Expanding Westward: The Fresno Outlaws

[PotatoOfCouch13]

I like the Crawford trade. Losing the $4 million will hurt, but the players you gave up should be marginal at best.

Also, Kershaw looks like a stud. I wonder if he'll be touted "the next Sandy Koufax" (sorry filihok, I couldn't resist)

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

I like the Crawford trade. Losing the $4 million will hurt, but the players you gave up should be marginal at best.

Also, Kershaw looks like a stud. I wonder if he'll be touted "the next Sandy Koufax" (sorry filihok, I couldn't resist)

Yeah, the 4 mil hurts, but I liked it too. I think Carlson will be a good major leaguer though, and I sold super, super low on Bonds, he was still hitting in the .120's or so at the time of the trade. He'll heat up though, after I simmed that week the first time (before not saving and turning my computer off) he caught fire and was hitting .350 or something with like 5 homers in his last 10 games and walking a ton, even had a 4-4 game.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Crawford impressive in first week with Outlaws

Crawford has been excellent in his first week with the Outlaws, going 9-29 (.310) with two doubles, two homers, four RBI's, and six runs

(NOTE: Usually I do these at the end but I should do it at the beginning this time. I really screwed up with the number of games and how many deep I simmed this time. What I didn't realize last time was that the Orioles series was a four gamer and it kind of messed me up for the rest of the month. So this update won't cover the fourth and final game of that series. It will cover the three game series I played against the Mariners and the three game series against the Red Sox, that took me to May second. To simplify things from here on out I'm going to sim two series at a time, not a week at a time. Also note that I'm trying a few little additions to my general format this time around to see how I like them.)

This was an ugly week for the Outlaws in Boston and Seattle. The Outlaws managed to hang in there for most of most of the games, but lost two of three to both the Red Sox and Mariners.

The first game of the Mariners series went our way, but the last two got a little ugly.

Game 1: Outlaws 6 - Mariners 1
Game 2: Outlaws 1 - Mariners 4
Game 3: Outlaws 1 - Mariners 8

Darrell Rasner threw an absolute gem to help us to the win in game one. Rasner went the distance, gave up only one run, three hits, two walks, struck out two, and had a no hitter going through 6 2/3 innings. Two RBI's from Cash and Thames, who also hit a homer, also helped us to the win, as well as Carl Crawford going 2-4 in his second game as an Outlaw. Game two was a slightly different story. Baek didn't pitch terribly, going 7 2/3 innings, allowed four earned runs, K'd nine, and allowed 12 hits, but Felix was really on his game and we could barely touch him, as he allowed only one run, five hits, four walks, and struck out nine in 7 innings of work. We never really managed to get anything going, not even getting multiple runners on base until the seventh inning, Felix's last inning and the only one in which we scored, and our lone run came off a Norris Hopper double to plate Johnny Mac. Game three was an utter embarrassment, as we struggled to get just one run out of Miguel Batista in 8 2/3 innings. Kuo pitched six solid innings of four run baseball, but Batista was dominant, or maybe we were just pitiful. Our single run came on a triple by Brooks Conrad.

Our series against the Red Sox, which took us through May 2, was largely more of the same. We lost the first two and had to scrap for a win in game three to avoid the sweep. We managed to keep the games fairly close, however.

Game 1: Outlaws 2 - Red Sox 4
Game 2: Outlaws 4 - Red Sox 9
Game 3: Outlaws 5 - Red Sox 2

