Not quite over yet…

Well, well, well…

 

Haviland: W 2, L 2; 24 – 18.  Last 4 days (Sept 30 – Oct 3, or Mockt 31-34):  .287, .337, .491; 36.3 ip, 18 er. Yesterday: .217, .275, .478; 12 ip 6 er — but 4 ip, 5 er of that was by the inactive Colby Lewis.   While we were in our tunnel of ignorance, the Alleghenys were sneaking up on the Dragons.  1.7 games is probably enough cushion, but this is the EFL!  A really bad day in Haviland and/or a really good day in Pittsburgh and that gap could disappear completely! We’ve seen 1.7 games swings before in this league — maybe twice?  In something like 1200 days of standings updates?  So… probably no problem for the Dragons. Probably.

Pittsburgh: W 5, L 1; 34 – 10. Last 4 days: .336, .409, .573 — Happy Edgar Martinez Days!  30 ip, 9 er.  Yesterday:   Over the last 4 days Mike Trout stepped up — .429, .500, .573.  But he was onlyt the third bet hitter (by OPS) for the Alleghenys:  Tyler Flowers (.667, .700, .778) and Phil Gosselin (.417, .467, .917) had bette OPS. Poor Jose Altuve only batted.308, .313, 769, just the 6th best line for the Alleghenys.  Yesterday:.357, .424, .607; 9.3 ip, 4 er.

Old Detroit: W 3, L 2; 31 – 23.  Last 4 days: .320, .372, .562; 40.7 ip, .22 er.  Yesterday: .444, .464, .741;  8 ip 0 er.  No one has ever engineered a 3-game swing in the standings in a single day, although it is theoretically possible in the EFL.  Meantime, here are the Where Were You When We Needed You awards (The WWYWWNY, or WHINY) Awards for Wolverines from yesterday:

CHRISTIAN YELICH!   Nice 5 for 5 with a double in game on of that doubleheader. Nice follow-up in the second game: 3 for 4 with a walk and another double.  That sweet .889, .900, 1.111 batting line would have come in handy on, say, Thursday when it might have helped close the 3.0-game gap between the W’s and the Dragons.

MANNY MACHADO!  You hit homers in both games of your doubleheader, bringing you season total to a quiet 35. I say “quiet” because I hadn’t noticed you getting out of the twenties in homers since I was focussing on bemoaning the W’s stagnant offense that left us out of the race.

COREY KLUBER!  Nice 8-inning shutout with 9 strikeouts. Too bad your last two games, while we we needed everything we could get to gain on the Dragons, went a total of 9.2 innings with 8 er

Flint Hill: W 3, L 2; 25 – 21.  Last 4 days: .205, .318, .384;  23.7 ip, 11 er.  Yesterday: .238, .304, .357; 15.3 ip.. 4 er.  Here we enter the realms where teams have, hopefully, already made their peace with the season results.  Fourth place is a major accomplishment for a team as new as the Tornados.  We’ll open next season under a Tornado Watch, I’m guessing.

 

Peshastin: W 2, L 2; 8 – 3.  Last 4 days:  .199, .253, .291;  54.7 ip, 8 er.   Yesterday: .160, .232, .180; 25 ip, 5 er. An amazing stretch of low-scoring baseball epitomized yesterday by MAX SCHERZER!  Nice no-hitter with 17 strikeouts and no walks. Nice 104 game score by Bill James’ system, the highest I’ve ever seen.  That historic performance lifts the Pears from 5th place to … 5th place.

Cottage: W 1, L 2; 11 – 10.  Last 4 days:  .243, .302, .346;  18.3 ip, 7 er. Yesterday:  .265, .306, .353; 1.3 ip. 2 er.  A quiet interlude before the last day of the season, as the Cheese go mildly into the winter dark.  Gerardo Parra was the lone exception yesterday with his 6 for 9 with 2 doubles and 2 stolen bases.  I guess he was the pepper in the pepperjack.

Canberra: W 2, L 2; 18 – 15.  Last 4 days:  .271, .338, . 486;  28.7 ip, 5 er.  Yesterday: .333, .407, .625 — Happy Edgar Martinez Day! — and 11.3 ip, 2 er.  That’s championship – level play, right there. Play like that next year and the Kangaroos can fight it out with the Tornados to be the first team outside the Triumvirate to take the title.

Kaline:  W 2, L 2; 13 – 14.  Last 4 days: .216, .310, .315; 41 ip, 16 er.  Yesterday:  .233, .324, .333;  13.3 ip, 6 er.   Brad Miller is going out with a bang, 5 for 10 over the last 4 days with a homer.  I still think he could be a poor man’s Ben Zobrist.  I tried hard to trade for him last offseason. Maybe I’ll try again.

Portland: W 2, L 2; 17 – 20. Last 4 days:  .261, .326, .432;  36.7 ip, 13 er – very nice, too nice for a contestant for first draft pick.  Yesterday: .250, .350 , .462;  8 ip 1 er.  This season can’t get over fast enough for the Rosebuds, because if they keep playing well they’re going lose even more draft position. As of right now there are three MLB teams in front of the Rosebuds for that top draft pick, with the Rockies only 0.1 games back and the A’s another game back still threatening to displace the ‘Buds even further down the line.

 

 

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