2017 PLAYER / PITCHER OF THE WEEK #8

NAME	TEAM	AVG	SLG	G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	K	W	IW	SB	CS	HBP
CABRERA,Miguel	HOL AL	.714	1.214	5	14	10	1	0	2	5	11	1	2	0	0	0	2

NAME	CLUB	G	W	L	S	ERA	IP	R	ER	H	K	BB	IBB	WP	BK	HB	HR
MILEY,Wade	HOL AL	2	2	0	0	0.56	16	1	1	7	24	4	0	0	0	0	1

NAME	TEAM	AVG	SLG	G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	K	W	IW	SB	CS	HBP
DIAZ,Aledmys	BET NL	.526	.684	5	19	10	0	0	1	3	8	1	1	0	0	0	0

NAME	CLUB	G	W	L	S	ERA	IP	R	ER	H	K	BB	IBB	WP	BK	HB	HR
McHUGH,Collin	VAL NL	1	1	0	0	0.00	9	0	0	0	7	4	0	0	0	0	0

Triple Creek Patriots @ Bethesda Bandicoots
Series Preview:	East coast leading Bethesda (30-16) hosts west coast leading Triple Creek (33-13) for a six-game set with the Patriots riding a nifty 8-2 record over their past 10 games while Bethesda was manhandled last week by Central leading Tempe Thumpers.
Game #1:	Rich Hill had it – Clay Buchholz didn’t. Jonathan Villar led off the game on a sour note for Bethesda homering off Hill, but that was pretty much it as Bethesda crashed back with a 7-run 3rd inning to capture the win 9-4. Hill could use the excuse that he was rusty after spending the past three weeks on the DL – a terminal blister I’m guessing – but after giving up the homer he hunkered down and tossed six shutout innings allowing just three more hits and not walking a batter to get the W. Bethesda’s big inning was highlighted by an RBI triple by Hill into the left-field corner and a three-run disappearing act by Travis Shaw while filling in for the resting Hyun Soo Kim. Villar supplied much of the Patriots’ offense with a 3/4 performance which just missed the cycle by a triple. The Bandicoots were lucky to minimize the damage in the game as all three homers hit by Triple Creek were solo shots – two of them off Hyun-Jin Ryu who was madly scrambling to get his minimum usage innings in so that he could be mothballed alongside Alex Cobb. Somewhat ironically both teams finished the game with nine hits. FINAL – BETHESDA 9, TRIPLE CREEK 4 Win-R.Hill (4-0, 2.00) Save-H.Ryu (1, 9.00) Loss-C.Buchholz (3-1, 4.43) HR-TCP: Villar (13), Chisenhall (3). M.Gonzalez (3); BET: Story (11), Shaw (5)
Game #2:	The good news: Bethesda hit Triple Creek starter Nick Tropeano in the back in the 4th innings and knocked him out of action for a month. The bad news: Triple Creek actually hit the ball. Steven Piscotty homered and singled twice to lead the Patriots to a 7-3 win over Bethesda thanks in part to a bullpen led by the pretty much unhittable Joakim Soria who tossed two hitless innings out of the six logged by relievers. Chase Headley also helped in the mauling clobbering a three-run shot off Bethesda starter Doug Fister in the 2nd inning. Tyler Naquin had three hits for Bethesda to lift his average to .373 in a platoon role. Boob Logan picked up the save with two innings of work for Nipple Creek. While we’re talking about that kind of stuff Doug Fister (no need to change his name to get a chuckle) took the loss. FINAL – TRIPLE CREEK 7, BETHESDA 3 Win-J.Soria (1-0, 0.00) Save-B.Logan (3, 1.40) Loss-D.Fister (1-1, 4.58) HR-TCP: Piscotty (8), Headley (4); BET: Story (12)