Game one saw Carl Crawford whack his first homer as an Outlaw and a solid start by Kershaw, 6 innings, four runs, 8 K's, but not much else in favor the Outlaws. Kevin Cash had an ugly, ugly game, going 0-4 with 3 strikeouts, my 1-2 combo of Norris Hopper and Willy Aybar went a combined 0-9, and Ross Gload went 0-3 with a walk and saw his batting average drop to .262. Daisuke had Outlaw hitter befuddled all night and allowed only two runs and never let us get anything going, in addition to punch 6 guys out. Game two was even more ugly for us. Sean Marshall was pitiful and allowed seven runs in five innings, Kevin Cash continued his recent strikeout trend, going 0-3 with a walk and two strikeouts, nobody managed more than one hit, and if not for a four run top of the eighth inning, capped by a Marcus Thames three run bomb, it would've been even uglier. Varitek and Manny both hit home runs off us and besides that eighth inning Beckett was completely dominant, going 7 2/3 innings and allowing four runs, all in the seventh inning. We did, however, managed to avoid a sweep with our game three run. Rasner was again brillant, he went 8 innings, allowed one run, and struck out six, while walking four and giving up 5 hits. Crawford hit his second homer as an Outlaw in 7 games, compared to one in 21 with the Rays, and also hit a double and knocked in three runs. The rest of the lineup was largely deficient, with Willy Aybar and Johnny Mac getting our other two RBI's. Buchholz was shaky in four innings for the Sox, allowing three runs (two earned), and throwing 72 pitches in those 4 innings.


AL West Standings:

1. Seattle Mariners 16-12
2. Los Angeles Angels 14-16 3GB
3. Texas Rangers 13-17 4GB
4. Fresno Outlaws 11-18 5.5GB
5. Oakland A's 9-20 7.5GB

Team Notes:

• Word is that Sean Marshall's struggles may lead to him either being relegated to mop-up duty or an outright demotion to AAA if he doesn't correct things soon.
• Despite Kershaw's relative struggles management is still happy with the way hes pitched, citing that in each of the last two starts it was the last inning that got him in trouble and that his DICE is a respectable 3.77, especially for a twenty year old kid.
• The team is reportedly unhappy with the way the top of the batting order has performed and may look for a young upgrade. GM John Monahan has long coveted Red Sox OF Jacoby Ellsbury, and also may take a look at Felix Pie, Callix Crabbe, and Reggie Willits. The team won't look for a pure speed guy for the top, however, they will likely want a player capable of grinding out at bats and drawing a walk.
• Their are rumblings that the team may be looking to move Marcus Thames fairly soon, and he could come into play in looking for a leadoff/#2 hitter.

Monthly update will be next. I'm not entirely certain how I'm going to do monthly ones yet so I'll probably play with it quite a bit before I actually get it written, but it should be done sometime tonight. Can I get some feedback on these series-ly updates as well? It seems to me like they're not very good and I'm not sure what to add/do. Could they use more detail or something maybe? Any feedback/constructive criticism is welcome and anticipated.

[JeepGuy63]

The Outlaws acquired Crawford (80/82) in exchange for home run king Barry Bonds (75), RP Jesse Carlson (76/79), relief pitcher prospect James Humphrey (47/85), and 4,000,000 dollars[/CENTER]

4,000,000?!?!?! Ever hear of a guy named Billy Beane?

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

April Review

The first month of play for the Outlaws went surprisingly well. They posted a not good, but not awful record of 11-18. However, their play was terribly inconsistent at times, too often when they pitched they didn't hit, and when they hit they didn't pitch. The team did make two good trades, getting Kershaw and Crawford, and already appears headed in the right direction.

Offensively, the team is anemic despite the fact that most of the starting players have solid individual numbers. An injury to Dallas McPherson near the end of the month may have actually helped the offense, as Dallas had been struggling badly, not hitting for the power the team had expected, and gave the team an excuse to play Willy Aybar at third and put Brooks Conrad at second. Conrad has not disappointed and may have earned himself the second base gig for a while with his .294/.368/.441/.809 line, his defense isn't particularly good, but his bat is valuable to a team that couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat. Kevin Cash started out the season extraordinarily hot, hitting over .330 at one point, but has cooled off significantly lately, seeing his average drop to .295 by hitting only .125 in his last 10, and striking out 36 times this season, to lead the league. Norris Hopper has also hit well, but he too is in a major slump with a .205 average in his last 10. Willy Aybar hasn't "hit" very well this season, but hes walking a ton and has had a few hot streaks this season. Nobody thats been with the team all season and started for most of the season has been very impressive, but Carl Crawford has impressed in his time with the Outlaws, holding a .313/.333/.586/.919 line in 29 at bats with the team.

