By Hamish Campbell
Claymores Beat Writer
The Edinburgh News
Edinburgh, Scotland – There may have been some blather about May and hopeful notes towards the end of the last edition of Claymores Flashback.
Well, never mind.
Scotland slipped back into its losing ways last week, going 2-4, evening its May record at 5-5, and dropping its overall record to 6 games under .500.
Pitching continues to be this club’s Achilles heel, as the bats are ever so slowly starting to come around. The Claymores have climbed to 6th in the Imperial League for runs scored, and rank between 4th and 6th in most consequential offensive categories.
Not so with pitching. Here, the Claymores rank between 11th and 13th in most pitching categories. The club’s current run differential is -15, which is a huge departure from the past two seasons where Scotland run differential was always hugely positive.
It’s not all “woe is me,” though.
One hugely positive sign is that Pat Barry’s bat seemingly has awoken from its long Scottish slumber: he’s raised his season slash line to .301/.347/.588 and has hit 10 homers and knocked in 26. He ranks 2nd in the IL for homers, 3rd for RBIs, and leads the league in slugging percentage and OPS.
It’s been a long time coming, but Pat Barry is finally playing like Pat Barry.
If Vincent Powell could just start playing like Vincent Powell, well, maybe we’d have something.
Speaking of which, the Claymores have called up Clark Snow from his rehab assignment in AAA Aberdeen. He’ll join the rotation with a strict pitch count in hopes of preserving his health through the rest of the season.
Fingers are crossed throughout Edinburgh …
The Week’s Scores
At Manchester
05/06: Scotland 11, Manchester 2
05/07: Scotland 9, Manchester 8
05/08: Manchester 4, Scotland 2
At West Virginia
05/10: West Virginia 8, Scotland 7
05/11: West Virginia 4, Scotland 0
05/12: West Virginia 4, Scotland 1
Who’s Hot This Week …
Pat Barry, OF: .480/.536/1.000; 1 double; 4 HRs; 9 Runs; 8 RBIs in 25 AB.
Orlando Barrón, 1B: .308/.357/.385; 2 doubles; 5 Runs; 1 RBI in 26 AB.
Carlos Pérez, SP: 2.25 ERA; 1-0; 3 R; 11 H; 3 W; 5 Ks; in 12.0 innings.
…. And Who’s Not
Sadakuno Nakagawa, RP: 6.75 ERA; 0-1-0; 4 R; 6 H; 0 W; 3 Ks in 5.1 innings.
Tomás Flores, CF: .222/.263/.333; 2 doubles; 1 run; 0 RBIs in 18 AB.
Manuel Sánchez, RP: 20.25 ERA; 0-0-0; 3 R; 3 H; 0 W; 2 Ks in 1.1 innings.