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.......... It Was the Best of Times It Was the Worst of Times! .....
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After an 18-8 April that had all of Montreal abuzz about the Blazers, a roller coaster May slaps everyone back into reality. Montreal struggled to finish the first half of the month at 8-6 but it was enough to remain on top of the Atlantic food chain, a place they spent every day of the young 2045 season until May 27. A 5-10 back half of the month propelled by a 1-6 final week dropped the Blazers and Gm Herb DeSpain all of the way down to fourth in the division even if it is just one game back. "It's gonna be a hell of a fight the rest of the way," DeSpain said at his end of month presser. "I just hope we have enough to stay in it." DeSpain ended the month with a couple of trades aimed at improving the big club by subtraction as well as adding a couple of minor league pieces that could pay off down the road.
Pitching is still the teams strength. Don Jaramillo is the team's Pitcher of the Month after starting 4-0 he took two losses in that horrible finishing week. The bullpen showed improvement throughout the month with some of the younger guys settling down, especially the Rule 5 draftees Michael Long and Isaac Lawrence. Long, Lawrence, and fellow rookie Bill O'Conner have dropped their ERA in May compared to April. One guy that has not improved is Agniruha Gaekwad who entered the month of May with a 9.64 ERA and finished May with an ERA over 11. "We just can't trust him in a game that is close at all." DeSpain said to reporters. "We can't send him down and we know he won't clear waivers and we don't want to lose him because we still believe in him. But he has to trust himself before we can trust him."
At the plate it was a real struggle as none of the regulars hit above .270. The Hitter of the Month was OF Don Jaramillo]Manoell Whanon[/url] who slashed .269/.350/.423 while slugging 11 XBH and scoring 12 runs and stealing nine bases. Whanon was a disappointment in 2044 after coming over from Vegas in a trade but had made steady improvement this season. Lineu Aldo has still put up the best overall numbers leading the team with 35 RBI after two months. The hitting on this team really needs to catch up to the pitching if the Blazers want to continue to be contenders and not end up as pretenders.
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