Lineup:


The pitching hasn't been too bad. However, one of the pitchers that was hoped to be a leader for the staff, Sean Marshall, has been the worst starter on the team, hes made it through the sixth inning only once this season, and has failed to make it through five twice, as well as holding an 8.19 ERA in 29 2/3 innings and a .333 opposing batting average. Darrell Rasner has been the best starter on the staff by far, having allowed more than two runs in a start only once, when he allowed 5 in 2+ innings against the Twins. He hasn't been posting big strikeout numbers and he hasn't been doing it the "sexy" way, but he does have a 2.59 ERA in 41 2/3 innings with a .192 BAA. Baek and Kuo also have solid ERA's of 3.19 and 3.94, respectively. The bullpen, however, has been incredibly inconsistent. At time it has been extremely effective, but at other times it seems like they're pitching batting practice, not in the 7th inning of a two run ball game.

Pitching:


Division Leaders:

AL East: Tampa Bay Rays 19-9 (Boston Red Sox 18-10, 1 GB)
AL Central: Detroit Tigers 18-10 (Minnesota Twins 17-12, 1.5 GB)
AL West: Seattle Mariners 16-12 (Los Angeles Angels 14-16, 3 GB)

NL East: New York Mets 18-10 (Atlanda Braves 19-12, .5 GB)
NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnatti Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros 16-13 (Chicago Cubs 13-16, 3 GB)
NL West: Colorado Rockies 21-9 (San Diego Padres 16-13, 4.5 GB)

AL Wild Card: Boston Red Sox 18-10 (Minnesota Twins 17-12, 1.5 GB)
NL Wild Card: Atlanta Braves 19-12 (Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres 16-13, 2 GB)

AL League Leaders:

Batting Average: Miguel Cabrera (DET) .410
Home Runs: Jim Thome (CWS) 14
RBI's: Jim Thome (CWS) 36
Steals: Carlos Gomez (MIN) 12

Wins: Justin Verlander (DET) 6
ERA: James Shields (TBR) 1.64
Strikeouts: Felix Hernandez (SEA) 47
Saves: Jonathan Papelbon (BOS), Troy Percival (TBR) 9

NL League Leaders:

Batting Average: Willy Taveras (COL) .394
Home Runs: Jeff Francoeur (ATL), Ryan Braun (MIL), Ryan Howard (PHI), Pat Burrell (PHI) 10
RBI's: Todd Helton (COL), Ryan Howard (PHI) 32
Steals: Rajai Davis (SFG) 14

Wins: Tim Hudson (ATL) 7
ERA: Johan Santana (NYM) 1.17
Strikeouts: Jake Peavy (SDP) 56
Saves: Manuel Corpas (COL), Jose Valverde (HOU), Matt Capps (PIT) 10

Miscellaneous (Milestones, contracts, trades, etc.):

Adam Dunn (CIN) signed a 5 year 13.5 million dollar contract extension
Ryan Howard (PHI) signed a 3 year 10.1 million dollar contract extension
Vladimir Guerrero (LAA) signed a 4 year 14.6 million dollar contract extension
Kevin Youkilis (BOS) signed a 3 year 5.8 million dollar contract extension
John Smoltz (ATL) signed a 2 year 16.9 million dollar contract extension
Erik Bedard (SEA) signed a 4 year 8.9 million dollar contract extension
Derek Lowe (LAD) signed a 3 year 15.8 million dollar contract extension
Mark Teixeira (ATL) signed a 4 year 13.3 million dollar contract extension
Chipper Jones (ATL) signed a 3 year 11.6 million dollar contract extension
C.C. Sabathia (CLE) signed a 5 year 10.6 million dollar contract extension

Jay Bruce (CIN) Hit for the cycle
Tim Hudson (ATL) Threw a no hitter
Ivan Rodriguez (DET) got his 2500th hit
Magglio Ordonez (DET) got his 1000th RBI
John Smoltz (ATL) got his 3000th strikeout
Barry Bonds (FRE) got his 2000th RBI
Norris Hopper (FRE) had a 20 game hit streak
Vladimir Guerrero (LAA) got his 2000th hit

Edwin Encarnacion (CIN) retired at age 25

[PotatoOfCouch13]

Well, it is an expansion team, you're going to get some stiffs, cast-offs, has-beens, and never-weres. You're definitely doing a good job for the talent levels that you have, and the pitching should (i hope) improve.

