2020 PLAYER / PITCHER OF THE WEEK #12

NAME	TEAM	AVG	SLG	G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	K	W	IW	SB	CS	HBP
SUAREZ,Eugenio	MSS AL	.333	.667	6	27	9	0	0	3	6	12	10	3	0	0	0	0

NAME	CLUB	G	W	L	S	ERA	IP	R	ER	H	K	BB	IBB	WP	BK	HB	HR
VALDEZ,Framber	TIJ AL	2	2	0	0	0.00	12.1	0	0	7	10	5	0	0	0	0	0

NAME	TEAM	AVG	SLG	G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	K	W	IW	SB	CS	HBP
GURRIEL,Lourdes	TCP NL	.438	1.063	5	16	7	1	0	3	4	9	5	0	0	0	0	0

NAME	CLUB	G	W	L	S	ERA	IP	R	ER	H	K	BB	IBB	WP	BK	HB	HR
STRAHM,Matt	TCP NL	2	2	0	0	1.20	15	2	2	10	14	2	0	0	0	0	2

Columbus Explorers @ Harsens Island Walleye
Series Preview:	Top dog Columbus comes out to the Island.
Series Summary:	Columbus wins all 6.

Portland Lumber Jax @ Rosemere Renegades
Series Preview:	The two teams at the bottom of the division square off for a 6 games series.
Series Summary:	A bunch of closed games ends up in a series tied.

Tempe Tempers @ Long Beach Dirt Bags
Series Preview:	After a slow start, Long Beach is playing better and hoping for a good result to get a little closer in the wild card race.
Game #1:	Brantley hit a 3 run HR in the 1st and Wainwright took a shutout into the 9th as Tempe won 5-2. Ozuna & Martinez added solo shots for the Tempers.
Game #2:	Munoz hit a 3 run homer in the 7th breaking open a close game and Long Beach went on to a 7-3 win. The Dirt Bags bullpen threw 4 innings of 1 hit ball to close out the win.
Game #3:	Brantley broke a 1-1 tie with a 2 run 2B in the 5th giving Tempe a 3-1 lead. The Dirtbags took the lead in the bottom of the 6th when Ervin hit a 3 run bomb. From there the Long Beach bullpen took over with Neris getting the save in a 4-3 win.
Game #4:	Long Beach jumped out to an early lead on back to back HRs in the 1st by Encarnacion & Turner. They added another HR from Encarnacion and a 2 run shot by Kiermaier and had a 6-0 lead after 3 with Fiers cruising along. The wheels came off in the 4th when Tempe scored 5 with Albies capping it with a 3 run HR. Fortunately for the Dirt Bags Encarnacion was on fire. In the bottom of the 4th he hit his 3rd HR of the game and Long Beach went on to win 8-5. The bullpen was huge again with 5 2/3 innings of 1 hit shutout ball.
Game #5:	Long Beach again took an early lead, this time 4-0 on a Dietrich HR and a Garcia 2 run 2B. Tempe again stormed back cutting the lead to 4-3 when Ozuna hit a 2 run HR in the 6th. In the 7th Dietrich hit his 2nd HR of the game and the Dirt Bags won 5-3.
Game #6:	Tempe kept taking leads and Long Beach would catch them but in the end the Tempers won 7-3. They started it with a Bogaerts 2 run HR in the 1st. Long Beach tied it in the 6th when Kiermaier singled in Ervin. Tempe took the lead again in the 7th on a Brantley HR but in the bottom of the inning Garcia knocked in Grossman to tie the game. In the 8th Bogaerts hit his 2nd HR of the game to give Tempe the lead for good. Ozuna added a solo shot in the 9th to make the final score 7-3.
Series Summary:	Long Beach won 4 of 6 against Tempe to make up some ground in the wild card chase.

