A Hot Start to the Hottest Month

EFL
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB	RS	RA
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	73	36	.672	—	619.5	430.9
Cottage Cheese	72	38	.654	1.8	604.2	434.5
Haviland Dragons	72	39	.649	2.2	661.0	486.3
Flint Hill Tornadoes	71	41	.637	3.4	575.6	432.3
Portland Rosebuds	66	45	.594	8.3	645.8	523.7
Kaline Drive	64	47	.577	10.1	550.6	467.0
Peshastin Pears	61	50	.550	13.2	547.9	502.5
Old Detroit Wolverines	57	55	.510	17.6	548.7	524.1
Canberra Kangaroos	50	60	.450	24.2	512.4	572.2
D.C. Balk	42	68	.381	31.8	541.0	690.8

Record since the end of July:

Pittsburgh: W 4, L 1.  (.219, .292, .384; 61.3 ip, 28 er). What was all the moaning about? All the A’s had to do was allocate well.  They did so. They eliminated 8.3 innings and 17 earned runs from that mediocre pitching line, leaving themselves with a team ERA of 2.53.  They eliminated 43.5 of the worst ABs,  improving their team slash line to .291, .356, .509.  Some of you may have forgotten, during our recent years of Dragon dominance, that the Alleghenys are run by the greatest mastermind in the EFL. Those of you inclined to supply the A’s with pitching aces should never forget this.

Cottage: W 4, L 2. (.266, .346, .462; 53.7 ip, 24 er, 4.02 ERA.) Mike Trout is in full form: .462 .563, 1.000 for August so far. As the effect of the Alleghenys’ August 7th-tailored allocations wears off, perhaps the Cheese can make a move later this month. But don’t let Pittsburgh get any further ahead.

.

Haviland: W 5, L 1. (.245 .329, .469; 77 ip, 16 er) Poor Haviland! Their pitching was so good all across the board in the first week of August they could only meaningfully allocate out the 0.7 ip, 2 er turned in by Enny Romero. On the hitting side, they took out the combined 0 for 6 by Raimel Tapia and Andrew Susac.  So that 5 win, 1 loss record was an entire team effort.  Without more scapegoats, how will the Dragons propitiate the baseball demons?

Flint Hill: W 4, L 4.  (.214, .282, .346; 64 ip, 20 er ).  Those darn Red Sox climbed back into first among MLB teams in the AL East, forcing the Tornados to try to cover 8 games while the Alleghenys only had to cover 4.  But worry not — the effect will gradually diminish as August unfolds.

.

Portland:  W 3, L 3. (.234, .323, .445; 56.3 ip, 28 er, 4.47 ERA) Manny Machado blasted a grand slam home run last night. His post-Wolverine OPS: 1.154.  His Wolverine OPS in 2017: .756.  Sigh.

.

Kaline: W 3,  L 3. (.244, .287, .391;  60.7 ip, 31 er, 4.60 ERA).  The Drive line looks a lit like the Rosebud line, and the Drive don’t even have a suddenly resplendent Manny Machado to help them. Did you notice how the Wizard conjured Yonder Alonso onto the Mariners to platoon with his Danny Valencia?  Let’s see if their symbiosis conjures the Drive back into the pennant race.

.

Peshastin:  W 3, L 3.  (.249, .323, .517;  57 ip, 28 er, 4.42 ERA)  This  W3, L3 stuff is getting boring.  Can someone spice this up? No, Carlos Carrasco, I don’t mean “spice it up by allowing 10 earned runs in 7.3 ip.” Trevor Williams’ 7 scoreless innings of 1-hit ball last night — that’s more like it, you old former Wolverine, you.

.

Old Detroit: W 6, L 2.  (.286, .367, .515;  52.3 ip, 20 er, 3.44 ERA). Now that’s more like it!  Notice how the W’s DIDN’T crumble under the weight of 8 games (after allocating 12 ip, and 11 er out of the pitching line).  More evidence that the EFL teams in the AL East should swap places in the standings, if the world were just.

.

Canberra:  W 3, L 3. (.283, .331, .494;  41.7 ip, 32 er, 6.91 ERA). Sigh. Faulty pitching undermined the Kangaroos. Only Dellin Betances (3 ip, 0 er) and Wandy Peralta (2.3 ip, 1 er) managed ERA’s under 4.50.

.

DC: W 6, L 0.  (172 PA, .335, .374, .578.  40.7 ip, 11 er, 2.43 ERA)   Woah!  What’s this? Suddenly the Balk have mastered this game. Andrew Benintendi is OPSing 1.457 so far this month. Dylan Bundy has twirled 15 innings with only 2 earned runs.  When the prospects turn the corner, a team can be transformed! Here’s the hottest start in August. Look out, Canberra!

.

AL East
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Flint Hill Tornadoes	71	41	.637	—
Boston Red Sox	63	49	.563	8.4
New York Yankees	59	51	.536	11.4
Tampa Bay Rays	58	55	.513	13.9
Old Detroit Wolverines	57	55	.510	14.2
Baltimore Orioles	56	56	.500	15.4
Toronto Blue Jays	52	59	.468	18.9

NL East
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Washington Nationals	66	44	.600	—
Miami Marlins	52	58	.473	14
Atlanta Braves	51	59	.464	15
New York Mets	49	60	.450	16.5
Canberra Kangaroos	50	60	.450	16.5
D.C. Balk	42	68	.381	24.1
Philadelphia Phillies	40	69	.367	25.5

AL Central
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	73	36	.672	—
Cleveland Indians	59	50	.541	14.2
Kansas City Royals	57	54	.514	17.2
Minnesota Twins	54	56	.491	19.7
Detroit Tigers	51	60	.459	23.2
Chicago White Sox	41	68	.376	32.2

NL Central
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Cottage Cheese	72	38	.654	—
Chicago Cubs	58	52	.527	13.9
Milwaukee Brewers	59	55	.518	14.9
St. Louis Cardinals	56	56	.500	16.9
Pittsburgh Pirates	56	57	.496	17.4
Cincinnati Reds	46	66	.411	26.9

AL West
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Haviland Dragons	72	39	.649	—
Houston Astros	71	40	.640	1.1
Kaline Drive	64	47	.577	8
Seattle Mariners	57	56	.504	16.1
Los Angeles Angels	55	56	.495	17.1
Texas Rangers	53	58	.477	19.1
Oakland A’s	50	62	.446	22.6

NL West
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Los Angeles Dodgers	79	32	.712	—
Portland Rosebuds	66	45	.594	13.1
Colorado Rockies	64	48	.571	15.5
Arizona Diamondbacks	63	48	.568	16
Peshastin Pears	61	50	.550	17.9
San Diego Padres	49	62	.441	30
San Francisco Giants	44	70	.386	36.5