The Trops finish up their home stand with a four-game series against the Nashville Bluebirds. The ‘Birds have owned this series with an all-time record of 97-63 along with a 6-4 edge in the playoffs.
The Bluebirds and Trops go to extras with Nashville scoring three runs in the top of the 11th to take the lead then set down the Hawaii offense 1-2-3 to secure the win. Hawaii’s only run was a solo blast that hit the ‘foul’ pole off the bat of Russ McHaney.
Hawaii starter Gerardo Rea pitched 7.1 scoreless innings and held the Nashville offense to just two hits. He walked two and struck out four before exiting the game up 1-0. Luis Perez blew the save (2) in the top of the 9th as he gave up a run scoring double. Bill Phillips took the loss after allowing his 1st earned run of the season on a hit with a K in two innings of work. He falls to 1-2 with a 0.36 ERA. He had gone 24+ scoreless innings up until then.
Nashville wins 4-1.
Hawaii LF Vicente Mendez goes 5 for 5 with a solo homer in the 1st inning but the defending champs doubled the Trops effort scoring 10 runs to Hawaii’s 5. The Trops had three homers but two were solos and one was a two-run variety. Jake Diamond hit the two-run homer (5) while McHaney homered again with a solo blast (13) in the 8th.
Utbah ‘Crawdad Me’ bin Muta made the start for Hawaii and dealt with his control for 3+ innings. He gave up five runs, three earned, on seven hits and three walks while fanning five batters. He takes the loss as he is now 7-7 with a 3.35 ERA. 3B Felipe Hernandez didn’t help his teammates as he made three errors with booted balls and throwing errors.
Nashville wins 10-5.
The Bluebirds and Tropics play another extra inning affair with Nashville again coming out on top after a big 11th inning. The Birds scored four runs to take a 7-3 lead then stifled the Hawaii rally to just a run to take a 3-0 lead in the series.
Russ McHaney has terrorized Bluebird’s pitchers in this series. He hit his 3rd homer of the series with a three-run homer in the 6th to put Hawaii up for a short time. He was 2 for 4 on the day.
Manny Ortiz threw 90 pitches and made it through the 5th inning. He allowed two runs on four hits and a walk while fanning six batters. Chih Kuang took the loss for the Trops after allowing all four runs in the 11th inning. He pitched 1.2 innings giving up those runs on four hits with a walk and two Ks. He falls to 4-3 with a 4.81 ERA.
Nashville wins 7-4.
Hawaii gets another homer out of RF Russ McHaney as the Trops eke out a win and avoid a sweep at the wings of the Bluebirds. McHaney was 1 for 3 with a two-run homer (15) in the 5th. He was 5 for 15 in the series with four homers with seven RBI. Felipe Hernandez was 1 for 2 with a double (7) and an RBI. SS Julian Rivera was 1 for 3 with a walk and scored two runs.
Semih Gurani continues to pitch well with five more solid innings allowing two runs on four hits with three Ks. He improves to 8-3 with a 2.30 ERA.
Hawaii Manager Rich Kerr said, “Semih has handled the increase workload well. We’ll keep ticking that pitch count up until we find the sweet spot.”
Hawaii wins 5-3.
The Bluebirds win the series 3-1.
Pacific Division Standings as of July 7, 2058
Frick League Wildcard Standings
