[dgally]

I'll cover August and Sept here since the season will again end midway through the month and we have nothing to play for.

First up is our series against Ottawa that began in July. We took that one but here we lose our two opening August games.0-2

Next we travel down to Phoenix where we get into a LWL sandwich. 1-2

Then we're back home against divisional opponent Mississauga. We take the first game 5-0 with Brackmann taking a no-no into the 9th before giving up the only hit Miss would have. We followed that up with a 7-0 shutout before losing the sweep chance in 12 inning offensive barrage. 2-1

Off for a luau, we get our 3rd shutout of the week with a 1-0 opening win. Honolulu takes the next but we get the rubber match W with a 14 inning 9-7 game. 2-1

Down to Mex City where we have the opposite of our previous series, losing, winning then losing the rubber match in extras. 1-2

Our back half of the month looks scary. All playoff contenders with the exception of San Luis who is on the outside of the WC after a rough mid season skid.

We open with the Big Train and we win the first only to get big walloped in the second 1-13 before also losing the rubber.1-2

Managua is next. We shut them out in game 1 with a cg by our boy Buck. Yet the next two, they show us we're outmatched and the Diamonds win the series. 1-2

San Luis comes into town. We hold onto a game 1 win and then get a shutout in game 2. But San Luis avoids the sweep on the last game of the series. 2-1

Off to Guatemala where we will see English for the first time since his trade. We lose the first two by one run but get something out of the series in a strong 9-2 win for the final match. English has a good time, going 6-13 with 4 runs and 2 rbis in the series.

Tijuana is the final series of the month. Game 1 is a low scorer...for a football match as we get the win 12-10. We lose the second but come back strong for a 5-1 W to take the series. 2-1

13-16 On the month, so, expected.

September kicks off down in Hollywood. We take the first, lose the second and get a shutout win to take the rubber match with a good performance by rookie Morales who looks like he might be a fine #3-4 SP. 2-1

Chicago is next. And, we sweep 'em off the table, leap frogging them in the division. When Montreal gets cold, the Lynx get hot. 3-0

Havana is next for a 3 day, 4 game series. The doubleheader kicks us off. We lose the day game, held to 0 runs but even the series at night. The next day, we take it but on the final day, Havana wins to split the series. 2-2

Last series of the season is San Diego. It's a WLW. Leaving on a high note in the last game where rookie Morales gets his ERA below 4.00 with 55 innings pitched. 2-1

A scorching September sees us finish strong at 9-4 and 76-86 for the year-- exactly on prediction if memory serves.

End of the season prospect report puts us at 6th. Our pipeline looks strong. Next year, we'll have 3 young pitchers behind Buck with our young bats looking to come into the fold a year or two later.

Koch was the bat leader, getting his 100th rbi on the last day. Buck had a fantastic season just cresting 8 WAR though we'll see if his low W totals (12) keeps him off the Cy.

The playoffs see the Lumberjacks of Guatemala fall to Managua. Detroit reached their 4th WS in 5 years only to lose again, all 4 times, this time climbing back to 3-3 after being down 3-1 only to lose the game 7. Tragedy in Detroit.

First look at the offseason sees a messy Arb day as we drop a lot of bp dead weight. We may look to keep Asenjo but he wants 6 million & a 4 year contract-- a lot for a #5 who would prob go into the bp eventually. Hopefully Wells will not take his offer and we can get a supp for him. While his d is phenomenal, batting under .200 two years in a row is just not worth the 15 million long term contract.

We'll be back with the first part of the offseason in a few days and dare I say, a potential return to .500?