Series #7 vs Lake County

The Lugnuts had a solid week agasint the Lake County Captains (Cleveland Guardians affiliate) going 4-3 and bringing our season record to 19-20. We played seven games this past week because we had to make up a cancelled game from earlier in the season. We initially thought that it would be a stressful week for the pitching staff, having to cover an extra game, but our starters really stepped up giving us solid length and allowing for the bullpen to stay rested towards the end of the week. I got to pitch on Tuesday and on Saturday and in both outings I didn’t have my best stuff but kept the team in the ballgame.

On Tuesday, I entered the game in the 8th inning of a tie ballgame. My stuff felt solid in the bullpen and I quickly got to two strikes against the first batter of the 8th inning. My catcher called for a changeup - my best swing and miss pitch - and I nodded in agreement. When let go of the pitch, I immediately knew it was going to end up down the middle. The next time the ball hit the ground was on the other side of the left field wall. Captains up by one. I finished the inning after a ground out, a single, a walk, and a strikeout. I went back out for the 9th and threw a scoreless inning: strike out, error, fly out, walk, strikeout. We didn’t score again and I took the loss.

Although I got through two innings and only gave up one run there was a lot of traffic on the basepaths and I was inefficient with my pitches, needing over forty pitches to get six outs. Managing a bullpen can be complicated, especially with seven games in six days and typically, after throwing two innings and forty pitches I would get two off day and then be available to pitch the third day but after the outing, my pitching coach said. “Might need you for Thursday.” Bullpen usage is all dependent on how our starters pitch. Fortunately, our starters pitched deep into games and I didn’t throw again until Saturday although I was available and ready to go earlier that. The extra days of rest never hurt.

On Saturday, I entered the game in the 6th inning with a 3-1 lead. After the first batter flied out to left field, I got the second out with this play:

I was happy to have made that play but it completely derailed my ability to throw strikes. I was out of breath and the pitch clock did not help my case. I walked the next batter on four straight pitches out of the zone and walked another batter after the batter fouled some tough pitches off. The inning ended on a weak ground ball to the first baseman and I escaped trouble.

I went back out for the 7th and immediately ran into trouble. The first batter - the same guy who hit the home run off me on Tuesday - smashed a single to center and I followed it up with yet another walk. After a mound visit, I fell behind again. I could sense the end of my outing nearing but I made a huge pitch, while behind in the count, to get a 6-4-3 double play. With two outs and a runner on third base, I could now feel the finish line but looked over to see my manager walking towards the mound to take me out of the game. I was definitely disappointed to not be given the chance to face one more batter and finish the inning but I was at my pitch count and a fresh arm gave us a better chance to do so.

We ended up winning on Saturday and Sunday in walk off fashion - an exciting way to finish up the week.

We head to Indiana to play the Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego Padres affilaite) this week. Thanks for reading! More updates to come