Regular Season: Week 18, July 28-Aug. 3
Last Week’s Results:
7/28: Portland Lumberjacks @ Chicago Black Sox - Win, 3-8.
Chicago Hot Streak Continues with 8-3 Win
W: J. Nicto (8-5) L: A. Perales (1-3) .
HR – None
7/29: Portland Lumberjacks @ Chicago Black Sox - Win, 0-4.
Moelling Dazzles in Chicago Win
W: A. Moelling (10-4) L: R. Verhoeve (4-12) .
HR - CHI: J. Figueroa (11)
7/30: Portland Lumberjacks @ Chicago Black Sox - Win, 1-3.
Black Sox Walk Off with Win
W: B. Smith (3-2) L: V. Venalde (7-3) .
HR - POR: A. Barrón (21) CHI: D. Dave (19), T. Durán (10)
7/31: Chicago Black Sox @ Hawaii Tropics - Win, 5-4.
Black Sox Beat Tropics in 11
W: G. Sosa (4-2) L: F. López (5-3) S: F. Salgado (2).
HR - CHI: J. Lorenzen (5), H. Hang (32)
8/1: Chicago Black Sox @ Hawaii Tropics - Win, 6-4.
Black Sox Topple Tropics with Late Rally
W: B. Smith (4-2) L: F. López (5-4) S: G. Sosa (25).
HR - CHI: H. Hang (33) HAW: M. Campbell (25), E. McBride (32)
8/3: Nashville Bluebirds @ Chicago Black Sox - Win, 0-3.
Number 2000 for Simpson
W: A. Moelling (11-4) L: H. Kun (5-7) S: G. Sosa (26).
HR - CHI: M. Simpson (19)
Heroes of the Week
Amayas Moelling, SP: 2 Wins, 15.1 IP, 2 BB, 17 K, 0.00 ERA
Brian Smith, RP: 2 Wins, 5.0 IP, 1 BB, 4 K, 1.80 ERA
Gilberto Sosa, CL: 1 Win, 2 Saves, 4.0 IP, 1 BB, 5 K, 2.25 ERA
Bums of the Week
Miguel Valdéz, SS: 13 AB, 1 H, 1 2B, 0 RBI, .077 AVG, .231 OPS
Tomás Durán, 3B: 16 AB, 3 H, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, .188 AVG, .750 OPS
Jim Lorenzen, CF: 21 AB, 4 H, 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .190 AVG, .608 OPS
PQS Scores of the Week
| Pitcher | Date | Opp | Decision | 6+ Innings | H<IP | 5 Ks | 3K=>BB | 0 HR | Total PQS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juan Nicto | 07-28-42 | Portland | W | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Amayas Moelling | 07-29-42 | Portland | W | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Pepe Jaramillo | 07-30-42 | Portland | ND | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| David Bates | 07-31-42 | @ Hawaii | ND | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Luis Gonzáles | 08-01-42 | @ Hawaii | ND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Amayas Moelling | 08-03-42 | Nashville | W | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
We are simultaneously astonished, fired up, and scared to death. Granted, the Sox have been playing below their abilities through the early months of the season: they were -4 against their expected Pythagorean win total heading into last week, and still -2 coming out of it.
What does that mean, exactly? Just that the odds were with them to start winning some games.
But no one saw anything like this coming. And if they say they did, they’re either lying, high, or both.
We won’t bore you with an in-depth examination of what’s behind the turnaround, but there are a couple of things to point to: Juan Nicto and Pepe Jaramillo have climbed out of the pits of hell they dug themselves into at the start of the season and have started pitching like actual big-league starters.
Since June 26, Nicto has gone 5-0 and lowered his ERA from 5.15 to 4.13. Jaramillo, meanwhile, has traveled a similar road: since June 26, he’s gone 3-1 and lowered his ERA from 7.46 to 5.42.
A related point: rookie manager Julian Negrete hit the panic button early in the season and yanked both Nicto and Jaramillo out of the rotation. To replace them, he tried a number of experiments - including using Frits Brinson and Francisco Salgado in Opener/Finisher roles - that never really worked.
In late June, he and pitching coach Art Messer told Nicto and Jaramillo they were back in the rotation, the team was going to stick with them, and to make the most of their second chance.
You can see the results, so far.
Will this last? Of course not. Streaks end – and this team, in particular, has a habit of following winning streaks with even longer losing streaks. Not to mention that we face Nashville and Twin Cities in the coming week, not the puff balls out of the Pacific.
So we won’t rest easy until the end of the year. But for now, we’ll try to enjoy the ride – with one eye on the skies in case that apocalypse everyone is talking about decides to rain down on us.
The Week Ahead
3 Games vs Nashville at Chicago
4 Games vs Twin Cities at Chicago
