Deeefense

Season: 29-23; Home Stand: 5-1
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Yes, the pitching was pretty good, but five pitchers don’t get a shutout without some awfully good defense. Case in point: in the Chief’s 4th they had a man on second base who came around towards home plate on a single to right. Mikie Mahtook threw a very accurate bullet for a very pretty play at home. In the 6th, runner on second, a ground ball to shortstop Leonardo Reginatto’s left, runner goes to towards third, but Reginatto throws to 3B instead of 1B for the out. Then on the next play a sharp grounder to 1B leads to a double play.

In all, the Chiefs left 11 runners on base. Meanwhile, Mikie Mahtook drew a walk and had a very well-hit double. We can hope. Meanwhile, J.P. Arencibia had 3 Ks and his average has dropped to .194. Alan Dykstra continues to tease us. He got another RBI double, but remains well-below .200 at .156.

Apparently Matt Andriese is to be the Bulls 5th starter. See the Herald-Sun link for a review of pitcher management by Jared Sandberg. In the meantime, a bunch of them got their chance last night and several worked their way out of problems.

One difference in this matchup with the Chiefs is that they must have decided to crowd the plate a bit. Bulls pitchers have only accumulated 13 hit batsman calls this year, but 5 of them came during this series with the Syracuse Chiefs. Of course, it’s only fair to point out that Bulls hitters are second in the IL in getting hit, with 21 on the season.

Outside the game —

• There I was, singing away at the stretch, when I realized that I hadn’t had any Cracker Jack this year. I took a quick look at the concession stands and realized that Cracker Jack was not to be found. Awwww! Say it ain't so!
• Tampa Bay Rays infielder Tim Beckham has gone on the disabled list. At the moment the only Bulls position players on the 40-man are catcher Curt Casali, outfielder Mikie Mahtook, and infielder Ryan Brett.
• I heard last night that reliever Ronald Belisario has an “opt-out” contract and the date is coming due soon. Last night was his 13th save (and his third in three days). He leads the IL in saves. So will the Rays do some razzle-dazzle to get him on the 40-man and call him up, or let him go, or will he decide to stay?

In the wings (players who’ve been with the Bulls this year) —

• Infielder Juniel Querecuto played 3B for the Charlotte Stone Crabs, went 1 for 4 with a walk, and scored a run in a 2-0 win. Box