Game #3:	The best game of the series went down to the wire with Bethesda clawing its way back from an early deficit to set the stage for Adrian Gonzalez’s bottom of the single with runners on 1st and 3rd to give the Bandicoots a 5-4 win. Hits were hard to come by in this game with the Patriots just managing to get four against Bethesda starter Jake Arrieta and Bethesda only able to scavenge six against Triple Creek starter Kendall Graveman and the Patriots’ pen. Jonathan Villar drove in two with his second homer of the series in the 3rd off Arrieta who had problems keeping the ball in the park (Lonnie Chisenhall also smacked his 2nd of the series) and over the plate (Arrieta walked five in 8 innings). Boone Logan (see stupid pun from last game) blew the save opp in the 8th inning thanks to some sloppy defence by Chisenhall when his relay to the plate sailed to the backstop allowing Lorenzo Cain to score. Dan Jennings deservedly took the loss with a poor 9th inning showing in which he was able to get just one out while walking one and allowing two hits including Gonzalez’s game winner. FINAL – BETHESDA 5, TRIPLE CREEK 4 Win-F.Salas (2-1, 3.10) Loss-D.Jennings (1-1, 2.95) HR-TCP: Villar (14), Chisenhall (4); BET: Shaw (6)
Game #4:	Game 4’s pitching bloodbath ended with Bethesda emerging from the pile of gory arms and stat lines to win their second in a row 10-8. The hitting was merciless in this game from the get-go with Triple Creek turning ‘Coots starter Jake Odorizzi into paste with five runs in the first inning including a solo homer by Trayce Thompson and a bases loaded “take this, you gravy-sucking pig” pitch off Mitch Moreland’s face. Moreland lasted the rest of the game, Odorizzi did not make it past the 2nd inning. Bethesda countered with five runs off Triple Creek’s Kevin Gausman but spread the damage with three in the first and two in the fourth and then tagged on another three runs in the 6th and two in the 7th to end their part of the carnage. Moreland homered in the 7th off Jumbo Diaz and Jose Reyes hit a pinch hit bomb off Ryan Madson in the 8th to make it close but that was as close as it would get. Lorenzo Cain scored twice, stole a base and had three hits for Bethesda while Aledmys Diaz had three hits and drove in four runs. FINAL – BETHESDA 10, TRIPLE CREEK 8 Win-H.Ryu (1-0, 6.75) Save-S.Cishek (10, 3.91) Loss-J.Broxton (0-1, 2.95) HR-TCP: Thompson (2), Moreland (4), Reyes (3); HAM: Story (13), Miller (17)
Game #5:	The pitchers’ blood kept pouring in Game 5, but was contained mostly to the Triple Creek side of the field where Bethesda pulverized AJ Griffin and Company for a 9-3 win. Griffin lasted five innings and gave up seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and two walks. He fanned five. John Lackey was shaky but managed to keep the Patriots off the board for the five innings he pitched to earn the win for Bethesda. Chase Headley had a couple of hits for Triple Creek while Aledmys Diaz and Brad Miller went apeshit going a combined 8/10 with three runs, a triple, a homer and 6 RBIs. FINAL – BETHESDA 9, TRIPLE CREEK 3 Win-J.Lackey (5-2, 2.23) Loss-A.Griffin (0-2, 6.63) HR-TCP: none; BET: Diaz (8), Rendon (9)
Game #6:	Adrian Gonzalez’s 5th inning solo shot off Clay Buchholz proved to be the deciding hit as Bethesda was able to hold off Triple Creek for a breath of fresh air almost bloodless 3-2 win. Sonny Gray continued to pitch way over his head improving to 5-3 on the year with a 3.33 ERA as Bethesda’s 6th starter in the series. Lonnie Chisenhall had a third of the Triple Creek’s 6 hits in the game and drove in a run to lead them at the plate. Lorenzo Cain had two hits for Bethesda. FINAL – BETHESDA 3, TRIPLE CREEK 2 Win-S.Gray (5-3, 3.33) Save-S.Cishek (11, 3.71) Loss-C.Buchholz (3-2, 4.45) HR-TCP: Piscotty (9); BET: Gonzalez (8)
Series Summary:	Definitely not a good series for most of the pitchers involved, but the home team does manages to take five of six games with just a few buckets of luck involved.