How's life down on the farm? Any prospects we should keep our eye on?

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

No, no one special, a couple low 80's guys. As you may have seen earlier, however, I decided to lottery the top 12 picks and I ended up with #6 or #8 I think and theres a couple guys I have my eyes on. I was actually gonna do an Outlaws Draft Preview post to give people an idea of who I'm looking at at this point, probably sometime tonight I'll do that post.

[filihok]

Thanks Potato...

Daawg, since you're messing with your format; my suggestion and one that a lot of dynasty writers use (including myself) is to write-up each game with two or three sentences just to give us a feel. You don't need to tell us all the stats from the game, just give us a fell. CatKnight does it very well. You should check him out if you haven't.

As for simming. I think it works well to sim 2 or 3 full series then write it up. That way you can add in your thoughts, feelings, happenings from around the league.

The one thing I do like about your dynasty (not the trades Colletti makes-that's for sure) is the way you break your team down and give your thoughts about what's going on.

A top of the order of Crawford and Ellisbury would be impressive.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Thanks filihok, I'll try to do that more. The problem, though, with me doing that is that I'm not incorporating any storyline, its all supposed to be editorial/journalistic, so if I only have a couple lines about each game this would be a very dry dynasty, wouldn't it?

When I was originally putting that package on the block, the one that got me Crawford, I was more or less trying to draw the Red Sox out and get them to offer me Ellsbury, but I could only get Brandon Moss and J.D. Drew out of them, neither of whom appealed to me.

I plan on putting Rasner, and some others, on the block and selling high on him so maybe I can Ellsbury then, I'll try not to rip off the Dodgers this time around, no promises though .

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Buck headed to Fresno

Travis Buck (81/86) comes to Fresno, in exchange Oakland receives SP Darrell Rasner (75), OF Marcus Thames (77), C Cam Hales (63/81), and cash

Fresno continues to add to their solid young core of players with their latest trade. The Outlaws get a very good, complete hitter in Travis Buck, in exchange for starting pitcher Darrell Rasner, outfielder Marcus Thames, catching prospect Cam Hales, and 1,500,000 dollars in cash.

This is a pretty fair trade for both sides, but lets look at Oakland's side first. The A's were a team loaded with young, talented outfielders, so it comes as no surprise that they would decide to trade one of them. They were also an offensively deficient team with almost no power, and Thames helps cure that immediately. After Blanton and Harden atop the rotation the rotation was extremely mediocre, with Chris Gissell (68) as their fifth starter. Rasner has been excellent this season, with a sub-3.00 ERA, but even if he comes back down to earth, which he should, he'll still be a solid 3 or 4 starter. Hales is a solid prospect and cash never hurts as well.

As for Fresno, Buck is an excellent addition, and Thames is an excellent subtraction. Thames is very much a TTO guy, and not a guy that will help a team like the Outlaws much. Buck is an upgrade now and for the future. He is an excellent defender in right, and also allows Carl Crawford to move back to left field, his natural position. In addition, Buck is a complete player at the plate. He had hit .325/.336/.579/.915 with 6 homers, seven doubles, two triples, and a steal in 25 games with Oakland prior to the trade, and despite the relatively low OBP, in comparison to his batting average, he does have a very good eye and did walk 39 times in 82 games last season. Buck will step right into Thames old spot in the batting order, but will move across the field to right, where he is an adept defender.