Selkirk Steelers @ Pittsburgh Lumber Company
Series Summary:	Selkirk comes to town for a 7 game series and the Lumber Company takes 5 of 7 by scores of 3-2, 11-4, 3-2 (13)(L), 4-0 (L), 5-3, 10-5, and 5-2. New additions Ryu and Gray both pick up a win.

Corktown Cycle @ Bethesda Bandicoots
Series Preview:	NL non-contenders Corktown and Bethesda meet up for some beer, a few laughs, and possibly something resembling baseball.
Game #1:	Jose Berrios bamboozled the Bandicoots’ hitter all day, holding the fools to just three hits in a 3-1 Corktown win. Berrios (8-1 … nice!) didn’t even have the decency to walk a batter but he did strike out six. Tony Kemp hit for the Cycle (as all Corktown batters do daily) with three hits including a double. He also scored once and drove in a run. Strangely, all three Bethesda hits were doubles. For the home team, Trent Thornton stumbled to 5-3 but pitched pretty well in allowing just a couple of runs over five innings. Yee-haw. Trevor Story’s struggles continued and rather continue the slump at the plate he bailed on this one early after calling second base umpire Jim Malone a “weasel-dicked, cabbage eating, inbred bag of farts.” Amazingly Story was tossed.
Game #2:	This game featured two pitchers who once upon a time had very promising young careers with Matt Harvey taking the mound for Corktown against Tommy Milone of Bethesda. Corktown got on track first after the teams traded goose eggs for the first three innings. Alex Verdugo’s pop fly to right field just kept carrying and carrying until it landed in the Bethesda bullpen to give the Cycle a 1-0 lead. It was the talented outfielder’s 4th home run of the season. Harvey ran into a bit of a jam in the 6th inning. He gave up a lead-off homer to Kevin Pillar (10) and then loaded the bases with a hit and a couple of walks – which would be a problem for him all day as he wound up walking six. Juan Soto, who we had pretty much figured was refusing to swing the bat as all he was doing was drawing walks, got the bat up off his shoulder, and lofted a flyball to the base of the wall in right field … a dozen or so feet short of a grand slam, but certainly deep enough to score the runner from 3rd. Harvey ended the threat by striking out Trevor Story whose struggles continued. Apparently Milone didn’t know what to do with the unexpected sudden lead as in between struggling to get a couple of outs he managed to futz up and loaded the bases himself. He left having allowed only three hits over 6.2 innings and handed the ball to Zack Littell who had been nothing short of perfect since coming over in the same trade with Moustakas. Well, all things must end I guess and he took the dramatic route and served one up to Chris Taylor who made no mistake and plopped the ball a couple of feet past the out-stretched glove of Juan Soto for his 9th homer of the season … a nifty grand slam even. Bethesda was not about to give up though. Harvey opened the 7th by walking Stephen Vogt and the next hitter, Matt Adams, made him pay for a hanging curve by depositing it into the cheap seats for a two-run homer – his 8th – and a 5-4 ballgame. And then … nothing. Emilio Pagan came in and issued a walk but that was it as he got a 4-out save for his 14th of the year.
