Power Pros Forum

Slider.

That's a nice trade ERISA Dude.

Yeah.

I use "slv" for "slurv"

I agree on the trade, but I can't take full credit - it was the Nats that approached me. I just accepted it!

7/3-5/2008: Country Giant Slayers Beat Jays Aces to Take 2 of 3

The Country hosted the Toronto Blue Jays for a 3 game series and came away with wins against Sabathia & Halladay, thanks to strong pitching and hitting from the 3-6 holes.

Game 1: Country's J Lannan (89 FB sl-2, cb-4, chg-2) v Blue Jays G Guillen (92 FB cu-2, cb-2, chg-2)

2 big innings - the 2nd (4 runs) and the 7th (3 runs) doomed the Country to an 8-7 loss, and wasted HRs by Dan Johnson (his 23rd & 24th) and Jack Cust (his 5th & 6th) and RBIs by Spilborghs and Harris. The Country did recover to capture the lead in the 3rd with Johnson's 2nd HR - a 2 run shot, but the Blue Jays tied the game in the 5th (Matt Stairs doubled and later scored on an Aaron Hill single) when Lannan tired. he was pulled in the following inning and after allowing 5 runs on 10 hits through 5 2/3 innings with two strikeouts. He was replaced by Oliver (88 DC cu – two, CB – two, SLV – three) who surrendered 3 runs after loading the bases with one out the top of the seventh, the last runner reaching on an infield hit. Oliver closed out the inning on a strikeout of Scott Rolen

Game two: country Grindell (93 EC CU – three, CB – two, PA – three) versus Blue Jays CC Sabathia ( 97 BA SLV – 5, CH – four)

Grindell (1 run on 4 hits with 5 strikeouts over 6 innings)out pitches Sabathia, but does not get the win, although the meat of the Country lineup outhit the Jays. The Blue Jays scored a run in the first inning on three singles, but the Country caught up and knocked Sabathia out of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning with RBI singles by Spilborghs, cust, and Erdos, taking a 3-1 lead into the seventh. At that point, Grindell was removed and the Blue Jays stormed back against the country reliever Buchanan, scoring four runs to take a 5-3 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. The country scored 4 of their own in their half of the seventh to pull ahead seven – five, with RBI singles by Spilborghs, Johnson, and Erdos. Johnson's at-bat was particularly crucial, as a wild pitch was thrown with Sanchez and Spilborghs on base, allowing them to move to second and third with two out. In the sixth pitch at-bat, Johnson finally laced a single to right center, scoring both runners. Country reliever Brown, who relieved Buchanan earlier, allowed one run in the eighth inning. In the bottom half, RBI singles by Sanchez, Spilborghs, and Johnson, and a sacrifice fly by Cust gave the Country an 11-6 lead heading into the 9th. Joba Chamberlain came in the non-save situation to close out the game.

Notable: despite being tied for the AL lead in home runs with 24, Johnson finished third in All-Star voting, behind Konerko, who has a lower homerun total and batting average. Cust is mow batting over 300 and Spilborghs is batting over 400

Game three: country Depablos (93 DC SL – three, CB – three) versus the Blue Jays Halladay (95 BA 2SF – two, cu – four, CB – five, CH – four, HS – two)

Country starter struggles; rescued by 5 HRs

Depablos wriggled out of a tight jam in the top of the second when, with runners at first and second nobody out, he struck out blue Jay's catcher Zaun and then induced Scott Rolen into a 6-3 double play to end the inning without allowing a run. That fortune did not last, however, as the Blue Jays keyed on Depablos' fastball and scored three runs in the top of the third and 4 runs in the top of the 5th (the last few runs being charged to Depablos, but on hits against newly acquired O'Connor (89 EA SL – two, CD – one, CH – two). Solo homeruns by Johnson and Cust and an RBI single by Huisman tied the game in the 4th. Cust's other 4 RBIs, coming on a solo HR in the 6th and a 3-run HR in the 8th tied the game. Later that inning, the beleaguered Harris hit a 2 run homerun and Sanchez hit an RBI single to give the country a 10-7 lead entering the ninth inning. Chamberlain closed out the ninth inning to earn his sixth save.

Notable: Cust was named player of the week for the week of 6-30 - 7-6 with a 600 BA, 6 HRs, and 11 RBIs. Harris played a solid 2b this entire series, and his stronger arm showed in double-plays started by Sanchez, playing SS. Asked if the change was permanent, the Country Coach said that the move was made due to Harris' poor condition. While Harris is trying to play through, the coaching staff believe his range is compromised, so they swapped Harris and Sanchez. Sanchez' E level arm showed on balls hit to his right, as he allowed seal infield hits during the series.

