Kenny managed to hold onto. Kenny, Eddie Howard, and Ken Matson combined for 8.1 shutout innings, which was one of the rare times are pen held up. We're definitely tired for the coming week, but luckily we are off on Tuesday. Let's start winning!

The offense was very poor this week, with Skipper, Mitchell, Ford, Montes, Hunter, and Otto combining to go 18-for-99 (.182) the same amount of hits as strikeouts. They had just four extra base hits, with two of those coming in the 19th inning. One of the few hitters to contribute was Sal, who was 7-for-24 with 3 doubles, 3 runs, 4 walks, and 3 steals. Despite that strong showing, he's still hitting just .213/.260/.404 (81 OPS+), somewhat in line with the .232/.288/.360 (80 OPS+) he hit last year. Just what we were hoping for!

Man, this season can't end soon enough...

Do I want to talk about the pitching? Well... I may have overstated how bad it was. Pap wasn't great, but he did strike out 5 with no walks in 7 innings. He got the loss with just 6 hits and 2 runs, but needed 130 pitches to do it. Bybee pitched fine too in his loss, 8 innings with 5 hits, 2 runs, 5 walks, and 5 strikeouts. Same goes for Johnnie, 8 innings with 6 hits, a run, 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts. If we could have provided any runs for them off Rufus Barrell (2-1, 1.60, 18), Charlie Griffith (3-1, 3.21, 10), and Les Bradshaw (2-2, 4.13, 14) we might be sitting in first, but things just did not go our way. Elsewhere, George Oddo pitched a pair of no decisions, combining to go 14 innings with 15 hits, 5 runs, 5 walks, and 9 strikeouts. Oddo now ranks second in the CA with 20 strikeouts, trailing just Bob Arman (2-3, 1.71, 23), who has thrown 11 more innings then our young righty. His 1.74 ERA (208 ERA+) is best on the team, and he's tied for our win lead with Johnnie Jones (2) as the only two Cougars to have more then one victory. It's crazy that with all the struggles he's had in the past few seasons, he's the one guy we haven't had to worry about, as our pitching has yet to get going early on.

Looking Ahead
We have one more with the Sailors, one I'm sure both teams would rather not play. After 28 innings the previous day, both teams are thoroughly exhausted, but baseball must be played! Pete Papenfus (1-2, 4.20, 19) will look to get back on track against Bill Martino (2-1, 2.82, 12), who has been lucky (133 ERA+ vs 103 FIP-) compared to Peter the Heater's unluckiness (86 ERA+ vs 88 FIP-). We'll hope for the fortunes to change, but our offense can't hit, and theirs is tied for the association lead with 93 runs scored, despite having 15 less (18 to 3) home runs then us. Heck, Red Bond (.333, 8, 17) has almost tripled their total while Walt Pack (.300, 3, 11) has matched it. Two of their three homers came in game one of the double header, with Cotton Dillon (.218, 1, 9) and Ed Reyes (.389, 1, 15) taking home run machine Harry Parker deep in the 7th and 8th innings. The third (well, first) homer was courtesy of Billy Forbes, who took former Cougar draftee Leo Hayden (2-2, 5.08, 10) deep in the Sailors 16th game of the season. They make up the lack of power with regular old hits, as Reyes, Marion Boismenu (.355, 7, 2), and another former Cougar draftee, Solly Skidmore (.356, 4, 1) are all hitting over .350. We'll have out work cut out for us in this one, one I fully expect to lose as our disappointing start continues.

