Tater Talk: 2041.13 – Week in Review, 4/21 - 4/27

[jleddy]

WEEK IN REVIEW: (5-2) Somebody wake up the steaming hot Boise Spuds! The team finds itself leading the Frontier Division after a fourth straight winning week to open the 2041 season. In the five wins for the week, the average score was 11.4-4.0 in favor of Boise, helping the Spuds to a run differential of +57, tied for best in the Brewster with the San Fernando Bears.

ORE-IDA® TATER-TOTS EMOJI SUMMARY OF THE WEEK:

HITTER OF THE WEEK: Jared Gillstrom - 12-for-31, 4 HR, 8 RBI (.387 AVG, 1.468 OPS)

PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Dave Walsh - 2 G, 1-0, 7.0 IP, 2 K, 2 BB (0.00 ERA, 0.86 WHIP)

GAME OF THE WEEK: In the week's opening game on April 21st, Boise outlasted the San Antonio Outlaws in fifteen innings to win 12-4. In what's beginning to sound like a broken record, the Spuds had late inning heroics, first in the top half of the ninth inning. Down 4-1 with two outs and a runner on second, veteran catcher Hank Brewer deposited a 3-2 pitch from Ramón Sánchez into the left-center stands to make the score 4-3. Yunosuke Terada followed with a line-drive single between the third baseman and shortstop, bringing DH Cisco Arreola to the plate. With Boise down to their last strike, Arreola doubled deep to center field, bringing Terada home to score the tying run with a throw from centerfielder Mark White. In the bottom of the 10th, with two outs, reliever Dave Walsh entered the game and provided the Spuds with four and a third innings of shutout ball. Boise returned the favor to the southpaw swingman in the top of the 15th, scoring eight runs, capped by a three-run home run by Jared Gillstrom. Walsh would return to the mound in the bottom half of the 15th, retiring all three Outlaw batters to seal the marathon (5 hour, 28 minutes) victory.

JOHNSON LEAGUE FRONTIER DIVISION STANDINGS

TEAM	WINS	LOSES	WIN%	GB	RD
Boise Spuds	17	7	.708	-	+57
Calgary Pioneers	15	7	.682	1	+37
Edmonton Jackrabbits	16	8	.667	1	+19
Phoenix Talons	13	12	.520	4.5	-5
Las Vegas Hustlers	11	13	.458	6	-17
Mexico City Aztecs	11	13	.458	6	+10
San Antonio Outlaws	9	15	.375	8	-31
Wichita Aviators	6	18	.250	11	-31

NEWS AND NOTES: Boise decided to win game via the long ball in the past week, bopping 20 home runs in seven games, led by Gillstrom and Félix Román with four apiece...one of Gillstrom's dingers was a major milestone, his 500th career home run..."I knew number 500 would come sooner or later," Gillstrom told Baseball News Network after the game. "I had to keep reminding myself 'Relax, relax, just let it happen, let it happen.' And it finally did."...Gillstrom is currently on a 13-game hitting streak...Drew Hair had three homers, collected all in a 17-2 win over Phoenix on April 24th...the power surge jumped Boise into 3rd in home runs in Johnson League...through the first four weeks, Boise continues to lead the Johnson League in six major offensive categories (R, AVG, OBP, bWAR, and wOBA)...despite a starter's ERA ranked 8th, the offense along with a top-ranked bullpen ERA (2.01) has helped Boise to its surprising start...rookie reliever Ch'ang-chieh Xin made his Brewster debut during the blowout versus Phoenix, pitching two shutout innings...the 2041 Brewster Baseball Association First-Year Player Draft is underway, with Boise make two selections within the first thirteen picks (college LHP Fernando Rangel 6th overall and prep infielder José Rodríguez 13th overall)

DOWN ON THE FARM: Salt Lake City (AAA) did its best attempt to emulate the parent club, going 5-1 and outscoring opponents 50-36, including a 21-12 slugfest over the Albuquerque Coyotes on April 22...the winning week has the Alpines sitting in first place in the Western Division with an 18-7 record...former Spuds starting outfielder Pedro Díaz has taken his off-season demotion in stride, slashing .338/.407/.623 for the Alpines..."I understood the decision," Díaz was quoted. "I know I'm a better player than what my numbers said for the last few seasons in Boise so I just want to prove here that I belong back in the show."...in his return from the injured list, starter Yoshi Ito went 8 innings for the win on April 21st but in his next start, the Japanese hurler was roughed up early and was removed in the fourth inning after suffering back stiffness, the same injury that shelved him earlier in the season...Ito is expected to miss 2-3 weeks of action...Weymouth (AA) went only 3-4 for the week and are currently in 4th place in the Colonial Division (12-14)...during the week, prospect Robin Cooper made two starts atop the hill, going 1-0, allowing only 3 ER and 7 hits in 15.1 innings...Tulsa (A) also put up a 3-4 record during the week, dropping their season record to 9-17...corner infielders Rubén Sánchez (1B) and Emílio Medina (3B) each had a week to forget, combining to hit just 3-for-35 (.086) with 7 strikeouts