Regular Season: Week 1, April 1-6
Last Week’s Results:
4/1: Madison Wolves @ Chicago Black Sox - Loss, 6-4.
Madison Beats Chicago, 6-4
W: H. Kim (1-0) L: A. Moelling (0-1) S: R. Castagna (1).
HR - MAD: M. Shimizu (1) CHI: J. Figueroa (1), R. Wattson (1)
4/2: Madison Wolves @ Chicago Black Sox - Loss, 6-4.
Wolves Upend Black Sox, 6-4
W: A. Herrera (1-0) L: L. Gonzáles (0-1) S: R. Castagna (2).
HR - CHI: D. Dave 2 (2), H. Hang (1)
4/3: Madison Wolves @ Chicago Black Sox - Win, 1-7.
Black Sox Stymie Madison, Take 7-1 Win
W: P. Jaramillo (1-0) L: L. Solís (0-1) .
HR - MAD: R. Quicker (1) CHI: H. Hang (2)
4/4: Chicago Black Sox @ Twin Cities River Monsters - Win, 9-1.
Bates in Cruise Control in 9-1 Win
W: D. Bates (1-0) L: L. Thorpe (0-1) .
HR - CHI: D. Dave (3), T. Durán (1), A. Budding (1)
4/5: Chicago Black Sox @ Twin Cities River Monsters - Win, 10-2.
Wattson, Black Sox Wallop River Monsters, 10-2
W: J. Nicto (1-0) L: R. Lothbrok (0-1) .
HR - CHI: D. Dave (4), M. Simpson (1), R. Wattson 2 (3)
4/6: Chicago Black Sox @ Twin Cities River Monsters - Win, 5-3.
Black Sox Top River Monsters, 5-3, Behind Moelling
W: A. Moelling (1-1) L: J. Valdés (0-2) S: G. Sosa (1).
HR - CHI: H. Popo (1) TWC: O. Heijnen (1)
Heroes of the Week
Rocky Wattson, 2B: 20 AB, 11 H, 3 HR, 7 RBI, .550 AVG, 1.775 OPS
Diesel Dave, C: 20 AB, 6 H, 4 HR, 5 RBI, .300 AVG, 1.233 OPS
José Figueroa, LF: 18 AB, 7 H, 1 HR, 2 RBI, .389 AVG, 1.117 OPS
Bums of the Week
Jim Lorenzen, CF: 10 AB, 1 H, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .100 AVG, .267 OPS
Brian Smith, RP: 1 G, 0.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 HA, 1 HR, 0 BB, 1 K, 54.00 ERA
Aarnaud Budding, DH: 19 AB, 3 H, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .158 AVG, .649 OPS
Record as of April 6
W-L Record in Week 1: 4-2, .667
Overall Record: 4-2, .667
Position in Standings: In 2nd Place in the Heartland Division, 0.5 games behind Louisville.
The Halt and the Lame
RP Francisco Salgado did not recover from his day-to-day shoulder inflammation as quickly as expected and could be on the Injured List as long as another 2 weeks.
Hot Take
We were worried there for a minute. Dropping the first two games of the season to Madison … I mean, where’s the dignity in that? It’s like winning a free vacation to Yellow Springs: it’s not only terrible for morale, it’s embarrassing.
Amayas Moelling got knocked around a little in the opener, yielding 8 hits and 6 runs (only 3 of them earned, thanks to an error on a deep fly in the first inning to new CF Grant Lee). Moelling bounced back on April 6, though, going 8 innings and allowing just 1 unearned run on 3 hits to Twin Cities.
Luis Gonzáles was hammered a bit in the second game of the season, as Madison touched him up for 7 hits and 4 runs (3 earned) and Sox fans wondered if the new Spring Training policy of giving the regulars lots of rest in favor of young prospects had backfired.
But you know fans … they’ll worry about anything. What a bunch of jerks, I mean really.
Anyway, Chicago bounced back to close out the week with 4 straight wins and move into second place in the division. Pepe Jaramillo, David Bates and Juan Nicto all pitched well in their initial starts, and rookie Paul Kemp looked strong coming out of the bullpen (3 games, 6.2 innings, 1 hit allowed, 0 runs, 1 walk and 6 Ks). If he keeps that up, it’s gonna be tough the consider sending him down to make way for Salgado).
So, anyway … 4-2 to start the season. Coulda been better, definitely coulda been worse.
And it’s good the Sox got a couple of wins, because the schedule takes a decidedly dark turn in the coming week: Nashville and Louisville are looming.
Let us know when it’s safe to look, will ya?
The Week Ahead
1 Game at Twin Cities
3 Games vs. Nashville at Chicago
2 Games at Louisville
