Another month has ended with a terrible record for the Gamblers, 7-19 in July certainly means there will be no repeat of last year’s second half heroics when ATC were only one game shy of .500. But despite only having a .374 winning pct they’re only one & a half back of third placed Kraken, maybe a slight upturn and the Gamblers can finish a year out of last place?
Rookie Lugo is hitting .421 after 18 games
At least over the last 10 games of July all but two games were within two or three runs, the two exceptions both being at Long Beach. Louwe van der Heyden despite having a 2-7 record has generally been a rock in the final innings, adding four more saves to this tally which now stands at 23 for the season. Pacorro Butieprez has now shaken off any ill-effects from his D/L stint and has launched four long balls in the last 10 games, hitting at a .303/.395/.667 clip. The only disappointment is that even with those four bombs he only drove in seven runs. That though was two more than the next best batter, rookie Valentín Lugo who in the last ten games hit .486/.513/.649. He hasn’t hit his first MBBA homer yet (he only hit 17 over four years at Triple-A Brooklyn) and has only swiped four bags in nine attempts but the signs are that at 25 he could develop into a solid lead-off man for the Gamblers.
Herman was more a monster than a munster
David Crocker stepped up his game at the back end of July and went 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA. He also had a 0.89 WHIP as he only walked two in his 15+ innings pitched compared to Winford Glover who walked nine in his last start! Herman Mitchell was the pitching goat this time round going 0-2 with a 7.36 ERA helped in no small way by giving up seven homers in his two starts including back to back to back solo efforts in the bottom of the 3rd against the Surfers having already coughed up a two-run shot in the first.