Note to Agents

Some info about the Country players who signed with agents:

Joba Chamberlain: position-closer , stats-ERA-1.58, three wins, two losses, six saves in 14 opportunities, six holds but, 33 appearances, abilities-99MPH DE SL – four, SCD – four, CH – four, comments-Chamberlain is pretty entrenched as the Country's closer, and it is unfortunate that there have not been more opportunities. Perhaps most impressive has been his ability to pitch effectively while in poor condition. During the year, the Country intend for Joba to further improve his offspeed pitches, but in the offseason, the focus should shift to stamina, in the hopes of turning Joba into a "4 out closer"

Ryan Sweeney: position-backup OF, stats-BA – 265, HR – 2, RBI – 24 , abilities- D9F82DEFD 2, comments-Sweeney was obtained because of his ability to make contact and to play all outfield positions. He lost his job because he has low power output and does not have the speed to compensate for that. He is expected to remain a valuable backup through the next season.

Jack Cust: position-LF/DH, stats-BA – 333, HR – 10, RBI – 24 , abilities- E7AFCEG4, comments-the most powerful player on the Country, if he is able to up his contact to D, he would lead the Country in HRs, and if he upped it to C, he would lead the league. This type of improvement could take awhile, though, as the Country invested "batting practice" equipment and purchased breaking ball pitching equipment with their recent 50,000 point purchase.

Dan Johnson: position-1b, stats-D a 343, HR – 25, RBI – 75 , abilities-D8D146FDDB3 , comments-the current MVP of the team, although Spilborghs might challenge that in the 2nd half, he's played an extremely solid 1st base, is 2nd to Adam Dunn in the entire MLB in HRs and RBIs.

7/7-9/08

Country fight hard against the Rays and come away with 1 of 3

Game one against the rays
The country's bourgeois ( 90 DC SL – two, cu – three, CB – three) squares off against the rays ace Scot Kazmir ( 94 CA SL – three, CH – two, 2SF – one)

Bourgeois pitched a strong first inning, but was tagged for a solo homerun by Carlos Pena, and the rays scored again in the second when when Longoria dropped a single into short right field scoring Floyd who had doubled to deep right field. The Rays added another two runs in the third

The Country, meanwhile, failed on several opportunities In the first inning, the country had Milledge at second with no out and in the third had runners at first and second with no out, but Kazmir seemed to paint the corners with tough strikes whenever he needed them and the country were unable to score. In the seventh, the country had milledge at second with one out, but Sanchez and cust failed to drive him home

Stratton relieved for Bourgeois in the fourth but surrendered a run. In the bottom of the fourth, Spilborghs hit a two run homerun to pull within 2 (five – three). Jack Cust hit his 10th home run of the season in the fifth inning to close the gap to one run.

It remained 5-4 until the top of the 9th when the Rays put on a clinic on how to "avoid outs", using bloop hits and infield hits to score 6 runs & all but put the game out of reach at 11 – 4. The Country applied some pressure in the bottom of the ninth, but got thrown out from the outfield at third and at home, before a soft ground ball to second ended the game

Game two: Jimenez (98 EB CH – four, CB – one) versus rays Garza (96 DB CH – two, CB – two, SL – three)

The country played some solid defense early in the game, closing out innings with rays in scoring position in the first and third with double plays. In the bottom of the third, milledge scored on a sacrifice fly by spilsborghs after singling, stealing second and moving to third on a fielders choice from your Erdos, who has been moved into the number two slot in order to avoid having the fourth fifth and sixth hitters in the lineup all being lefty, and the hope that his E speed might allow him to go from 1st to 3rd more often than the G speed Sanchez. Sanchez was moved to the number six hole.

