A Kind Word…

EFL
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB	RS	RA
Old Detroit Wolverines	88	38	.695	—	719.3	476.4
Flint Hill Tornadoes	82	44	.649	5.8	665.8	489.0
D.C. Balk	80	46	.632	7.9	717.8	547.8
Peshastin Pears	78	47	.628	8.6	632.3	490.7
Kaline Drive	77	49	.614	10.2	684.8	542.4
Cottage Cheese	72	54	.568	16	721.5	646.3
Haviland Dragons	70	56	.559	17.2	655.8	602.3
Canberra Kangaroos	69	57	.545	18.8	646.0	602.1
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	69	58	.539	19.5	643.2	593.0
Bellingham Cascades	66	61	.519	22.1	548.1	527.9
Portland Rosebuds	59	66	.475	27.7	668.8	705.1

 

AVG: 0.378

OBP: 0.489

SLG: 0.676

OPS: 1.165

ERA: 0.00

WHIP: 0.500

After a few days of being unresponsive, the Wolverine bats were resuscitated yesterday. Austin Riley, who has quietly made a case for being at least a vote-getter in the NL MVP race (.300/.376/.574 with 27 home runs), led the way going 3 for 3, though all were singles. Carlos Correa, himself having a strong month (.877 OPS in August), went 2 for 3 with a double. Will Smith and Jurickson Profar both hit home runs while playing each other, Ke’Bryan Hayes added a triple. Andrew Kittredge was the only pitcher to appear, and he tossed 2 innings allowing only one hit and striking out 4 while keeping the other team from scoring. Wolverine fans can breathe a little easier today, knowing that they created a little more cushion at the top.

 

AVG: 0.267

OBP: 0.333

SLG: 0.400

OPS: 0.733

ERA: 3.16

WHIP: 1.053

The Tornado cause was certainly helped by a sterling play in left field by AJ Pollock, who robbed a 2 run home run while Julio Urias was pitching after a 10 day lay off for a bruised shin. Urias’ 5 innings with zero runs allowed was the sole reason the Tornadoes won, seeing as the hitting was only good enough to score 5 runs and the relief pitchers – Hirokazu Sawamura (2 runs in 2/3 of an inning, and some replacement innings) – were bad. At the plate, Jarred Kelenic got a couple of hits, one a double, and Bo Bichette and Teoscar Hernandez coupled a stolen base with their singles. 

ERA: 2.55

WHIP: 0.849

The Balk walked away with a resounding win yesterday, keeping pace with the Wolverine’s steps. Unlike the Wolverines, the Balk win was due almost completely to the pitching. Dylan Cease and Drew Steckenrider combined for 9.3 innings of one run ball. If it weren’t for Martin Perez’s two earned runs allowed, the Balk may have even made up some ground on OD. Enrique Hernandez went 2 for 5 with a home run, and Asdrubal Cabrera and Pete Alonso both added two hits apiece. 

ERA: 13.50

WHIP: 2.250

The good news is that the Pears had some outstanding hitting yesterday. Ryan Mountcastle swatted two home runs, Jo Adell had two hits including a triple, and Yoan Moncada had 3 singles. Jazz Chisholm improvised two stolen bases, too, and the Pears put up 10 runs easily. The bad news is staff ace Jack Flaherty left last night’s game with a sore shoulder after giving up 4 runs in two innings, including two home runs and three walks. Hopefully he just had a bad night, and nothing more. The Pear pitching staff has suffered enough this season already.

ERA: 0.00

WHIP: 1.169

An excellent day on the mound for the Drive led to a win and a movement of .3 games towards the top of the standings. JT Brubaker and Kwang Hyun Kim combined for 7.7 innings pitched and 0 runs allowed, striking out batters even though the allowed a combined 5 walks. Hunter Renfroe continued his hot week, hitting two more home runs and Michael Chavis hit a home run in his Pirate debut. 

ERA: 0.00

WHIP: 0.769

The Cheese needed some good hitting to cover up the replacement pitchers, and they did just that! They sent 12 batters to the plate, and every single batter got at least one hit. As a team they collected a total of 8 doubles, including two from Alex Verdugo. Their display of fine hitting overshadowed another day without enough innings pitched, even though Michael Fulmer tried his best, tossing 1.3 innings of scoreless baseball.

