Istanbul finishes a 9 game road trip with a 3 game series in Bagdad vs. the Kings.Game 1- Bagdad SP Francisco Flores allowed 1 run, scattered 5 hits and walked 3 on his way to his 5th win of the season. He struck out 5 Istanbul Hitters in his 9 innings of work.
Istanbul C Ignacio Marrero drove in the only run for the Bosphorus on the day with his solo homer in the seventh inning. Marrero was 1 for 4 and is hitting .185 with 3 homers and 7 RBI in a backup role.
Istanbul Starter Vladimir Reichel was hammered for 8 runs (6 earned) on 9 hits. He walks none and struck out 4. He threw too many pitches in the zone as 4 of the 9 hits were homers. He threw 62 pitches and 44 for strikes. Reichel falls to 4-2 with a 2.70 ERA on the season.
Final score: Bagdad wins big 10-1.
Game 2- Bagdad scores 6 runs in the bottom of the eighth then give up 4 runs in the ninth before ending the Istanbul Rally and escaping with a big win.
Istanbul ruined a good start from SP Ramon Negron. Negron pitched 7 innings allowing 1 run on 4 hits and a walk. He struck out 5 and threw 96 pitches.
RP Charlie Simmons blew the slim 1 run lead in the eighth allowing 5 runs on 5 hits (1 homer) in just 2/3 of an inning of work.
1B Kazuo Yamamoto had a big day for the Bosphorus going 3 for 5 with a homer and a double, 2 runs and 3 RBI. Yamamoto is hitting just .228 but has smashed 11 homers and drove in 29.
Final score: Bagdad keeps rolling 7-6.
Game 3- Istanbul gets some good pitching and a big homer to avoid being swept by the Kings. SP Bernardino Bertoletti had a good start after 2 game streak of bad starts. Bertoletti went 8 innings allowing just 1 run on 5 hits and no walks while striking out just 1. He only needed 63 pitches to get through those 8 innings.
RP Bras Geisteras came on in the ninth and earned his 13th save. He allowed just 1 hit and struck out 2 hitters.
LF John Garcia provided that big homer to go along with a single. He was 2 for 3 with a run, 2 RBI and a walk. Garcia is hitting .302 with 19 homers and 56 ribbies.
CF Hector Correa provided his usual distraction on the bases. He was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored. He stole his 15th bag of the season but was also thrown out for the 4th time.
Final score: Istanbul pull one out 3-1.
Bagdad wins the series 2-1 and are 27-42 as of June 17th.
Istanbul is happy to have this road trip over as the Bosphorus was 4-5 and sits at 43-26 on the season just 8 games up on Manama.
The Bosphorus return to Istanbul for some home cookin’ as they take on the second place Manama Pearls in a three game series.
Game 1- In consecutive games, Istanbul gets good pitching and a show of power to beat a division opponent. 1B Kaz Yamamoto hits 2 bombs off of Manama Pearls Starter Ernesto Medina and SP Brendan Carr goes 8 strong allowing 2 runs in 9 hits and a couple of walks. He struck out 9 and threw 113 pitches (75 for strikes). Carr improved to 5-4 on the season.
Yamamoto was 2 for 2 with 2 those 2 homers, 2 runs, 3 RBI and 2 walks.
2B Juan Rodriguez pitched in 2 doubles in 4 at bats. He scored a run and drove in one.
Final score- Istanbul wins 5-2.
Game 2- Istanbul outscored the Pearls 6-2 in the seventh and eighth. RF Hyung-on Ch’oe hit a solo homer in the fourth and 2B Juan Rodriguez hit a 3 run homer in the seventh.
SP Kunz Schuck went 6 1/3 innings allowing 3 runs on 8 hits and a walk while striking out 3.
RP Charlie Simmons pitched 2 2/3 innings in relief allowing a solo homer while striking out 3 batters and getting the win. He improves to 7-1 on the season with a 4.18 ERA.
Ch’oe was 1 for 4 with the homer and Rodriguez was 2 for 5 with the 3 run homer. He scored once and drove in 4 in all.
DH Patrick Lue was 3 for 5 with a run scored and 3 RBI.
John Garcia was 2 for 4 with a walk, 2 runs scored and an RBI.
Final score: Istanbul wins 9-4.
Game 3- Istanbul gets another good start and overcome 2 errors in the infield to get their 4th straight win and complete the sweep of Manama. SP Frank Wiles pitched 6 innings and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and a couple of walk. He struck out 8 in 96 pitches 956 for strikes). He improves to 9-4 with a 2.94 ERA.
RP Charlie Simmons pitched 2 innings allowing just a hit and struck out 4 for his 5th hold. He lowered his ERA to 3.93.
RP Bras Gesteiras pitched the ninth for is 15th save. He allowed a hit and struck out 1. He has a minuscule 1.93 ERA this season.
CF Hyung-on Ch’oe gave Hector Correa a day off and was 3 for 4 (two doubles) with 2 runs scored. 2B Juan Rodriguez was 2 for 4 (double) with a couple of ribbies.
Final score: Istanbul wins 4-2.
Istanbul sweeps Manama and are 46-26 on June 21st.
Manama falls to 35-37 and lose ground to the Bosphorus. They are 11 games back at this point.