Jimenez pitched a very solid fourth and fifth innings, allowing just one hit in each, but then allowed a solo homerun to Carlos Pena to tie the game in the top of the sixth. Harris got a clutch hit in the bottom half of the inning to bring home Johnson with two out. End of seven, I – two, TB – one

Iowa city extended their lead when milledge got a single and took off for second on a pitch that Erdos lined over the CF head for a double, allowing milledge to score from first.

neither team would score again and Chamberlain closed out the game

Jimenez: eight innings, seven hits, four strikeouts, one earned run. When asked after the game why he seem to throw the fewest fastballs in any of his starts when that is generally known as his best pitch, and threw more curveballs than any start when that is known as his worst pitch, he replied: we expected the Rays to assume I would generally throw first pitch fastballs so we changed it up – I mostly threw first pitch curveballs which then made my fastball seem even quicker

Notable: Brendan Harris seems to be playing SS a little better recently, showing better range and arm strength on balls hit to his right

Game three: country O'Connor (E 80 9E a SL – two, CB – one, CH – two) versus Rays Glover (94 BE SL – one, CH – two)

O'Connor wriggled out of a tough jam in the first inning and almost came away unscathed when, with runners at first and second and one out, BJ Upton hit into a double play, leaving a runner on third with two out. Baldelli then lined a shot just within reach of SS Harris, but it glanced off his glove, allowing Iwamura to score. The play was ruled a hit. The country tied the game in the bottom of the first when Erdos singled and went to third on a base hit by spilborghs. He then scored on a sacrifice fly by Johnson.

O'Connor wriggled out of a jam in a second when, with runners at first and third, he struck out Navarro and induced Bartlett to hit into a double play

O'Connor's Houdini act continued in the third when he, with runners at second and third and one out, intentionally walked BJ Upton and then induced Baldeli into an inning ending double play

The country hit into a triple play to end the third. With runners at first and second and nobody out, Erdos hit a shallow fly ball to center that appeared would drop in, so the runners took off, but Upton used his speed to make the catch and promptly threw to second and then the second baseman threw to first completing a triple play

O'Connors magic ran out in the fourth, as he surrendered a solo homerun to Evan Longoria. He was able to retire the rays in order in the sixth and seventh innings

Dan Johnson led off the seventh with a double to right center field, at which point the rays replaced Glover with their closer, Troy Percival. Cust laced Percival's first pitch off the centerfield wall for a double, scoring Johnson and tying the game. When Harris and Sanchez failed to bring cust home, Huisman got a clutch hit just inside the left-field line to bring cust home and give the country a three – two lead.

O'Connor was replaced after pitching seven full innings, giving up two runs on nine hits with two strikeouts. He was replaced by reliever Green. After giving up an infield hit to Carl Crawford, pinch-hitter aybar hit a slow roller to the right of the pitucher, but inexplicably, the pitcher stayed on the mound, the 1st baseman stayed at 1st, and the 2nd baseman went to cover 2nd, allowing runners to reach first and second with no out. BJ Upton and Rocco Baldelli followed with RBI singles and then Green was replaced by Brown. Another infield hit, this time a slow roller to the third baseman by Cliff Floyd, again left the bases loaded with nobody out, but Brown was able to close the inning without further damage as a short grounder to third led to an out at home and then a short flyball to right and a deep fly ball to center closed out the inning without any more runs scored. Still, the country entered the bottom half of the eighth inning down four – three

In the 8th, After Andrew sent the rays down one, two, three, the rays replaced Percival with Dan Wheeler. Dan Johnson laced the first pitch from wheeler off the right field wall for a double. Cust then smashed wheelers second pitch in his at-bat right back to the pitcher. It bounced off Wheeler's glove for an infield hit and Johnson moved to third on the play. After Harris lined out on a great play by the rays second baseman, Sanchez hit a soft shallow fly to right field that dropped in, allowing Johnson to score. Cust was thrown out trying to reach third-base. Huisman hit a shot to right field, allowing Sanchez to get to third but with two outs and the winning run on third, Chávez popped out to second base sending the game into extra innings, tied at four

In the 10th, Brown was replaced by Jiang. Jiang hung a forkball to Evan Longoria who hit a towering two run homerun over the right-field wall, giving the Rays a six – four lead

The Country fought back with Erdos and Spilborghs singling to put runners at first and second with one out. Johnson then hit deep fly ball for the second out ( Erdos to third). Cust then singled up the middle scoring erdos and putting runners back at first and second with two outs, when Harris meekly grounded out to the second baseman to end the game

7/10-12/08
This series against the Detroit Tigers will be the final series before the All-Star game. The Tigers sit atop the division at 49 and 41 while the country are fifth at 40 and 50

Overall summary: Country use walkoff singles to take 2 of 3 from division leader. the Country played the Tigers very well, and while they took the series, winning 2 of 3, it is clear why the Tigers are in 1st while the Country are 5th - defense. I field hits for the Tigers were outs when hit by the Country, and the Tigers were able to turn a lot more double plays, as the better range and arms of the Tigers infield were obvious throughout the series. In many ways, the Country outpitched the Tigers, but the Tigers' defensive abilities rescued their pitchers and reduced the Country's scoring opportunities.