After the trade, the Outlaws announced the signings of two veteran relievers, Jay Witasick (73) and Bob Wickman (70), to refill the pitching staff.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Fresno Outlaws Draft Preview

South Carolina 1B Justin Smoak is reportedly one the Outlaws top targets

With the MLB first player draft around a month away, and the Outlaws in possession of a top 10 pick, it would seem a good time to breakdown who the Outlaws are interested in, who they may pick, and what they're looking for.

The Outlaws are reportedly looking for a college bat in this draft. A position player that could be major league ready in a season or two and could step in and contribute at a strong level as soon as they are called up. If they can't get that, they reportedly want to get a starting pitcher of the same mold, one that could be ready soon. GM John Monahan is known to value control pitchers who can go deep into games highly, so don't expect them to pick a guy who just stands on the mound and throws "unhittable" fastballs all day.

The indications are that these are their top 5 targets, that could realistically be available when they pick, in (general) order of interest:



Pluses:

• Arguably the best offensive prospect in this draft
• 40-50 homer potential
• Could be ready in a year or two
• Excellent all around bat

Minuses:

• Very, very poor defender
• Not very fast
• May never develop a very good eye/plate discipline

Projection:

I project him as a .280-.300 hitter with 40-50 home runs annually. His eye isn't very good now, but if it progresses as I think it will he should post a high .300's to low 400's OBP. His defense probably will never be any better than average, but even if its slightly below average his bat more than makes up for it.



Pluses:

• Good power
• Good control
• Excellent fastball and change
• Good curve
• No major health concerns
• Excellent defender

Minuses:

• Lacks movement
• Unlikely to slip to our pick

Projection:

This kid has the potential to be a front of the rotation starter. To be honest, I'd be surprised if he DIDN'T end up becoming an ace in this league. I think he'll be a 15-20 game winner and post ERA's in the three's for a long time in this league.



Pluses:

• Good power
• Good control
• Very advanced
• Fastball and sinker are both very, very good
• Decent curve and knuckle curve

Minuses:

• Health is a pretty big concern
• Lacks movement
• Doesn't field his position well

Projection:

If not for his health concerns he'd rank ahead of Ross on this list, and maybe even ahead of Smoak. If he can stay healthy and keep himself on the mound, he'll be a helluva starter and the best in this draft. However, I'm skeptical he will be able to stay healthy. If it came down to him and Ross for this pick, I think the Outlaws would take Ross since hes more likely to stay healthy and become something.



Pluses:

• Decent contact
• Decent power
• Decent eye
• Excellent throwing arm
• Solid game caller and plate blocked
• Very young with plenty of room to improve
• No health concerns

Minuses:

• Not very fast
• A boom or bust pick

Projection:

Skipworth would be a solid pick. He could become a .280, 20 home run hitter at the major league level, with Gold Glove caliber defense behind the plate. However, there is a lot of boom or bust here. He'll either be a star, or a career minor leaguer.



Pluses:

• Smoak's best competition for best offensive prospect in this draft
• Very complete hitter
• Good contact
• Good power
• Good eye
• Health isn't a huge concern

Minuses:

• Extremely poor glove
• Below average at best defender
• Not very fast
• Eye may not come along

Projection:

Hes a potential .330, 40+ homer hitter. Arguably the best hitting prospect in this draft, and almost unquestionably the most complete. However, his defense is a huge concern, and he is unlikely to become even average.

Other players that could be selected, should these 5 be gone or feelings change between now and June 7th, would be SS Brandon Crawford (67/98), 1B Yonder Alonso (59/93), SS Gordon Beckham (63/91), SP Aaron Crow (62/96), SP Kyle Lobstein (61/95), or Dennis Raben (61/91).

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

I'll probably do one or two more of these draft previews before the draft, as players ratings fall/rise and things change.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Buck leads Outlaws to 5-2 week

Buck started out his Fresno career on the right foot

After the ugly last week against the Mariners and Red Sox the Outlaws were out for blood, and they made Sweeney Todd look like Mother Theresa in that goal. They took the first two from the Mariners, and lost game three, and took the first three from the Yankees, before losing game four.

The Outlaws got their revenge against the Mariners in games one and two of this series, and nearly earned the sweep in game three.