Valdosta Snappers @ Long Beach Dirt Bags
Series Preview:	Long Beach hosts Valdosta in a 7 game series between 2 sub-.500 teams.
Game #1:	Pedroia broke up a scoreless tie with a walk off HR with 1 out in the 9th to give Long Beach a 1-0 win. Salazar pitched 8 innings of 4 hit ball with 10 Ks while Teheran gave up just 8 hits and the 1 run.
Game #2:	Hellickson threw a 3 hit 12 K shutout as Long Beach won 6-0. They got all the runs he would need in the 5th on run scoring hits by Pedroia, Hardy, Pillar and Hellickson as they put 5 on the board.
Game #3:	Valdosta got strong pitching from Lewis and the bullpen in their 4-3 win. All the runs Long Beach scored were unearned as the Snappers committed 3 errors. Reynolds was the key guy on offense with 2 RBI.
Game #4:	Long Beach jumped on Wisler with 5 runs and won 5-1. Perez pitched well until he was ejected for hitting 3 guys. The bullpen held on to preserve the win after Valdosta loaded the bases in the 9th.
Game #5:	McHugh threw a NO-HITTER!!! He walked 4 guys but was never in trouble. Carter & Sano drove in the only runs he needed in the 2-0 win.
Game #6:	Valdosta had their 2nd shutout in a row as Teheran and Ross combined on a 9 hitter. Martin had 3 hits and a HR and Sano had a 3 run HR to lead the offense. Salazar has 12 Ks in a losing effort.
Game #7:	This game was scoreless until the bottom of the 8th when Lind smacked a 2 run HR. The lead didn’t last long as Sano homered for the 3rd game in a row in the top of the 9th to tie the game. It stayed 2-2 until the bottom of the 16th when Plouffe singled in Kiermaier to give Long Beach a 3-2 win.
Series Summary:	Long Beach won 4 of the 7 games.

