Weather shortened the opening series of the Ottawa Lynx home stand from four to three games against the Southern Division leading Richmond Braves and that was probably a good thing considering how the Lynx played. Ottawa continued their trend of when they lost it was a blow out and when they won, it was a tight dramatic victory. The pitching staff continued to be beaten up and this time the defence which had been solid all season couldn’t get the job done. The frustration was beginning to show on the face of manager John Russell and if Ottawa are going anywhere this season, the team is going to have to start playing much better.

Games one and three were ugly loses with the games gone early. Richmond won the first game 12-3 as Brave outfielder Doug Clark drove in six runs, (four on a grand slam in the sixth off of Jason Anderson with the score 6-3), and Lynx starter Zach Segovia lasted only 2.2 innings, giving up four runs, (three earned). Segovia had trouble locating his fastball and Richmond made him pay on their way to rapping out eighteen hits against Segovia and four other relief pitchers. Although the Lynx managed ten hits of their own, (eight in 6.2 innings against starter Kevin Barry, (2-2)), they managed only three runs, (one earned), leaving seven on base. Pedro Swann went 3-4 including his first home run of the season and Jim Rushford knocked in the other two Lynx runs.

Game two of the series was a 5-4 Lynx victory thanks to a dramatic one out bottom of the ninth walk off home run by Joe Thurston, his first home run of the season. Bubba Nelson gave up all four Richmond runs in his seven innings of work but got the outs when he needed them, working out of some tight situations and striking out seven. Brian Sanches, (1-1), picked up the win with a perfect ninth, striking out two, setting the stage for Thurston.

“I was looking for something I could drive but if I didn’t get it I thought about bunting, just to get on and get something going,” explained Thurston. “Fortunately, I got a pitch I could do something with. We needed a win, especially after last night.”

“I made some mistakes out there. Those guys are big and strong and if you make a mistake they’ll make you pay,” offered Nelson. “The guys picked me up on defence and I managed to keep us in the game.”

Ottawa wasn’t so fortunate the next day and as often happens, when things are going badly, bad luck seems to pile on. Kane Davis, (1-1), was the scheduled starter but tweaked a muscle, (turned out to be more than a tweak as Davis was placed on the DL the next day), on his last warm up pitch, forcing manager Russell to make a last minute pitching change. Rick Bauer,(1-3), who has struggled all season long, was the necessary last minute starter for the Lynx and lasted only two innings, giving up five runs, (only one was earned though), putting Ottawa in another early hole and eventually on the losing end 9-1. Richmond counted sixteen hits with Graham Koonce hitting a three run home run in the second inning.

“It’s never easy for any pitcher starting in that situation. Rick didn’t pitch nearly as badly as the numbers show and his throwing error and the bad throw by Sandoval didn’t help,” explained Russell. “But at the same time, you’ve got to overcome mistakes. Our pitching just didn’t get it done again today.” This game was effectively over after two innings as Richmond starter Dan Smith, (2-0), in only the second Triple A start of his career since being promoted from Double A, worked 6.2 innings and gave up the only Lynx run of the game.

After rain cancelled game four of the Ottawa vs. Richmond series and game one of the four game series was postponed due to travel problems from Durham, the Bulls and Lynx got their four game series underway with a double header, (reschedule of game one and then the scheduled June 6^th game). This time the Ottawa pitching came through but the offense, while getting plenty of hits, featured miserable situational hitting, mental errors and poor execution as Durham took both games, 2-0 and 4-3, (in ten innings). Three Ottawa pitchers limited Durham to four hits as starter Eude Brito pitched four shutout innings, allowing three hits and three walks but stranding six base runners. Joe Ennis replaced him and threw two perfect innings. Durham starter Matt Talbot, (5-5), allowed five hits but pitched a complete game shutout as Ottawa got only one runner to second base all game, that a game leading off double by Chris Roberson. As happened all night for Ottawa, the Lynx stranded Roberson on third, as it turned out, their only scoring chance of the game. Durham won the game in the seventh. Coming into the game, the Bulls had hit thirty five home runs in their last nineteen games. Joel Guzman made it twenty in the top of the seventh. Guzman had entered the game in the sixth inning, replacing Jorge Valandia who had been hit by a pitch and was unable to continue. Lynx reliever Matt Smith, (2-1), began the seventh by striking out the first two Durham batters and extending his scoreless streak to 14.1 innings. Bull shortstop Ben Zorbrist worked a two out walk bringing Guzman to the plate. Guzman, despite having not played until the sixth and with no at bats on the day, homered deep to left on the first pitch he saw giving Durham the 2-0 lead. Smith eventually struck out the side but the game was done. Game two saw more Durham home run power as they hit three more home runs, all four of their runs the result of the long ball., the winner hit by Justin Ruggiano, (his only hit of the game), leading off the tenth inning off of Joe Besinius, (1-2). Despite getting fourteen hits, Ottawa could not get the runs home again. Two plays illustrate the lack of execution and situational hitting plaguing the Lynx this season. Ottawa managed three straight hits to open their half of the second inning and scored one run with runners on first and second and none out. Carlos Leon, who had singled in Pedro Swann with the go ahead run was the runner on first. Just when it appeared that Ottawa was going to break the game open, Chris Roberson struck out for the first out but Leon wandered too far off of first and was picked off by Durham catcher Christian Lopez, double play and a Joe Thurston fly out to left ended the threat. Failure to execute the sacrifice bunt lead to another missed opportunity, this time a chance to win the game in the eighth inning. Jim Rushford lead off the inning with a double, ( his second hit of the game), and Russell called for Dusty Wathan to sacrifice him to third. Wathan couldn’t get the job done, popping out to the catcher. Swann and Sandoval followed with fly outs to left. No one can predict what might have happened had Wathan executed the play but the usual defensive move would have been to walk the bases loaded and take your chances. The game should have been won then and there by Ottawa. Durham were able to take advantage of their opportunities while the Lynx continue to waste theirs.

Game four saw the continuation of the Lynx losing streak, now four games, and dropped them to 7.5 back of first place Buffalo. Durham took their third game in a row, this time by a 9-5 score. Once again, the Lynx starting pitching put the team in an early hole as the Bulls scored once in the first and three times in the second, amassing six hits. Ottawa starter Zach Segovia, (1-7), did go seven innings but gave up thirteen hits and eight runs, (five earned). The Lynx climbed back into a tie with single runs in the second and third and two in the fourth, (Joe thurston double), but Durham continued to rough up Segovia. The Lynx defence fell apart in the sixth inning leading to three Durham runs effectively putting an end to any Lynx hopes for a rally. After an error by third baseman Joey Hammond to lead off the inning, Segovia gave up consecutive singles to Chris Richard and Joel Guzman bringing home the fifth Durham run. That’s when the wheels came off the wagon for Ottawa. Lynx catcher Jason Jaramillo attempted to pick Guzman off first but Lynx first baseman Dusty Wathan was caught completely unaware and with his back turned to home plate, didn’t see the throw which sailed by him, allowing Richard to score and Guzman to advance all the way to third. Durham scored their third run of the inning on a Josh Johnson single before the next two batters were retired, ending this very ugly inning. Ottawa rallied in the ninth scoring one run but with the bases loaded and two out, wathan grounded out to third, ending the Lynx comeback.

Lynx Notes: Ottawa finished up their four game series against Durham tonight then hit the road for a four game series in Pawtucket. They return home June 14 for an eight game home stand, four against Columbus then four against Toledo. They are currently 25-31 and 7.5 games back of Buffalo. Recent addition from Single A Charles Weatherby gets the start tonight.