League Updates

So we go to the ninth inning, the Seraphim up by 2.4 ….

One of the beauties of baseball is the resonance of its parts. 3 strikes for an out, 3 outs for an inning.  3×3 innings for a 9-inning game. 9 players in the lineup. 90 feet between (the center of) each base, 90-degree angles at each base. 

Just this year, in setting up our schedule, I found more resonances.  162 games is 9 time 18.  162 is divisible by 2, 3, 6, 9, 18, 27, 54, and 81.  To get 6-game weeks you need 27 weeks — which is the actual length of an MLB season!  27 is also the number of outs in a standard 9-inning game. 

We just finished the 24th week. We have three weeks to go.  We are beginning the ninth inning of our season. And Julio Rodriguez plays for an EFL team. So — chaos is still possible.  Established order still trembles.  

When week 24 started — ie, with two outs in the season’s 8th inning — the Seraphim were up by 4.2 games over the Wolverines, and 5.1 over the Balk.  Now they’re up by 2.4 (really, 2.45) games over the W’s and 2.6 (really 2.61) over the Balk with no outs in the 9th. 

This could get very exciting.

Wouldn’t it be great if we have to have a league finale watch party starting at 1 PM PDT on October 5, with all 15 MLB games being played simultaneously, continuously updating the EFL standings with each at bat?  I’m going to keep MY calendar clear that afternoon.

 

Salem got decent offense (.222, .333, .472), highlighted by Oscar Gonzalez’ 3 for 4 with a homer.  But no Seraphic pitchers pitched Wednesday, leaving the league leaders with an embarrassing 6.01 just-barely-worse-than-replacement week from the mound.   Meanwhile, their EFL opponent Dragons almost pulled off an Edgar Martinez Day (.292, .364, .583), including JT Realmuto’s 2 homers and a walk in 5 plate appearances (2.600 OPS) along with 5 other hitters OPSing at least 1.000 on the day.  This offensive outburst made up for a pitching collapse: 9 innings, 7 earned runs combined from Mike Clevinger (thanks to the Mariners) and Roansy Contreras.

Old Detroit got 20 innings of excellent pitching (6 earned runs) featuring strong starts by Nestor Cortes (5 ip, 1 er) and Ross Stripling (6.1 ip, 1 er) and an adequate effort from Nick Lodolo (6.1 ip, 3 er).  Offense was mediocre at best (KeBryan Hayes leading the way with two singles and a double in 5 AB), but it was still good enough to move the W’s to within 2.5 games of first.  The Wolverines got a boost from their longtime EFL rivals, the Alleghenys, when Pittsburgh batters stumbled to a .128, .150, .205 slash line, Oneil Cruz’s homer being nearly the only bright spot, other than solid pitching from Edward Cabrera (5.3 ip, 2 er) and Steen Wilson (1 ip, 0 er)

DC kept pace with the W’s and also gained a nice chunk on the Seraphim.  Their pitching was even better than Old Detroit’s (18 ip, 3 er), led by Sonny Gray (7 ip, 0 er) and Carlos Rodon (5 ip, 0er). Balk hitting was a lot better than the Wolverine effort, featuring 6 hitters OPSing 1.000 or better, including Danny Jensen (2 doubles and 2 walks in 5 plate appearances, 2.133 OPS), Santiago Espinal ( 3 for 3, 2.000) and Bryce Harper (1 homer and 2 walks in 5 PA, 1.933).  So why weren’t the Wolverines left behind? Outstanding pitching by Tornado hurlers Luis Castillo (6 ip, 0 er for the M’s) and Brayan Bello (5 ip, 0 er) sliced Flint Hill’s weekly ERA by about 1.5 runs, enough to slow the Balky charge. 

Julio Rodriguez led off the game with a first-pitch home run for the Kangaroos , and fellow young stars Vlad Guerrero Jr and Kyle Tucker added homers of their own, to spark a .345, .424, .759. (1.183 OPS) monster day at the plate for Canberra. This was more than enough to offset some spotty pitching (14.7 ip, 8 er, 4.91 ERA) and should have propelled the ‘Roos toward joining the race atop the league.  However, the Pittsburgh Pirates clobbered the Reds once again, 10 – 4 this time, raising their weekly raw winning percentage to a mind-boggling .775, and leaving the ‘Roos with a weekly adjusted winning percentage of only .235, costing them 1.9 games in the standings over the week despite a .514 raw winning percentage. 

The Drive meandered through the day Wednesday, hitting ok (.262, .340, .357) and pitching ok (2 ip, 1 er). Dalton Varsho homered and singled in 4 PA, and Andres Gimenez singled 3 times in his 4 PA, to provide a little sparkle. But Albert Pujols only doubled, and there was little else to get excited about. And yet the Drive gained 0.7 games yesterday because the Pears were so accommodating:  betting .091, .130, .091 (.221 OPS) and pitching 0.7 innings while surrendering 1 run.  There wasn’t much of the Pears on the field (23 PA, 0.7 innings) but what there was was not good. 

Meanwhile, the Rosebuds and Cascades spent the day with each team trying to defer to the other.  Portland had no pitching, and not much hitting (.217, .269, .261 in 25 PA). Bellingham had the same amount of hitting (25 PA, .200, .200, .400) and a lot more pitching (6 ip) — but the pitching was worse than replacement (7.50 ERA).  It’s been like this all week: the Rosebuds ended the week with a .191 raw winning percentage, almost matching the Cascades’ .251 raw mark.  But there were 6 games to play. Someone had to win them.  So despite their attempts to sink in the standings toward earlier draft picks, each team had to win inconveniently often.  The Cascades took on 3.5 wins, the Rosebuds 2.5. .

I have just assumed the Cascade and Rosebuds were more focussed on getting good draft position than they were on winning their games.  This might be unfair.  Perhaps they, and the Pears, are just really kind.  Maybe they get more pleasure out of watching others succeed rather than just looking out for themselves. The Pears really did help the Drive. The Rosebuds and Cascades comically cancelled each other out. Too bad none of them have any games left against the contenders.  They could be spoilers.  Or the opposite of a spoiler… a despoiler? A healer? something like that. 

Alas, they’ve all ministered their last to this year’s contenders. From here on the top 4 teams in our standings play each other exclusively.  It’s going to be intense. And there will be no Pears, Cascades, Alleghenys, or Rosebuds to beautify our days and give us comfort. 

 

1 Comment

  • Stinking pickles! I’ve committed to go to a meeting at Pacific University the afternoon of Oct 5. I won’t be back until the games are over. This is awful.

    I missed Kirk Gibson’s homer off Dennis Eckersley because I had to take my daughter to see people perform “Peter Pan” in a community theater in Forest Grove. Now another event in Forest Grove is going to make me miss the end of the season…

    Ah, well, think of others, Ron. You’ve just made it practically inevitable that the last day of the season will be epic.