Swept

Game 77, Saturday, June 25, DBAP
Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Phillies): 7
Durham Bulls (Rays): 1
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Stats:
Game Score: Marks 56; Season 50 (10 starts, 53.1 innings)
Tm OPS: Game .558; Season .651; Diff -.093
Tm wOBA: Game .253; Season .294; Diff -.041


Game 78, Sunday, June 26, DBAP
Lehigh Valley IronPigs: 3
Durham Bulls: 2
10 innings
Season: 34-44; Home Stand: 4-3
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Stats:
Game Score: Faria 76
Tm OPS: Game .485; Season .648; Diff -.163
Tm wOBA: Game .219; Season .293; Diff -.074

After a four-game sweep of Charlotte and getting our hopes up, the Bulls lose three to the Iron Pigs. Let's just add a couple of observations to the wrap and Herald-Sun reports.

Jacob Faria's Triple-A debut was quite good. He lived up to his promise. Now the Bulls have four good starters in the mix.

Just what is Dylan Floro? We've watched him all last year as a starting pitcher. This year he looked to be a long reliever. Then he moved into a closer role and did OK (4 saves, 2 blown saves) at that. Seems to me to be a tough deal to change roles in mid-game, as he had to do last night. At a distance, he doesn't seem to be being treated right this year.

Why is a sub .200 hitter swinging away on a 3-0 count with runners in scoring position (Seitzer, 4th inning)?

Sounds a bit like the guys in the press box are paying attention to other issues as well. Here's a quote from the Herald-Sun:

Sandberg said he was not alarmed at four batters in two days watching called third strikes with runners in scoring position. “It’s part of the game. Hitting’s not easy,” he said. A hitter’s decision to swing “depends on the pitch sequence, pitch type, their approach.”

By the way, the Bulls dropped back to third place in the South Division.

Outside the game —

• Steve Geltz is coming back.
• So is Tyler Sturdevant.
• Danny Farquhar got called up under the double-header roster expansion rule, pitched one inning, giving up a home run, and was immediately sent back. At least I think that's what happened.
• The Tampa Bay Rays have lost eleven games in a row. Rays bloggers are speculating about whether or not Rays leadership will blow the team up and hope for better luck next year.  Unfortunately for those of us watching their careers, the Bulls who've been called up in recent weeks don't seem to have been able to take advantage of their opportunity (Taylor Motter, Nick Franklin, Jaff Decker).

Road to .500

A while back broadcaster Scott Pose made the observation that this year it looks like a team could take the IL South Division just by playing .500 ball. I thought I'd put together a "Road to .500" chart to see how the Bulls were doing toward that goal. From mid-season, 72 games, here's how it's going.