The One-Man Blowout Win

Old Detroit:  L, 1 – 3.   .152, .220, .304;  8 ip, 2 er.  Madison Bumgarner lost to Felix, as instructed, but still got in 8 ip, 2 er, also as instructed. Good Bumgarner. 

Haviland: W 2, L (-1); 8 – 1.   .394, .487, .727;  8 ip, 1 er. The Dragons gained a full game on the Wolverines in a single day. Stephen Souza, last seen in Washington saving Jordan Zimmermann’s closing day no hitter with a spectacular diving catch onto the tract in left-center field, broke up Jim’s no – hitter. Then he hit a big-league homer to left. Then he made a nice catch down the line in right to cut short a National’s rally. Then he hit a dribbler to the left of the mound, which the pitcher threw deep down the right field line.  The throw back to the infield ended up in the dugout, permitting Souza to come all the way around to score. To review: A single to break up the no-hitter, a spectactular catch, a big league home run and a little league home run, all in one day. Souza had his own private blowout win!  

Cottage: W 2, L 0; 11 – 4. .300, .317, .475;  7 ip 0 er.  Ben Zobrist is determined to put to rest the rumors of his demise: 3 for 4 with a double and triple.  Almost Souzan. 

Peshastin:  W, 10 – 0.   .410, .489, .718; 10 ip, 1 er.  Wow. What a day!  The Pears’ crew of relievers pitched four shutout innings.  The team put up Ruthian numbers. The Pears are trying to trade a catcher — and look what they’ve done with Welington Castillo!  He got something like 2 hits in his two months on the Wolverine roster this year.  He got two more just last night including a homer.  Those Pears are miracle workers.  Maybe the W’s should try to get him back! 

Pittsburgh: W, 6 – 5. .205, .279, .487;  1.7 ip, 0 er.  The Alleghenys continue to lurk in sixth place, gathering their energies and supernatural allies for an assault on the upper ranks of the EFL standings. The two top infield prospects they’ve collected mid-season (so far) went a combined 3 for 9 with two homers — .333, .333, 1.000.  Dellin Betances continues to practice not allowing runs. He’s already pretty good at it — he’s allowed 1 earned run all season, in 35 innings pitched. That’s an 0.26 ERA so far.

Flint Hill: L, (-1) – 5. .109, .146, .174; 1.7 ip, 1 er.  Hey — a team that hit even worse than the W’s yesterday!  A whole lineup’s worth of 9 players went 0 for the day (0 or 31, to be exact).  Yesterday I challenged the Tornados to be more interesting so I’d have something to write about.  I suppose going 0 for 31 is kind of interesting. But there were four Tornados with hits — although none of them were all that remarkable, they kind of spoiled the effect of all those hitless plate appearances.  There’s something to be said for well-thought-out presentation, you know.

 Look at the Drive, Tornados, to see how to generate media interest in your team.  See Tommy Milone’s 7 shutout innings?  That’s THE Tommy Milone, the soft-tossing, Jamie-Moyer-esque former Wolverine.  See Travis Snider’s homer in four trips? That’s THE Travis Snider, the former Wolverine can’t-miss prospect (this was a long time ago now).  See Jace Peterson’s 1 for three with a double and a walk.  That’s THE Jace Peterson, the former Wolverine property snatched right out of the Old Detroit shopping cart. (Ok, technically we hadn’t paid for him yet, but he had our claim-check on him at the time and we had our check book out and we were writing the check.)  Now those are some compelling players right there.  Maybe if you study them you will discern a pattern. 

Canberra:  W, 5 -4. .222, .326, .333; 4.3 ip, 0 er. That darn Scott Van Slyke — he’s NOT a compelling player. But he did hit a homer and a double in four AB, to add to the forces keeping Alex Guerrero unjustly imprisoned on the Dodger bench. Such a waste – the more we see of Boring Van Slyke the less we’ll see of the only Wolverine allocated to OH this month.  

Portland: L, 1 – 4.  .244, .244, .293;  10.3 ip, 5 er.  Where’s Ryan Zimmerman these days? On the DL, I think, especially after his woeful start to June (1 for 22, in Mike Zunino’s league).  Without him, the Rosebuds lack a certain je ne sais qua.  Actually, je sais tre bien qua, but I don’t want to spell out all the answers for the Tornados.  There’s always Yordano Ventura (who didn’t pitch last night and has been oddly quiet lately) and Mookie Betts (1 for 3).  And Kiermaier and Kelly were both offered to the W’s in trade at various times. Oh, and Wandy Rodriguez was a Wolverine once, and he got through 5.3 innings with 3 earned runs allowed, which is not terrible terrible.