Pittsburgh Lumber Company @ Columbus Explorers
Series Preview:	Pittsburgh vs. Columbus (Baseball not hockey – the Columbus fans hope for a better outcome). So, what does a 9th inning walk, 2 stolen bases, and a pass ball equal = The winning run and no sweep! And that winning run made it a 3-2 game and the winning team only had 1 hit in the game!
Game #1:	Wild opening game as Explorers came back from 2-0 1st inning deficit and grabbed a 4-2 lead after 4. BUT the Lumber company plates 6 runs in the 6th for a commanding 8-4 lead. BUT a run in the 8th and 3 in the 9th for Columbus takes us to free baseball. And the Explorers plate 3 more in the 10th on a walk-off Zimmerman homer. Kemp (6) homers for Pittsburgh and the Explorers crack 5 homers – Zimmerman gets 2 (3) and 6 rbis and 4 hits; Granderson (10), Iglesias (2) and Avila (1). 30 hits between the teams. PIT 8-16-0 LP Kelley (1-4) BS Solis (3) COL 11-14-0 WP Robertson (3-0)
Game #2:	Suarez was the Lumber company hitting star in this one going 3 for 4 missing the cycle by a triple, homer (2) led the way for his 3 rbis. His 2 run shot in the 6th got them within 1 then a run in the 8th and it was tied. But Columbus plates the go ahead and winning run in the bottom half for the 6-5 win. Iglesias has a 2 hit, 2 rbi game. PIT 5-10-0 LP Abad (1-3) COL 6-11-0 WP Watson (1-0), BS (2) S Rodriguez (6)
Game #3:	Suarez again gets 2 hits, along with Kipnis, Lucroy and Owings (including a 2 run triple in the 5th which ties the game at 4-4). He is later lifted for PHitter in spite of his good efforts. But the 4 run 10 hit performance falls short as Granderson knocks in 2 in the 6th and the Explorer bullpen holds down the fort for the win. PIT 4-10-1 LP Andriese (1-2) COL 6-10-1 WP Tomlin (6-2) S Rodriguez (7)
Game #4:	The first of 2 consecutive 4-1 games is the product of Shoemaker’s 4 hit, 0 run 6+ inning performance. The lone Lumber Company run was a solo homer (2) by Kemp off of Watson. Columbus got 2 in the 4th and a 2 run Carpenter homer (11) in the 7th for plenty of support. PIT 1-8-1 LP Taillon (2-3) COL 4-7-0 WP Shoemaker (5-1) S Rodriguez (8)
Game #5:	In this 4-1 Explorer victory, the lone Pittsburgh run was a 9th inning solo blast (6) by Kipnis off Robertson. Santana goes 7 innings of 2 hit ball. Hamels was pretty much as impressive until the bottom of the 7th when the Explores exploded for their 4 runs. And the scoring outburst included a HBP and an IW that backfired as Romine comes through with a 2 run double. PIT 1-4-2 LP Hamels (4-5) COL 4-5-2 WP Santana (4-3)
Game #6:	Well as noted in the preview, this game was taken by the Lumber Company in rather bizarre conditions. First they score 2 runs in the 6th parlaying their only hit into 2 runs. Inning opens with Smoak drawing a walk. Suarez follows with a single that just gets through the middle. Manea then sacrifices the runners to 2nd and 3rd – 1 out. Marte lofts one to CF and “speedy” Smoak tags and beats the throw with a good slide. Suarez tagged and went to 3rd. Cervelli up and he pops it up – a mile high – and Flowers lets it pop out of his mitt. Unfortunately for Columbus it was a fair ball and Suarez scores. 2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, a SAC and a SF. Explores get 1 back on a Nunez rbi single and he gets another rbi single in the 8th to tie the game. Takes us to the 9th, Watson comes in. Marte leads off and walks. Cervelli up and Marte steals 2nd. Next pitch he steals 3rd. Cervelli still at bat and on the next pitch Watson fires it in and Flowers can’t handle it for a PB and Marte scores making it 3-2. Kelley then sets down the Explorers in order in the 9th for the save and the Pittsburgh win – on just one hit. [Well, the Explorers once – in a previous iteration – managed to win a game 2-1 where they had no hits, so the beauty of the game is that anything can happen!]
Series Summary:	Great series for Columbus (5 games to 1) over Pittsburgh (makes the locals feel a little better after the Penguin/Blue Jacket series). But even with this week, and a decent season going, they are miles behind the Evil Empire (Tempe) – so just how did the Tempers get that name anyway? Columbus goes to Windy City next week and Pittsburgh stays on the road going to Grand Haven.

Fremont Cannons @ Detroit Crime
Series Summary:	Detroit takes series over Fremont 5 games to 1; Zach Britton with 4 Saves in the series

Tempe Tempers @ Jersey Nor’easters
Game #1:	Joey Votto leads off with a homer and Tempe rolls to a 14-2 win. Four other Tempers hit the long ball as well.
Game #2:	Votto leads off again with a homer and hits a second later on. Tempe wins 5-2
Game #3:	It’s Straily for Jersey against Cueto for Tempe. They lock up a heck of a pitchers duel. With Tempe leading 1-0 in the 6th Didi Gregorius smacks a 2 run homer and the Nor’easters hang on to win 2-1.
Game #4:	Jersey’s feeling pretty good about that win and send Jose Quintana to the mound. Quintana fires a 4-hit complete game shutout and the Nor’easters come away with 4-0 win.
Game #5:	Tempe of course just laughs off 2 consecutive losses. Votto and Gattis homer for Tempe and Steven Wright fires a 5-hit complete game shutout and Tempe wins 3-0. Kyle Hendricks coming off the DL pitches well but takes the loss.
Game #6:	Jersey has a chance to come away with a split but fall short by a score of 3-2. Jon Lester gets the win raising his record to 10-0 already this young season.
Series Summary:	Tempe takes the series 4-2.

