Series #10 @ South Bend

The Lugnuts had a good week against the South Bend Cubs (Chicago Cubs affiliate) going 3-2 bringing our season record to 26-30. We only played five games this week because Sunday’s game got rained out. South Bend is one of the best places to play in the league. We stay at a solid hotel in downtown South Bend, which is walking distance to the ballpark and nearby a bunch of good restaurants. Our clubhouse is masssive compared to others because the South Bend front office would like to be the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate at some point. And they also get great crowds every night of the week.

Because of the rainout, I only pitched once this week. I came in on Thursday after our starter with a runner on second base and two outs in the 6th inning. After two tough at bats that ended in walks, the bases were loaded and their cleanup hitter was coming up to the plate. We were down 3-1 but giving up any more runs would have made it nearly impossible to come back against the Cubs' lock down bullpen. On the ninth pitch of the at bat, I got him to swing through a high fastball to end the inning. Big pitch.

This strikeout was the 200th strikeout of my professional career. Having more than a strikeout per inning is a good stat to achieve as a pitcher and I was able to reach 200 professional K's in 189.2 innings. For comparison through four years at Yale, I threw 188 total innings and had only 162 strikeouts. Crazy that last week was the four year anniversary of being drafted by the A's and since then I've thrown almost the exact number of innings that I threw while at Yale.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned how gassed I was facing the hitter right after covering first base on a ground ball because of the pitch clock. After reading my blog, our team broadcaster and strength coach, Jesse Goldberg-Strassler and Steve Thayer, put their heads together and came up with some ways to buy time on the mound to catch my breath. The best idea was to ask for time to 'tie' my shoe. So on Thursday while walking back to the mound after the first batter grounded out to first base, that idea popped into my head. I asked the umpire for time and pointed to my cleats, which were both tied tightly. The ump granted me time while I untied and retied my cleat, which allowed me to take a few extra deep breaths and settle back in on the rubber. I threw a first pitch strike to the next batter and got two ground outs to finish a one, two, three 7th inning.

Disclaimer: if you are a Midwest League umpire, this never happened.

We finished the week well with wins on Friday and Saturday and then got home earlier than expected after a rainout on Sunday. The Lugnuts will be home this week against the Peoria Chiefs (St. Louis Cardinals affiliate).

Here is a picture from the first inning I threw in college at Texas A&M. Seven years and 362 strikeouts later...