Game 1: Outlaws 8 - Mariners 7
Game 2: Outlaws 9 - Mariners 5
Game 3: Outlaws 3 - Mariners 6

Game one was a high scoring squeaker. Baek got roughed up, allowing five runs in 2+ innings, but the bullpen came in and locked it down, with Aardsma, Schroeder, League, and Jones combining for 6 2/3 innings, one unearned run, one hit, no walks, and one strikeout. Travis Buck went 1-4 with an RBI and a walk in his Fresno debut, but the big hit of the night was the walk-off RBI single by Brooks Conrad to score Buck in the bottom of the ninth. Game two was a much easier win, despite a less than stellar start by Kershaw (6 innings, 10 hits, five walks, five runs, 3 strikeouts), even though he still got the win. Kevin Cash got his second homer of the season, Garrett Guzman had a two run pinch hit single, and everyone in the starting lineup except Carl Crawford collected at least one hit. Sean Marshall pitched poorly once again in game three, allowing 5 runs in 6 2/3 innings. Bedard was dominant in this game, allowing just three runs and striking out nine in seven innings. We did manage to mount a few rallies, but couldn't really get anything from them.

The Yankee series was ever so sweet for the Outlaws, as they held the the Yankees to two runs or fewer in three of the four games, and won all the games in which they did.

Game 1: Outlaws 5 - Yankees 0
Game 2: Outlaws 4 - Yankees 2
Game 3: Outlaws 11 - Yankees 2
Game 4: Outlwas 3 - Yankees 5

David Wells brought his A+ game for game one, throwing a complete game shutout, allowing nine hits and striking out four. Carl Crawford also went 1-4 with a homer, and Travis Buck went 3-4 with a homer as well. Baek had a fantastic start in game two as well. Baek went 8 innings, allowed six hits, one run, and struck out four. Aybar and Hopper were fantastic at the top of the order, going a combined 5-8 with a steal and three runs. As had been characteristic of this season, the starter, Kuo, turned in a fantastic start, going seven innings, allowing four hits, two walks, one run, and seven K's. We really started this game on the right foot, with the first five batters collecting hits, capped by a Ross Gload homer to end the run of hits. Everyone in the starting lineup collected a hit and Carl Crawford seems to have snapped out of his mini-slump with his 3-5 game. We failed to secure our first sweep in game four, but Kershaw pitched 6 2/3 solid innings of four run ball, and Aybar raised his batting average to .301 in the game. We absolutely couldn't hit Wang, as we just kept pounding sinkers into the ground and he held us to four hits, a walk, and two runs for the game. We managed to load the bases and get a run of Mo' Rivera, but couldn't push the runs we needed across and left the bases loaded.


Team Notes:

• Willy Aybar is on fire, hitting .359/.432/.615 in his last 10, and has raised his batting average on the season to .301
• Travis Buck is hitting .370/.419/.741 with a homer, five doubles, a triple, and eight RBI's in seven games with the Outlaws so far

League Notes:

• Rich Harden (OAK) will miss 3 weeks with an ankle stress fracture
• Greg Maddux (SDP) got his 350th win

AL West Standings:

• Seattle Mariners 19-15
• Los Angeles Angels 19-18, 1.5 GB
• Fresno Outlaws 16-20, 4 GB
• Texas Rangers 15-21, 5 GB
• Oakland A's 12-23, 7.5 GB

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Oh, by the way, I want your guys feelings of the 5 guys I have as my top 5 guys for the draft. What order you would rank them, if you would draft them, what you think of them, stuff like that. I'm going to take some your advice and opinions on them to heart when drafting, assuming things don't change TOO much for them.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Outlaws lose 5 of 6, fall to fifth in AL West

Starter Sean Marshall has pitched more than seven innings just once this season and his ERA on the season sits at 7.07

This week didn't go nearly as well as the previous one did. We lost two of three to the Royals in Kansas City, and were swept by the Tigers, at home no less. The thing that really makes it sting is the fact that every game we lost, we lost by a single, solitary run every time.