Game 1 summary: Country wind up on top in seesaw battle with Tigers
Game one: country's Lannan (89 FB SL – two, CB – four, CH – two) versus tigers Robertson (93 CA SL – three, CH – two). In this first game, due to Spilborghs and Sanchez being under the weather, Huisman is playing shortstop while Harris shifts over to second and Sweeney is playing right field

In the bottom of the second, the country broke the ice when Jack Cust launched a ball to deep left center for a double and was brought home on a single by Sweeney. The Tigers scored three runs in the bottom of the third, two of them coming on a one-out single from Rentaria with runners at second and third. The country came back for two runs in the bottom of the fourth, as Erdos & Cust singled before Harris doubled over the center fielder's head to score Erdos and Sweeney singled home cust. 3-3

Lannan tired in the middle of the fifth inning, and left with runners at second and third one-out. Stratton came in and promptly gave up a single to Polanco allowing both runners to score before closing out the inning. In the sixth, Dan Johnson hit his 26th homerun, tying him with Alex Rodriguez for the American League lead and pulling Iowa to within a run of the Tigers, but the tigers seemed to put the game out of reach when Guillen doubled home Ordonez, and then Polanco singled home Guillen. Two more runs would score before Stratton was pulled in favor of RP Oliver, with runners at first and third and two out. Oliver closed out the inning quickly, but the damage was done. Middle of the seventh inning, tigers 9, country 4.

The country came out swinging in the bottom of the seventh, and a leadoff double by Chávez followed by singles from milledge and Huisman brought home a run (9-5). Erdos then hit a shallow fly that appeared to be catchable so when it fell in, milledge was only able to progress to 3rd. With no one out and the bases-loaded Johnson hit his second homerun of the day – A grand slam that tied the game at nine. The country were actually able to reload the bases with one out, but were unable to score. End of seven, 9-9

9-9 continued to the bottom of the 9th when lead off a singles by cust and Harris put the winning run on second with nobody out. sweeney popped out to second base, but McCurdy hit a soft single to left that was, unfortunately, too shallow to allow cust to score, bringing up Chavez with one out. spilborghs was brought in to pinch-hit for Chavez and promptly lofted a soft fly ball to shallow left field, allowing cust to score the winning run, 10 – 9

Game two: Country James (91 CB SL – two, CH – three) versus Tigers Bonderman (95 CA 2SF – one, SLV – three, CH – two)

The country found a way to make their initial score in the bottom of the first disappointing by loading the bases with no out and coming away with only one run, scoring on a double play ball hit by Dan Johnson. The Tigers tied the game in the top of the third when Renteria doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch to Ordonez who then lofted a deep fly ball that was caught, but allowed Renteria to score. The country pulled ahead in their half of the third, again on a groundout by Johnson after milledge went from first to third on a base hit by Huisman. I-2, D-1

Renteria and Sheffield hit back-to-back homeruns in the top of the fifth to take a three – two lead. Country starting pitcher James tired in the sixth inning and was removed having pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits with three strikeouts. Relief pitcher Stratton took the mound with runners at first and third, one out. Stratton struck out Polanco on three pitches and induced a slow ground ball from Thames, but it was hit right down the third-base line and Chavez was unable to pick it up in time, allowing a run to score. Middle of sixth inning, I – two, D– four

The country challenged in the bottom of the eighth on singles by Erdos, Johnson and cust, cust's being an infield single to load the bases with one out for Harris. Base hits by Harris, Sweeney, & Chavez brought home 4 runs, giving the country a 6 – 4 lead after eight.

Chamberlain was brought in to close out the game, but the Tigers fought hard. Thames singled and was replaced by the speedy Inge, who moved to second on a groundout by Granderson. After striking out Renteria, Sheffield hit a pop fly to medium left-field that Huisman showed great range in reaching but then dropped what should have been an out, allowing Inge to score and leaving the tying runner on first with 2 out. Ordonez lofted the ball over the second baseman's head to put runners at first and third with two out for Miguel Cabrera (contact – C, power – A). Cabrera doubled, giving the Tigers a seven – six lead. Closer Todd Jones (94 BE cu – four, cb – four, CH – four) showed how a closer is supposed to handle a lineup, retiring the country in order

Notable: the country used a new defensive alignment for much of the game, in which the first and third baseman played their normal positions, but the second baseman and shortstop played a few steps deeper in the hole. Explained the country GM: against the Tigers powerful, but slow footed hitters, we liked the idea of our middle infielders playing back, but we can only really do that when our SS has a C rated arm or higher, which we generally do not have unless one of our catchers is playing SS

Game three: country Grindell (93 EC CU – three, CB – two, Pa – three) versus Tigers Verlander (99 BA CB – two, CH – two)

The Tigers scored in the top of the second when Ordonez took off from first while Cabrera laced single to right field placing runners at first and third with no out and scored on a sacrifice fly from Guillen. A combination of infield hits and a timely bloops gave Detroit a two – zero lead heading into the bottom of the second.

