Metro Stars Week In Review, 7/7/39-7/13/39 (2039 - #14)

[ThePreyingManta]

Record: 4-2 Run Differential: +15

After opening the series with a win, the Metro Stars sent Irving Espinoza to the mound for the second game against Istanbul. Espinoza struggled in his fourth start with Mumbai, giving up four runs on eleven hits in four innings of work. The bullpen was rock solid for the rest of the game, but the offense couldn’t get anything going, scoring their only run on a Jose Olivarez homer. The Metro Stars’ bats got going early in the series finale with a big three-run home run from Juan Parra putting them up 6-2 in the 3rd. Starter Tim Oliver, who has been very good up to this point, allowed four earned runs to put the Bosphorus within striking distance when he exited after the 4th. Lyndon Rosebotham was brought into a one-run game in the 7th and proceeded to allow a three-run shot to former Metro Star Masaharu Suzuki, his second homer of the game. Despite scoring one more run in the bottom of the inning, the Metro Stars would fall to Istanbul 8-7.

A series against Cairo gave the Metro Stars a chance to make a statement against a very good team, and they made well on the opportunity. Mumbai’s pitching dominated game one with a solid six inning performance from Reese Rayner and scoreless appearances by Lyndon Rosebotham, Rafael Cruz, and Aurelio Fernandez. On offense, the whole team pitched in with five runs on twelve hits. The offense exploded early and often in game two against Cairo. Toshio Taguchi and Robert Gowron went back-to-back in the first to give the Metro Stars an early 4-0 lead that they would not relinquish. Gowron hit another homer in the 3rd with Juan Parra and Dave Molina joining the parade later. The Metro Stars won the game 10-5. Seeking their first sweep in over a month, Mumbai sent Leonardo Gomez to the mound in the third game. Gomez posted one of the strangest stat lines of the year by allowing nine hits and two runs over 8.2 innings while only striking out one. The offense performed well again, scoring eight runs. CF Dave Molina led the way, going 3-4 with his 16th homer of the year. The Metro Stars picked up the sweep with an 8-2 victory.

To cap off a huge week, Dave Molina went off again in the first game against Baghdad. The center fielder hit two home runs while going 3-3 with four RBI. Irving Espinoza picked up his first quality start of the season with seven shutout innings against the Kings. Lyndon Rosebotham closed out the game with two scoreless innings to give the Metro Stars the 4-0 win.



Hitter of the Week: CF Dave Molina
.364/.391/.955 5 R 10 RBI 4 HR

Signed as a free agent immediately after GM Will Gibson joined the team, Molina struggled at first. He has since picked up the slack and become exactly what the Metro Stars organization was hoping he could be. Molina has 18 home runs through 64 games with the club with a 116 OPS+ and 2.0 WAR. Good defense and an excellent ability to hit the ball out of the park have made Molina a great addition to the team, but his career-high BABIP of .277 (UMEBA total of .256) could lead to some slight regression in the future.

Pitcher of the Week: SP Leonardo Gomez
8.2 IP 1 W 2 ER 1 K 2.08 ERA 1.15 WHIP

It wasn’t the prettiest start of the season, but it did get the job done. Gomez isn’t known for his strikeouts, but this was an anomaly even by his standards. With this start, he has lowered his season ERA to 4.13, fourth best among qualified pitchers in the Bancroft.

[RonCo]

I think +15 is good, right?

[ThePreyingManta]

I believe so.