We started Chapter Five by losing a series to Darien, allowing them to sneak to the top of the division for the first time this year. We even managed to lose two games to left-handed starters after having added three lefty-mashing bats to our lineup at the end of Chapter Four.
We split against Flagstaff, losing both games in extra innings. We also split a series against last-place Ravenswood's robot manager. Thankfully, we managed to take three of four from Lake Norman, Cleveland, and Charlotte, and swept the West Chester Blooms. That put us at 18-10 for the chapter.
For now, we own sole possession of first place. Flagstaff's chapter is over, after they went 20-8 for the chapter. Darien still has sixteen games left to play. If they go just 9-7 in those 16 games, they will catch us. Given that four of those games are against West Chester, that seems like a lock.
We continued to knock the cover off the ball in Chapter Five, batting .295/.364/.513 as a team and averaging an even six runs per game. But I made a major, major, error by over-using Aaron Hicks. As a result, if we should make it to the Division Series, it will be without Hicks and his .337/.417/.483 bat against lefties.
Our Chapter Five pitching was a mixed bag. Michael Lorenzen, of all people, will probably be the OL Pitcher of the Chapter. He went a perfect 5-0 in five starts, with a 0.50 ERA. He pitched a complete-game gem (3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K) against Darien, and dominated Flagstaff (8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K) as well. On the other end of the spectrum, JP Sears posted an ugly 7.36 ERA in three games (14+ IP.) And our newest "closer," Craig Kimbrel, was lit up like a Christmas tree: 9 IP, 7 H, 11 R, 8 BB, 16 K, 3 HR.)
Our usage is going to be extremely tight down the stretch -- especially in the bullpen -- so I'd like to get the Flagstaff and Darien series done first in Chapter Six. Of course, people usually like to save those big series for last, so we'll see how that goes.
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