This past week the Harrisburg Senators made their annual trip locally to play the Bowie Baysox, the AA affiliate of the Nats' MASN overlords up I-95. They promptly dropped the first five games of the series, with Tropical Storm Debby pushing Wednesday's game to a Saturday doubleheader. I attended Friday night's football score of 17-8 - made long and frustrating by the worst plate umpiring I have ever seen in my life at any level - live and in person; apologies to Andrew Pinckney if my "Roll Tide" threw him off his game. The Senators salvaged the Sunday finale but could not avoid tumbling into the Southwest Division cellar, three games behind this week's opponent, the Richmond Flying Squirrels.

Scores & Standings

Bowie 5, Harrisburg 3 (Tuesday); Bowie 7, Harrisburg 1 (Wednesday); Bowie 17, Harrisburg 8 (Friday); Bowie 6, Harrisburg 5 (Saturday G1); Bowie 3, Harrisburg 2 (Saturday G2); Harrisburg 5, Bowie 4 (Sunday). Harrisburg is now 13-26 in the Eastern League's second half, thirteen games behind Akron in the Southwest Division.

Pitcher of the Week - Tyler Stuart, RHP

Almost every pitcher that has joined Harrisburg this year has exploded out of the gates, and Stuart is no exception. He was already pitching well in the Eastern League for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, but he has taken it up a notch since being traded to the Senators. In Saturday's nightcap Stuart recorded 17 outs, with 13 of them coming via strikeout. Those came with five hits, an unearned run, and zero walks, a line which raised some eyebrows:

If the Nats turn out to have gotten a potential rotation fixture for two months of a pretty good platoon outfielder/designated hitter, that will be a huge win.

Hitter of the Week - J.T. Arruda, INF

Arruda is not a prospect but an org guy, and started six times this week because a) he was raking and b) Kevin Made continues to scuffle at the new level (it's been rough, but he's also 21). Arruda went 6-for-15 with 3 walks for a tidy .400/.500/.800 line and his first home run of the season in Friday's slugfest. Arruda, 26, was drafted in 2019 in the 11th round out of Fresno State and owns a career .228/.339/.330 line in 1348 plate appearances for Auburn (of the now-defunct short-season New-York Penn League), Fredericksburg, Wilmington, a brief FCL rehab stint, and Harrisburg.

Other Notes

Although he had a rough evening on Friday, outfielder Andrew Pinckney went 7 for 21 with 4 doubles while mostly playing center...fellow outfielder Daylen Lile had what would have been his second AA home run pulled back by Bowie center fielder Jud Fabian and could but tip his helmet...C.J. Stubbs played in five games and collected four hits, homering twice...Andry Lara was the unfortunate recipient of Jared Duerson's nonexistent strike zone Friday night (see below for an example picture - I cannot emphasize enough how bad he was)...third baseman Paul Witt pitched the bottom of the eighth in that same game and was so slow that the stadium radar gun didn't pick him up at all (45? 50?) before uncorking a couple of 86-mph fastballs, the last for an inning-ending strikeout...Daison Acosta struck out five batters in his four relief innings, putting him at 62 in 43 innings with a 1.23 WHIP, and as a minor league Rule 5 draftee probably should get a look at Rochester before the end of the season.

Any Roster Moves?

Yohandy Morales returned after his Fredericksburg rehab stint in time for Friday's game, and he homered in the Saturday makeup game. They also tranfered Cayden Wallace (acquired from Kansas City in the Hunter Harvey deal) from the 7-day injured list to the 60-day, which he will be eligible to return from later this month - although as the Nats do not provide updates on injured minor leaguers very often (if ever) we do not know when he will be back.

Coming Up

The Senators are back home at FNB Field this week, hosting the Richmond Flying Squirrels, who are just above them in the standings.

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