We went to extra innings in every single game of this series, but the Royals still managed to win the first two, and we narrowly avoided the sweep in the third game.

Game 1: Outlaws 4 - Royals 5
Game 2: Outlaws 6 - Royals 7
Game 3: Outlaws 11 - Royals 7

The first game was personified by excellent pitching on both sides. Sean Marshall allowed three runs, 10 hits, and four walks in 7 1/3 innings, and in opposition Zack Grienke allowed three runs (2 earned), six hits, two walks, and struck out seven in seven innings. We led going into the ninth inning, but Geoff Jones couldn't shut the door and allowed Alex Gordon to drive home the tying run and very nearly lost the game on his own, if not for Mark Teahan grounding into a 5-2-3 double play. The Royals would win it three innings later despite, on a Tony Pena RBI double to score David Dejesus off Chris Schroeder. Unlike the first game, this game was characterized by offense. Brooks Conrad had himself a ballgame, going 3-4 with a homer and three RBI's and falling a triple short of the cycle. It would prove to be for naught however, as the Royals again won in extras, this time on a Dejesus double to score Billy Butler. Our one win in the series comes in a high scoring affair. Baek didn't pitch too badly, only two earned runs, but poor defense led to four unearned runs and a total of six runs allowed, and allowed him to make it through only 4 innings. But the bullpen really came in and locked it down, with Brandon League, Randor Bierd, Bob Wickman, and Chris Schroeder combining to go the last seven innings of the game and allowing only four hits, three walks, a run, and five K's. We managed to take the lead in the top of the 10th, but Wickman quickly gave it back in their half of the tenth on a solo homer by Jose Guillen. We teed off in the 11th though, scoring four runs on two hits and two errors. Offensive highlights were Willy Aybar's 4-6 two run night and Travis Buck's 2-6 3 RBI game.

The series against the Tigers was extremely frustrating and disappointing. We got swept at home, but lost every game by only one run.

Game 1: Outlaws 5 - Tigers 6
Game 2: Outlaws 6 - Tigers 7
Game 3: Outlaws 6 - Tigers 7

Kershaw again pitched solid in the first game, 6 innings and four runs, but got victimized by facing a superior pitcher and the offense not managing to get anything, as D-Train went 8 innings and allowed only one run. We trailed 6-1 entering the bottom of the ninth, but put up a major four run rally, and if not for Mike Sweeney getting thrown out trying to tag up and go to third may have been a five or more run rally. Travis Buck had an ugly, ugly game, going 0-4 with 3 K's. Carl Crawford went 2-4 with a two run homer. Game two was not a game you'd want to show in an instructional video, with both teams making two errors and sloppy play all around. Marshall had his usual 6 inning, four earned run start. Willy Aybar had a great game in support of his pitching staff however, going 4-5 with a homer and driving in four of the team's six runs in the game. We held a one run lead going into the ninth inning of this game, but the first three batters of the ninth inning reached on a hit, an error, and a walk and Magglio Ordonez then singled home the tying and go-ahead runs before Geoff Jones worked himself out of the inning. We managed to get two on in our half of the ninth, but Travis Buck popped up to end the game. Game three was more of the same. Wells went 6+ innings and allowed five runs, and we managed to score two in the bottom of the eighth to tie the score, but they again scored in the top of the ninth to take the lead and prevent us from coming back.

Team Notes:

• After starting out his Fresno career with a .370 batting average in a week, Travis Buck has seen that average drop by nearly 100 points in the last six games, to .278
• Aybar experienced a vitals jump, from 77/79 to 78/85
• Clayton Kershaw is likely to see himself moved down to the #3 or #4 spot in the rotation once the team gets a chance to shake the rotation up

League Notes:

• N/A

AL West Standings:

1. Seattle Mariners 20-21
2. Los Angeles Angels 21-22
3. Texas Rangers 19-23, 1.5 GB
4. Oakland A's 17-24, 3.0 GB
5. Fresno Outlaws 17-25, 3.5 GB