Long Beach at Chicago Series Results 
04/18/40: Long Beach Surfers @ Chicago Black Sox - Loss, 6-1.
Surfers Bang Out 6-1 Win Versus Chicago
W: D. Tchekanov (3-0) L: M. Peña (0-4) .
HR - LBC: M. Best (4) CHI: H. Popo (3)
04/19:/40: Long Beach Surfers @ Chicago Black Sox - Loss, 8-5.
Late Rally by Surfers Secures Win
W: C. Ríos (2-1) L: J. Alfonzo (1-2) S: D. Lindt (2).
HR - LBC: M. Suárez (4), W. Ford (1) CHI: M. Cleide (1)
Game 1 Notables: SP Manuel Peña was roughed up. Again. This time for 6 runs in 3.1 innings, raising his season ERA to an alarming 9.75. At the very least, he’ll be dropping lower in the rotation next week, and possibly into the bullpen for awhile … The Chicago offense couldn’t get much going to dig out of the hole, either, beyond a solo home run by C Hotha Popo … Player of the Game: Long Beach SP Danya Tchekanov … Cliché of the Game: Long Beach DH Michael Best attributed the win to a “well-rounded effort by the whole team.”
Game 2 Notables: Continuing the theme of wretched starting pitching for the week, Alejandro Soto gave up 7 hits and 5 runs in 2.1 innings of work … Even at that, the Sox were in the game going into the 9th, tied at 5. But, in another familiar theme, closer Luis Gonzáles yielded a 3-run homer to pinch hitter Miguel Suárez in the top of the 9th to lose the game … Player of the Game: Long Beach CF Wilson Ford (2-4 with a home run, 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored) … Cliché of the Game: “I like our moxie,” said Surfers manager José Vargas.
In Sum: Something’s gotta change – the starting rotation, outside of Amayas Moelling, is a mess. Luis Gonzáles appears incapable of handling the pressure of closing … so, what to do? Manager Bret Richards is said to be considering a significant shakeup, part of which would be moving Gonzáles out of the closer role and into the rotation. The bullpen, likely, would be reconfigured, and lineup changes may be coming, too. We’ll see what the coming week brings!
