NL South Showdown

The Looters are making a case this year for being real, but their first real test came in the form of a familiar foe, the Hendersonville Hitmen.  The Hitmen owned the Looters last season with the Looters taking less than a quarter of the 20 meetings last season (3-17 if I remember correctly).  If the Looters are going to compete this year, this is a team they must hold their own against with 20 meetings on the schedule again this year.

Game 1, April 30
New Orleans Looters 4 @ Hendersonville Hitmen 3
W: Reginald Krause (3-1) L: Scott Hill (4-2)
S: James Kelly (5)
Krause didn't know any better about the history of this matchup.  He just knew that he was acquired by the Looters this year to help solidify a rotation that was considered weak and he drew a matchup against Scott "The Franchise" Hill.  Krause did his job pitching a reminiscent performance of why he was the #1 overall pick in the original dispersal draft.  He pitched 8 innings allowing only 6 hits and 3 runs striking out 8 Hitmen while only giving them one free pass.  He allowed an early 2-0 lead after the first inning after Dirty Hernandez hit a bases loaded single for two runs.  In all, Krause allowed 3 of his hits and his only walk in this inning.  He then shut them down for 3 hits over the remaining 7 innings.

The Looters shook off the early deficit quickly getting the two runs back on a 2 run Adam Considine homer hitting his first homer of the season and 5th of his BSA career.  The Looters continued working Scott Hill over the following inning scraping together another couple runs after a sequence that included a Sandro Cajani single, Luis Alou double, Jose Estrada RBI single, and Ramon Hernandez sacrifice fly to go up 4-2.  The following inning in the 4th the Hitmen chipped a run away with a Vic Robertson solo homer on a 3-1 pitch, but that would be the last score of the game as the Looters held onto a 4-3 win.  James Kelly pitched a perfect frame in the 9th with 2 swinging strikeouts to end the game to cap it off.

In all, the Looters touched Scott Hill for 4 runs in 7 innings more than doubling his ERA.  Prior to this game, Hill had allowed only 2 runs in his first 31.2 innings.  Hill got back on the shutout track throwing 5.1 shut out innings his next outing vs Jersey.

Game 2, May 1
Looters 1 @ Hitmen 5
W: Walter Bamber (2-1) L: Gilberto Montano (3-3)
The Looters fell in the second game from allowing the big inning to the Hitmen.  The Hitmen are a team that if you give them an inch, they'll smack you for a heap of runs and that's what happened in the 5th inning where Montano allowed 4 runs.  Bamber held the Looters to only 2 hits in 6.2 innings with the only run allowed an unearned run on a ground ball to Yokoyama that allowed Marin to score from 3rd in the 7th inning after 2 walks and a hit in the inning.

The big story of the game came in a disastrous 5th inning for the Looters where Montano's stuff was left in the dugout.  The inning started promising enough with a infield popup by Torres, but that's where it fell apart.  The next hitters successively had a HBP, 2 Run Homer, Fly Out, Solo HR, Solo HR, Double, before finally getting out of the inning, but the damage was done with 3 homers in 4 batters to put 4 runs on the board.

Game 3, May 2
Looters 8 @ Hitmen 4
W: Tyler Law (2-0) L: Greg Casey (2-2)
The Looters rebounded with the offense waking up against Casey.  The Looters scored 8 runs on 9 hits in the game chasing Casey in the 5th inning.  Ramon Hernandez had a huge game going 3 for 4 with a double and 2 RBIs.  Yamasaki also hit his first career homer in the game off Greg Casey a few games after making his major league debut.  Tyler Law threw 7 innings allowing 7 hits and 4 runs, but with being staked to a 6-1 lead after the top of the 5th, he eased off and allowed 3 runs in the bottom of the 5th before the Looter offense tacked on a few insurance runs in the 7th and 8th to go up 8-4.  Free agent signee Ciro Roghi came in in relief for the final two innings shutting down the Hitmen striking out 4 and allowing only 1 hit in his time.

In total, the Looters took 2 of 3 on the road in the first of 20 meetings this season.  Can the Looters keep up this pace?  Or will this be a lone bright spot in this matchup of teams?  The next matchup is scheduled for June 18-20 in Hendersonville yet again.