The Drive answered the questions from yesterday’s update, and did so rather convincingly, increasing their lead over the field (except for the Cascades who managed to be the only team to gain ground). Perhaps your team provided some definitive answers for you yesterday, or maybe you still have some questions. Either way, happy reading!
EFL Standings for 2020
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
RS |
RA |
| Kaline Drive |
22 |
15 |
.594 |
— |
178.9 |
147.3 |
| Haviland Dragons |
21 |
16 |
.577 |
0.7 |
195.7 |
168.6 |
| Bellingham Cascades |
21 |
20 |
.511 |
3 |
228.3 |
231.9 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes |
21 |
20 |
.505 |
3.3 |
225.5 |
225.2 |
| Canberra Kangaroos |
19 |
21 |
.478 |
4.4 |
209.3 |
219.6 |
| Cottage Cheese |
19 |
22 |
.469 |
4.8 |
215.4 |
231.4 |
| Peshastin Pears |
19 |
23 |
.457 |
5.3 |
199.2 |
216.4 |
| D.C. Balk |
18 |
22 |
.450 |
5.5 |
181.9 |
200.7 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys |
15 |
26 |
.374 |
8.7 |
191.2 |
247.4 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines |
15 |
26 |
.354 |
9.5 |
182.6 |
245.6 |
| Portland Rosebuds |
14 |
28 |
.328 |
10.7 |
205.5 |
294.6 |
Kaline: W, 5-(-1) (60PA; 7IP)
| AVG: 0.264 |
OBP: 0.350 |
SLG: 0.528 |
OPS: 0.878 |
Kaline’s Glide came to a decisive stop yesterday – which seems counterintuitive since it turned back into a Drive – but they chose Sunday to kick it into another gear, thus redefining a Sunday drive. The star of the day was the newly acquired Dallas Keuchel, who three 5 innings of shutout baseball. The offense was pretty good, too, earning 3 HRs, 1 3B, and 3 2Bs to go along with 7 BBs. Newly acquired Jonathan School went 2 for 5 with a 2B, a 3B and a BB.
Haviland: “L,” 7-4 (43AB; 7IP)
| AVG: 0.353 |
OBP: 0.465 |
SLG: 0.618 |
OPS: 1.083 |
The Dragon put on an offensive show in order to keep pace with the Drive, though in terms of winning percentage the did drop .004 points further behind. Unlikely heroes Harrison Bader and Raimel Tapia led the team, combining to go 6 for 10 with 2 2Bs. Rental Luis Robert got 0 hits on the day, but walked twice and stole 2 bases, finding a way to contribute even when not doing so with the bat.
Bellingham: W, 9-2 (42PA; 16.7IP)
| AVG: 0.342 |
OBP: 0.405 |
SLG: 0.632 |
OPS: 1.036 |
The Cascades jumped back into third place after a really good day. Their league-leading offense was at it again, getting hits from every players but two, and getting 3 hits apiece from Rowdy Tellez (who will be sad to no longer play the Red Sox this season) and Marcell Ozuna. They combined for 6 hits, 1 2B, and 2 HRs. They also got some volume in the pitching department, which the sorely needed, and it was decent enough to propel them .2 games closer to the Drive, to be the only team in the EFL to gain any ground on the Drive yesterday.
Flint Hill: W, 9-5 (49PA; 7.3IP)
| AVG: 0.319 |
OBP: 0.347 |
SLG: 0.617 |
OPS: 0.964 |
The Tornadoes are trying to not be too disheartened by having such a convincing win and still losing .1 games off the lead. Really, we are trying. Mike Trout, a day after passing another fishy Angel (Tim Salmon) for the all-time HR record in Angels history, took the day off. But it didn’t matter! Every player but two got at least one hit, and although we only had one BB on the day, we hit 4 HRs. The pitching, which has so far been excellent this month, stumbled a tiny bit but not enough to cause any real damage.
Canberra: W, 4-2 (44PA; 13.6IP)
| AVG: 0.256 |
OBP: 0.341 |
SLG: 0.513 |
OPS: 0.854 |
The Roos won a tightly contested game yesterday, led by their pitching staff and two guys who share the same name. Rich Hill had the best day on the mound, going 5IP and giving up 2 runs, though you could make a case that Trevor Rogers was a little better, giving up 3 runs over 6IP and striking out 10. For the hitters, it was the Miguels (or the Michaels) who led the way, with Andujar and Conforto combining to go 6 for 8 with 2 2Bs and a 3B. The Roo winning percentage increased by .009 and they held steady in their games behind the Drive.
Cottage: W, 13-10 (47PA; 5.3IP)
| AVG: 0.317 |
OBP: 0.404 |
SLG: 0.878 |
OPS: 1.282 |
The Cheese engaged in a good old-fashioned slugfest yesterday, coming out victorious over their opponent. Cheese hitters were led by Randy Arozarena (which kind of sounds like where Portland’s EFL franchise plays its games?) who hit 2 HRs yesterday and Brandon Nimmo who went 3 for 6 with his own HR. But the pitching was not quite ready to shut down the other team, with both newly acquired pitchers combining to give up 6 runs in 5 innings.
Peshastin: L, 0-1 (29PA; 10IP)
| AVG: 0.115 |
OBP: 0.172 |
SLG: 0.346 |
OPS: 0.519 |
How rare is it that a team scores 0 runs? Well, in 35 MLB games this weekend, not a single one had a team with 0 runs scored. So the Pears have done something very unique! I don’t think it is something they will promote on their social media pages, though if they were to just focus on the pitching it might be a compelling story. Over 10 innings, the pitching staff gave up just 1 run (which on almost any other day would lead to a win), led by Tejay Antone (I love that his first name is phonetically spelled and not initials like you would assume) who went 5 innings and gave up 0 runs. The Pear hitters actually hit 2 HRs on the day, but in the EFL universe those don’t always count as runs each day, and today was one of those days.
