Reno Weekly Rag: Weekend War

The Doggs/Shaddupu match up is too close to call heading into the final 3 days. The Doggs will be missing Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez from their line up for 2 days, with Coco Crisp, Jim Thome, and Mike Lowell taking their place. So with the game on the line, why have the Doggs decided to go without a live back stop during that time?




Weekend War
By Conor Intabedd; Reno Weekly Rag

The Doggs may be winning, but no one on the team feels like they've won. The 2nd round match up against the 6th seeded Weymouth Shaddupu has proved to be a bit more troublesome than most players, and fans, would have expected. The Doggs currently lead by a score of 5-4 thanks to a late night save by closer Kerry Wood, who has recorded the Doggs' only two saves of the week, and a early afternoon home run by outfielder Brad Hawpe.

"It's been a dismal campaign this week," so says Thursday pitcher Matt Cain, who lasted just 3.1 innings in yesterday's appearance. Cain relieved starter Ben Sheets, who went 6 innings, but allowed 5 earned runs on 9 hits and 3 walks, digging the Doggs in a ERA and WHIP hole they aren't expected to climb out of by the end of the week.

The Doggs' offense really isn't putting much together either, at least not by regular season standards. "The only positive thing we have to take away from this week so far, and the main thing keeping us alive is that Weymouth isn't doing too much at the plate either. As poorly as our rotation has been this week, they've done enough to keep their power at bay," commented Doggs' first baseman Albert Pujols.

The Doggs will be missing a few players for first few days of the weekend, as outfielder Alfonso Soriano, designated hitter Aramis Ramirez, and closer Kerry Wood have been trapped in their homes by Hurricane Ike. The Doggs also lost out on free agent starter Jason Marquis, who Las Vegas had been forced to drop due to his inability to start on Friday. The Doggs signed outfielder Coco Crisp and designated hitters Jim Thome and Mike Lowell to day-by-day contracts to fill in the voids left by the two missing sluggers. Matt Harrison and Bartolo Colon have been signed to hourly wages to spot start for Vegas this weekend.

"We are hoping that by signing them to hourly wages that they will last longer than some of our other starters have this week. We need them to come away with a win, and that just can't happen if they aren't pitching at least 5 innings," said GM Howe Doggs regarding the hourly wage contracts of Colon and Harrison.

The Doggs have designated catcher Nick Hundley and reliever Dan Wheeler for assignment. Both players are expected to decline the assignment, and look for work elsewhere once they clear waivers. In the mean time, the Doggs are expected to finish off the weekend without a back stop and down two closers, with Wheeler being waived and Wood missing from action. A strategy many are skeptical about going into the final days of such a tight match up.


"There are so many close categories, and though I understand Wins is one of them, saves is just as important. I'm nervous that this might come back to bite us come Sunday," long time fans and season ticket holder Chris Paul commented.

"We're really going to have to work hard this weekend. With no catcher we're just going to have to strike everyone out so that no one gets on base. If we let anyone get on base we'll lose steals for sure," said Saturday starter Joe Blanton.

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Other EHCC notes:

--Over on the East coast, Rakeville currently trails number 1 seeded Bridgewater 3-6. Most categories are close heading into the final three days. Bridgewater has 5 scheduled starters to Rakeville's 4.

--The Doggs were supposedly making phone calls to Byrd's home at 12:01 am (Pacific time), just after his waiver period had supposedly ended, only to get his voicemail stating that he was still on waivers. Doggs' brass decided to settle on signing starter Bartolo Colon instead and then headed to bed, only to awaken to the news that Byrd had signed with rival Weymouth. Byrd is schedule to pitch against Las Vegas on Saturday, while Colon is scheduled to make an appearance for the Doggs on the same day.

--The Doggs' line up isn't the only one affected by Hurricane Ike. The Weasels will be without sluggers Derek Lee and Lance Berkman for two days. Good news and bad news for Bridgewater fans, as Lee is a dismal 2 for 14 against Rakeville this week, while Berkman is 5 for 12, with 5 RBI and 4 runs scored this week thus far.