Game #3:	Jake Odorizzi continues to be the gem in the short-term after Bethesda’s huge mid-season trade with Pittsburgh. Odorizzi fanned 10 and limited the Cycle to four hits in a 3-0 complete game shutout. Adam Eaton provided the only real challenge for Odorizzi (5-5) as he had half of his team’s hits with a single and a double. Alex Verdugo summed up the day’s frustration best for the Cycle when he went bonkers at the home plate umpire for a called third strike in the 4th inning and was tossed. Jonathan Schoop – a somewhat forgotten man on the Bandicoots’ roster – made the most of some rare playing time by smacking his 7th homer of the season off Corktown starter Robbie Ray in the 4th inning and then adding an RBI single in the 6th. Ray fell to a disappointing 1-9 although pitching pretty well in allowing just a couple of runs on four hits over seven innings. Robinson Chirinos drove in the remaining run for Bethesda with an insurance sacrifice fly in the 8th.
Game #4:	Aledmys Diaz’s shallow fly ball in the 6th sparked a four-run inning and resulted in two big injuries to key Corktown players as the Bandicoots swindled one 5-2 to even the series. With one out in the 6th, Jonathan Schoop on 2nd base and Robinson Chirinos on first and the Cycle up 2-1 thanks to Brian Johnson frustrating the Bandicoot hitters time and time again, Diaz blooped one into shallow right field sending Alex Verdugo racing in and Richard Urena scrambling backward in pursuit. The two fielders collided – and hard – and the ball fell between them which allowed Schoop to score easily and tie the game. Both players had to be helped off the field with Verdugo being knocked out for 17 days and Urena for 4. Up to that point only Kevin Pillar had managed to figure out Johnson when he tomahawked a ball over the left-field wall in the 3rd inning with two out that tied the score 1-1. Eric Hosmer, who had two hits on the day, had earlier given the Cycle the lead in the 2nd inning with a seeing-eye single up the middle that allowed Adam Eaton to score from 2nd after he had reached base on one of two doubles he hit in the game. Mike Moustakas whose bat had become little more than a black hole since the trade acquisition, finished off Johnson and the scoring in the Bethesda 6th with a no-doubter 3-run blast into the second deck in right field. Adam Ottavino closed things off with a perfect 9th for his 4th save preserving the win for Merrill Kelly who improved to 5-8. Kelly tossed six solid but unspectacular innings allowing two runs on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
Game #5:	June 24 was garbage day in Bethesda and instead of picking it up, Jake Arrieta was delivering it – giving up four runs in the first inning in what wound up being an 8-1 laugher for the Corktown Cycle. Chris Taylor opened the game for Corktown with an infield pop up … good start. Amed Rosario was then walked on four pitches … not so good. Franmil Reyes (37 homers in real life and now 23 in the MWBL … really?) clubbed Arrieta’s pitch out of the park for a 2-0 lead … pretty bad. Ronny Rodriguez singled … not getting any better. Adam Eaton (Go Nats!) smashed his 8th home run of the season … where is my coat? And just like that it was over. Eaton added insult to injury when he homered for the second time in the game – # 9 – off Steve Cishek in the 7th. Former Bethesda castoff Ariel Jurado improved to 7-4 by tossing seven shutout innings of three-hit ball, walking just one while rattling off seven Ks. Jurado – a Grade 3 pitcher – now holds a 2.70 ERA so he’s obviously sold his soul to the devil and been doing this to teams all season.
Game #6:	Turn about is fair play and the Bandicoots led by two homers from Mike Moustakas felled the Cycle 9-2 to end the series with a split. Moustakas’s home runs – #13 and #14 – including a solo shot off Corktown starter Anthony DeSclafani and a grand slam in a 7-run 7th off Tanner Rainey. Robinson Chirinos (5) also homered off DeSclafani who fell to 3-6 with the loss. Franmil Reyes (24) homered for Corktown.
Series Summary:	So two teams going nowhere in 2020 in the MWBL do just that and split their series.

