Monday, June 18, 2012

Series Split; Off to New York

Season: 30-41; Trip: 2-2; Bulls v. Iron Pigs: 2-2; Standings

Yes, the Bulls lost, but this one was an interesting, well-played game. Lance Pendleton had as good a start as could be expected. He went five full innings (95 pitches) and kept the Iron Pigs to one run. Romulo Sanchez went three scoreless innings for his longest stretch of the year. Josh Leuke kept them scoreless for the 9th and 10th, but couldn’t hang in the 11th. Running one man short among the relievers, and not expecting any help from Tampa Bay, keeping Leuke in the game made sense. But sure would have been nice if the Rays hadn’t pulled Gomes when they did, or at least sent a replacement.

Stephen Vogt, Matt Mangini and rehabbing Evan Longoria were not in the game. Would their slightly better bats have made a difference? Also hard to tell. The Bulls did not have a lot of opportunities against a pretty good Lehigh Valley pitching staff. 

The Iron Pigs second baseman Kevin Frendsen, who gave the Bulls fits all through the series, singled to start the 11th. Got to second base on a balk. And came home on a Jason Pridie single. That was enough.

Outside the game
  • Brandon Gomes is coming back and a position player will be sent to join Tampa Bay in time for the Rays' Tuesday game in DC against the Nationals. That gives me an opportunity to guess wrong, again. I’m going with Rich Thompson, again.
  • Wonder if the major leaguers will travel to Rochester with the Bulls or ride in greater style? Broadcaster Kinas probably said something about that but I missed it.
  • The Bulls are off to Rochester to play the Red Wings, the Minnesota Twins AAA team. The last time the Bulls were in Rochester was just last month, but they were there to play the homeless Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Yankees. This time they are playing the actual residents of Frontier Field. The Red Wings are 32-37 and in fifth place in the six-team North Division of the International League.

4 comments:

  1. Do you think Longoria will be here on Friday for the homegame?

    ReplyDelete
  2. The short answer is, Yes, I think Longoria should be with the Bulls on Friday. Note the use of the word "should" because the workings of the Rays are often a mystery to me. He's only had 4 plate appearances and has not spent a single minute of playing time on the field. According to Kinas he's working hard every day, so his overall fitness must be OK, but you'd think they'd want him to get some actual playing time. On the other hand, the Rays have got an open roster spot that he need to fill with someone ...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hopefully he will knock one out of the park

    One thing about baseball players they might pull a hamstring or if they are pitching have TJ surgery but they don't suffer the concussions of Football and Hockey players so they have that to be thankful for.

    Just read this bizarre article this morning about concussed Football players and their pending lawsuits....crazy...you would think they accepted that when they signed on the be prof headbanger

    Football article link

    ReplyDelete