[jksander]

APRIL 19, 1963 . . . Roberto Diaz (1-2, 5.40 ERA, 15.0 IP, 9 K’s, 1.87 WHIP) is up to pitch tonight against the Saints’ Luis Ibarra (4-2, 2.44 ERA, 44.1 IP, 15 K’s, 1.40 WHIP). Santa Clara got on the board in the bottom of the first with an RBI double, but Juan Flores got a hit in the top of the seventh and then was driven to third by a Victor Santos double, giving us a real shot to take this one over! Jonathan Gonzalez hit a sac-fly to center, driving in the tying run, and Jose Colon hit one into the right field corner to double in the go-ahead run! Logan Holmes drove a third run in with a single, sending us into the seventh-inning stretch leading 3-1! Diaz walked a pair in the bottom of the seventh but got out of the jam with a strikeout, and Gonzalez batted in another run in the top of the eighth, adding to our lead. Victor Diaz hit an RBI double with two outs in the top of the ninth, but the Saints got back into the game in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer over the short wall at right field, pulling within a pair with just one out. Unfazed, Roberto Diaz shut them down with a groundout to first and a strikeout, getting out of this one with a 5-3 complete game victory!

Diaz had a great night, allowing seven hits and three earned runs, but striking out six and walking six while throwing 151 pitches. His ERA now sits at 4.50 through 24 innings of work, and his strong confident pitching helped us stay in the one-run game until our bats woke up in the seventh, eighth and ninth. We wound up outhitting the Saints 12-7, led by Victor Diaz with three hits and an RBI, and by Victor Santos with three hits and a run on the ground. Jonathan Gonzalez then powered us over the top with two hits and a pair of RBIs, while Holmes hit twice, scoring and batting in a run. He has played in five games since joining our 18-man roster, and he’s hit in all five of them!
 
APRIL 20, 1963 . . . With the win last night, we moved into a tie for second place in the division, just one game behind the Cubanos who stand at 9-7. Ludovic Peltier (2-2, 4.05 ERA, 40.0 IP, 19 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) pitched tonight against the Saints’ Patrick Godin (3-2, 5.12 ERA, 38.2 IP, 14 K’s, 1.86 WHIP). And Peltier got into a jam immediately, loading the bases and surrendering a run so quickly we were absolutely stunned. He fell apart from there, and by the time we got out of the bottom of that first inning we trailed 4-0 and he’d thrown 35 pitches. Not a great start, but could we get some hits and give him a chance to recover? Brisset drove in our first run in the top of the second with one out, putting Alcaraz in scoring position at second, but Peltier struck out and we batted out to right to end the inning trailing by three. With two outs in the bottom of the third and the bases loaded, Peltier gave up an RBI single to make it a 5-1 lead for the Saints, and he’d thrown nearly 100 pitches through four innings, meaning, most likely, this was going to be a game where the bullpen was going to play a real role.

Then we got going in the top of the fifth, three consecutive hits including an RBI double by Juan Flores getting a run back for us. Victor Santos walked the bases loaded, and they walked Logan Holmes to make it 5-3! Juan Colas hit a single into right to make it a one-run game, and Brisset hit a deep shot into center that scored three runs off a double, and suddenly we led 7-5 and Peltier had a reprieve! A sac-fly to center by Alcaraz made it a three-run lead in the top of the seventh, and with two outs and a man on first in the bottom of the eighth we brought in Edward Aguirre to close this one out and protect the lead. He did so convincingly, as we shut the Saints down 8-5!

After a miserable start, Peltier settled in very well, and was able to give us 7.2 innings with just eight hits, five walks, two strikeouts and the five earned runs -- and because of our strong hitting in the fifth inning he got the win, improving to 3-2 with a 3.78 ERA! Aguirre, meanwhile, go this second save, pitching 1.1 innings with just a hit and a strikeout, improving his ERA to 1.42. He’s earning a reputation as a bullpen arm I can depend on. Holmes picked up a hit, a walk and scored twice while batting in a run, keeping his impressive hit streak going, while Flores and Colon each hit three times, scoring three runs and batting in a pair between them.

With the win, we improved to 9-8, getting above .500 for the first time this season, red hot as a team and on a four-game winning streak, the longest current streak in the CDBA! We still trail the Cubanos by a game in our division, while the Bayamo Bombadiers (14-3) are dominating the East Division by six games over the Gators and Naturals who are each 8-9.

APRIL 21, 1963 . . . Roberto Diaz (2-2, 4.50 ERA, 24.0 IP, 15 K’s, 1.71 WHIP) got the start today against Francisco Reyes (1-0, 1.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 1 K, 1.56 WHIP), with the intention of sharing innings with Guzman if necessary, though he’s fully rested despite pitching two nights ago. And he was on his game early in this one, and we got our bats going quickly as well, taking the lead on an RBI single by Brisset and adding another when Victor Diaz hit an RBI single moments later, sending us into the bottom of the second leading 2-0! They got the runs back in the bottom of the frame, however, as catcher Luis Salazar hit a stunning bomb over the gigantic wall in left field to tie us at 2-2. Diaz then ave up a three-run blast, this time to right, and this was suddenly a 5-2 deficit for us. We brought Guzman in to pitch in the bottom of the fourth, and in the top of the sixth we got a run back thanks to a double by Flores. Alas, we gave it right back in the bottom of the inning, trailing 6-3 heading into the top of the seventh, and that was how the game came to an end, as a disappointing three-run loss.

Starting Diaz was a mistake, I’ll own it straight out ... he stayed out for three innings, but his movement was inconsistent and he gave up the pair of homers for five runs combined. His five hits, four walks and a pair of strikeouts led to the five earned runs and dropped his ERA to 5.67. Guzman was solid through the remaining five innings, allowing five hits with a walk and a strikeout, adding just the one earned run and giving himself a 4.42 ERA through 55 innings this year. Each team had 10 hits this evening, our Hunters led by Logan Holmes, who hit twice and scored two runs. We have the day off before our series against the Cubanos (their ballpark is below), so we’ll be able to get back into a normal rotation, with everyone back to full rest, and we’ll need it to take them down and prove the four wins before tonight’s loss weren’t a fluke.