League Updates

Ugh!

Our beautiful mid-summer pennant race is disintegrating. And not in a good way, unless you’re reptilian.

EFL Standings for 2016
EFL
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB RS RA
Haviland Dragons 80 46 .635 646.4 488.5
Old Detroit Wolverines 77 48 .612 3 655.1 520.6
Portland Rosebuds 76 49 .611 3.1 628.5 494.6
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 75 49 .604 4.1 667.3 542.3
Canberra Kangaroos 70 55 .562 9.3 616.6 530.1
Peshastin Pears 68 57 .543 11.7 603.6 547.5
Flint Hill Tornadoes 62 63 .494 17.8 531.7 538.7
Kaline Drive 62 64 .492 18.1 626.5 649.6
Cottage Cheese 57 68 .455 22.7 601.6 656.8
D.C. Balk 43 82 .346 36.4 516.3 717.0
Haviland:  W, 5 – 0.  (.282, .317, .385;  14 ip, 2 er).  But of COURSE the Dragon pitching would be so good.  After all, they have the great names in modern pitching: your Archers, Colomes, Gausmen…
Old Detroit: L, 5 – 10. (.206, .289, .500;  14 ip, 12 er.)  Look — we scored the same number of runs as the Dragons, and pitched the same number of innings, allowing the same number of earned runs (plus just one more… in the tens column).  But what should the W’s suspect if they try to get by with people like, say, Madison Bumgarner (5 ip, 5 er) and the other replacement-player-wanna-bes on the Old Detroit roster. At least they achieved their goal for one shining day: a glittering 7.71 ERA yesterday for Bumgarner/Maeda/Skaggs.
Portland: L, 3 – 4. (.254, .290, .322; 6 ip, 2 er). I wish my team knew how to limit the opposition to 4 earned runs a game. The Wolverines apologize for boxing out the Rosebuds Monday, then backing them entirely out of the key Tuesday.
Pittsburgh: W, 6 – 4.  (.314, .421, .414;  2.3 ip, 0 er).  Technically the Alleghenys aren’t reptilian. But I bet they aren’t to upset with the shape of things, with the Rosebuds and Wolverines melting away like snowmen in August, the path will soon be clear for the A’s to go after the Dragons one-on-one. I wish my team knew how to limit the opposition to 4 earned runs a game.
Canberra: L, 4 – 6. (.211, .295, .395;  9.3 ip, 6 er). The Kangaroo Boom may be petering out.  They’re back over 9 games out, and time is running out for a team 9 games back. Bryce Harper is batting .327, .438, .519 (Edgar Martinez!) in August, but it’s not enough to supercharge the Kangaroos the way they need.
Peshastin: “W”, 5 – 6.  (.303, .324, .515;  9 ip, 6 er). Trea Turner went 4 for 4 with a double. But Danny Salazar gave up 6 runs in 4 innings.  Pretty much the story for the Pears this summer:  like they are trying to race with the brakes on.
Flint Hill: W, 4 – 0. (.231 .389, .385;  9 ip, 0 er).  Wow. Such pitching, from Y. Ventura and three others.  The M’s announcers last night, trying to while away a non-competitive loss to the Yankees, got to talking about the Reds bullpen, which they said had improved greatly since Tony Cingrani took over as closer.  Cingrani did the job last night with a scoreless inning, but for the month of August his ERA sits at 6.14.
Kaline: W 3, 3 – (-4). (.195 .306, .437;  19 ip, 4 er.) I wish my team knew how to limit the opposition to (-4) earned runs.  The Drive know how to get that kind of performance out of Clay Buchholz, Dan Straily and other spare parts. Brandon Morrow is even back!  With a perfect 0.00 ERA over his first 4.7 innings as a Drive.
Cottage:  W, 6 -2. (.297, .350, .486;  12 ip, 4 er).  I wish my team knew how to limit the opposition to 4 earned runs.
DC: “L”, 6 – 4.  (.273, .368, .333;  6 ip, 1 er).  I wish my team knew how to limit the opposition to 4 earned runs.
AL East
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Old Detroit Wolverines 77 48 .612
Toronto Blue Jays 71 54 .568 5.6
Boston Red Sox 71 54 .568 5.6
Baltimore Orioles 69 56 .552 7.6
New York Yankees 64 61 .512 12.6
Flint Hill Tornadoes 62 63 .494 14.8
Tampa Bay Rays 52 72 .419 24.1
NL East
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Washington Nationals 73 52 .584
Canberra Kangaroos 70 55 .562 2.8
Miami Marlins 65 60 .520 8
New York Mets 63 62 .504 10
Philadelphia Phillies 58 68 .460 15.5
Atlanta Braves 46 80 .365 27.5
D.C. Balk 43 82 .346 29.8
AL Central
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 75 49 .604
Cleveland Indians 72 52 .581 3
Detroit Tigers 66 59 .528 9.5
Kansas City Royals 65 60 .520 10.5
Chicago White Sox 60 64 .484 15
Minnesota Twins 49 76 .392 26.5
NL Central
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Chicago Cubs 80 45 .640
St. Louis Cardinals 66 58 .532 13.5
Pittsburgh Pirates 63 60 .512 16
Cottage Cheese 57 68 .455 23.2
Milwaukee Brewers 55 70 .440 25
Cincinnati Reds 54 71 .432 26
AL West
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Haviland Dragons 80 46 .635
Texas Rangers 73 53 .579 7.1
Seattle Mariners 67 58 .536 12.6
Houston Astros 65 61 .516 15.1
Kaline Drive 62 64 .492 18.1
Oakland A’s 54 72 .429 26.1
Los Angeles Angels 52 73 .416 27.6
NL West
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Portland Rosebuds 76 49 .611
Los Angeles Dodgers 70 55 .560 6.4
San Francisco Giants 68 57 .544 8.4
Peshastin Pears 68 57 .543 8.6
Colorado Rockies 60 66 .476 16.9
San Diego Padres 53 73 .421 23.9
Arizona Diamondbacks 52 74 .413 24.9