ERA: 7.11

WHIP: 2.018

The Dragons, whose owner is enjoying a week in Seattle including watching a game or two in T-Mobile Park, did not have a great day while their owner was vacationing. The problems began on the mound, with Jesus Luzardo allowing 5 runs in 4.7 innings, and then Reiss Knehr and AJ Puk each allowing 2 runs in just 2.7 combined innings. Needing some good offense to offset a bad day on the mound, the Dragons did not respond, getting only 6 hits – two of them from Jose Iglesias (including a double).

Sometimes it pays to focus on the beauty of the world in the midst of the pain. And so, Roo fans, I implore you to look only at the pitching line, which was beautiful. Casey Mize and Chris Flexen combined for 11.7 innings and only one run allowed. It was a true work of art! The hitting was, to be nice, not. Mitch Garver had two of the team’s 5 hits, including its only extra base hit, a double. No one else did much of anything, as you can tell by the line.

ERA: 17.03

WHIP: 2.973

As though being held up to a mirror, the Alleghenys produced an overall line nearly opposite of the Kangaroo line, and I will again implore Pittsburgh fans to look only at the offense, ignoring the pitching. Luis Robert went 3 for 5 with a double, and Mike Moustakas went 2 for 4 with his own double. It is challenging to think that 7 runs scored doesn’t win a ballgame, but Tyler Megill was serving up batting practice last night, giving up 11 hits, 4 home runs and 7 runs in 3.7 innings. Yikes!

After two lopsided games from the teams directly above them, it’s nice to see competency demonstrated on both the mound and in the batter’s box. However, it was too competent, resulting in a tie (though, actually, a win). Jorge Polanco (with an August OPS of .979) led the way, going 2 for 5 with a home run. DJLM added in his own home run, and Bryan de la Cruz added two singles. Tyler Mahle was great, going 5.7 innings and allowing only one run, but Charlie Morton was not, giving up 4 runs in 5 innings. 

The Rosebuds successfully kept pace with the Cascades, and are now as far behind the Cascades as the Tornadoes are behind the Wolverines. We’ll have some nice brotherly competition to see who can close the gap the quickest! Sammy Long went 5.3 innings, giving up 0 runs. For some reason Dylan Bundy, the starter, only wen 1.3 innings even though he only surrendered 1 run (maybe it was the three walks?). Every hitter but Rhys Hoskins got a hit, and Corey Seager and Dylan Carlson made theirs a double. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AL East
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Old Detroit Wolverines	88	38	.695	—
Flint Hill Tornadoes	82	44	.649	5.8
Tampa Bay Rays	78	48	.619	9.5
New York Yankees	74	52	.587	13.5
Boston Red Sox	72	55	.567	16
Toronto Blue Jays	65	59	.524	21.5
Baltimore Orioles	38	86	.306	48.5

NL East
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
D.C. Balk	80	46	.632	—
Canberra Kangaroos	69	57	.545	11
Atlanta Braves	68	58	.540	11.7
Philadelphia Phillies	63	62	.504	16.2
New York Mets	61	64	.488	18.2
Washington Nationals	54	70	.435	24.7
Miami Marlins	51	75	.405	28.7

 

AL Central
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Chicago White Sox	73	54	.575	—
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	69	58	.539	4.5
Bellingham Cascades	66	61	.519	7.1
Cleveland Indians	61	62	.496	10
Detroit Tigers	61	66	.480	12
Kansas City Royals	56	69	.448	16
Minnesota Twins	54	71	.432	18

NL Central
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Milwaukee Brewers	77	49	.611	—
Cottage Cheese	72	54	.568	5.5
Cincinnati Reds	69	58	.543	8.5
St. Louis Cardinals	63	61	.508	13
Chicago Cubs	55	72	.433	22.5
Pittsburgh Pirates	46	80	.365	31

 

AL West
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Kaline Drive	77	49	.614	—
Houston Astros	74	52	.587	3.4
Haviland Dragons	70	56	.559	7
Oakland A’s	70	57	.551	7.9
Seattle Mariners	69	58	.543	8.9
Los Angeles Angels	63	64	.496	14.9
Texas Rangers	44	81	.352	32.9

NL West
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
San Francisco Giants	81	44	.648	—
Peshastin Pears	78	47	.628	2.5
Los Angeles Dodgers	79	47	.627	2.5
San Diego Padres	68	59	.535	14
Portland Rosebuds	59	66	.475	21.6
Colorado Rockies	57	68	.456	24
Arizona Diamondbacks	42	85	.331	40