Games 15 and 16

Game 15: Bulls 2, Tides 8
Wrap, Box, Virginian-Pilot Story

The story of Friday’s Game 15 was the arrival of left-hander James Houser (still not showing on the Bulls’ roster on web site — need to work on that guys). First game of the year for Houser, so willing to wait a while to see how he shakes out, but not a good night. Four innings, 5 hits, 2 walks, 2 hit batsmen, 4 runs, 2 strikeouts, ouch. In the meantime, the guy he replaced, Jason Cromer, went over to Montgomery and the same day pitched 6 innings, 5 hits, no walks, 1 run, 4 strikeouts, and a win. Hmmm. We dropped out of first place in the Southern Division and Norfolk won its ninth game in a row.

Game 16: Bulls 4, Tides 1
Season: 11-5
Wrap, Box, Virginian-Pilot Story

It got better on Saturday. Talbot had a fine start, his fourth, going 6 plus innings (the best so far this year for a Durham pitcher). Winston Abreu was simply brilliant in relief. He faced 6 batters. He walked the first one, then struck out the next five! His OBA (opponent’s on-base percentage) is a stellar .184. Dale Thayer slammed the door. In eight appearances, he has yet to allow a run across.

And Elliot Johnson whacked the ball a couple of times, 3 for 4 with a homer, double, and 2 RBIs! Matt Joyce went 3 for 4 and is creeping up near .300.

The Bulls broke the Tides winning streak and are back in first place.

Webworld

Blogger/broadcaster Dan Hoard writes about the Pawtucket Red Sox. Here’s his piece on a recent game between the Pawsox and Rochester. Nice bit of writing. Note that one of the batters blown away was Jason Pridie, a former Bull. Gotta admit a 9-pitch, 3 strikeout inning is very special, as was the rest of the game (if you’re a Pawsox fan).