August 4th thru 12th 2055 - The Road Trip from Hell
We start out a very important and tough 8 game road trip which is the 2nd half of the crucial 16-game 17-day trek. We started this with 8 games at home where we went a very solid 6-2. Now we have games at Thunder Bay (2), Toledo (3) and Duluth (3).We would be thrilled getting a split in these. 8 games as it would likely make our spot in the post season almost assured. So far this season on the road our record is 35-18, while at home we are 35-20.
First up is Thunder Bay
Chicago Architects 70-38 1st in the South of the Border vs Thunder Bay Caribou 70-38 1st in the North of the Border
A rematch of last years GLBL Championship Series that the Caribou won in 6 games. Both of these teams have big leads in their respective division so we might be looking at a rematch at the end of the season.
The Caribou boast a potent line with 4 players coming in with at least 22 home runs led by former Chicago player DH/3B Sean Lane’s 29. They also have arguably the best catcher in the GLBL who could likely be a free agent after the season if he declines his player option.
The Caribou recently moved one of their starting pitchers, Yukumo Hasegawa. They landed a top ranked catching prospect who will likely be counted on to take over sometime next year for Phillips and a few other pieces. Will that hurt the Caribou in moving Hasegawa this season in the playoffs? Who will step up into their #4 spot in their rotation? Thunder Bay uses a very strict limit on its starting pitchers, usually around 18 batters which allows them to mostly use a 4 man rotation and rely heavily on their bullpen. You can’t argue with their success over recent seasons.
Chicago @ Thunder Bay
Game #1 - August 4th 2055
A - 39,785
Bill Lutz 11-4 4.68 vs RHSP Bill Cannon 4-7 5.12
Chicago out-hits Thunder Bay (10 to 9) and out-homers Thunder Bay (2 to 1), but Thunder Bay out-walks Chicago (9 to 3) and out-scores Chicago. Walks, walks and more walks. Lutz has reverted back to the walking machine that he was to start the season.
Thunder Bay 10, Chicago 3.
C S White 2-4 R, 2B W Dunse 2-4 HR R RBI SB, SS P Farrulla 2-4 RBI
CH HR - 1B R Osborn (25), 2B W Dunse (3)
Chicago @ Thunder Bay
Game #2 - August 5th 2055
SP Jose Cedeno 8-6 4.38 vs LHSP Ralph Baxter 6-4 3.62
The Caribou sweep this meeting of first-place teams. They win this game in a very Caribou way: lots of home runs. Emerson Coleman hits two. Gerald Powers, Michael Jackson, Ron Hinton, and Robinson González hit one.
Thunder Bay 9, Chicago 6.
CH HR - DH J Gomez (3) 1B R Osborn (26)
Summary - Well that was not the start we were looking for this road trip. Thunder Bay had our number in this 2 game set as they take 3 out of 4 on the season. With the 2 loses we now have a 10-10 record against the Canadian teams and a 500 record in the crossover games would be our best in my 4 seasons. There are only 4 games left against the Canadian clubs that will be played in late August.
SP Bill Lutz unfortunately looks to have reverted to his early season form. In April he was removed from the rotation with an 11+ ERA but then came back with a strong May/June before hitting another rough patch in mid July. Walks have been a killer for him and the acquisition of Cliff Simpson seems even more important now. Simpson is going to go first in the Toledo series which is up next.
August 5th-7th 2055
Chicago Architects 70-40 1st in the US vs Toledo Neptunes 59-51 3rd in the US
Off a rough 2-game set at Thunder Bay it’s time to shake off those loses and focus on wrapping up the South of the Border title. On the season, after losing 5 of the first 6 against the Neptunes the Architects won 11 of the next 12 to take a commanding 12-6 lead in the season series.
The Neptunes are definitely sporting a new look offense after trading away 4 starters to Toronto. It doesn’t appear to have affected their scoring much as they are still scoring over 5.3 runs per game.
Looking deeper at the Neptunes, there has been a lot of talk about run differential. This season Toledo is 11-20 in 1-run games. Which for a team that outscores opponents like they do that is a really telling number. Is it the bullpen, yeah probably some but with Mews and Cooper they aren't terrible in the late inning guys. What is telling is that Toledo has played 25 games that would be considered “blowouts”. The definition of a blowout (in this analysis) is a game decided by 5 runs or more. Toledo is an incredible 23-2 in those games and has outscored their opponents by a count of 235-70 in those games. That is a +165 difference. Included in those games was a 20-0 win, a 23-4 win and a 15-2 win. In their other 79 games their run differential is -18 and their record is 33-46.
