[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 1-4
Seasonal Record: 72-70 (4th, 16.5 GB)
Stars of the Week
Chubby Hall : 19 AB, 7 H, 2 HR, 5 RBI, .368 AVG, 1.084 OPS
Skipper Schneider : 17 AB, 6 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .353 AVG, .918 OPS
Jerry Smith : 10 AB, 4 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .400 AVG, .900 OPS

Schedule
9-11: Loss at Foresters (3-4)
9-12: Loss at Foresters (3-12)
9-14: Win at Sailors (4-3)
9-15: Loss at Sailors (2-5)
9-16: Loss at Cannons (4-5)

Recap
Yeah this makes sense. The wheels were going to come off at some point. And it was good teams on the road.

A record above .500 is still manageable, and with teams that aren't the Sailors and Foresters we may have a better chance. It's weird that getting blown out 12-3 was satisfying, but seeing Donnie Jones' ERA jump from 3.49 to 3.67 (113 ERA+) kills the excitement quick. Still, it's better then the one run loss in Cincinnati, as Bob Allen couldn't strike out anyone, so 5 hits and 6 walks led to 5 runs. David Molina didn't strike anyone out in his perfect ninth, so this may have been our first zero strikeout game in years. All our starters strike guys out, even Allen if last start is to be believed, and the Cannons are actually 6th in strikeouts so it's not like they do this often.

Before you panic, Duke Bybee is fine, only 3 of his 4 runs were earned, but I wish he went more then 7 innings. He allowed 6 hits and 3 walks with 5 strikeouts, though it was a poor enough start for Lloyd Stevens to take the Continental lead in ERA and WHIP. Bybee still has a few starts to take them back, but it would be quite unfortunate for him to lose out on leads from a midseason acquisition.

Jerry Smith will start the week as the starting center fielder, as he had a nice week while Frank Reece has gotten cold. Smith was 4-for-10 with 2 runs and walks, while Reece went just 1-for-9 with a run and walk, lowering his season line to .246/.301/.377 (78 OPS+). The defense is still solid (4.1, 1.024), but it's time to see what our hopeful star can do in regular playing time. Aside from two homers from Chubby Hall (7-19, 4 R, 5 RBI) and another nice week from Skipper Schneider (6-17, 2B, 3B, SB, 4 R), we didn't do much hitting away from home. Someone's got to heat up, as Red Bond has slowed down in what may be his last season as a Cougar. It's time for Leo Mitchell to make the move to first, and Bond's good enough to start elsewhere.

The last thing worth noting is a callup, as we have a lot of healthy pitchers so I decided to give the pen an extra arm. That would be Charlie Kelsey, who will get one more chance to hold a pen spot. He pitched really well in the Blues rotation, going 9-5 with a 2.36 ERA (140 ERA+), 1.08 WHIP, 35 walks, and 96 strikeouts. This came in 17 starts and 144.2 innings, and perhaps he was treated to harshly in a small sample. I'm not sure if he'll get many innings in the final few weeks, but he's not the worst option to mop up innings.

Looking Ahead
We have a chance for revenge after a one-run loss, as Duke Bybee (15-7, 2.49, 93) will take on Mickey Mills (10-10, 3.28, 95) in what should be an excellent pitcher's duel. Mills had a breakout at 28 and has followed it up at 29, coming off a complete game win in Cleveland where he allowed 6 hits, 2 runs, and 4 walks with 3 strikeouts. He's much better then his record shows, as the lineup hasn't done much to help him during the season. They've tried shaking things up, sending 24-year-old Max Dorsey (.200, 2) into center and last year's Rule-5 pick Dolph Krapf (.231) at third. Mike Taylor (.335, 19, 92, 26) and Chuck Adams (.286, 25, 109) could use their help, but Bybee should be a difficult hurdle to climb on Monday.

The three following are must win games. It's not just because they're before the off day that begins our last "homestand" but because they're against the 43-100 Toronto Wolves. There is hope for the future as Les Ledbetter (3-9, 4.85, 60) has looked good against teams that aren't the Cougars or Sailors, and his 4.01 FIP (93 FIP-) is technically slightly more impressive then then Donnie Jones' 3.67 (94 FIP-). They've gotten decent output from Hancock trade return piece George Avery (4-3, 4.01, 26) while Charlie Zimmerman (3-8, 4.50, 25) was brought back to the rotation after a stint in AAA. He was part of the return for Chink Stickels, as the Wolves made a concerted effort to pick up pitching when they sold off. That includes our Zane Kelley (5-4, 7, 2.95, 44), as they look to rebuild into a staff that's again to be feared.

After the previously mentioned off day we'll host the 7th place Stars for our last two home games. In a season with plenty of disappointment, the Stars can take solace in the fact that Paul Anderson (10-4, 1, 3.03, 75) will be pitching their for a while. Ranked as highly as the 10th best prospect, Anderson might already be the best pitcher in the Stars rotation, as I'll never trust Ed Cornett (14-15, 3.71, 87) and both Vern Hubbard (10-13, 4.46, 72) and Eli Panneton (6-12, 4.70, 89) have not pitched like we've used to see them. They're hoping another key to improving the rotation is Hub Armstrong (1-0, 1.80, 9), the current 43rd ranked prospect who they acquired in the Mack Sutton (.273, 33, 104) deal that may have the reverse effect of what it did to the Stars when they sniped him in front of us and won the 1946 World Championship Series after a grueling tiebreaker. After a relief appearance in his debut, Armstrong has made three starts for the Stars, working around 12 walks as he can roll up a lot of double plays. OSA and Dixie think the Chicago kid is going to lead a rotation, as the Stars may end up shifting from a power packed team to a pitching and defense team that can also hit home runs. The corners and even shortstop Paul Watson (.276, 15, 63) provide a lot of power, and if Bill Barrett (.273, 22, 86) can start walking again the Stars could go from bottom to top at any point.