Rosy Parachute

Old Detroit:  L, 0 – 10.  (.159 .196, .295;  10 ip, 9 er). The other day Colin Rea melted down in Old Detroit (2.7 ip, 6 er) but it didn’t hurt because Rea is 0% active.  Lucky!  But yesterday Corey Kluber did 5 innings, 8 er — and it all went straight to the team ERA.  Meanwhile, the mightiest Wolverine slugger of the day was Jose Iglesias (1 for 4 with a homer!) who is allocated at 35%.   So the mighty fell down, down, down…

Portland: W, 8 – 5.  (.349, .442, .488;  25.7 ip. 12 er). … But wait! Who is that catching them? Why — it’s the Rosebuds!  The W’s had been coasting along about 2 games ahead for the entire month.  But when they finally stumbled, the Rosebuds were not asleep.  They were there to catch them!  The W’s thank the Carlos twins (Correa and Gomez:  identical 2 for 3’s with a walk) for hustling forward to break the W’s fall.  We would thank Steve Pearce (double, triple, and walk in 6 PA), too,  if he hadn’t been tormenting the Mariners with those numbers.

Haviland: W (-1), L 2; 2 – 9. (.207, .258, .207; 6 ip, 7 er).  The Dragons gained about 0.3 games on the W’s, but really this was a lost opportunity, the Dragons caught napping when quickness was needed.  They batted only a little better than the W’s, and thanks to Kevin Gausman’s 6 er in 3 innings, pitched about the same.

Canberra: W,  6 – 5.  (.297, .381, .378; 1 ip, 0 er).  Minimalist pitching didn’t hurt too much this time — the ‘Roos still worked out a win thanks to some solid hitting. Logan Forsythe tormented his opponents (also the M’s, of course) with a double and a triple and a walk in 7 plate appearances — putting Kangaroo management in an uncomfortable spot, I’m sure.

Pittsburgh: W, 4 – (-2).  (.212, .366, .273; 17 ip, 3 er).  That burst of outstanding pitching, led by Strasburg’s 7 ip, helped the Alleghenys surmount a rather low-altitude batting performance.  Altuve had a normal great day: 2 for 3 with a walk. Trout, less so: 2 walks in 5 PA.

Flint Hill: W, 9 – 2.  (.394, .462, .606; 8.7 ip, 1 er)  If you look closely at the Standings History chart, you’ll see that the Pears were ahead of the Tornados as play started Wednesday. Both teams were above .500, barely. When Tornado management saw this, they flew into a tizzy. Collin McHugh pitched an angry 7 innings, allowing only 1 run in 6.7 innings.  The hitters tore up the place.  Scott Van Slyke broke out of his terrible doldrums to hit a double and a homer to lead the way back out of slavery in Egypt to the promised land of 6th place.

Peshastin; L , 4 – 8.  (.211, .268, .316;  0 pitching).  The Commissioner’s job in a fantasy league is tougher than you might think.  Sometimes he has to be the one to bear bad news. For example, at lunch today, the Chief Pear turned to me and said, his eyes blazing with hope, “The Pears might be above .500 today!” It was my duty to show him that they were not — they had not only lost their brief grip on 6th place, they were also just barely on the losing side of .500.  “I guess I didn’t get enough pitching,” he said.  “You got no pitching,” I had to respond, “… again. You’ve only had 6 pitchers all month, and three of them are relievers.”  To think of all the times I wish I could have borne such news to Pittsburgh of Haviland… but no, I had to pour it on the proud but poor Pears.

Cottage: “L”, 6 – 5.  (.306, .333, .429;  13.7 ip, 7 er).  The Cheese kept creeping along behind the Pears, no doubt awaiting the day they can pass their hated rivals once again. Yesterday they got significantly closer thanks to solid outings at the plate like Matt Duffy’s 3 for 5, and on the mound by Drew Smyly’s 6.7 ip, 2 er. Never mind Sonny Gray’s 6 ip and 5 er.

Kaline:  L 3 – 4.  (.207, .303, .241;  7.3 ip, 3 er)  Good enough  pitching to win, one would think, if the hitting had been better than replacement. Yoenis Cespedes was way better than replacement (3 for 4 with a walk).  Only three other Drives got hits.

D.C.: “W” 0 – 3. (.205, .225, .231;  2.3 ip, 0 er). It wasn’t much — and it wasn’t much of not much in the pitching department — but it was enough for the Balk’s 22 win.  They are now in 37th place and on the upswing in the standings chart. Next on the Balk’s target list:  the Cincinnati Reds!