[dgally]

It's draft month. Last month featured a lot of tough teams and this month we're hoping for another positive record. CF Arnold, acquired in the offseason is struggling to keep his average above .215 which is not great to see. Buck seems to have signed and declined, at least according to my scout. It may be mostly fluff though as he continues to pitch well.

The month starts off with us wrapping up our series with Tijuana. We split it. 1-1

The last of our homestead sees Honolulu coming to town for four straight. We take 3 of 4 including a 9-0 emphatic win in the last where Buck throws 7.2 of shutout ball, losing out his no-hitter in the 7th. 3-1

Pre-draft series sees us up against fellow division team, Mississauga. They get two over us to take the series. 1-2

We're pick 24th in the draft after last season's late season playoff push. At 24, our scout recommends Paxton. He's a strong in the batter's box across the board and in the mock, was set to go just under the top 10. Main problem is, he's asking for big bucks. I bite the bullet and draft him. A financial mistake in all likelihood. With our supp pick we pick up a finesse pitcher Edwin Castro. Middle of the road stuff but dynamite control and a potential 20/20 on HRA. I like that even with a pitcher's park. We take him at #41 and scout's see him as a #2 maybe #1 starter.

Baseball continues with a mini series against division rival Ottawa. We take both and leave the Capital to let them lick their wounds. 2-0

Back in Montreal, we face another divisional team, this one a threat to the crown this year in Managua. The first two are pitcher's duels, what we want with the second going 16 innings. We do lose the last though, missing the sweep. 2-1

.500 ballclub Phoenix then comes into town. We do the same to them, winning the first two in pitcher's duels but dropping the last one. [B]2-1[/B

Then to the road and to the windy city, where wind is welcome this time of year. The first game goes 14 innings but we win out. We get shutoff in the middle game but return the favor in the rubber match with Buck, on fire at this point, throwing 7.1 of shutout ball. 2-1

Down in Mexico City, home to one of my favorite Japanese listening bars, the first game is a shootout in extras but we take it home with a 10-8 win. We win the next but drop the last. Another series W. 2-1

The final series of the month pits us against bottom feeders Toronto. Buck leads off the series and pitches more shutout ball-- 8 innings of it this time. Rodriguez comes in to pick up his 27th save, going 27/28 with a 0.47 ERA. And he's not even at full potential yet. We win the next with one to play next month. 2-0

We rebound with another strong month at 17-8. The big difference so far this year is those 1 run games being wins instead of loses. We're 17-7 in one run games, much of that thanks to Closer Bobby Rodriguez. We're playing 5 games above Pyth record but lets hope the boys stay hot. A check in on Former Lynx sees both Velez and former star Closer Valencia doing well at 1.5 WAR. Fig is a BP man now and we were right to dump him.

Post draft Dev update. We're at 15th in the league. Top two picks Paxton and Castro come in at 49th and 74th, not bad. Both are showing a pretty early trajectory in the pipeline, coming into the league in 3 years time. 108th Gurrola went down with a torn UCL earlier. Hopefully that won't affect him too much.