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(AP) -
The bell curve was very pronounced this week. Windy City had a huge week at 6-1 to jump up to #6 in the power rankings and is now 3.5 games back from Seattle for the Bock lead. There were also six teams that had great weeks as Maine, Pawtucket, New York, Montreal, Carolina and New Orleans all went 5-2. On the flip side Indy struggled by going 1-6 and six teams (Philly, Batavia, Denver, Santo Dom, Toronto and Pitt) all went 2-5.
Power Rankings
1) Maine Guides (123.1, +)
2) Seattle Pilots (116.1, o)
3) Washington Bats (111.3, -)
4) Baltimore Bulldogs (108.9, o)
5) New York Knights (105.5, ++)
6) Windy City Blues (104.6, ++)
7) Pawtucket Patriots (103.7, -)
8) Montreal Exports (101.2, ++)
9) New Orleans Dukes (98.6, ++)
10) Wilmington Wildcats (95.7, -)
11) Hartford Whalers (94.6, --)
12) California Kodiaks (89.0, ++)
13) Indianapolis Racers (87.0, --)
14) Los Angeles Dinos (86.3, -)
15) Miami Sharks (85.4, ++)
16) Denver BC (81.4, --)
17) Philadelphia Freedom (79.8, --)
18) Pittsburgh Millers (78.3, --)
19) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (74.5, -)
20) Phoenix Roadrunners (72.1, +)
21) Syracuse Snappers (72.1, +)
22) Batavia Red Jackets (68.5, --)
23) Toronto Canadians (65.1, -)
24) Carolina Tobs (59.1, o)
Performance of the Week
CF Riley Thomas, CAL - The guy with no eye in California had the biggest offensive performance of the season on May 10th against Washington. In four at bats he had three hits, two home runs, five RBI's and scored all four times. The Kodiaks built an 8-0 lead but due to bad base running almost gave it up as Washington stormed back to score eight runs in the last four innings. In the end Cali held on 12-10 to get the W though.
Injury of the Week
OF Manny Nieto, DEN - Big things were expected of Nieto after the trade that sent him to Denver but so far this year he's disappointed as he's hitting .216 with 5 HR's and a -2.7 ZR in left field. In an effort to turn things around he's been taking extra BP and teammates were noticing he was starting to get more comfortable in the clubhouse. On May 10th though against New York the comeback train derailed when he was beaned by New York pitcher Samuel Norris in the 4th by a 91 MPH fastball. The crack could be heard throughout the park and Nieto was immediately taken to the hospital. X-rays showed he had a fractured ulna and will be out for at least a month.
Prospect of the Week
SP Spence Perry - The Clemson Tiger NCAA all-star was drafted by the Batavia Red Jackets with the 2nd pick of the draft and looks to be a future #1 starter. With an impressive array of six pitches he's had sub 2.00 ERA's in his two college seasons and scouts say he "has the mental skills to effectively handle big game pressure."
Five Things We Think We Think
1. The 2030 BLB draft is going strong and seven of the first ten picks have been starting pitchers. The other three are all sure handed OF's who can run. I guess GM's these days must believe that defense and pitching win games.
2. It's not often a team with a winning record has their manager just retire in the middle of the season but welcome to life in Baltimore. In his 18th season in Baltimore Ismael Lopez called it a career this last week citing health issues. Lopez played briefly in the BLB for California from 1991 to 1995, hitting .258 with 3 HR's and patrolling left and center field. In 2013 he took over the Baltimore manager spot and made the playoffs in all but two of his seasons with the Bulldogs. He was selected Manager of the Year in 2022 and 2025 but never led Baltimore to the Brewmasters Cup. Sources say bench coach TJ Rowe will take over in place of Lopez.
3. Maine slugger Turell 'Two-Ton' Morris leads the league with 37 RBI's, 11 more than a gaggle of players in 2nd with 26. He's on pace for 193 RBI's which would shatter the single season record of 157 set by TJ Dunn in 2009. Another player on pace to break some records is Wilmington RF Jaime Rush. Considered the best pure hitter in the league he's on pace for 272 hits and 105 stolen bases. The record for hits is 251 by California star Joe Lopez in 1995 and the stolen base record is 87 held by Sonny Fulton of Syracuse in the inaugural 1978 season. There's a lot of baseball left though.
4. Streaks around the league. Phoenix pitcher Nate Bettis now has a losing streak of nine games after a loss on May 9th to California sent him to 0-5 this year. Pittsburgh closer Pat Burgess has not blown a save in 26 straight chances. Chris Pineda (NYK) and Pat Cerveny (MAI) have homered in three straight games. Cerveny has only hit in one game this season after playing for Seattle last season. Ian James of DVS has hit safely in 15 straight games.
5. This past week Chicago 1B Kevin Langford was on an absolute tear. In 7 games he had 10 hits, 5 HR's and recorded 17 RBI's. In his previous 18 games he had 2 HR's and 7 RBI's. He didn't win Player of the Week.
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