The country's eight and nine hitters did some damage in the bottom of the third when Chavez hit a ball to the opposite field that bounced just inside the right-field line and rolled into foul territory, allowing him to get to second, and then back up 2b white (brought up from the minors for today's game) lofted a pitch to the opposite field, LF, allowing Chavez to score from second. The country loaded the bases later that inning with one out, but an infield pop out from Spilborghs and a ground out to the first baseman from Johnson ended that threat. End of three, D – two, I – one

Grindell made it through four innings, allowing two runs on six hits with four strikeouts but was pulled at the start of the 5th in place of Oliver (88 DC CU – two, CB – two, SLV –3). Oliver pitched a solid fifth although he did give up a run. The country got that run back when Spilborghs singled home white, who singled and moved to second on a single by milledge and then went to third on an Erdos double play ball. And of five, D – three, I – two

Sheffield hit a solo homerun in the sixth inning to extend the Tigers lead to two, at which point Oliver was pulld in favor of Shawn Green, who promptly closed out the inning. The country got that run back in their half of the seventh when Chavez and white singled, Chávez move to third on a double play from Milledge and came home on a wild pitch to Erdos

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Dan Johnson led off by smacking a Verlander hanging changeup into the right field bleachers to tie the game at four

The game the score remained tied until the bottom of the 10th when Spilborghs lead off with a single and went to second when Verlander walked Johnson. A Cust sac fly moved Spilborghs to 3rd, and a Harris opposite field single brought him home to win the game, 5-4.

7-13-2008

Country strike intradivision trade with white sox

In an unusual move, the country struck a deal within their division, trading 3B Chavez (DEDBEE) to the White Sox for minor league 3b and LF great hart (EBGBFD) +325 points. Said the White Sox GM: "this is a no brainer for us. We receive a rookie player who is in the running for rookie of the year and just improved his contact rating from D to C. We are looking to make a run at the title and a strong-armed backup 3b who can make contact will be a big help to us down the road."

Said the country GM: "this is a no brainer for us. We had our eye on hart for awhile and although he has not appeared in any MLB games this year, he has similar defensive abilities to Chavez, but much better power, although he is slower and swings and misses more. Still, we can work on his contact level. He also hits better against lefties, which should balance the fact that our two other power hitters, cust and Johnson, are lefty. We are sorry to see Chavez go, but believe we gave up a quality player who was playing up to his potential for an untested player with significantly greater potential. In addition, the white sox cinched the deal by giving us points that will almost fully-pay the salary for our 3b this year."

7/17 – 18/08: country complete 2 game sweep of Indians

Game one: Country Power Through the Indians, 12-5

Jimenez (98 EB CH – four, CB – one)versus Indians Hirsh (94 DB CH – two, CD – one, SL – two)

The country scored first in the bottom of the second inning when Harris hit a one-out solo home run. Hart then doubled in his first major league at-bat, went to third on a fielder's choice by Sanchez and came home on a Huisman single. Erdos then singled home Sanchez. End of two, Country – three, Indians – zero

The Indians broke the ice in the top of the fourth when Haffner doubled and was singled home by Blake. The Indians broke open the floodgates in the fifth, scoring three runs and taking a four – three lead going into the bottom of the 5th. The country seized the lead in their 1/2, with Erdos leading off with a single and moving to third on Spilborghs single. Johnson then hit a sacrifice fly, tying the game at four all, and then cust hit a two run homerun to take a six – four lead. After Harris grounded out, hart got his third it in as many at-bats. This one a towering home run into the middle deck. End of five, country seven, Indians four

Erdos hit a two run homerun with Huisman on first to extend the country lead to nine – four, and in the following inning, cust scored from first on a double by harris, and then hart hit his second homerun of the day, giving the country a 12 – four lead after seven innings

The Indians Victor Martinez homered off of reliever Stratton to deep center field, but after giving up a single to the next batter, Stratton struck out the next three in that half of the eighth and closed out the 9th allowing additional hits, but no runs.

