Thiefs!

Season: 39-22; Trip: 2-1
Wrap, Box, Indians Wrap

One of the very distinctive features of this year’s Bulls team is their speed. Charlie Montoyo loves base stealing, but the last couple of years he didn’t have the runners that he had, say, back in 2010 (150 steals, #2 in the IL). This year the Bulls have stolen 70 bases and are on track to beat that 2010 number. They are in second place to … the Indianapolis Indians. Rehabbing Pirate James McDonald was their main victim last night as the Bulls stole 8 bases, which must be a near record. Rich Thompson took 4 (22), Brandon Guyer took 2 (9), and Wil Myers took 2 (5). Add to that the superb infield work that turned three double plays and you have the makings of a terrific game.

All you need now is pitching and hitting.

The pitching came from Jake Odorizzi who settled down after an awkward 1st inning to fill out 6 innings on 101 pitches. I’m sure Josh Lueke doesn’t want to be back with the Bulls, but WDBB is happy to see his < 1.00 ERA . Two very strong innings followed by Kirby Yates 2 BB, but 2 K, 9th.

[Note: WDBB is forgoing a rant about the Rays pulling a pitcher (that would be Mr. Yates) right off the mound in the middle of a game the other night, since the Bulls eventually won the game in the 13th, but ...]

We are left with the hitters. By the time Wil Myers settled into the box in the 1st, Thompson and Guyer had stolen a couple of bases and Thompson was standing on third. A sac fly brought him home. In the 3rd when Myers was again in the box, Thompson was again on third base, having stolen second and third again. This time Myers singled him in. Then Myers stole second base and was doubled in by Shelley Duncan. Aggressive base running in the 4th and again the the 6th helped. In addition to his stolen bases, Brandon Guyer added a couple of RBI to his list.

Outside the game —

• They are putting in fresh sod at the DBAP after the stress of the ACC tournament. Grounds keeper Scott Strickland tweets that the storm will help even as it delays some of the work. You can check out their work on the stadium webcam.
• When I saw the story of Buffalo Bisons manager getting a three-day suspension I wondered why. Was able to chase this down from a game in Norfolk last Sunday. Pretty childish, even if he was at least close to being right. Deserves suspension. Actually, I think he got off light.