Week 18: Bulls Split with Red Sox, slip to 3rd Place

This was a very odd week up in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Bulls scored 16 runs in the first game and 5 in the second. Then they gave up 17 runs as they lost the next three games (including being no-hit 0-12 in one of them). They wrapped it up with a 9-3 day game yesterday. For the week, the Bulls scored 30 runs and the Red Sox scored 30 runs, which doesn't say much for either team's pitching.

Speaking of pitching, the Bulls had some ugly moments during the week. Young, but well-traveled, Luis Patiño, only made it through ⅔ of the 1st inning on Saturday as he gave up 3 hits, 2 walks, and 4 runs and then tried to wave off manager Brian Williams as he came out to take the ball away from him. A few outs later rehabbing JT Chargois gave up 3 hits, 1 BB, and 2 runs in just ⅓ of an inning (going back-to-back yesterday, he faced two batters in the 4th inning, got two outs, and looked a good bit better). A day earlier, rising star Taj Bradley did make it through 5 innings, but also gave up 4 runs on 6 hits and a walk. Overall, a messy week.

The Red Sox's new home in Worcester looks very nice and they've got a superb camera crew and broadcast team. I only watched a few innings over the week, but it looks like a nice place to watch a ball game. 

The Bulls started the week in a tie for first place in the IL East. Meanwhile, Jacksonville went 5-1 against Memphis. That was enough to take them into 1st place. Lehigh Valley went 4-2 against Syracuse and rose to 2nd place, one game ahead of Durham, now in 3rd place. Standings

Matchup

As mentioned, Jacksonville, Miami's AAA team, had a good week against Memphis and is coming to town in first place in the IL East. As the chart shows, the Jumbo Shrimp and Bulls have been close to each other much of the year, but today is the largest spread between the two teams in recent weeks. This will be the last time they play this year The series could be decisive for the Bulls in the IL East.

The Jumbo Shrimp have a slight edge in every category, which is worrisome. However, as hard as it must be to believe, they have had even more roster turmoil than the Bulls. Miami has inflicted a total of 23 transactions on Jacksonville in the first week of August. Tampa Bay has "only" run 8 transactions through. And there is the sheer size of the team's pitching rosters. Durham has a huge advantage with their 19 active pitchers, plus 2 rehabbers. Jacksonville only has 14 plus 1 rehabber. And they only have 3 lefties, who have been giving the Bulls fits in recent weeks.