I have not checked but I can't imagine another team playing in that many "blowout" games. Milwaukee has played in 21 of those types of games and until this month was 7-7 in those but now is 8-13.
In a bit of a surprise Chicago had played in 28 of these blowout games, but the Tech’s record is only 17-11 in these types of games. Actually the number of losses in these types of games was a bit alarming to me. But Chicago makes up for 11 blowout losses with a 22-10 record in 1-run games.
Clearly Toledo, when they are on, they are unstoppable winning 92% of these blowout games. But in 75% of the games they play they are rather ordinary based on record and run differential. Since their mega-trade starting on July 11th, if you think that might impact the offense, they are 5-1 in these sort of blowouts.
So say Toledo is actually the best team in the USA as the defending 3 -time US division champs have a superior run differential than both Chicago and Duluth.
Game 1 - Friday August 6th, 2055
Toledo’s Ballpark of Toledo
Cliff Simpson (first start for Chicago 9-4 3.99 ERA) vs Nick Keddy 10-4 2.89 ERA
A - 39,763
Cliff Simpson starts his first game for Chicago against the team that just traded him, Toledo. Simpson takes a shutout into the eighth. With two outs, he gave up two singles and a monster home run to Specs Ogawa. Still three runs over eight innings ain’t bad. The only problem is that Toledo’s Nick Keddy had his best stuff. He gives up a single on his first pitch of the game. The second pitch sees that baserunner get caught stealing. He then retires 23 of the next 24 batters he faces. (He walks a runner in the fifth.) Keddy strikes out 10, including striking out the side in the second. He comes out to pitch the ninth, walks the leadoff man, and gets pulled. Reliever Luke Mews allows that runner to score, but that’s the only run that Chicago scores.
Toledo 3, Chicago 1.
SP C Simpson 8IP 8H 3R 2BB 5K L,
CH HR - None
Game 2 - Saturday August 7th, 2055
Toledo’s Ballpark of Toledo
Joe Johnson 5-1 3.86 vs Walt Connel 7-1 3.86
A - 39,865
It’s the same score as yesterday. The Neptunes scored three in the fourth. Stephen Rice singles in one, and Specs Ogawa doubles in two. Walt Connel (7.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K) takes a shutout into the eighth. He walks the leadoff man, gets pulled, and reliever Santiago Costa gives up an RBI double to Miguel Toledo. The Tects lose their fourth straight game.
Toledo 3, Chicago 1
LF M Graves 2-4 RBI CS
CH HR - None
Game 3 - Sunday August 8th, 2055
Toledo’s Ballpark of Toledo
Val Imbert 8-7 4.40 vs Christopher Brouchard 4-8 3.78
A - 39,895
Toledo’s Christopher Bouchard (8 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K) gives up just one run. It scores via a hit batsman, a single, and a not-an-RBI double play. Stephen Rice hits a two-run home run. Playing in his first major-league game, 22-year-old second-sacker Zheng-Ze hits a home run. Later in the game he singles in a run. Congrats, Zheng-Ze!
Toledo 6, Chicago 1
CH HR - None
Summary - losing 5 straight on the road wasn’t what we expected on this 8 game trip. We felt a 500 trip would have been great but that has flown out the window and we head to red hot Duluth who is now just a mere 4 games behind us in the standing.
What went wrong in Toledo, just about everything. LHSP Clint Simpson had a fine start in game 1 of the series but there is a reason Nick Keddy is the unquestioned top pitcher in the US division.
The Architects scored just 3 runs in the 3-game series, while collecting just 9 hits in those 3 games. I’m starting to think we left our bats at Pier IV Grounds. We now need to stop this losing streak and get things going, but Duluth is the hottest team in the GLBL.
Will the Architects snap out of the funk or are we going to have a real race in the US division when just a week ago we were talking about wrapping up a post season berth.
