2062.53 Sim 22 Recap

[Krathan]

August is almost over and the race for the Atlantic Division title and the number one overall seed in the Johnson League is in full swing. Not only was there another lead change in the division, but the top three teams are now separated by just one game in the standings. This week, Charlotte played both of the teams they are battling for the top spot and went 1-1 in those games. In between those two games, the Flyers took care of business against a New Orleans team that is trying to find its way into the final wildcard spot.

The week began with the final game of a 4 game series at home against Montreal. Coming into the series, Charlotte was 5-1 against the Blazers on the season. After losing 3 of 4 games, they are now just 6-4 with 4 games in Montreal still on the schedule in September.\

Montreal closed the series out with a dominant performance, winning 8-0. Recently acquired Luis Gonzalez put on a masterclass, shutting down the Charlotte lineup for a complete game shutout. A frustrated What Whitman made it clear after the game that he did not appreciate the way Gonzalez was celebrating the win, and was confronted on the field by Montreal Manager Paul Scholes because of it.

Whitman would not get into specifics about the incident after the game.

"It was a tough series. There's nothing to say about what happened after the game. We move on. We have an important series coming up against New Orleans and we need to focus on that. We have another chance coming up in a few weeks to play these guys. Our goal will be to go into their park and take care of business there like they did here. Next question."


The Crawdads came to town the next day. Charlotte took advantage of some poor defense to get an early lead and still led 5-4 going to the bottom of the 7th. The Flyers erupted for 7 more in that innings and came away with a 12-5 victory, thanks to 5 doubles and a Jacquot Natta 3 run home run.

Buwono Mainaky pitched well in the next game, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk in 7 innings just days after his worst outing of the year. Josh Dougherty pitched a clean 9th for his 32nd save of the season. Tony Villa, Wani Matos, and Loo Yang each drove in 2 runs as the Flyers won 7-4.

The third game of the series featured an outstanding pitching performance by Bandit Natta, allowing 4 hits and 2 walks in 6 scoreless innings. The Flyers only scored twice, but it was enough. Josh Dougherty allowed a run in the 9th but collected his 33rd save in the 2-1 victory.

The Flyers completed the 4 game sweep with a 4-2 win. Domingo Chavez had 3 hits, a home run, and drove in 2 in the game. Ignacio Lewis allowed just 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk in 6 innings and Luis Perez and Josh Dougherty combined to pitch 3 scoreless innings to preserve the win. Dougherty earned his 34th save of the season. That puts him just 2 saves shy of the single season franchise record of 36, set by Alejandro Chavez in 2059.

Following an off day, the Flyers played game 1 in a huge series in Charm City.

The Jimmies jumped out in front early on a solo home run by Kazunari Chikafuji in the bottom of the 1st off of Brody Picot.

Bandit Natta tied it up with a solo home run leading off the 2nd.

Three singles in the bottom of the 2nd led to 2 more runs for Charm City making the score 3-1.

It stayed that way until the top of the 4th. Tony Villa singled to extend his hitting streak to 20 games. He and Chavez then came home to score when Jorge Trujillo crushed a 3 run bomb, giving the Flyers a 4-3 lead.

Chavez drove in a run in the 5th, with an RBI single to extend the lead to 5-3. That was his 100th RBI of the season.

Picot hit a batter and walked a man to put runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 out before Ramon Rodriguez gave the Jimmies a 6-5 lead with a 3 run home run, knocking Picot out of the game.

Charm City scored 2 more runs in the bottom of the 7th to take an 8-5 lead. Rodriguez and Edgardo Reyes each drove in a run in the inning.

Domingo Chavez led off the bottom of the 8th with a double. He scored when Ben Graybill drove a ball over the right field fence to pull the Flyers within 1, at 8-7.

Jose Bedreddin reached on an error with 2 out in the top of the 9th and came around to score on Chavez's 4th hit of the night, an RBI double. The game was tied at 8 and went to extra innings.

Rookie Wani Matos hit a solo home run in the 10th, giving Charlotte a 9-8 lead. Josh Dougherty, who pitched the 9th, gave way to Luis Perez after issuing a 1 out walk to Dallas Slay. Perez induced a game-ending double play ball to earn the save and Dougherty was credited with the win.

Next up, the Flyers play 3 more in Charm City and then head home to face their in state rivals, the Cape Fear Swamp Foxes