[jksander]

April 27, 2026: Drew Rasmussen (1-2, 4.34 ERA, 18.2 IP, 18 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) has been getting into his form, and he faced Paul Blackburn (3-0, 2.86 ERA, 22.0 IP, 11 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) today, and he pitched well through the first five innings, though Tampa broke through with an RBI single by Zach Lowe to go up 1-0 on two outs in the top of the fifth. Ceddanne Rafaela hit a homer in the leadoff spot in the bottom of the inning, and Luis Sanchez took over in the top of the sixth, striking out three batters to strand Brandon Lowe who had been hit on the elbow to take his base. Julian Merryweather came out in the seventh, striking out the side as our pitchers continued to be damned near unhittable ... but he stayed out in the eighth and got rung up for a pair of hits, bringing out Eduard Bazardo with no outs, men on the corners. With one out, Brandon Lowe hit an RBI single, Josh Lowe scoring the go-ahead ... but Jonathan Aranda took third safely and we got Lowe out at second as the trailing runner, giving us two outs. Pete Alonso then hit one straight to Kim at short, ending the inning with just the one run as damage. But they added on in the ninth with another run, and our bats stayed silent as we lost this one 3-1. Rasmussen struck out nine batters with just three hits, two walks and a run against him in five innings, and we struck out 17 BATTERS in the game as a whole ... but Merryweather took the loss, falling to 0-2 with a hit, a walk, three strikeouts and a run against him. They outhit us 7-3, Rafaela leading the way with a hit and an RBI as our offense struggled, getting just four baserunners the entire game as we wasted incredible pitching all around.

April 28, 2026: Dylan Cease (0-2, 2.67 ERA, 27.0 IP, 24 K’s, 0.81 WHIP) has pitched well all year but with pretty much no run support, so he was hoping for a big night from our bats as he faced Tampa’s Taj Bradley (2-1, 3.21 ERA, 33.2 IP, 35 K’s, 1.01 WHIP). And based on his second inning, he was going to need one ... with one out and runners on the corners in the top of the second Christopher Morel hit a three-run double to put Tampa on the board in a huge way. One hit, and we’re deep in the s--- ... or something like that. They added on with a solo homer by Jonny DeLuca in the top of the third, and then we finally got on the board with an RBI single from Meidroth in the bottom of the inning to trail 4-1. Tauchman hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth to cut their lead to two, but Cease loaded the bags with no outs in the top of the fifth and his night was over. Syndergaard took the ball, a run scoring off a sac-fly by Aranda, and we felt lucky to get into the bottom of the inning trailing just 6-2. In the bottom of the sixth we loaded the bases on two outs, and Joey Gallo walked in a run to cut the lead to three ... but Brooks Lee, subbing in for Yordys Valdes, couldn’t get a hit and went down swinging to end the rally. Luis Sanchez took the ball to start the seventh, but he gave up a two-run homer to Aranda and this one was over. DeLuca hit his second homer of the night to drive in two more in the eighth, and we’d go on to lose this one 10-3. Cease fell to 0-3 with a 4.06 ERA, allowing five hits and four walks that led to six earned runs, striking out six along the way. We were only outhit 9-8, but they got five runs off homers ... Meidroth led the offense with two hits and an RBI, and Kjerstad got a hit to keep his on-base streak alive, though he got nowhere with it.

April 29, 2026: Noah Schultz (1-1, 3.00 ERA, 27.0 IP, 31 K’s, 0.78 WHIP) started game three against the Rays, facing Mason Montgomery (0-1, 6.52 ERA, 9.2 IP, 13 K’s, 1.34 WHIP). We loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth inning, but Tauchman and Vargas struck out swinging to keep this game scoreless. Schultz got out of a pickle in the fifth, two runners on and no outs, Morel grounding into a 3-6-1 double play and Everson Pereira striking out to strand Junior Caminero on third. We seemed to have left our offense in Cincinnati, but Schultz was able to get us through six in this deadlocked battle. Kjerstad took a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth, and with one out he advanced into scoring position off a single by Rafaela, and Tauchman delivered with a killer **** into center ... but Kjerstad tried to come around third for home and was tagged out at the plate, denying us a run. With Tauchman now on second and Rafaela on third with an eye on home plate, Miguel Vargas struck out swinging and we went into the seventh still deadlocked, 0-0. Jonathan Cannon took over on the mound in the top of the inning, helping to keep it that way going into the stretch. Ben Joyce took over in the top of the eighth with one out and men on second and third, and he did what seemed impossible, keeping this game scoreless, getting two efficient outs, including one on a throw to home! We came up to hit in the bottom of the ninth with this game still offensively offenseless, until with two outs and the game seemingly destined for extra innings, Miguel Vargas walked it off with a solo homer into the left field bleachers, winning this one for us 1-0! Schultz and Cannon combined for 7.1 innings with four hits, a walk and nine strikeouts, but Joyce held tough to get the win, improving to 2-1 with a 7.11 ERA, allowing just one hit with a strikeout in his 1.2 innings of work. We outhit them 7-5 in the duel, Vargas leading the way by default with his game-winning homer. But Kjerstad was solid as well, with a hit and a walk, and Rafaela, hitting behind him, added two hits and two walks.

We’ll go into the month of May with a 10-14 record, still ranked last in the AL Central, but we continue to show a lot of promise, though you have to be willing to put up with a great deal of frustration as well. We did get some great news from our scout, Mike Shirley, who was on a scouting trip in the Dominican Republic and stumbled upon an incredible young pitching prospect. Abnar Marroquin, a 16-year-old from Santo Domingo who has already earned the nickname “La Fuerza” for his powerful arm, is very raw now but shows as much upside as I’ve yet seen from an international find. Shirley thinks that Marroquin, who will turn 17 in November, might be ready for promotion to our Dominican rookie team in time for the 2027 season. For now he’ll have to stay in our international complex ... but he has our scouting department completely enthralled, calling him a future ace. I’m loathe to think too far into the future on a guy who is 16, so I’ll let them do their jobs and I’ll focus on mine for the moment. But he looks great, and he has a solid feel for the game which should bode well for his ability to reach his potentials.