Motor City Muscle @ Detroit Crime
Series Summary:	Detroit Crime wins the series 5-2 over the Motor City Muscle.

Southwest Detroit Fighting Chihuahuas @ Virginia Sluggers
Series Preview:	Southwest Detroit, holding down the cellar in the AL EAST, comes to the coast to face a Virginia team idling in 3rd place in the AL WEST.
Game #1:	VIR 3-2 W-C.Archer (7-6) L-D.Rodriguez (1-5) SV-T.Hill (1) Chris Archer scattered 8 hits over 8 innings while striking out 12 batters to lead VIR to victory. A. Rizzo’s 1st inning 2-run homer staked Archer to an early lead but it was a J.Parker error in the 5th that produced the winning run.
Game #2:	VIR 2-0 W-E. Hernandez (3-1) L-T.Pannone (1-3) A pitchers duel. Hernandez threw a CG 3-hit shutout racking up 12 K’s while T.Pannone also threw a 3-hitter in 8 innings. VIR was able to scratch out runs on a WP in the 5th and a Merrifield RBI Double in the 8th.
Game #3:	VIR 2-1 W-L.Castillo (8-1) L-E.De Los Santos (0-5) Another well-pitched game and another close score. Castillo only allows 3 hits but did allow a run on B.Lowe’s RBI double. Pannone scattered 7 hits in his 5 innings including RBI singles from B.Anderson and A.Garcia.
Game #4:	SWD 7-5 W-R.Lopez (5-6) L- M.Baez (1-1) SV-N.Wittgren (11) C. Santana’s 2-run bomb gave VIR an early lead that was erased by RBI’s from SWD’s Davis, McMahon, and Moran. Vir grabbed the lead back with 3 runs in the 5th highlighted by Santana’s 2nd homer of the game. But a SF and B.Lowe’s solo shot tied it for SWD in the 7th and R.McMahon launched a 2-run blast in the 9th to give SWD the win.
Game #5:	VIR 4-2 W-A.Plutko (9-3) L-M.Castro (1-3) Plutko pitched a CG to pick up victory #9. Tied at 2 all after the 4th, the game was won in the 8th by a D.Lugo RBI single and a PB.
Game #6:	SWD 6-5 W-R. Lopez (6-6) L-R.Harper (0-2) A 17 inning duel featuring 15 hits by each team. The bullpens took a beating until H.Bader doubled in what would be the winning run in the top of the 17th to give SWD a hard-fought win.
Series Summary:	Virginia escaped with a 4-2 series win. 3 games were decided by 1 run and the other 3 by 2 runs as neither team enjoyed an easy victory.

Chicago Mobsters @ Dallas Cougars
Game #1:	Both teams only got 4 hits each as the pitching dominated. The difference in the game was that Jose Abreu got half hits for the Cougars and drove in two runs. Lucas Giolito struck 10 in 6 innings and a quartet of relievers kept the Mobster hitters handcuffed. Dallas wins 2-0
Game #2:	A 7-Run second inning capped off by a three-run homer by Will Smith allowed Patrick Corbin to pick up his 2nd CG of the year. Dallas wins 9-3
Game #3:	After Chicago pulled to within 2 runs in the 7th Harold Castro provided the needed insurance by hitting a two-run homer in the bottom of the 7th. Dallas wins 6-2
Game #4:	Chicago came back from 4-0 and 7-4 deficits to tie the game and send into extras going ahead by a run in the 10th only to see Justin Smoak tie the game in the bottom of the 10th with his 7th blast of the year. The Mobsters finally prevail when David Freese hits a 2 run homer – his 2nd of the game in the 12th. Chicago wins 10-9
Game #5:	Needing to rest the bullpen Logan Allen stayed in the game through 6 innings giving up 13 runs on 15 hits as Chicago mobbed the Cougars 18 to 5.
Game #6:	Ramon Laureano doubled home two in 5th to give Lucas Giolito his 2nd win of the series. Dallas wins 3-2
Series Summary:	Dallas wins 4 out of 6 against Chicago

Tijuana Bottle Rockets @ Coconut Creek Crushers
Series Preview:	Bad vs Bad.
Game #1:	A passed ball and an error on the CCC catcher allow an unearned run in the 3rd. That was enough for Valdez. He outdueled Musgrove in a TIJ 1-0 win.
Game #2:	Determined to not be shut out again, Myers leads off the CCC 1st with a solo HR. Then….we are shut out the rest of the way by Margevicius. Rio Ruiz adds two HR’s to carry TIJ to a 6-1 win.
Game #3:	CCC puts up 8 runs in the 2nd and cruise to a 15-6 win.
Game #4:	Roark gets his first win of the season in a competitive 5-3 TIJ win.
Game #5:	Lockett starts for TIJ but gets hurt in the 2nd. Game-1 starter Framber Valdez comes on in relief and once again puts up zeroes. He picks up his second scoreless win of the series in TIJ’s 2-0 victory.
Game #6:	Margevicius throw a complete game shutout with 12 K’s in a 5-0 TIJ win.
Series Summary:	TIJ wins the series 5-1. Apparently the Crushers cannot hit Valdez or Margevicius. We made both look like Cy Young contenders.

