Game 21 Recap: Can't Let Up

Despite most weather forecasts calling for a 40 or 50 percent chance of storms this Thursday evening, it was mostly clear skies at Spirit Communications Park this evening. So I head to the ballpark and got a seat to the right of the tunnel that separates the Fireflies dugout from the home team stands.

While the Fireflies have been playing better, tonight's starting pitcher in Thomas McIlraith has not had a good trajectory. The former Oklahoma Sooner pitched most of a no-hitter in his first start, but then lost his second start and gave up 5 runs in just 3+ innings in his third start. He needed a better start this game.

After Tyler Moore threw out Samir Duenez to end the top of the 1st, the usual combination got the Fireflies' a run in the first. Vinny Siena tripled and scored on a David Thompson groundout. But then Chase Vallot, who also homered Tuesday, went deep against McIlraith to tie the game at 1-1. Seems that the same guys always go deep against the Fireflies dating back to Josh Ockimey's success for Greenville.

But Lexington starter Scott Blewett (perhaps a name only bettered by his teammate Amalani Fukofuka) was like a lot of Legend starters off. Tyler Moore drove in J.C. Rodriguez to give the Fireflies the lead again, and a Joe Tuschak triple in the third made it 4-1 Fireflies. Don't know where Spirit Communications Park ranks in triples per game, but it's got to be high. The Fireflies themselves though rank only tied for third in the SAL in triples.

But while McIlraith struck out a lot (9 in 6 innings) he was not unhittable like in Charleston. A passed ball by Moore set up a Ben Johnson double to score Samir Duenez and make it 4-2 in the 4th. And Duenez homered in the 6th to cut the lead to 4-3. McIlraith did get half of his outs by strikeout and slightly lowered his ERA as well. But he also fell behind a lot of hitters and allowed six hits (1 per inning), which is respectable but not that good either. It also meant that it would be up to the Fireflies' bullpen, which is always dangerous to rely on. By contrast, while Lexington has terrible starting rotation their bullpen is at least comparatively decent. After Blewett left after the 5th, Kyle Kubat came in and allowed only one baserunner in 4 innings pitched, which was when Thompson drilled a pitch off the railing separating the outfield wall and the berm in left center for a home run. Surprisingly that was just Thompson's first home run in 18 games and his first ever at Spirit Communications Park.

If there was one pitcher I felt okay coming in, it was Seth Davis. Davis is not who you would expect to be a big-time pitcher, being only 5-10 and having pitched for a D3 college in Illinois. But coming into this game Davis was 1-0 with a save and a 2.19 ERA, plus 12 strikeouts (nearly one per inning) to 5 walks. But Davis struggled to get out of trouble in the 7th, though he made a nice play to deny Jecksson Flores a bunt single and keep the Fireflies ahead. But that couldn't happen in the 8th against the middle of the order. Samir Duenez continued his big night with his second home run (Duenez went 4 for 5 with 3 runs and 2 RBIs, if not for getting caught stealing in the 1st it would probably be considered one of the best minor league single-game performances I've seen) to make it a one run game. That shook Davis' confidence, who walked Vallot and then made an error off a Fukofuka bunt trying to make a heroic fielding effort again. Ben Johnson then drove in Vallot, and after Davis was successful in turning a DP he then gave up a double to Cody Jones to put the Legends up 6-5.

Because of his error, Davis only had one earned run allowed so his ERA wasn't hurt too bad. But he gave up four hits and two walks in less than two full innings, and fielding is part of the game and it was his fielding that gave the Legends two runs (and perhaps saved a couple runs the previous inning). While Alex Palsha came in and did alright, Davis couldn't avoid the loss as Lexington won 6-5. I don't typically like the win/loss statistic for pitchers, but it seemed warranted this game as Davis did not do what he had to pitching or fielding to keep the Fireflies ahead.

But the loss wasn't all on Davis. It may have been partly on McIlraith, who let the Legends get closer before Davis first entered the game. It may have also been largely because of the Fireflies' hitters, who completely froze up especially on breaking balls in the second half of the game. Ivan Wilson got kicked out after complaining about past calls when he struck out swinging in the 6th (which was not acknowledged by the official scorer or PA announcer until Ramos batted in his place in the 9th). Sitting near the dugout, it seems that the Fireflies were playing frustrated and frequently slammed their helmets and/or bats into the cubby hole. Aside from Thompson and Siena, nobody has been that consistently solid at the plate for the Fireflies. The lesson may be from this game (and others I've seen this year, some including the Fireflies) is that you can't let up. If you get off to a good start, make sure it's a great start or your lead probably won't last as your pitching wears out. And that is what happened this game.

Here's the updated look at the all-time Firefly player standings. Starting to have some separation between the top four guys and everybody else, though Joe Shaw could get back in the mix with a good start Sunday.

Player	Position	TB	R	RBI	BB/HBP	SB	CS	0 for 1	SO	Outs	K	R	ER	H	BB/HBP	W	S	L	Score
P.J. Conlon	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	71	18	3	3	24	2	3	0	0	343
David Thompson	3B	40	19	25	10	1	0	52	18	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	338
Vinny Siena	2B	37	21	8	21	1	1	40	17	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	301
Chase Ingram	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	66	28	8	6	21	5	2	0	1	279
Joe Shaw	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	48	21	5	5	16	3	2	0	1	209
Seth Davis	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	42	12	6	4	11	9	1	1	1	169
Tyler Bashlor	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	27	12	2	2	5	6	0	2	0	168
Alex Palsha	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	32	19	6	5	7	6	1	1	1	159
Thomas McIlraith	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	60	18	12	10	17	11	1	0	1	151
Ivan Wilson	CF	29	11	7	7	2	2	49	21	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	147
Johnny Magliozzi	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	24	6	4	4	8	2	1	2	0	142
Dash Winningham	1B	24	9	10	9	0	0	50	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	135
J.C. Rodriguez	DH	20	8	9	7	3	0	51	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	122
Joe Tuschak	LF	25	6	11	4	0	1	43	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	119
Tucker Tharp	RF	19	8	5	2	2	1	29	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	110
Kevin Canelon	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	45	19	7	7	14	7	0	0	1	106
Jeff Diehl	DH	18	7	8	10	0	0	41	19	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	94
Tyler Badamo	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	53	10	10	10	23	3	1	0	1	86
Nicco Blank	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	4	1	1	2	2	0	0	0	66
Kevin Kaczmarski	RF	14	10	3	7	0	2	41	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	52
Christian Montgomery	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	27	12	9	6	8	7	0	0	0	50
Milton Ramos	SS	13	5	8	5	0	0	41	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	49
Craig Missigman	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	31	13	8	8	10	9	0	0	0	37
Vicente Lupo	LF	7	4	2	4	0	0	16	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	34
Tyler Moore	C	11	6	3	3	0	1	36	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	24
Jose Garcia	C	4	2	1	3	0	0	12	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13
Natanael Ramos	C	4	1	1	2	0	0	10	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13
Witt Haggard	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	2	3	3	3	3	0	0	2	-58