On the Road Again

Game 117: Durham Bulls 6; Charlotte Knights 2
Season: 73-44; Home Stand: 5-2; Games Left in Season: 26; Home Games 10
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

Time to give Richard De Los Santos his due. We can do that by comparing his numbers against the Bulls’ ace, Jeremy Hellickson. That may seem odd, but just look at the them.

• Appearances: De Los Santos — 24 (19 starts), Hellickson — 21 (all starts)
• Record: DLS 12-5, H 12-3
• Innings pitched: DLS 127, H 117 ⅔
• ERA: DLS 3.61, H 2.45
• FIP: DLS 3.57, H 2.68

Not bad at all. De Los Santos obviously lets in more runs and, if watched closely, does not seem to have as much of that elusive “stuff” that Hellickson brings to the game. And yet he’s winning games.

Now, if he could just tuck his jersey in. Several times last night the ump asked him to tuck it in. Here’s where a careful reader can help me. The Bulls used to have an infielder who had a similar problem keeping his shirt in, but his name eludes me? Any help out there?

How important is De Los Santos? Very. His solid seven innings last night will make a huge difference over the next couple of days. The Bulls are still short, even with the return of Carlos Hernandez from the disabled list. We saw Hernandez warming up in the 6th inning and thought we might see him. But De Los Santos got out of the 6th and even through the 7th, giving some room for Joe Bateman’s two-inning save.

The hitters were in fine form last night. In fact, they have been in good form most of this home stand. In seven games, 75 hits, and that includes a game with only 3 hits and another with “only” 8. All this when the Bulls have been short pitchers and position players.

By now, the Bulls are in Georgia for the first time since their short, rainy visit in mid-June. This begins a round of 12 games in 11 days throughout the South — four games in Georgia, three games in South Carolina against Charlotte, five games in Virginia. This will be a time to remember that baseball’s a game and can be fun to play. I’m guessing that’s about the only way to get through this round.

Up in the northwest the news is that Louisville has had an extraordinary run and has pushed Columbus out of the lead in the West Division of the International League. Here in the South Division, the Bulls “magic number” is 11 [was 12, wrong, fixed]. Essentially, if the Bulls play .500 ball, they cannot be beaten.

Last night I turned a new page in my scorebook. I’ve been using the Reisner System and finding it very useful for the casual fan’s purposes. Worth a look if you’re one of those who takes a pencil to the ballpark.