Metro Stars Week In Review, 5/27/39-6/2/39, and May Recap (2039 - #8)

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Metro Stars Week In Review, 5/27/39-6/2/39, and May Recap (2039 - #8)

Post by ThePreyingManta » Wed Jul 17, 2019 8:11 pm

Record: 4-3 Run Differential: +4

The first seven game week in GM Will Gibson’s tenure in Mumbai got started with a game against the Manama Pearls. Pitchers Tim Oliver, Martin Bacardi, and Lyndon Rosebotham were all fantastic, only allowing eight total baserunners. SS Rafael Diaz provided the spark on offense, going 3-4 with a double while also stealing three bases. The Metro Stars as a team stole five bases to increase their league-leading total. Mumbai took the second game of the series 5-0. The final game of the series went the Pearls’ way, with Ivan Lopez pitching a perfect three innings while striking out five to get the save. The Metro Stars’ offense really struggled, only managing four hits.

Reese Rayner apparently heard the whispers that he was on his way to a demotion, as the 33-year-old right-hander has rebounded with two excellent starts including his most recent versus Istanbul. Rayner pitched eight innings while only allowing one run and striking eight out. The offense was lackluster, but three runs were all that was needed to take down the Bosphorus. The hitting broke out of its mini slump in the second game against Istanbul. The Metro Stars collected fourteen hits and scored seven runs to take down Istanbul 7-3. The pitching was also on-point, with Leonardo Gomez earning a quality start and three relievers pitching three scoreless innings. Mumbai completed its second sweep of Istanbul this season with a 4-2 victory. C Honorio Queixada hit a big two-run homer in the 4th inning that proved to be the winning blow. Despite starter Mike Manning only lasting 4.2 innings, the bullpen held on for the win with Rafael Cruz getting his ninth save of the year.

The Metro Stars opened June with a series against Burt League-leading Cairo. Game one was a back and forth battle, with the Metro Stars striking first with four runs in the 2nd, only for Cairo to come back and score three in the bottom of the inning. Mumbai added one more run to the lead in the next inning, but Cairo answered back, scoring three in the 5th and 6th to go ahead, 6-5. The Metro Stars tied the game in the 8th on a Dave Molina solo shot and then scored three in the top of the 9th. CL Rafael Cruz was brought in to seal the win, but he continued his recent trend of poor outings, allowing a two-run homer to Aubrey Anderson and a single to Xie-Li Luo. With the winning run at the plate, Aurelio Fernandez was called upon. On his first pitch, Elijah Curry sent a ball deep into the Egyptian night to win the game. Cairo got off to a hot start in game two, going up 5-1 in the 2nd. The Metro Stars slowly came back to go ahead 6-5 in the 6th inning. Normally rock-solid Martin Bacardi gave up three to Cairo in the 7th before the Chariot Archers scored two more in the 8th. The Metro Stars scored two in the top of the 9th, but it was too little to account for another bullpen disaster.

Hitter of the Week: 2B Antony Henderson
.400/.429/.600 7 R 4 RBI 1 2B 1 HR

A new addition to Hitter of the Week list, Antony Henderson really shined when most of the offense did not. Henderson has been better than advertised this season, hitting .304 although not delivering much power. The first-year UMEBA player has proven to be a valuable asset for Mumbai and will need to keep it up if the rest of the offense doesn’t pick it up soon.

Pitcher of the Week: SP Reese Rayner
8 IP 1 W 1 ER 8 K 1.13 ERA 0.63 WHIP

Rayner has really stepped up in his last two starts, something that the Metro Stars have desperately needed. If he can keep this up, it will be a huge help to a Mumbai team that has struggled to find consistent starting pitching. Rayner is scheduled to get two starts next week, so we should get a good idea if his last two starts were just a fluke or if he really has turned a corner.


Other Notes

DH Jose Olivarez had a disastrous week, lowering his batting average from .427 to .393 after going 5-31 with only one run and one RBI. While he still leads the league in average, his lead in WAR and OPS+ have evaporated. The Metro Stars will need Olivarez to figure out what went wrong fast or they can get ready to kiss their division lead goodbye.

RF Daniel McDaniel is headed to the injured list for the second time in just a few weeks. The same biceps tendinitis that sent him to the IL earlier seems to have flared back up. He is expected to miss 7-8 weeks this time around. McDaniel was having a great season so far, with 1.3 WAR in only 26 games. Jesus Fernandez has been called up from AAA Lagos to replace McDaniel in the lineup and in the field.

After a brief stint in the majors, SP Kane Dunham has been sent back to AAA after allowing five earned runs in 1.1 innings in his latest start. While some may think that the demotion came prematurely, the Metro Stars have been struggling to fill their fifth starter spot all season and were eager to try someone else in the position. SP Salvador Gonzales has been promoted from Lagos and will make at least one start in the rotation.




Monthly Recap: May

Record: 18-9 (.667) Run Differential: +40

Hitter of the Month: LF Alfredo Gonzalez
.410/.500/.651 16 R 16 RBI 5 HR 4 SB 204 OPS+

Pitcher of the Month: SP Tim Oliver
3-0 19.1 IP 1.86 ERA 1.34 WHIP 3.66 FIP 10.2 K/9

Bold denotes league leader
Will Gibson

Madison Wolves 2040-Present
Mumbai Metro Stars - 2039 UMEBA Champion

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