Corktown Cycle @ Sacramento Capitals
Series Preview:	Sacramento hosts the fledgling Corktown rotation in hopes padding its offensive stats and helping a long-time Cap reach a big milestone.
Series Summary:	Sacramento takes 6 of 7 in the long series. Scherzer gets two wins to reach 10-1 on the young season. Pujols hits his 10th home run on the year, and now sits at 599 for his career.

Grand Haven Gators @ Selkirk Steelers
Series Preview:	A Battle of poor teams looking to rebuild.
Game #1:	Selkirk gets a game winning bases loaded walk by Cuthbert as for some reason the micro walked the bases loaded to set up Cuthbert. Selkirk 3 Grand haven 2
Game #2:	Ozuna homers and Duffey was great in this 7-1 Grand Haven win.
Game #3:	Selkirk starter Lamb was amazing going 10 innings striking out 13 and walking none. He allowed just 4 hits but one was a cron homer. Hood was the hero for Selkirk with 2 hoemrs his second was a walk off in the 10th. Selkirk 2 Grand Haven 1
Game #4:	Ozuna triples and hoemrs but its not enough as Selkirk wins 5-4
Game #5:	Cessa was great as Grand Haven wins 4-1
Game #6:	Perez has a monster game 2 triples and homer int his 11-5 Grand Haven Blowout
Series Summary:	So two poor teams split the series 3-3. Pitcher of the week is Lamb 10 innings 1 run 13 strikeouts no walks and a win. Osuna drove in 7 for Grand Haven.

Southwest Detroit Fighting Chihuahuas @ Hollywood Werewolves
Series Summary:	Hollywood Sweeps

Rosemere Renegades @ Windy City Black Sox
Series Preview:	Windy City welcomes Rosemere to town.
Game #1:	Scoreless game to the 6th inning as both Jeff Samardzija and James Paxton are on their games. In the top of the 6th Johnson singles with two outs to score Angel Pagan and give the Renegades a 1-0 lead. Paxton still working on a 4 hit shutout in the 8th when Nolan Arenado takes him yard to tie the game at one. Beltran follows Arenado with a double, and then they intentionally walk Belt. Utley grounds into a fielders choice but stays out of the double play. That proves huge when Alexei Ramirez follows with a two out, two RBI double. Jansen put them down 1-2-3 in the 9th for the save. Final Score: Windy City 3 Rosemere 1
Game #2:	Once again we are scoreless into the 6th as this time it is Eickhoff and Bettis locking horns in a pitchers duel. In the 6th though its Windy City breaking through. Brett Gardner walks to lead it off and then comes home on a Michael Saunders homer. That is followed by a Nolan Arenado blast, which is followed by a Carlos Beltran homer. Back-to-back-to-back homers for the Sox makes it 4-0. But they weren’t done, after Belt is retired it’s Brian McCann joining the homer parade. Four homers in the inning and it’s 5-0 Windy City after six. Rosemere gets two in the 8th as Chris Beck tries to get some work and instead gets his head beat in again. Sox answer those two with two of their own as McCann goes deep for the second time in the game. Ogando closes it out in the 9th. Final: Windy City 7 Rosemere 2
Game #3:	Runs come early this time around as Windy City plates three in the bottom of the 2nd against Liriano. Two more in the 4th chase the Renegade starter and make it 5-0 Windy City. Brandon Belt adds two more with a homer in the 7th. That is more than enough for Gio Gonzalez who goes 8 innings and allows just one unearned run. Final: Windy City 7 Rosemere 1
Game #4:	Renegades take the lead in the top of the 2nd when Uribe singles to score Ortega. Some timely hitting and aggressive baserunning help the Sox to bounce back with four runs in the bottom of the 4th. But Rosemere answers right back with 3 in the 5th, singling the Black Sox to death in the inning. Rosemere takes the lead with a run in the top of the 7th. But new pitcher Jason Grilli walks pinch hitter Rajai Davis to start the bottom of the 7th. Davis then steals second and third, and scores on Brett Gardner’s sac fly to tie the game at five. The Sox then plate three runs, all with two outs, in the bottom of the 8th. Kenley Jansen sets em down in order in the 9th for the save. Final: Windy City 8 Rosemere 5
Game #5:	Brandon Crawford opens the scoring in the top of the 1st with a solo homer. Sox answer with a gift run thanks to a walk, a wild pitch, and a passed ball. Brian McCann strikes again for the Sox in the 4th with a grand slam to make it 5-1. Windy City adds another in the 5th when Saunders triples and scores on an Arenado single. Rosemere gets a run back in the 6th when Crawford delivers a two out RBI double. But in the bottom of the inning its Severino helping his own cause with a solo homer. First pitcher to homer for the Sox. Neil Ramirez takes care of the last six outs for the Sox and Severino. Final Score: Windy City 7 Rosemere 2
Game #6:	Pitchers duel between Eickhoff and Samardzija as its scoreless into the 7th when Rosemere scratches across a run against the Shark. And that is all Jared Eickhoff needs. The Sox get the tying run to second with nobody out in the 9th but the middle of the order goes down and its a complete game, two hit shutout for Eickhoff. Final: Rosemere 1 Windy City 0
Game #7:	Sox get two runs in the first on a rally that started with two out and nobody on. Same score to the 7th when Rosemere gets two runs on a pinch hit two out double by Pacheco to tie the game. But Brandon Belt unties it with a two out single in the bottom of the inning to score Rajai Davis. Fernando Rodney and Kenley Jansen take it from there. Final: Windy City 3 Rosemere 2
Series Summary:	When things are working for the Black Sox, they work really well. Last series things weren’t working, but they bounce back with a big series against Rosemere and take six out of seven. That pushes them to 35-18 on the season.