DC: L, 5-11 (26PA; 3.6IP)
| AVG: 0.269 |
OBP: 0.269 |
SLG: 0.577 |
OPS: 0.846 |
The Balk were tripped up by Matt Hall who gave a new meaning to Hall Pass, issuing 4 BBs in 1.7IP in addition to 4 hits, allowing the other team to score 6 runs. Pete Alonso was a man on a mission, going 3 for 5 with 1 2B and 2 HRs, but it wasn’t near enough to overcome Hall’s coughing attack on the mound.
Pittsburgh: “L,” 8-4 (39PA; 7.3IP)
| AVG: 0.353 |
OBP: 0.436 |
SLG: 0.618 |
OPS: 1.054 |
Maybe yesterday afternoon Allegheny management was able to put on a game or two, lean back in his recliner, and listen to his team play really good baseball yesterday. If he did, I imagine he thought to himself, “This is what I thought my team would do this season. It will be nice to have a win added to our record, even though it is too little, too late.” If that was indeed something akin to what they experienced, then I feel badly about the EFL machine handing them a loss after such a good day. Dominic Smith alone did enough to earn a win, going 4 for 6 with 3 2Bs, and Garrett Hampson joined in with a 3B and a SB. The pitchers combined for a good day, giving up 3 runs over 7 innings, led by a bullpen that didn’t allow a single run after Casey Mize allowed only 3.
Old Detroit: L, 4-8 (49PA; 1.7IP)
| AVG: 0.205 |
OBP: 0.286 |
SLG: 0.364 |
OPS: 0.649 |
Well, the good news is I know the Wolverine management is planning on having an excellent week as a grandpa, travelling to Seattle to spend time with his grandsons and his daughter and son-in-law. Perhaps that will ease the sting of this pretty bad EFL day just a little. Though the innings were few for the pitchers, they were bad. AJ Cole gave up 3 runs in .7 innings, but Trevor Rosenthal pitched another inning (isn’t that good news, Ron?) and it was scoreless. On the offensive side, Will Smith went 2 for 4 with a HR and Trea Turner hit a 3B, but that was about it.
Portland: L, 4-7 (44PA; 7IP)
| AVG: 0.250 |
OBP: 0.318 |
SLG: 0.350 |
OPS: 0.668 |
The good news for the Rosebuds is the kids are getting to play and he is getting to see what he has in the youngsters. The bad news is that they are young and still learning. But even the old guys, like Bryce Harper, are not doing enough to eke out wins in these dog days of summer. I suppose this is how Rosebud management wants it, but for a two-time champion I imagine it still stings a little.
Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2020
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Tampa Bay Rays |
28 |
13 |
.683 |
— |
| Toronto Blue Jays |
22 |
18 |
.550 |
5.5 |
| New York Yankees |
21 |
19 |
.525 |
6.5 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes |
21 |
20 |
.505 |
7.3 |
| Baltimore Orioles |
19 |
21 |
.475 |
8.5 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines |
15 |
26 |
.354 |
13.5 |
| Boston Red Sox |
14 |
28 |
.333 |
14.5 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Atlanta Braves |
24 |
16 |
.600 |
— |
| Philadelphia Phillies |
19 |
17 |
.528 |
3 |
| Miami Marlins |
17 |
18 |
.486 |
4.5 |
| Canberra Kangaroos |
19 |
21 |
.478 |
4.9 |
| New York Mets |
19 |
22 |
.463 |
5.5 |
| D.C. Balk |
18 |
22 |
.450 |
6 |
| Washington Nationals |
14 |
25 |
.359 |
9.5 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Chicago White Sox |
26 |
15 |
.634 |
— |
| Cleveland Indians |
25 |
15 |
.625 |
0.5 |
| Minnesota Twins |
25 |
17 |
.595 |
1.5 |
| Bellingham Cascades |
21 |
20 |
.511 |
5 |
| Detroit Tigers |
18 |
20 |
.474 |
6.5 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys |
15 |
26 |
.374 |
10.7 |
| Kansas City Royals |
14 |
27 |
.341 |
12 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Chicago Cubs |
23 |
18 |
.561 |
— |
| St. Louis Cardinals |
17 |
15 |
.531 |
1.5 |
| Cottage Cheese |
19 |
22 |
.469 |
3.8 |
| Milwaukee Brewers |
18 |
21 |
.462 |
4 |
| Cincinnati Reds |
18 |
23 |
.439 |
5 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates |
13 |
26 |
.333 |
9 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Oakland A’s |
23 |
14 |
.622 |
— |
| Kaline Drive |
22 |
15 |
.594 |
1 |
| Haviland Dragons |
21 |
16 |
.577 |
1.7 |
| Houston Astros |
21 |
19 |
.525 |
3.5 |
| Seattle Mariners |
18 |
22 |
.450 |
6.5 |
| Los Angeles Angels |
17 |
25 |
.405 |
8.5 |
| Texas Rangers |
13 |
26 |
.333 |
11 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Los Angeles Dodgers |
30 |
12 |
.714 |
— |
| San Diego Padres |
25 |
17 |
.595 |
5 |
| Colorado Rockies |
20 |
20 |
.500 |
9 |
| San Francisco Giants |
20 |
21 |
.488 |
9.5 |
| Peshastin Pears |
19 |
23 |
.457 |
10.8 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks |
15 |
26 |
.366 |
14.5 |
| Portland Rosebuds |
14 |
28 |
.328 |
16.2 |
