Unfortunately, I missed a couple of recaps. So I'll recap those short and sweet at the beginning of this.
For the week of April 21st through April 27th, the Montreal Blazers would go 1-5. Losing 3 straight games in the process to the Brooklyn Robins. The only win that week would be on April 21st against the Jacksonville Hurricanes when they picked up the 5-3 win. The rest of the week they'd be outscored 39-15 on the way to 5 straight losses.
The following week, April 28th-May 5th saw the Blazers at least have a better week. They start out by closing out their 4-game set against the Brooklyn Robins with a 4-0 win. They'd also pick up wins on April 30th against Charm City Jimmies 9-8 and the Edmonton Jackrabbits 3-2 on May 3rd.
They'd go 2-5 May 5th through May 11th, with the lone wins being against the Pheonix Talons on May 7th, 8-3, and on May 9th, 6-4. As if the week couldn't get any worse, the Montreal Blazers have lost their ace Don Jaramillo with a strained shoulder. He'd expected to miss 3 weeks.
González Shines in 6-3 Montreal Win
The Montreal Blazers beat the Rockville Pikemen, 6-3, at Ubisoft Field. Montreal third baseman [urlhttps://statsplus.net/brewster/reports/news/html/players/player_43153.html]Eduardo González[/url] had an outstanding performance. He was 3-4 with a home run and a double while scoring 3 runs and driving in 2. Carlton Casson picked up the save, his 2nd. The win has Montreal at 14-24.
Lineu Aldo hit a 2-run double off Matt McCartney in the bottom of the first, which put the Blazers in front, 2-1. In addition to the double, Aldo had 1 single and 1 walk, while going 2 for 3. "We'll kick back tonight and enjoy this win," said Aldo.
Esteban Cruz was on the mound for the Blazers and picked up his 3rd win of the season. He'd pitch 5.1 innings while allowing 2 runs on 4 hits with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts. Matt McCartney would take the mound for Rockville, he'd allow 5 runs on 10 hits to pick up the loss. He moves to 3-3 on the season.
Montreal Wins, 7-4
The Montreal Blazers bested the Atlantic City Gamblers, 7-4, at Trump Park. Erik Wignes was one of the standouts. He went 2 for 3 with a double and 2 walks. He scored 2 runs and drove in 2. The winner was Boris Milatovic, who threw 72 pitches over 5.1 innings. The right-hander was charged with 2 runs on 3 hits. The win puts Montreal at 15-24.
Wignes had a game-changing double in the top of the sixth. On a 1-2 fastball from Curt Fields, he banged himself a run-scoring double to left, giving the Blazers a 3-2 lead. It was the 8th double of the year for Wignes. "I'm just looking for a good pitch that I can hit well," said Wignes. "And not try to do too much."
While Milatovic picked up the win for the Blazers, he'd leave the game with an injury in the 6th inning. He's been diagnosed with an abdominal strain and is day to day.
Blazers Top Gamblers, 2-0, Behind Mills
Trump Park hosted an old-fashioned pitchers' duel in the final of a quick 2 game set between the Montreal Blazers and Atlantic City Gamblers.
Bill Mills never let the Gamblers get in a groove. The right-hander used his bread and butter, his changeup, to pitch the Blazers to a win, 2-0. The Blazers raised their record to 16-24. The Gamblers had trouble solving Mills, who surrendered no runs on 2 hits over 7 innings. "I just trusted my stuff," said Mills. Mills moves to 2-2 on the season. Max Birstall picked up the save, pitching 2 hitles innings from the bullpen.
The Blazers would jump out to a lead in the top of the 1st inning. Fuad Demirel would draw a walk before moving to third on a double by third baseman Eduardo González. Demirel would proceed to score on a while pitch, while González would score ona sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 Montreal and score the only runs of the game.
Sato Hits 2 home runs in Cougars Win
In the 11-4 Charlotte win over Montreal, the impact of Masaki Sato was substantial. Sato went 2-4 with 2 home runs while adding 4 RBI and scoring twice. The winning pitcher was Emanuele Mercati. He tossed 88 pitches over 6.2 innings, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits. Charlotte has run its win streak to 4 in a row.
Aaron Haney, who finished 2nd in the FL in home runs with 48 in 2044, aided the Charlotte cause with a 2-run double in the top of the third. For the game, the right fielder was 2-4 with 2 doubles and a walk. He drove in 2 runs and scored once. "I like our mindset right now," said Charlotte manager Abdur Rashid Awan.
The Montreal Blazers would bookend the scoring. They'd start it in the bottom of the 1st inning. Ulvi Basgil would start the offense with a triple to score Coy Skinner. Before he'd score himself on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Lineu Aldo. Theyd then close out the scoring in the bottom of the 9th with a 2 run home run by Eduardo González, his 8th of the season. But between the 1st and 9th, it'd be all Charlotte as they'd score 11 runs.
25 year old Cheslav Evgrafov was on the mound and picked up his 3rd straight loss and moves to 1-6 on the season. He'd pitch only 4.1 innings and allow 6 runs on 9 hits with 2 walks and 1 strikeout. After the game, manager Bill Inkster said he thinks Evgrafov in his own head and it might be time for some confidence building down in AAA New Jersey.
Cougars Lose to Blazers, 5-2
Starting pitcher Esteban Cruz was a major factor in the 5-2 Montreal Blazers triumph over the Charlotte Cougars. The Blazers go to 17-25 with the win.
Lineu Aldo hit a run-scoring double off Haravira Chandar in the bottom of the sixth, which put the Blazers in front, 2-1. In addition to the double, Aldo had 1 single, while going 2 for 4. "Getting ahead of the hitters was the key," said Cruz.
Cruz moves to 4-3 on the season with the win. Anthony Annear would pick up the save from the bullpen, his 2nd of the season. Haravira Chandar got the start for Charlotte and picked up the loss. He pitched 6.0 innings and allowed 4 runs on 5 hits with 5 strikeouts and 2 walks. He moves to 4-2 on the season.
Bradshaw Powers Blazers to 8-4 Win
A good performance from catcher Joe Bradshaw helped the Montreal Blazers defeat the Charlotte Cougars, 8-4. Bradshaw went 3-5 with a home run and a double while scoring 2 times and driving in 4 for the Blazers. Montreal goes to 18-25, Charlotte to 27-15.
Montreal took the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Bradshaw hit a run-scoring double. His 15th double of the season made the score 4-3, Montreal. Bradshaw called the triumph "a good team win."
Both teams would swap 3 runs in the 1st inning. For Montreal, it'd be on a Eduardo González RBI single to score Ulvi Basgilk from 3rd. A couple of batters later, Joe Bradshaw would score González on an RBI single. Pedro Rosales would close out the scoring in the inning with an RBI single of his own. Montreal would score 3 more in the bottom of the 5th, thanks in part to an RBI double by Joe Bradshaw. And another 2 in the bottom of the 7th with a 2-run home run by Bradshaw, his 3rd of the season.