Motor City Muscle @ Yonge Street Stalkers
Series Preview:	Home team owner is down and out with the flu. The visiting Muscle flexed themselves. 🙂
Series Summary:	YSS won the opener and game 3. Motor City closed strong and won the final 4 to take the series 5 games to 2.

Manhattan Project @ Tijuana Bottle Rockets
Series Summary:	Tijuana takes the series 4-2 against The Project.

Dallas Cougars @ Coconut Creek Crushers
Series Summary:	Dallas wins on the road 4-3.

Virginia Sluggers @ Mesa Solar Sox
Series Preview:	Division mates, far behind the leaders, go at it in the desert.
Game #1:	Mesa squeaks out a 10 inning 6-5 win when Todd Frazier beats Trevor Cahill (6 losses in relief) with a base hit in extra innings.
Game #2:	Virginia blasts 17 hits to win 9-6, overcoming 3 errors. Brandon Guyer and Neil Walker homer for the Sluggers. Chris Tillman gives up only 2 hits in 7 innings.
Game #3:	Walker homers again, as does George Springer. Virginia wins 4-3, this time despite 4 errors ( 3 by catcher Matt McBride).
Game #4:	Mesa reliever Jeremy Jefferies blows a 4-2 lead by giving up a run scoring double to Carlos Santana and a two run homer to Nick Markakis. Sluggers win 5-4.
Game #5:	Mesa’s Trevor Bauer hurls an 8 hit CG shutout. Light hitting Raul Mondesi, Jr. homers and drives in 4. Solar Sox prevail 6-0.
Game #6:	14 Virginia hits (13 singles) are enough to beat Mesa 8-2. Luis Perdomo goes 7 strong, allowing 7 hits and 1 run.
Game #7:	Strange game. Mesa starter Ricky Nolasco gives up 4 1st inning runs, stays in the game, gives up 13 hits but lasts 9 innings. Meanwhile, the Solar Sox score 6 times against Jorge de La Rosa and win 9-4.
Series Summary:	Mesa manages to win 3 of 4 despite shaky pitching. George Springer and company pounded the Solar Sox staff all series.

Chicago Mobsters @ Southbend Lynx
Series Preview:	Chicago comes to visit the lowly Southbend Lynx.
Series Summary:	Chicago sweeps Southbend. A few close games but Chicago was never really in much trouble during the series.