League Updates

Resurrecting Ruth

The EFL race tightened yesterday as the teams at the top idled aimlessly.  80% of the teams not in first place moved closer to being in first.  Our last-place team has a real chance to finish the month above .500, especially since it has a young player who is channelling the long-dead spirit of Babe Ruth.

EFL
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB RS RA
Old Detroit Wolverines 17 6 .727 129.2 79.1
Flint Hill Tornadoes 16 7 .677 1.2 89.8 62.1
Haviland Dragons 15 8 .665 1.4 96.0 68.1
Peshastin Pears 14 9 .630 2.2 95.3 73.0
D.C. Balk 11 6 .669 2.4 88.9 62.5
Kaline Drive 13 10 .583 3.3 110.2 93.2
Bellingham Cascades 11 10 .542 4.3 85.8 78.8
Canberra Kangaroos 9 8 .532 4.7 89.0 83.5
Portland Rosebuds 12 11 .521 4.8 109.9 105.4
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 11 10 .514 4.9 102.5 99.7
Cottage Cheese 10 12 .445 6.4 124.6 139.2
 
Old Detroit:  DNP, (-1) – 0. (29 PA, .259, .310, .370;  no pitching).  Seven Wolverines batted yesterday, all of them reaching base at least once.  Nate Lowe led the way with a two hits, including a homer.  But, as you can see, the results were still rather thin offensive gruel, so the W’s lost a run on the season. At least the Oldies were spared a third straight day of starters giving up 4 earned runs in 4 ip.
 
 
Flint Hill: DNP, (-1) – 0.  (28 PA, .157, .250, .250;  20 ip 5 er, 2.25 ERA. Anthony DeSclafani pitched what might have been the best game of his injury-marred career yesterday, going 9 shutout innings, 9 k’s, and only 3 hits and a walk — and it’s like no one noticed.  In this era when no-hitters are weekly occurrences, it’s hard to get much attention for career games, but the Commissioner is committed to noting excellence wherever it occurs, especially where obscure ex-Wolverines are concerned. 
 
But spare a sympathetic second for the Tornados.  They rack up TWENTY innings of 2.25 ERA on an off day, and they only shed 0.2 runs.  This is the trouble you face when your team ERA is 2.51.   I am so glad God did not make my Wolverines like those poor, benighted Tornados with their anorexic pitching.  
 
OK, the sympathetic second is over by now.  It’s time to get on with your day.
 
Haviland: W, 5 – 3. (33 PA .273, .273, .424;  1 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA).  The Dragons are dangerously close to the Tornados’ condition.  That team ERA of 2.84 is not making Dragon fans any happier. Poor Chad Green:  he got through an inning without allowing a run, the one hit he allowed erased on the basepaths.  But the pressure! It was too much for him.  He could not bring himself to go out there again, so the D’s had to draw on their vaults of stored-up pitching to record the win.  That and Realmuto’s 3 hits in 4 trips, and Jose Iglesias’ homer. 
 
 
Peshastin: “L”, 4 – 4. (30 PA, .241, .267, .414;  11.3 IP, 3.19 ERA).  The Pears slipped past the Balk into 4th place yesterday, boosted by Trevor Rogers’ 6 scoreless innings.  Those innings were almost exactly like Chad Green’s (1 hit per inning, no walks, two baserunners eliminated on the basepaths) but somehow Rogers summoned the grit to go out there inning after inning. Good thing, too, because Justus Sheffield struggled: 5.3 ip, 4 er. Six out of 7 Pear batters got hits, but the offense was still skinny because only superstar Jazz Chisholm got more than one.  Sean Murphy’s lone hit was a homer. 
                                                                     
 
DC:  W (-1), L  1;  (-2) – 0.  (25 PA, .182, .280, .277;  5.7 ip, 2 er, 3.16 ERA).  Another anemic offense, this time paired with solid but slightly scanty pitching, left the door open for the Pears to pass them. Nico Hoerner’s 2 for 5 with a double qualified as the Balkan offensive highlight.  Bryce Harper was the only one out of 6 Balkan batters to fail to reach base safely, lowering his 2021 OPS to a measly 1.074 …
 
 
Kaline: W, 9 – 4. (38 PA, .343, .395, .743; 6 ip, 2 er, 3.00 ERA)... which the Drive almost matched as a team with a league-leading 38 plate appearances!  Yuli Gurriel went 3 for 4. Jesse Winker, Kyle Lewis, Willson Contreras, and Brent Rooker all homered, and Jose Urquidy turned in 6 solid innings, giving the Drive the best day in the EFL and a 0.7 game boost toward first place. 
 
