Banny Log - 7/27

Start No. 23: Vs. Arkansas Golden Falcons
Innings: 7
Hits: 7
Earned runs allowed: 3.
Strikeouts: 3
Walks: 2
Homers: 3
Extra base hits: 3.
Decision: W (8-5)
Number of pitches: 99
Number of strikes: 68
BABIP: .267 (4 for 15)

***

So, a new change of scenery seems to have done Banny some good. After being hassled by Carolina pitching coach Sid Fernandez to "just pitch", Newark's counterpart Mike Grace seems to have taken a more laissez-faire approach to Banny. And the results were positive so far. With Unit and James Shields on the shelf, Banny will have at least one or two more chances with the Sugar Bears. Banny told me on the phone last night that he was tinkering less with his pitches and just let his fielders do the work for him.

Banny was cruising along, shutting out the mighty Falcons for five innings before giving up the first of the three solo homers he would eventually surrender. But it was no problem, Newark had already scored 12 runs* giving Banny a nice comfortable lead before there were any signs of a problem.

*Newark really laid a beatdown on the Falcons in this series. In game one, the score was 13-4, followed up by a 14-5 pounding in the second game. The third game was the worst of them all - a 16-3 final. The Falcons bullpen has been declared a National Disaster Area* after this weekend's debacle.

* The Falcons had to use 8 relievers in yesterday's first game, and 7 in game two. They used 7 in game one on Saturday. It got so bad that starters Curt Schilling, Ian Snell, and Andy Sonnanstine* had to be called into action.

* Sorry, last Pozterisk for now. Andy Sonnanstine was drafted by the Falcons as a starter and he projects in the rotation, but the Falcons can't send him to the minors and they don't dare start him in their rotation, so for the most part, he's been sitting on the bench watching the team play, maybe reading a certain book about the 1975 Cincinnati Reds. But the Falcons pitching staff has been quite a disaster, and the "starter" has been called into 13 games in a relief role so far this season, including twice this weekend. The results haven't been all that great, but Andy has won 2 games (and lost twice), and picked up some valuable DMBL experience.

Banny's next scheduled start is Friday at Vancouver against Ben McDonald candidate Jake Peavy*. It'd be interesting to see if he can find success against a tougher matchup - Vancouver is the second best offense in the league.

*It would have been more fun to watch Javier Vazquez take on Jake Peavy, since both are at the top of the wins column and Vazquez doesn't ever seem to lose (18-1). Call it the case of an irresistable force vs. an irresistable force. If only...

If this makes no sense to you, I refer you to http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/