Off on Tuesday, but we still have two more games left in our 14 game roadtrip. Those come against the Foresters, who at 7-15, are the only CA team with a worse record then us. The way things are looking now, we may be competing with them for 8th, so these are absolute must win games. If we get swept here, there may not be a write up tomorrow, as I'll be too busy contemplating by job security to focus on all the things that went wrong. Part of that is drawing the Foresters top two, meaning we'll have to best last year's ERA leader Ollie White (0-3, 5.68, 16), who has seen his command collapse in his second season. He's already walked (36) more batters then completed innings (31.2), while his already lofty 15.6% BB% from last year is 7.2% lower then his mark this season. In his five starts, he's yet to go more then 7 innings and has walked 6 or more hitters in each start. Despite that, I can already see the shutout email where he walks just 2 and strikes out 11 in a 13-0 walloping. After that we'll take on 19th ranked prospect John "Stonewall" Jackson (2-2, 4.95, 10), who hasn't had the smoothest start to his pro career. At the plate, however, the Foresters are producing, and have scored the third most runs (89) in the association. First basemen turned left fielder Ivey Henley (.408, 3, 14) is leading the batting race, but he's the only qualified hitter batting above .255 on the roster. Glenn White (.405, 7) has replaced Jim Adams Jr. (.250, 1, 3) at second, as a strained back cost him this week and next week. Avoiding him is nice, but the Foresters have scored plenty of runs without their players having much to show at the plate. Our staff should be able to keep them off the board, but will we score enough to make it worth it? I'm leaning towards no...

Perhaps the antidote to our struggles is our home stadium, as we finish our week with three hosting the Kings. Brooklyn is an even 10-10, half a game above us and a game and a half out of first. The Kings are the team tied for the most runs with the Sailors, but they've managed to do it in one fewer game. Their lineup is loaded, and the top three of Charlie Woodbury (.333, 2, 14), Pat Petty (.333, 2, 13), and superstar Ralph Johnson (.321, 5, 13) has impressed. The biggest surprise, however, is Hank Barnett, who at 38 is hitting .273/.377/.530 (140 OPS+) with 6 doubles, 3 homers, and 16 RBIs. He's produced a 162 WRC+, walked (11) more then he's struck out (6), and even has a triple for good measure. On the other side, the pitching has been somewhat of a let down, with Leo Hayden and Harry Carter (2-1, 5.06, 3) off to rough starts. You'd think Bob Arman would be one of them if you saw his 2-3 record, but the Kings just don't provide him with any run support, as he sports a 1.71 ERA (218 ERA+) and 1.10 WHIP with 23 strikeouts in his first five starts as a King. I'm hoping we avoid him, but it looks like we'll see him on Friday, followed by Hayden and Johnny Slaney (1-1, 3.71, 11). I'm really worried about this week, but with how bunched up the CA is, we could find ourselves in first with a few series wins.

Minor League Report
2B Bob Schmelz (AAA Milwaukee Blues): While the Cougars offense doesn't do much scoring, the Blues offense does, and Bob Schmelz was one of the key contributors this week. He captured the Century League Player of the Week, going 10-for-25 with 2 homers, 5 RBIs, and 7 runs scored. This upped his season line to .308/.418/.508 (132 OPS+) in his first 17 games. He's walked (13) more then three times as often as he's struck out (4) with 2 doubles, a triple, 3 homers, and 15 RBIs. This comes after a .271/.390/.379 (101 OPS+) showing last season and if he keeps hitting like this I could move him up to the big leagues if we need a jolt. He debuted last season, and while I don't want to do it, one of Don Lee or George Sutterfield could head to Milwaukee to play more regularly. They're both just 26 and have only gotten a combined five at bats so far. It would make sense for Sutterfield to get more comfortable at second, as Billy Hunter has gotten off to a slow start. We'll see how the next few weeks go, but this is a situation that could get some consideration.

RHP Dick Garcia (AA Mobile Commodores): Remember when Dick Garcia allowed 82, 57 runs, and 25 walks in 46 innings this winter? I'm not sure he does!

It's just three starts, but he's already over half way to his innings total after a pair of complete game wins and an eight inning loss. The 23-year-old has allowed just 22 hits, 5 runs, and 9 walks, equating to an impressive 1.73 ERA (245 ERA+) and 1.19 WHIP. I could not be happier for the hard working righty, as it was tough watching him labor for 9 starts. While still not considered a legitimate prospect, he does ranks just inside the top 500 (405th Overall) and does an excellent job keeping the ball on the ground. His sinker is an effective pitch, and if he can command it better he could be an effective innings eater. We needed Eddie Howard to throw almost 6 innings in an extra inning double header, which is something Garcia would excel at. Give him a good defense and he can best a tired offense, and there are far worse options to mop up games. He certainly has the experience pitching in blowouts!