How Does Gallagher Spell Relief? W-A-L-K-I-N-G...

I delayed my end-of-homestand post for a day so I could see how Sean Gallagher followed up on his brilliant outing from last week.

The results? Mixed.

Gallagher retired the first ten Fresno hitters he faced. He entered the sixth having surrendered only one run and retired the first two routinely before an infield single dripped from the faucet. A stolen base followed, then an intentional walk, then an accidental walk and Gallagher called it a night, leaving the bases loaded and the water running for Carmen Pignatiello.

Channeling his lone big league appearance of the season before being dispatched to Iowa, 'Piggy' walked both of the batters who stood in against him. With the water now rising quickly, Randy Wells waded right in and served up a grand slam to the first guy he faced and the ballgame floated away.

All five of Gallagher's whiffs on the night were swinging, giving him seventeen straight of that variety over his last two starts. He seems to be foolin' people.

Five starts and 30 innings into the season and Gallagher is sporting a .196 BAA. Good stuff.

Jose Ascanio also continues to impress. He's saved six of the team's eleven wins, and the I-Cubs are 9-1 when he appears in a game.

Neal Cotts is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA so far. Versus lefties he's allowed only two hits in five frames while walking one and fanning seven.

Those three hurlers are the only silver linings this prospector has found on the club.

Jake Fox has somehow managed to produce 18 runs with his 15 hits, but his BA has plummeted to .169 for the year. In the last ten games he's 2/38 [.053]. Want more? He's tagging southpaws at an .063 clip [1/16].

Patterson's on the DL with the hammy he strained last week, Fuld still isn't playing due to his bad thumb and Hoffpauir remains a fond memory from last year.

Old war-horse Les Walrond got his walking papers yesterday in favor of Justin Berg who was promoted from Tennessee where he'd been 0-3 with a 3.49 ERA in five starts.

The pesky redhead should be back with the team when they return from the road on May 6. I can only hope...MW