Now we really are Gambling (Early April) 2005-2

[Fat Nige]

21st April 2005

Round-up : With the Gamblers starting off 0-6 before finishing the first three series 2-8 their fans fared the worst but in the last week or so Atlantic City have turned it round. The new players are showing signs of gelling and the Gamblers head for the final days of the month with a 7-10 record. While Montreal look the class of the division already, Gamblers are two head of last placed Kraken at this early stage and it’s nice to be able to look down on somebody for a change.

The New Boys : Louwe van der Heyden started badly by walking three and blowing his first save opportunity but settled in quickly and from his third game went on a five-game save streak in which he only gave up one run. Jonathan O’Neill has been solid in all of his eight outings bar one but the trouble for Gamblers has been getting to their EBA duo with the score in reasonable shape. The third EBA recruit, Aurélien Bodin has been a good contributor too with a slash line of .355/.394/.435 and has thrown out two out of six players that have tried to run on him.

Injuries : Fredrick Simon has yet to start his season after being beaned by the Kraken in spring training, he is expected to be back at the start of May while Donald Gray has sat out a week and will still miss around another week with a sprained elbow. The projected starting shortstop, Raulo Mora only really got one full game in before being hampered by recurring back spasms which will see him out till possibly mid-May.

Best Game : A 3-0 shutout of the Kraken on April 19th. A 3-run homer by Pacorro Butieprez off Kraken new boy Lance Dickson in the bottom of the sixth was all the offence in the game. Gamblers pitcher Mike Williams pitched eight scoreless innings, walking two and striking out 11 before giving way to van der Heyden to polish off the final innings.
Worst Game : An 11-6 home loss to Buffalo. In a good position leading 5-4 after five innings Gamblers imploded in the top of the sixth giving up four singles, a double and a 3-run homer to allow Bison a six run innings and a lead that would not be caught. Machiavelli & Camcho were the pitching culprits but Bison out-hit Gamblers 15-13 and two outfield errors didn’t help the cause either.

Heartbreaker : A 3-2 loss to Birmingham. Dave Crocker and Brandit’s Paul Alfred fought a pitchers duel that was still 1-1 after nine. The bullpens held until the 15th when Bandits plated two in the top half of the innings but although Gamblers got Bodin home in the bottom half that was all they could manage.

Star Man : Pitcher – Dave Crocker four starts, 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA
Batter – Brian Jennings .313/.361/.597, 5 homers, 17 RBI and 11 runs scored.

[scottsdale_joe]

You still run AC?