Three, umm…. things-standing-in-for-angels still dancing on the EFL pinnacle

The Wolverines somehow are still clinging to first place by the skins of their teeth. Wolverine dentition is pretty impressive.

EFL
Team	Wins	Losses	Pct.	GB	RS	RA
Old Detroit Wolverines	63	36	.634	—	538.1	408.1
Portland Rosebuds	64	36	.635	0.1	524.6	391.7
Haviland Dragons	64	37	.630	0.1	490.0	379.0
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	58	40	.588	4.4	522.0	438.8
Peshastin Pears	54	46	.539	8.9	466.7	426.7
Canberra Kangaroos	54	46	.541	9.5	471.5	429.7
Flint Hill Tornadoes	50	49	.504	13	425.3	421.7
Cottage Cheese	48	51	.482	14.5	482.4	496.3
Kaline Drive	43	58	.422	20.9	487.1	574.2
D.C. Balk	33	67	.328	30.3	393.2	569.2

Old Detroit:  W, 10 – 8. (.347, .407, .510 — happy EMD! Edgar for the Hall of Fame!;  11.3 ip, 7 er. )  Gregory Polanco went 4 for 5 with a homer against the Mariners. Fortunately,  Wolverine Francisco Liriano chulked (3.3 ip, 7 er) against them, too — the Wolverines protected the Mariners yesterday, and Edwin Diaz scrambled through a 2-hit, 0 er inning, so the M’s win and the W’s do, too.  Tyler Skaggs’ 7 scoreless innings, while they didn’t count due to his inactive status, provided moral support.

Portland: W, 7 – 3. (.277, .364, .426; 6 ip. 0 er).  Tom Koehler poured his heart out for six shutout innings. But Rosebud management tossed most of that aside — he was only active for 33%.

Haviland: “W”, 1 – 2. (.192, .250, .231;  13 ip, 3 er) . For two straight days the Rosebuds and the Dragons have danced 0.1 games from taking the EFL lead.  This isn’t because the W’s were blowing anyone away. In the Dragons’ case, they had to suppress their natural hitting instincts to do this. Why is it that no one seems to want to be in first?  Are they protecting draft position for the end of August?

Pittsburgh: “W”, 0 – 4. (.205, .262, .231;  4 ip,  0 er).  Modest hitting and a modest amount of shutout pitching conspired to produce a paper win despite being outscored.  Not that I’m complaining about Allegheny complacency at a time of great opportunity…

Peshastin: L, 6 – 10. (.250, .300 .528;  5.7 ip, 7 er).  Not a one of the top 5 teams managed to hit on both cylinders.  In the Pears’ case, it was the pitching that collapsed, with Blake Wood triple chulking (1.0 ip, 3 er) to lead the way.  Will no one surge up the standings?’

Canberra: W, 4 – 0. (.233, .312, 302; 13.3 ip, 2 er). Now here’s a team that had a good day with its pitchers, but not so much with the hitters. Still, it was enough for a win.

Flint Hill: W, 10 – 9. (.393, .500, .643 — happy Super EMD!; 7 ip, 7 er: happy EMD giveaway day.)  At least the hitting was terrific, even more full of terror than the pitchers.

Cottage: L, 1 – 6.  (.152, .204, .348;  6 ip, 3 er).  A setback yesterday, but I still like the Cheese’s chances of reaching the .500 mark by the end of the year — as long as they don’t trade away too many pieces.

Kaline: “W”, 0 – 3. (.215, .292, .354; 14.3 ip, 8 er).  The Drive had four relievers each pitch 1/3 of an innings.  Joe Kelly, Hunter Cervenka, and Dellin Betances all allowed 0 earned runs.  Daniel Hudson allowed 4.

DC: “W”. 7 – 9. (.267, .353, .633; 8.7 ip, 6 er).  The Balk took a win despite being outscored because it was their turn. And also  because, after Dillon Gee coughed up 5 runs in 5 ip, four relievers combined for 4.7 ip and only 1 more earned run.  And furthermore the Balk benefited from 3 Balkan homers (Mitch Moreland, Adonis Gaarcia and Franklin Gutierrez).