July 15th through 18th 2055
Toronto Maples 49-41 3rd place Can vs Chicago Architects 59-31 1st US
July15th, 2055
Chicago’s Pier IV Grounds
A - 39,747
LHSP Harvey Moore 4-9 3.85 vs Bill Lutz 9-3 3.76
We had a pretty solid pitchers duel for 5 innings between the Maples Moore and Architects Lutz with Chicago up 2-1, but that all changed in the 6th inning. A six-run sixth propels the Maples to victory. Ron Read’s three-run double is the inning’s big hit. Harvey Moore (7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K) wins his third straight start.
Toronto 8, Chicago 4.
CF C Luna 2-4 HR R RBI
CH HR - CF Luna (7)
Summary - We win 2 games against Kingston and drop 2 at home against Toronto. In both games our bats are shut down, which doesn’t happen often. Lutz had been pitching lights out for the last 2 months and was solid through 5 but his walks crept up again and that is what caused a lot of his troubles early in the season. We will need to watch that, but really unless we make a move for a SP (and we might) there really aren’t a ton of options. It really isn’t Lutz that I would be looking to replace though in the rotation. JJ Walker will soon get a chance once again to right himself in the big leagues if he can show well at AAA.
Next up is a 3 game home series against Milwaukee and a sweep would be nice.
Milwaukee Eagles 25-66 last in the US vs Chicago Architects 59-32 1st in the US
July 16th through 18th 2055
Chicago’s Pier IV Grounds
Since we last saw the Eagles they had won a game at home against Kingston and broke their 11 game losing streak. Hopefully they do not get hot here against us. We had started negotiations to grab an outfielder who could play CF and preferably was a lefty or switch hitter. Yes we have Cris Luna and he has shown signs of life hitting 333 in July. Yes he is and still is our CF of the future, but we have no ready depth behind him besides 2B/U player John Lambert. Both are right handed so if our desire to remain very flexible in our handiness, we will see what’s out there.
Milwaukee vs Chicago
Game 1 - July 16th 2055
RHSP Kent Bennett 3-8 6.12 vs Augusto Gonzalez 2-1 5.20
A - 39,933
Milwaukee’s Cory Seguin homers in his third straight game. The first was a solo home run, yesterday’s was a two-run home run, today’s was a three-run home run. Obviously, he will hit a grand slam tomorrow. Unfortunately for the Eagles, those are the only runs that they score. Chicago scores three in both the sixth and the seventh. Pedro Farrulla and Prowler Ashley both homer. Ashley also singles in a run.
Chicago 7, Milwaukee 3.
2B J Lambert 3-4 3R SB, RF J Ashley 2-3 HR, BB 2R 3RBI, SB, 3B T Arnaud 2-3 DB, BB R, SS P Farrulla 2-3 HR, BB R RBI
CH HR - RF J Ashley (21), SS P Farrulla (2)
Milwaukee vs Chicago
Game 2 - July 17th 2055
LHSP Donald Hubbard 5-7 5.70 vs Jose Cedeno 5-5 4.68
A - 39,714
Milwaukee’s Dave Hepburn goes 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored, and an RBI. Eric Molina hits a two-run homer. Molina, the most dangerous hitter in the Eagles lineup, set the tone for this one with that 1st inning home run.
Milwaukee 5, Chicago 2.
3B T Arnaud 2-5 DB R, 1B L Davis 2-4 2DB RBI
CH HR - none
Milwaukee vs Chicago
Game 3 - July 18th 2055
RHSP Bryan Houston 0-2 7.71 vs Joe Johnson 5-0 3.36
A - 39,885
SP Bryan Houston (21) making just his 3rd big league start, had the best game of his young career for Milwaukee outdueling Joe Johnson through 6 innings. But then the bullpen came into the game to try and win the series for the Eagles. Trailing 2-1 in the seventh, Chicago scores one to tie the game. Samuel Amsden hits a pinch-hit single, driving in Larry Davis. The Tects won the game with two more runs in the eighth. Sean White singles in the first, Miguel Toledo the second.
Chicago 4, Milwaukee 2.
LF M Graves 2-4 (breaking out of a little slump) 3B T Arnaud 2-4 DB 2R, 1B L Davis 2-4 R RBI
CH HR - None
Summary - That middle game where the bats got shut down. That was a troubling one for me and leadoff man LF Matt Graves has not been the same as he was when he came out of the gates hot. Graves has basically been hitting around 260 for the last 2 ½ months but his on base percentage has plummeted in June and July. While I love his speed 45 stolen bases in 51 attempts, I need more out of my leadoff guy. It’s also not lost on me that we are without 1B Osborn the last 2 weeks and DH Jose Aranda who is out for the season. Between then was 37 home runs and 120 RBI’s. Osborn will be back likely after the upcoming Detroit series. Aranda’s replacement Miguel Toledo is hitting 231 with a home run and 4 RBI’s in 7 games. 1B Larry Davis is hitting 297 with a home run and 3 RBI’s in the 10 games he has replaced Osborn. Neither is doing terrible but neither have been Arnada and Osborn.
The Graves and Luna spots in the outfield and their off and on hitting woes led us to make the following trade.
Chicago trades for OF Jose Gomez from Maples
BNN has learned the Toronto Maples have reportedly worked out a deal with the Chicago Architects. Sources close to the Maples indicated that a trade has been reached in principle where 23-year old minor league RF Dennis Holden and 23-year old minor league RHP Allan Berger will be swapped to Toronto with 31-year old LF José Gómez heading to Chicago. Neither organization would comment on the report, saying it was club policy not to speak about a trade until it was finalized.
So far this year, Gómez is batting .273 with 5 home runs, 22 RBIs and 25 runs scored.
We brought in someone that we had interest in during the off-season in OF Jose Gomez (31 B-S) to become a part of the rotation in the outfield with CF Cris Luna and LF Matt Graves. Gomez brings in quality defense that the scouting service rates as 4 stars in both CF and LF, while my scout says just 3 in CF. We are hopeful that Gomez will give us another quality bat. While this will likely be just a rest of the season deal, we will talk to Gomez about the potential for staying on long term.
We gave up SP Allen Berger who was our 17th best prospect (rated #146) who was pitching well at AAA with a 2.96 ERA along with 19 saves and a 3-3 record. There was another pitcher asked for, but we settled on Berger and RF Holden our #30 prospect and far down on our OF depth chart.
With the acquistion of Gomez, 2B John Lambert drew the tough and unfair assignment of going down to AAA for a couple of weeks. Lambert has played well and will be back when the rosters expand and will very likely be on the post season roster as well. By sending Lambert who had options still, veteran SS Simon Lefevre kept his job as backup 2B/SS (for now).