MLB 09 "Road to the Show" It was a rough month. - N51_rob's Blog

N51_rob's Blog

MLB 09 "Road to the Show" It was a rough month.

Posted on March 8, 2009 at 04:57 PM.

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Like the title says. May was a very difficult month for Rich Robinson and his quest to pitch in the big leagues. How bad was it. I didn't get a win in the month, not only not a win but I took 4 losses! That isn't a misprint I was 1-4 in the month of May. My ERA for the month of May was a large and ugly 5.18! Yeah, I couldn't get a break. The umps were squeezing me and I was getting blasted. I think I gave up 4 or 5 homeruns. It also doesn't help that the offense has pretty much left me in the wind for most of my starts.

First was the Knights. This was a particularly tough game to lose. I was cruising through the first the first 3 innings. The 4th was the start of the end for me. I gave up a run on 3 hits, struck out 1. The 5th inning is where the wheels came off. I walked the first batter. Struck out the next one, the runner on first stole 2nd, stuck out the second hitter and then I gave up a 2 run home run, and another single. I was able to get out of the inning. I was done. Despite a strong game I only got 1 rub of support and took a tough loss. The bullpen held them hitless the rest of the game and despite getting 7 hits to their 6 we only manged 1 measly run.
2nd loss

Web Gem Candidate

Well I followed that game up with another tough game. It was against the Bison. It was another not bad start, but bad results. 5 innings, 7 hits, 3 ER's and another loss. Frustrating to say the least. Leaving the game down 3-0 and seeing that you lost 7-4. The Syracuse offense has really struggled. It doesn't help that one of the best bats in the line up 3B Virgilio Polanco is on the DL. In 40 games he was hitting .298 with 7 HR's and 29 RBI's 4 behind the team leader (Griffey Jr) with 17 less games. The May swoon continues.
3rd loss in a row

Following that game was my 4th loss in a row. This one hurt more than the others for several reasons. It would mark the first time in my career that I was under .500 as a pitcher, my defense let me down and my offense only supplied me with 1 run of offensive support. Hard to get excited about that on the hill.
5.1 innings, 5 runs, 3 earned runs, 8 hits.
4th loss

Following that loss. Perhaps my team was feeling for me or, they just faced a bad pitcher. But whatever it was it got me off the schnide. A 6 run explosion allowed me to gather my 4th win of the year despite my best efforts to try to give it away in the 7th. With a 6-2 lead going into the 7th the skipper let me go out there and pitch some more. I was feeling good. 5 hits through 6 innings. It wasn't to last. The Braves got three hits, 3 runs, (a 2 run home run.) and made the game really close and I though that I was headed for loss number 5. The bullpen was great in relief. Holding onto the lead and preserving my 4th win of the season.
4th Win!!!

On another note. I think guys are starting to sit on my fastball. It's good 92-96 MPH. But with my other pitches not being as good as need be I tend to lean on the heat when I get into trouble. I've also gotten better at handling lefties. I pretty much keep my change-up away from them now. A lesson learned after giving up 6 HR's thus far on the season.

Comments

# 1 GTjeff519 @ Mar 8

nice update. we have very similar pitching stats. i will go 3-1, then 1-3 with no run support. looking at your season stats we are also similar except my BAA is a crazy .290. hits and innings pitched are close, im just over 1 hit per inning. i also rely a lot on my fastball with ive gotten up to 98 at times. 1 thing ive been doing lately is once ahead in the count ive been going to the fastball outside of the zone which has been giving more strikeouts and less runs....finally. keep the updates coming.

# 2 snugglyirishman @ Mar 9

great update...I completed a full season as a pitcher and it started off great. I was 8-3 but following 5 straight losses and a trade i was moved to the bullpen. I finished that season off with a 12-9 record. But my new season has started off at 3-0. I had the same problem with the fastball, they were crushing it, but i got it up to around 97 consistently and worked hard on the changeup and it seems to be working...keep the updates coming!

# 3 BlyGilmore @ Mar 9

nice to see you moved your RTTS updates to the blog. Keep up the good work!

# 4 N51_rob @ Mar 10

Thanks Bly, it was a good idea. I'm usually about two games ahead of the updates so there should be another one today when I get home. Preview: More of the same.