I did just say “The Mighty Can Also Fall” yesterday. And Lo!…
Old Detroit 2.8 (16.4 – 4.0), Salem 0.2 (14.5 – 14.1). The Wolverines leapt 3 games in the standings in a single game, compared to the Seraphim, one of the biggest swings in the history of the EFL. In our old notation, it was OD W 2, L (-1), while SS W (-1), L 2. The key to the day was pitching. Old Detroit got 18 ip with only 2 earned runs, slicing almost 80% off their ERA to bring it down to 1.24 for the week. With modest Salem hitting (only OPSing .688 on the day), Old Detroit hit Salem with a -6.7 runs scored on the day. Meanwhile Salem was surrendering 7 earned runs allowed in 5.7 innings, adding fuel to Old Detroit’s decent .741 daily OPS.
What goes up can come down, so the Wolverines cannot get comfortable with their suddenly substantial lead. This might only be the 8 runs in the top of the 5th. There could be 11 runs coming in the bottom of the 6th. (Reference: the M’s 12 – 13 loss to the Royals Sunday).
Canberra 1.8 (18.3 – 20.3), DC 1.2 (13.2 – 17.6). Can the Kangaroos still win? Yes, but two things have to happen this week.
- The ‘Roos cannot fall more than 6 games behind the first place team.
- The ‘Roos distance to first place has to be less than the total distance from first of of any teams between them and first place, as of the end of Week 26
Right now the first condition prevails, but the second one does not. Canberra is playing DC this week. The ‘Roos need to draw the Balk away from first place by getting more wins at their cost. Right now, between the Seraphim crashing and the Wolverines soaring around them, and getting beat 1 W to 1 L by the ‘Roos, may have the Balkan heads swimming, but they didn’t lose any ground on first place.
This is all I have time for today. If some of you want to make your own comments, feel free to post them as comments.