 
Bellingham: L, 5 – 6. (27 PA, .182, .333, .500;  11.3 ip, 6 er, 4.78 ERA).  Without Rhys Hoskins’ two homers and Ronald Acuna Jr.’s two walks, the Bellingham batting line would have been .083, .083, .125.  Without Tyler Mahle’s 5 ip, 1 er against the Dodgers, the Cascades’ ERA would have been 7.15 .  The Bellies would have been in the middle of the Kangaroo/Rosebud/Allegheny melee.  Individual efforts DO matter.
 
 
Canberra:  DNP, 0 – (-4). (25 PA, .350, .360, .450; 7 ip, 2 er, 2.57 ERA).  The ‘Roos came in to work on their off-day Monday, and worked well. Mike Trout came out of nowhere to lead the Kangaroo offense, going 4 for 5 with a double. Emmanuel Clase appeared for the second straight game to render divine relief to Rich Hill, who did well in his six innings (2 er).  Thus the Cannies worked to batten down the hatches before the next flip flop between the Mets and another team atop the NL East..
 
 
Portland: L, 1 – 4. (44 PA, .154, .186, .231; 8 ip, 3 er, 3.38 ERA).  Corey Seager blasted a homer, and singled and walked in 6 plate appearances, and someone tamed Tyrone Taylor went 2 for 4, but the rest of the team went 2 for 31 to wilt the Rosebud offense.  Spencer Turnbull survived 6 innings with 3 earned runs.  But two relievers added a scoreless inning each to keep the Rosebuds safely above from the .500 mark. 
 
 
Pittsburgh: W, 5 – 4. (23 PA, .250, .348, .400;  1 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA).  Jose Altuve (3 for 5), Dansby Swanson (2 for 5 with a home run), and Max Muncy with a HBO and two more of his major-league-leading walks, were the entire story of the day for the A’s.  I suppose I should also mention Lou Trivino’s scoreless inning in relief of… nobody? Replacement pitchers?
 
 
Cottage:  W. 9 – 5. ( 26 PA, .455, .538, .682;  9 IP, 6 ER 6.00 ERA).  Shohei Ohtani is pulling it off.  I don’t know how many times I heard broadcasters for other games mention that Shohei Ohtani is the first pitcher in 100 years to lead the league in home runs.  Babe Ruth did it in his last year as a pitcher. Shohei is doing it now at the (re)start of what everyone hopes will be a long career’s run. Ohtani settled for a double, a single, and a walk yesterday.  He also won the game as the pitcher, although that achievement came in a rather ineffective 5 innings, 4 earned runs performance. 
 
But let’s not get picky.  The 11th place team in the EFL had the 2nd best day, and now has a real chance to escape the sub-.500 cellar before the end of the month.  Having the entire league above average would be as amazing as Shohei re-animating the spirit of the long-dead Babe.  Someone would still have to be in last place, but could we even call it the cellar if it’s above .500?  
 
 
Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2021
AL East
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Old Detroit Wolverines 17 6 .727
Flint Hill Tornadoes 16 7 .677 1.2
Boston Red Sox 14 9 .609 2.7
Tampa Bay Rays 11 12 .478 5.7
Toronto Blue Jays 10 11 .476 5.7
Baltimore Orioles 10 12 .455 6.2
New York Yankees 9 13 .409 7.2
NL East
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
D.C. Balk 11 6 .669
Canberra Kangaroos 9 8 .532 2.3
New York Mets 9 8 .529 2.4
Philadelphia Phillies 11 11 .500 2.9
Miami Marlins 10 12 .455 3.9
Atlanta Braves 10 12 .455 3.9
Washington Nationals 8 11 .421 4.4
 
AL Central
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Kansas City Royals 14 7 .667
Chicago White Sox 12 9 .571 2
Bellingham Cascades 11 10 .542 2.6
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 11 10 .514 3.2
Cleveland Indians 10 11 .476 4
Minnesota Twins 7 14 .333 7
Detroit Tigers 7 16 .304 8
NL Central
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Milwaukee Brewers 13 9 .591
Pittsburgh Pirates 11 11 .500 2
St. Louis Cardinals 11 11 .500 2
Chicago Cubs 10 12 .455 3
Cincinnati Reds 10 12 .455 3
Cottage Cheese 10 12 .445 3.2
 
AL West
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Haviland Dragons 15 8 .665
Oakland A’s 15 8 .652 0.3
Kaline Drive 13 10 .583 1.9
Seattle Mariners 13 10 .565 2.3
Los Angeles Angels 11 10 .524 3.3
Houston Astros 11 11 .500 3.8
Texas Rangers 9 14 .391 6.3
NL West
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Los Angeles Dodgers 15 8 .652
San Francisco Giants 15 8 .652
Peshastin Pears 14 9 .630 0.5
San Diego Padres 13 11 .542 2.5
Portland Rosebuds 12 11 .521 3
Arizona Diamondbacks 11 11 .500 3.5
Colorado Rockies 8 14 .364 6.5