Notes: Starting rotation competition gets tougher

Ohka adds to the stats
By Beth Sass / hereforthesass.blogspot.com

MINNEAPOLIS -- Sass pitcher Tomo Ohka was working as hard as he could to keep up with the other Sass pitchers. It just seemed for naught, but he got a hand from the least likely sources: his own teammates.

"I was so proud of them for coming forward for me like that. It was like Mercutio and Benvolio sticking up for Romeo. Even though I'm not even close to taking this competition, e.e. [Sass third baseman E. Encarnacion] and [Sass outfielder A.] Dunn totally gave me a hand," said Ohka.

In a twist, Dunn and Encarnacion were hitting against their teammate Ohka. Both of them walked once and got one hit off Ohka, and neither accounted for Ohka's three strike-outs, and Encarnacion was responsible for one of Ohka's four earned runs.

"It was my pleasure to help a teammate compete against the other pitchers," Encarnacion said, gleefully. "That totally rocked--he was so excited when I came back to the dugout after hitting my home run-- even though I hit it off the relief pitcher, one of Tomo's runners was on base when I hit it. It was just too awesome for words."

Encarnacion's home run also ensured that Ohka could not get a win.

"I couldn't be prouder of the effort these guys are putting into their competition," Beth said with a smile. "If you're going to lose, you gotta do it with style."

The Pitching Meltdown Update: Sass pitcher K. Lohse still leads the starters in ERA, at 21.60. Since he will not get another start this week, he only had one chance, and he made it good.

"I'm a bit nervous. Another really bad outing by Jerk-Head and I'd lose," Lohse said.

Ohka's also only had one chance, and ended the week with an ERA of only 9.00, but his WHIP was an impresive 3.00. Among the starters, only R. Johnson's WHIP is higher.

J. Duscherererer was very proud of himself, pitching only 1/3 of an inning last night. "Oh, wow! I was so excited how well things went now that I knew I was competing in this contest!" Duchschererer said, "I did my best, and the results are so there!"

Duchscherer's ERA sky-rocketed to 11.57, with a team-leading 3.86 WHIP. As a reliever, he knows it's entirely possible that he'll get into another game this week, with a chance to even out-score Johnson.

The only pitcher that's holding out is A. Burgos, who has not had an opportunity to pitch since he learned about the contest, making his 0.00 ERA and 1.50 WHIP look sadly out of place.

Supper Time! With some extra time to spend around town after this afternoon's game before heading out on their next road trip, the Sass were looking for something to do. They wanted to eat before getting on the plane, so they convinced Sass management to take them out for supper. After putting all the suggestions into Sass utility man R. Mackowiak's fishing hat, it was decided that McDonald's was the place to go.

Dawn rounded out the players, and they adjourned from the clubhouse to the local McDonald's. Sass reliever A. Burgos was disappointed that there was no PlayPlace, although Sass pitcher K. Lohse reminded him that he was too tall.

After all the orders were sorted out, the team sat down to eat.

"The biggest trouble," Dawn said, "was trying to get e.e. [Sass outfielder E. Encarnacion] and Ambiorix [Burgos] to sit down and eat. I finally had to take their toys from their Happy Meals away until they finished eating--they were so busy playing and not eating that I was afraid we were going to have to hold the plane."

Johnson throws a tantrum, Part XIV: Beth informed Johnson last Thursday that he was being demoted to the bullpen. Johnson, who has started 517 of the 527 games he was in, last made a relief appearance in 2001. The only year in his career that he's made more than one relief appearance was in 1996.

"I'm appalled. Looking at my long track record of starting and dominance as a starting pitcher, this is an insult of the top degree!" Johnson stormed out of the room.

"Dude, you suck," responded Dawn. It is unknown if she was talking about his last pitching performance, or just about him in general. Either could apply, and she did not elaborate.

Cutting their losses: With reliever B. Medders coming off the DL, the Sass management had to make a decision on who to cut. B. Looper was placed out on waivers.

"It's not that we didn't like him, or didn't want him. In fact, I was really liking the guy, but it came down to the fact that someone had to be cut, and Looper lost the round of rock-paper-scissors," Beth said, "If someone else gets injured, we'll take Looper back.

Tonight: Tonight, K. Benson will take the mound, in an effort to boost his stats.

Currently, the Sass are being shut-out by SBGF's team, and see no hope in any pitching categories.

"It is that bad," Beth said. "I can't see any way his team could meltdown in such a fashion that we could beat him in any of those categories. There's a little more hope from our hitters--in a few categories we're only losing by one or two."