Triple Creek Patriots @ Jersey Nor’easters
Series Summary:	It’s truly Memorial Day as we remember the once-proud team called the Jersey Nor’easters. Triple Creek takes the series 6-1 including 3 consecutive shutouts, two of them by 1-0 scores.

Hollywood Werewolves @ Yonge Street Stalkers
Series Preview:	The Wolves head north to Yonge Street.
Series Summary:	The squads celebrate Memorial Day with a testy split. There seemed to be quite a few hit batsmen. There was a vintage David Price sighting. He K’d 16 before being removed after 6 innings in the final game. Of course present-day David Price got smacked around in game 1.

Mesa Solar Sox @ Fremont Cannons
Series Preview:	Two teams with non-elite pitching staffs matched up. While Fremont’s looked better on paper, they were hit hard by the Solar Sox.
Game #1:	Fremont was cruising along with a 2-0 lead, until a 9-run seventh inning, led by Todd Frazier’s grand slam, flipped the game. 4 errors and 11 LOB doomed the Cannons, losing 10-3.
Game #2:	Fremont “ace” Sandy Alcantara continues to pitch terribly. Neither side could hold a lead, though, so we went to extra innings tied 7-7. Eugenio Suarez knocks in Eddie Rosario in the top of the tenth for the 8-7 Mesa win.
Game #3:	Fremont gets out to a 6-3 lead but runs in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings allow Mesa to tie it up. Colten Brewer loads the bases in the ninth, and Carlos Correa singles home the winning run. Fremont wins 7-6.
Game #4:	Despite two homers from Yulieski Gurriel, the Solar Sox offense has the better day. Mesa wins 10-6.
Game #5:	Fremont goes up 4-2 in the fourth, but promptly gives back the lead in the 5th and never closes it up again. Mesa wins 6-4. Max Kepler runs into a wall and is knocked out of action for 9 days.
Game #6:	Fremont starter Jason Vargas gives up 6 runs, but the Fremont offense uses 12 extra-base hits to take the finale 17-7. Eugenio Suarez hits his 33rd HR in the loss.
Series Summary:	Mesa is never held to fewer than 6 runs in the 4-2 series victory. Scripts saved (except game 4) and available on request.

