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08/20/2040
With a majority of the teams playing seven games the Baltimore Bulldogs turned in the rare unicorn with a perfect 7-0 week with sweeps of both Carolina and Los Angeles. They posted a team ERA of 4.30 after allowing 33 runs, but they led all teams by scoring 61 runs including wins such as 8-7, 11-9, and 11-8. They have now won 11 straight games but at 52-67 it's just a tad too late. Meanwhile in other news Seattle maintains the top spot in the Power Rankings, even with a 3-4 week, while Maine and Denver each went 5-1. Not to be outdone in the IL wild card race Philadelphia went 5-2 as did Wilmington and Hartford to keep afloat in the DL.
Power Rankings
1) Seattle Pilots (118.5, o)
2) Pittsburgh Millers (110.5, o)
3) Batavia Red Jackets (106.6, ++)
4) Washington Bats (105.0, +)
5) Windy City Blues (105.0, -)
6) Maine Guides (104.2, -)
7) Montreal Exports (104.0, --)
8) California Kodiaks (101.5, +)
9) Philadelphia Freedom (101.5, +)
10) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (101.0, +)
11) Denver Bulls (100.0, +)
12) Baltimore Bulldogs (99.7, ++)
13) Wilmington Clowns (97.8, -)
14) Hartford Whalers (90.3, ++)
15) New Orleans Voodoo (87.5, -)
16) Syracuse Snappers (85.5, --)
17) Indianapolis Racers (84.3, -)
18) Phoenix Roadrunners (78.0, --)
19) Pawtucket Patriots (74.8, -)
20) Carolina Tobs (68.2, +)
21) Toronto Canadians (65.5, o)
22) New York Knights (64.4, -)
23) Los Angeles Dinos (56.9, o)
24) Dallas Drillers (51.9, o)
Performance of the Week
P Alan Allen - On August 14th against Batavia the man with two first names turned in the #11 performance of the season in a 12-0 Bats victory. He went 8.2 innings, allowed no runs on three hits, and struck out 8. At only 96 pitches and with two outs in the 9th we aren't sure why he was pulled for Joseph 'Mailman' Fallah, but 'Mailman' struck out Jimmy Brabec on five pitches to end the game.
Injury of the Week
CF LaVernus Contreras - The season hasn't fared well for Los Angeles and now they have to deal with their young center fielder going down for the rest of the year. On August 16th against Baltimore he ended the 4th inning with an amazing sliding catch on an Ed Springer line drive to shallow center, but then he came up limping. He wasn't able to return in the 5th and went to the trainers room instead. He was diagnosed with a bone bruise in his left knee after x-rays thankfully did not show a break. On the season he hit .265/.354/.451 with 11 HR's, 29 RBI's, and 35 stolen bases.
Prospect of the Week
CF Max Goodman - Drafted by Wilmington in the 3rd round of the 2037 draft he's known as a plus plus defensive player in center field, but not so much for his bat. On August 19th though against Barre the 20 year old plated eight with two grand slams during a 26-1 victory. Scouts love his power potential and last season he was a RL All-Star and won the Glove Wizard award in center field. This season he's hitting .223/.351/.470 with 17 HR's, 70 RBI's, and 24 stolen bases in 87 games.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Not often you get the walk-off grand slam but Robert Jessee did just that this week. The score was tied at three in the 17th inning when Jessee hit a 409 foot shot off of Manny Cabral to finally end it. Toronto scored one in the 8th, and one in the 9th to tie it up, then no one decided to score for seven and half more innings. In other exciting finishes Pawtucket's David Perry hit a three run home run in the bottom of the 16th against Wilmington to walk it off on August 13th. A day later Wilmington got their revenge when they scored seven in the top of the 10th to eventually win 17-10. That game featured a bottom of the 9th five run rally by Pawtucket that had a solo home run, a bench clearing brawl, a Perry single to score a run, and finally a three run home run to tie it up. Where are all the closers at these days?
2. The minor leagues are winding down as the Rookie League has two weeks left, while AAA, AA, and A have three weeks left. With the same playoff structure as the BLB every single league has a wildcard playoff race going on. Learning to play under pressure now will only help those young kids down the road, when a few of them will find themselves deep in the BLB playoffs.
3. To say there was a trade flurry as the deadline came to a close this past week would be an understatement. Eleven trades were submitted to the commissioners office that featured 17 players and 12 draft picks moving around the league. Considering 15 teams are in the running for 12 spots it looks like we might have some excitement down the stretch.
4. The Pat Nunes hitting streak is over at 29 games and it's the longest the BLB's seen since Elmer Carceres reached 29 for New Orleans back in 2036. It also ties other BLB greats such as DJ Gosser, Geoff Yonke, and Mike Morla. That's pretty good company to say the least.
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| 08/16/2040 | Pat Nunes | 29 Games, while playing for Washington | |
| 04/09/2024 | Geoff Yonke | 29 Games, while playing for Washington | |
| 08/13/2036 | Elmer Caceres | 29 Games, while playing for New Orleans | |
| 04/26/2022 | Mike Morla | 29 Games, while playing for California | |
| 06/10/2019 | D.J. Gosser | 29 Games, while playing for Baltimore |
5. On July 5th the Washington Bats were 20 games over .500 while Batavia was at 8 above even. On August 20th the Red Jackets are now at 21 and the Bats are still at 20. Only Windy City has had a better record over that time than Batavia, who now find themselves leading the Stout by half a game.
Stat of the Week
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| Most Postseasons Played In (Top 25 Players) |
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