Monday August 9th, 2055 - off-day
Chicago Architects 70-43 1st in the US @ Duluth Sea Gulls 66-47 2nd in the US
Tuesday August 10th through Thursday August 12th, 2055
Thankfully the Architects had an off-day on Monday to lick their wounds and find their bats. This is a huge series and we have teams going in opposite directions. The Architects have lost 5 straight on the road while the Sea Gulls have won 7 out of 8 in August and have gone 12-2 in their last 14 games. When we started this stretch Chicago had an 8 game lead, it is now down to just 4 over the 2nd place Gulls.
If the Architects are going to win any games on this trip, they have to get their bats going. While scoring 9 runs in 2 games at Thunder Bay, we only managed 3 runs in 3 games against Toledo. 2.4 runs per game is not going to cut it in this league. The Architects have won 10 out of the 18 games played so far between the two clubs. If we can somehow right the ship and take 2 out of 3, we will leave with a 5 game lead. If we continue our plunge into darkness, we will be just 1 game ahead of Duluth when we leave town.
Game #1 - Tuesday August 10th 2055
At Seagulls Field in Duluth
SP Bill Lutz 11-5 4.98 vs RHSP Dave Moss 3-5 6.03
A - 39,808
The Gulls come into this series just four games behind the Tects. Will Duluth close the gap further, or will Chicago reassert themselves? In a three-run second, Duluth’s Jerry Wickett triples in two. Carlos Sánchez, who just won Player of the Week, singles in two in the fourth. Chicago’s Matt Graves does his part trying to keep the Tect’s in the game. He doubles and scores, then hits a pair of solo home runs. His teammates don’t help him out.
Duluth 6, Chicago 3.
LF M Graves 3-4 2HR, DB 3R 2RBI
CH HR - L Graves 2 (8)
Game #2 - Wednesday August 11th 2055
At Seagulls Field in Duluth
Cliff Simpson 0-1 3.38 ERA vs LHSP Tim Gross 7-7 4.51
A - 39,642
Duluth’s Tim Gross (8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K) retires the first 16 batters he faces. The Gulls batters get runners on base every inning, but they don’t break through until the fifth, when Rafael Morales singles in a pair. Again recently acquired Cliff Simpson pitches well but his teammates offer him no support. The Gulls add a third run in the seventh off a reliever: Alejandro Escobar triples and scores on a wild pitch. In the eighth, newly acquired Ken Waters hits a two-run home run.
Duluth 5, Chicago 0.
SP C Simpson 6IP 8H 2 R 2BB 4K
CH HR- none
Game #3 - Thursday August 12th 2055
At Seagulls Field in Duluth
SP Jose “Pongo” Cedeno 8-7 4.27 vs Will McNeely 7-9 4.86
A - 39,658
The Gulls sweep the Tects, narrowing Chicago’s lead to a single game. Will McNeely (7.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 8 K) and Bruce Peraca (1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K) shutout Chicago on three hits, all singles. Jorge Rangel, Colin Wright, Joe Hunt, Carlos Sánchez, and Mark Laursen all homer. Hunt’s is a three-run home run. Sánchez and Laursen homer on consecutive pitches in the eighth. Chicago loses their eighth straight game. Duluth has won 15 of their last 17 games.
Duluth 7, Chicago 0
CH HR - None
Summary - That was just ugly baseball over the last 9 days. With our best team in my 4 seasons in Chicago, we hadn’t dropped 8 straight games until now. In the Duluth series the Architects scored 3 runs on 8 hits in the first game and then followed that up with 3 hits and no runs in the last 2 games. Chicago scored 15 runs in 8 games and yeah 1.8 rpg just isn’t going to get it done.
I feel sorry for SP Cliff Simpson (who is on his 3rd team of the season). He has pitched well in 2 games and has 2 losses to show for it. The club has just scored 1 run in these 2 outings since being acquired.
Duluth has closed the gap on us to just 1 game as they went 14-2 in this critical 16 game stretch that we defined while we went 6-10 (after starting 6-2). Toledo is now just 7 games back. Last season the Neptunes ran off a similar run that Duluth just did to end the season and came from 6 back to tie the Architects for the regular season title and then win it in an extra game.
This club needs to head home and find their bats and hitting mojo once again or this could be one of if not the greatest collapse in GLBL history.
The next 6 games are at home against some of the dregs of the South of the Border Division. If we can't get healthy against them, then this is going to be a season to never forget and not in a good way.
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I have had some game issues the last week so that is why this version is so long to get caught up. Stupid 202 Error!!!!
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