On pins and needles

Old Detroit: W 2, L 0; 9 – 6. (.233, .324, .400;  8 ip, 0 er). Madison Bumgarner, ably assisted by Edwin Diaz, mastered Wolverine foes for one day.

Haviland: “W”, 3 – 4.  (.194, .293, .222;  5 ip, 2 er).  A poor day for the Dragons cost them  a half game in the standings, but…

Portland: L, 3 – 9. (.245, .275, .429; 9.7 ip, 9 er) ... Portland’s pitching collapse hurt even worse, with both starters (Tyler Anderson and Adam Conley) allowing more runs than innings pitched.  The Rosebuds lost a full game in the standings and tumbled into third place.

Pittsburgh:  W, 6 – 4. (.261, .414, .391;  1 ip, 0 er).  Altuve again!?  I have good news about Altuve, something for everyone.  For Allegheny fans, it’s just another great day at the plate  ( 2 for 3 with a triple and a walk).  For everyone else: Altuve’s rookie status expires after this season.  His MLB contract at that point (barring an extension) will be for one year at $4,500,000 — so he will be eminently affordable in our league, at least until the A’s bid him up. Still — YOU could have Altuve starting next year and won’t have to listen over and over again while the media (or maybe the Alleghenys) crow about how great he is for someone else.

I tremble to include the Alleghenys in the barnburning portion of this pennant race.  I have too many traumatic memories of being roadkill on a rocky Allegheny mountainside, at distances from the top ranging from a single game to 19 games+.  I am having flashbacks as I type.  Typing is hard while in a fetal position.

But I couldn’t deny reality any longer.  The W’s are DEFINITELY in a great race with the Rosebuds and Dragons.  Today those two teams are closer to the A’s than they are to the W’s, and Pittsburgh is well within the range of a Tornado-class rocket surge up the standings to the very top.  So — take a deep breath — it is my grim duty to officially “welcome” the Alleghenys to the best mid-season EFL pennant race in memory.

Canberra:  L, 2 – 4. (.132, .195, .211;  1 ip, 0 er). The Kangaroos faltered Saturday after their sudden successful assault on fifth place Friday. Anemic hitting (5 for 38) and thin pitching threatened to cost them their hard won advantage.

Peshastin:  “L”, 8 – 6.  (.325, .341, .575; 2 ip, 0 er)  Fortunately for the Kangaroos, a very fine offensive apPearance wasn’t quite enough to carry the Pears back into their preferred position in fifth place.

Flint Hill:  W,  8 – 8. (.286, .333, .454;  15. 3 ip, 6 er).  A solid, major-league performance, slightly thin at the plate.  But right now, its former neighbors having moved on, the Tornados are once again thoughtfully churning in place far from populated areas.  This is the first time I’ve ever admired a tornado for its ethical restraint.

Cottage: W, 10 – 7.  (.368, .455, .711;  5.3 ip, 4 er). Here the offensive explosion at the Cheese plate was enough to overwhelm an offensive meltdown on the Cheese mound.   Addison Russell was the star: 2 for 2 with a homer and two walks.

Kaline:  “W”, 2 – 3. (.212, .316, .394;  16.7 ip, 6 er.)  I took a peek at the EFL team stats for August, and was NOT surprised to find the Drive in first place.  They’ve gone 9 – 3 this month, outscoring their opponents 65 – 39. (Canberra is second in August with a 7 – 3 record and a score of 65 – 41.) The key for Kaline has been great pitching, leading the league with a 2.86 ERA, almost half a run better than the second-place Tornados.

D.C.:  W (-1), L 2;  5 – 13.  (.333, .394, .467;  7.3 ip, 10 er) :  I’m not sure how such a fine batting line delivered so few runs scored.   But with a disastrous pitching performance, at least one loss was inevitable.  The race with Kaline has faded completely; the one with the Braves still has some life.