Notable: the country it five homeruns, none of them by Johnson. Hart went 4/4 in his MLB debut with two home runs, three RBIs, and three runs scored.

Game 2: Country use long ball to tie the game thrice and win it in the 12th!

Win: Depablos
Loss: Sanchez

Batters 4-7 stats:
Johnson: 3/6, hr, 2RBI, 2Runs (hit tying hr in 9th)
Cust: 3/6, 2b, hr, 2RBI, 1Run (hit tying hr in 12th)
Harris: 3/6, 2b, 1Run
Hart: 4/6, 2HR, 3 RBI, 2Runs (Hart hit tying hr in 8th; Singled in 9th w winning runner on 2nd but Harris thrown out @ plate; hit winning hr in 12th)

Pitching:
Lannan: 6 IP, 3R, 6H, 4SO
Jiang: 1-2/3 IP, 0R, 4H, 2SO
Green: 1-2/3 IP, 1R, 2H, 2SO
Depablos: 1-2/3 IP, 2R, 4H, 2SO

Transactions: the AL leading Angels traded start closer Francisco Rodriguez (97 CE ch-2, cb-5, sl-5) and set up man SShields (95 CE 2sf-2, ch-3, cb-3, sl-3) to the Astros for error prone and oft-injured 2b Kaz Matsui (DDBECD) Matsui (DDBECD)

um wat is this

Potentially the most lopsided ill-conceived trade ever! I understand any computer algorithm is going to have some shortfalls and be unable to consider or prioritize everything properly, but this seemed sooooooo ridiculous!

7/19-20/2008: Iowa City Country @ Minnesota Twins

Game 1 Recap: Country explode for 21 runs to win 4th in a row; knock Liriano out in 1st inning and rack up 11 HRs!

Win: James (5 IP, 4 R, 13 H, 4 SO)
Loss: Liriano (1/3 IP, 6 R)

Milledge 5/7, 2b, HR, 1RBI, 2R
Erdos 2/7 2b, 2R
Spilborghs 2/4 2b, HR, 3RBI, 2R
Sweeney (defensive replacement) 2/2, 1RBI, 1R
Johnson 4/6, 2b, HR, 1RBI, 4R
Cust 6/6 4HR, 8RBI, 6R
Harris 3/6 2HR, 3RBI, 2R
Hart 3/6 2HR, 4RBI, 2R
Sanchez 2/4 2b
White (pinch runner) 0/2
Huisman 0/4
McCurdy (defensive replacement) 1/2

Notable: Cust's contact improves to D, and he now holds the current MLB season record for most hits in a game (6), most HR in a game (four), most consecutive HR in a game (four), and most bases in a game (18)

My game summary for game 2 got deleted, but the gist is that country starting pitcher Grindell pitched poorly and was pulled in the second inning; the country came back from being down 6-1 in the fifth inning to win the game 12 – 7 with every country position player getting at least two hits and scoring at least one run. Johnson and cust hit homeruns.

Wishful thinking? With the country's recent wins over division opponents Detroit tigers (2/3), Cleveland Indians (2/2) and Minnesota Twins (2/2), the country have their longest winning streak of the season since they won a game prior to their four game sweep of the honeybees in June, and they are tied for third in the AL central, five games back of the tigers and twins who are tied for first. Is it too early to wonder what might happen if the country take 2/3 from the Rays starting tomorrow and sweep the White Sox and honeybees to close out the month?

Said the Country GM: I don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but we do seem to be gelling at the right time. Our middle-infielders see, to be playing sharper defense, even though they've focused on batting during practice, Cust and Hart have invigorated a lineup that previously relied too heavily on our AL HR leader, and the pitching has kept us in games. Early on, we invested in high end batting equipment and the effects are just starting to show now, especially with Harris, and the new breaking ball equipment is immediately paying dividends. We need to keep playing hard and see if we can dig ourselves out of our current hole.

Sweeney played!

Cust...4 home runs... Wow.

And he's mine! Mwahahahahaha!

Sweeney's been on a good streak - popping the ball over the infield instead of hitting ground balls. I think his ave is around 280.

Cust has been absolutely killing the ball! Even with his contact at E, he was great, and I generally have not been able to consistently hit HRs unless the player had a C contact rating. His ave is close to 400, although its a little misleading - I don't think he was a starter with the As so his hot streak with me upped his BA quickly.