May 13, Monday series vs bham

OVER THE WEEKEND

wearing out the bases

We are going to need to get new bases, the ones we have will be worn to the stuffing by midsummer at the rate opposing hitters have been trampling them.

Last week the Braves beat the Biscuits like a dirty rug. Only able to salvage one game of the five game set makes one wonder if the Skitz are contenders or pretenders. The nice work from the previous road trip was undone on the homestand.

As long as the starting pitching is allowed to under achieve and keep doling out a couple baserunners an inning, it won't matter how many runs Montgomery puts on the board.

Flat last in the league in ERA, runs allowed, hits allowed, home runs allowed and all manner of pitching numbers that equal one simple phrase -  our pitching stinks.

JR GRAHAM'S STIRRUPS
one of the best parts of the week was seeing JR Graham, not only is he a prospect but he has good uniform sense - wearing the stirrups and showing plenty of sock in a classic baseball way. Good to see a guy who dresses like a baseball player.

JR Graham pitching with a Biscuit on base

THE WEEK AHEAD
Day games and a tough Barons team. Seemingly unbeatable at the new park, the Biscuits have their work cut out for them to turn around after a bad week. Focusing on a new opponent may help right the ship, and build the Skitz back up for a rematch vs the Braves at the end of the month.

BARONS
Game one fell into the loss column, though not around to see the end of it was Billy Gardner Jr - he was tossed midgame for arguing. However since I didnt listen to the radio broadcast, its a mystery to me as to why.

Its a pet peeve of mine that ejections arent given mention in the game writeup. In spite of the fact that it is often the most exciting part of the game, mainstream media refuses to include any reference of what is probably the biggest play of the day - perhaps the series.

The Skitz got a few runs off of starter Spencer Arroyo, but the win went to the Barons after a five run seventh inning, courtesy of starter Jake Thompson and middle reliever Braulio Lara. Quate added a run in his one inning, but the damage was done and only served to inflate his era to 18.90.

GAME TWO
Biscuit Buschmann will face Erik Johnson. In seven games Johnson has punched out an average of one hitter every inning, winning two and losing one. His era of 2.52 says he is a tough day at the plate for most hitters, .216 BABIP is excellent for a starter and tells us even when a guy gets wood on the ball it's not usually well struck.

GAME THREE AND BEYOND
 RHP McRay, lefty Snodgress and either Whisler or McCully are the starters for the rest of the series. Those last two each can start or relieve, and would be welcome sights to Biscuit hitters after facing the first two Barons starters. Whisler the former big leaguer.

McRay and Snodgress both have fine ERAs, 3.16 and 3.98 respectively - however they arent piling up strikeout numbers. Both pitchers, especially McRay have had games where they gave up high hit totals, including a game Snodgress tossed against Montgomery back on April 28. That day the Skitz tallied six runs against him as he allowed 11 baserunners in just five innings but still managed to come out with the victory.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Seeing as we just lost four out of five at home to a team with fewer wins than the Barons, the Skitz will be working just to improve. Taking two games of the series would be on the plus side, but I try to be a realist about such things and expect we may have trouble posting even that many.

All the starters for Birmingham have ERA's under four - only two Biscuit starters can boast ERA's under five. The Barons team ERA is almost a run and a half better than Montgomery.

Montgomery hitters put up a team Batting Average of .238 - Birmingham is hitting .273 on the year.

Birmingham has scored 39 more runs than the Biscuits have this year. The Barons pitchers will allow baserunners and Montgomery has to push them across, because Birmingham scores often.

Switch hitting 1b Dan Black has been great in the first forty five days, hitting .331 with 34 runs batted in.

The prognosis for this series is not good... Skitz fans should cover their eyes, instead of watching these games they should be looking forward to getting out of Bham and moving on to face last place Huntsville and last place Pensacola in the next two series, making up for facing two of the toughest teams in the league in back to back series.