Manhattan Project @ Southbend Lynx
Series Preview:	The Manhattan Project comes to Southbend for a 7 game series.
Game #1:	SBL open the scoring with a Canha 2-run 1b in the B1. MAn counters with 2 in the T2 on a Ramos solo-HR and a Wong bases-loaded walk. SBL plates 2 in the B3 on a Muncy rbi-2b and an Escobar rbi-groundout. In the MAN T4 Edman rbi-2b makes it 4-3 SBL. SBL add 3 in the B5 when Muncy 2bs, an Escobar rbi-2b, and Canha hit a 2-run HR. MAN Ramos rbi-1b in the T7 keep MAN in the hunt. But SBL comes right back in the B7 with a Mayfield 2-run 2b. MAN isn’t done tho as White and Martin opens the T8 with back-to-back solo-HRs and then get another on a Moronta wild pitch later in the inning making in now 9-7 SBL. But Moronta is able to get out of the T8 and Osuna comes on in the T9 to close it out for the SBL with his 25th save. SBL 9, MAN 7
Game #2:	SBL again opens the scoring in the B1 on a Meadows 2-run HR. In the MAN T2 White rbi-1b cuts the lead in half and in the T3 Adrianza ties it with another rbi-1b. MAN takes the lead in the T4 on a Wong bases-loaded 2-run 1b. SBL Meadows hits his 2nd HR of the game in the B4 to make it 4-3 MAN. In the B6 Meadows strikes again with a 2-run HR, his 3rd HR in a row! But the Lynx pen can’t hold the lead as PH Iglesias rips a 2-run 1b to put MAN up 6-5. In the B9 MAN calls on Oberg to close out the game; Bichette 2bs, Muncy L3, Mayfield F9, and Cave then ties it with a rbi-2b. The cheering is short-lived as in the T10 Edman 1bs, Iglesias H&R 1b puts runners at the corners, and Martin executes a perfect squeeze bunt for the 7-6 MAN lead. Oberg pitches around a Vargas error in the B10 to earn the win, fanning Meadows to end the game. MAN 7, SBL 6
Game #3:	MAN starts the scoring in this game with a Goodwin rbi-2b in the T1. SBL Muncy answers with a 2-run HR in the B1. In the SBL B2 light hitting Viloria hits a 3-run HR, his 1st of the year. MAN Realmuto hits a solo-HR in the T3. The pitchers take over and there is no more scoring through the 6th inning. In the T7 MAN PH Edman’s rbi grounder followed by PH Adrianza rbi-2b bring MAN within a run at 5-4. But SBL Meadows comes thru with some insurance runs in the B7 with a 2-run HR. Osuna comes on and closes out the T9 for his 26th save. SBL 7, MAN 4
Game #4:	In the B1 Escobar hits a 3-run HR for an early 3-0 SBL lead. In the B4 Viloria rbi-2b makes it 4-0. But the story of this game is SBL Pivetta who throws his best game of the year thus far tossing a CG, giving up only 1 run on 4 hits while fanning 4. Pivetta took a shutout into the 8th before giving up a solo-HR to Iglesias. Canha added a 2-run HR in the B8. SBL 6, MAN 1
Game #5:	MAN White rbi-1b in the T2 gets the scoring started in this game. SBL ties it in the B2 on a Viloria rbi-1b. In the B3 SBL takes the lead with a Cave solo-HR. MAN Santander rbi-1b in the T5 ties it at 2. But the SBL retakes the lead in the B5 with a Cave rbi-3b and Altuve rbi-groundout. That would be all the scoring as the pitchers take over the rest of the way. Osuna notches his 27th save for the SBL. SBL 4, MAN 2
Game #6:	SBL gets another strong pitching performance from an unexpected source as McKay also has his best game of the season. McKay tosses a CG, 2-hit shutout, fanning 8 while walking none. SBL doesn’t fare much better also only getting 2 hits off Tanaka. However, the SBL hits are solo-HRs by Escobar in the B1 and the B4. SBL 2, MAN 0
Game #7:	MAN not happy with their performance in Game 6 open up on SBL Peralta in the T1. Wong is HBP, Goodwin 1bs, Realmuto rbi-1b, and Santander 2-run 2b make it 3-0 quickly. SBL Peralta settles in and along with the SBL bullpen keep MAN off the board through the 8th. In the MAN T9 Marisnick 2-run 2b caps the MAN scoring at 5. On the other side MAN, Urquidy is dominant as he fans 12 through 7 innings giving up 5 hits. The lone SBL run comes on a Tilson rbi-1b in the B7. MAN Marshall and Roe close out the last 2 innings for the MAN win. MAN 5, SBL 1
Series Summary:	Southbend takes the series 5-2 over Manhatten. But he series was much closer than the final results. Southbend gets some unlikely solid pitching from Pivetta and McKay in the series along with some timely hitting from their regulars.

Valdosta Snappers @ Sacramento Capitals
Series Summary:	Sacramento takes 4 of 6 from Valdosta.