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08/26/2052
The Rum Runners go 6-0 with sweeps of Pittsburgh and Toronto and now claim second place in the Lager. After a slow start to the year they are now 10 games over .500 since June and trail the Voodoo by only four games. Other big weeks were Maine, who went 5-1, and Hartford who went 5-2. On the flip side of life Dallas had the unicorn week...and not the good one. The Drillers went 0-7 as Hartford and Wilmington rolled them up like a wet paper napkin. The poor Drillers have lost nine in a row and currently sit at 62-63. They were 11-4 in August before this stretch and will try to right the ship this week against Montreal and Maine.
Power Rankings
1) Pawtucket Patriots (119.4, o)
2) Washington Bats (110.0, o)
3) Seattle Pilots (108.2, o)
4) Maine Guides (105.3, ++)
5) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (102.9, ++)
6) Philadelphia Freedom (102.1, -)
7) New Orleans Voodoo (99.6, ++)
8) Syracuse Snappers (99.5, --)
9) Hartford Whalers (98.6, ++)
10) New York Cyclones (95.1, ++)
11) Baltimore Bulldogs (94.0, --)
12) Batavia Muckdogs (93.9, --)
13) Los Angeles Dinos (92.5, -)
14) Indianapolis Clowns (91.0, o)
15) California Kodiaks (89.1, --)
16) Windy City Blues (85.9, ++)
17) Denver Bulls (85.5, +)
18) Toronto Canadians (85.1, --)
19) Pittsburgh Millers (78.3, -)
20) Phoenix Roadrunners (73.3, +)
21) Dallas Drillers (72.3, --)
22) Montreal Exports (65.9, o)
23) Wilmington Wildcats (64.4, o)
24) Carolina Tobs (49.3, o)
Performance of the Week
P Kris Elliott - On August 25th against Carolina he dominated the Tobs with a complete game two-hit shutout that featured 14 K's and only three walks. The Dinos barely pulled it out 12-0 as Elliott is now 6-2 with a 2.37 ERA and 167 ERA+ since being traded to LAD from Toronto just last month. Toronto fans have to be just shaking their heads.
Prospect of the Week
RF Ty Dec - Drafted 11th overall by the Blues in 2050, the 19 year old is playing for the Janesville Rolling Thunder in A ball and just lighting it up. So far this season in 108 games he's hitting .312/.412/.453 with 8 HR, 41 RBI, and 26 SB.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. The Domestic League wildcard race continues to be a disaster as first place Syracuse and eighth place Toronto are only separated by 6.5 games. With recent slumps by Pittsburgh and Dallas, we have seen Maine, SDR, and Indy move into the 2-3-4 slots. The Millers and Drillers are a half game back, followed by Hartford and Toronto. The Whalers have the easiest remaining schedule while Pittsburgh has the hardest. Basically we have no idea what will happen.
2. Over in the Import the Freedom have a seven game lead for the top wildcard spot, but are also only two games behind Washington in the Bock. For the final three spots we have Cali, Baltimore, Batavia and New York who are separated by only three games. Then sits LAD and Denver only four games back from New York. The poor Dinos are still leading the league with a -7 PYT, while the Freedom are feasting on their +7 PYT. Meanwhile Cali and Denver have the easiest remaining schedules. Basically we have no idea what will happen part two.
3. We had some extra inning bonanzas this week as five games went 14 or more innings, including a wild Cali/Phoenix game that went 19 innings. The game featured 34 hits, no errors, 15 total pitchers used, and 36 runners left on base. California scored one in the top of the 9th off of a Dwight Bell solo shot to tie it up at five a piece. There wasn't a run scored again until the bottom of the 19th when 36 year old Chadd Chua went from second to home on a Matthew Rozeboom two-out single.
4. Millers reliever Johnny Clayton got one of the longest suspensions in recent history after beaning Clowns catcher Boone Gellings in the torso/neck area during their August 19th match-up. With Pittsburgh leading 10-2 in the 9th, Clayton gave up a first pitch home run to Sherman West. Words were apparently exchanged, along with some sort of crotch chop movement, and Clayton had to be held back while benches cleared. The next batter was Gellings whom Clayton smacked with a 100 mph fastball. Clayton was immediately mobbed by Clowns, and they weren't the funny ones, they were the mad and scary ones. In the end Clayton got eight games, and Gellings got four. The Millers haven't won a game since.
5. What's on tap? Well it's August 29th and Philly and Seattle have only played three times this season, with Seattle taking two of them. They have eight games left to play against each other in the regular season, and the first four are this week. Seattle has a 3.5 game lead on Cali, Philly trails Washington by two games, and both of these teams are fighting for division crowns. Another great series is New York at Batavia. If the playoffs started today the Muckdogs make the final wildcard spot, and the Cyclones (just a half game back from them) are looking in. Batavia has won four of the six contests so far this season. Streak wise SDR has won six straight, Maine has won five straight, Pittsburgh has lost five straight, and Dallas has lost nine straight.
Stat of the Week
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| Largest Drop In Wins With No Significant Drop In Innings (Top 25 Players, Min 80% IP in 2nd season) |
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