Baseball Tri-Weekly: ATB Week 2

While the rest of the offense sputtered, Jose Reyes continued to be the Doggs catalyst. He scored eight runs and belted in a surprising 7 RBI, leading his team in both categories. The only category he didn't excel in was crotch grabs.

Around the Bases: Week 2
by Listen DePlayohs, Baseball Tri-Weekly

The first week provided some last minute drama often found later in the season, when teams have more on the line and clutch performances have higher profiles. Teams who know how to win often do, and the EHCCs opening matchups showed us once again why champions are champions.

The Las Vegas Doggs were on the ropes against an expansion team, losing to the Arlington Warriors going into the final day. Besides bragging rights, and a valuable division win, the Doggs were looking to extend a 15-game winning streak and tie a record set by the Quebec City Piglets in 2003.

"It is something we didn’t want to talk about in the clubhouse," said Curt Shilling, whose Sunday performance helped lift the Doggs past Arlington. "We all knew what was at stake, and we all knew it would be a shame if we couldn’t win."

Homeruns by Albert Pujols and Jason Bay gave them edge on offense and the Dogg’s four Sunday starters struck out 19 Warriors and notched 3 wins. The Doggs hurlers held Arlington batters to a .125 batting average.

"It was a victory to be proud of," said General Manager Howe Dogg. "Our guys may not be playing at the highest level yet, but they know how to turn it on when it counts."

Ironically, the Doggs will look to break the unbeaten streak record against a team who has a noteworthy record of their own. Tokyo is carrying a three-year, 26-game winless streak into their week 2 matchup against Las Vegas. What the Omyoujis wouldn’t give to cut off both streaks.

"Losing is something this team has dealt with for a long time," said reliever Joel Zumaya. "We will shake it off our backs this season, and I am excited to be a part of it. We are going to make teams hurt."

Golden at Bridgewater
Both teams looked brilliant in their first games of the season, but not all your games can be played against patsies. Golden has been strong, but a batch of injuries are slowing them down more and more everyday. Outfielder Johnny Damon is recovering from a strained calf, while pitcher Mike Schmidt pulled a hamstring. Both injuries hurt, but with Schmidt expected to make two starts this week, his gimp has left the Golden staff in bad shape.

Billed as oldest team in the EHCC, Bridgewater has done a reasonable job at getting younger and when compared to Golden’s aging pitchers, the Weasels are deep and vibrant. They should have little trouble taking wins, strikeouts and saves this week. Offensively, it is really anyone’s guess this early in the season. Both have strong lineups from top to bottom. Golden has a few one-dimensional hitters, like Juan Pierre, Jason Giambi and Adam Dunn who could cause some problems against Bridgewater’s more well-rounded team.

I expect Bridgewater to take this one, but I’m not ruling out a Golden
upset.

Santo Domingo at Quebec City
A good game last week translated into a win for the Piglets, and though a handful of players struggled, it was enough to take down the Hispanics. For the White Devils, nothing went right. Dominican hitters couldn’t muster a single homerun off of Golden pitchers, and outside of Noah Lowry, their pitching was brutal.

You can’t expect a team to come together over night, and in the face of the West’s best club, I don’t expect it to happen this week. The Piglets only hindrance is that Elijah Dukes is starting in the outfield, and has gotten substantial playing time since Hideki Matsui’s injury. It shouldn’t hurt this week, but expect a replacement or recovery before next week’s game.

Tokyo at Las Vegas
Like I said before, this is one game to watch this week. Las Vegas, with something on the line, is a lock. Especially at home. Even with that bold pronouncement, it still should be an excellent game and the coverage will be top notch. EhSPN will broadcast the game in HD, EhSPN will have every odd camera angle you can imagine, and EhSPN.com will stream EHCC Gameday statistical coverage.

Transactions
Golden cut reliever Mike Stanton, the last player in their bullpen, and have ultimately decided to punt saves.

Quebec City has freed themselves from Gil Meche’s unwieldy contract after the right-hander gave up six runs against the Hispanics. The Piglets have added three relievers, Salomon Torres, David Weathers and Henry Owens since the draft. If one or two end up as closers, the Piglets could make a move to re-establish their bullpen later in the season.

Coco Crisp is no longer a Warrior, cut in favor of Mike Jacobs. The
outfielder shouldn’t be out of work long, unless he continues to suck.

League notes
Several Bridgewater fans were arrested after the Weasels victory last week, cited for public endangerment. According to police, Henry Valdez and friends released several live weasels into the Stoneham Bird Sanctuary’s cardinal pen, where the animals devoured all of the red avian.

Golden DH Jim Thome lost five pounds during their game in Santo Domingo. "The heat just got to him," said a Golden team trainer, but later reports indicated it was a shark that got him, biting five pounds of flesh off his leg. The latter report is still unconfirmed.

To celebrate the team’s opening day, Tijuana groundskeepers painted a giant T in the middle of the outfield, killing all the grass. Now, team officials are scrambling to find enough green paint to cover the dirt.