NOTE: This update includes corrections to the standings as originally published. I messed up the pitcher stats file somewhat before yesterday’s update, meaning it was slightly off for some teams. You may note oddities in this update compared to yesterday — those are remnants of yesterday’s problems being corrected today. It’s fixed now, and the standings are slightly different than they were this morning as a result. So I am rewriting this update now while listening to see if Manny Machado will hit his fourth homer today. But that’s today. This update is about yesterday. We’ll try to forget what we know about today’s action.
Sean O’Malley isn’t on an EFL roster anymore. So his stunning game-winning three-run homer for the M’s doesn’t reverberate around the EFL, even though it saved the game on the night the M’s retired Ken Griffey’s number 24. I was dozing on the couch until the instant just before it happened, waking up just as the pitch approached the plate.
There were things in the M’s game that DID affect the EFL, and it wasn’t all good news, either.
EFL Standings for 2016
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Portland Rosebuds | 70 | 40 | .635 | — | 560.0 | 418.0 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 69 | 40 | .636 | 0.5 | 581.0 | 438.1 |
| Haviland Dragons | 70 | 41 | .625 | 0.8 | 540.2 | 420.6 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 66 | 42 | .616 | 2.1 | 589.7 | 464.1 |
| Peshastin Pears | 61 | 49 | .556 | 8.8 | 530.7 | 465.9 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 59 | 51 | .533 | 11 | 512.4 | 473.0 |
| Cottage Cheese | 52 | 57 | .476 | 17.5 | 535.5 | 553.5 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 52 | 57 | .477 | 17.6 | 464.4 | 484.4 |
| Kaline Drive | 50 | 61 | .452 | 20.3 | 544.9 | 606.5 |
| D.C. Balk | 38 | 72 | .345 | 31.8 | 449.0 | 625.4 |
Portland: W, 5 – 4. (.387, .409, .532 — Happy EMD!; no pitching) I think this is the second day in a row the Rosebuds have gotten by without any pitching. Who needs it when Kole Calhoun is pummeling Mariner pitchers (3 for 4 with a double) — and (not in Safeco) Keon Broxton is going 5 for 5 with a double and a walk. And the just acquired David Dahl hits a triple and two singles in 5 ABs.
Old Detroit: W, 6 – 2. (.262, .333, .381; 14.3 ip, 6 er). Tyler Skaggs gave up half the Mariner’s 8 runs, in only 5.3 innings, to record a near-replacement result. Fortunately Corey Kluber did better (8 ip, 2 er), and Edwin Diaz did best: 1 shutout inning to close out the M’s win (and the W’s “win”).
Haviland: W, 7 – 6. (.381, .458, .476; 26 ip, 13 er). No Dragons appeared in the M’s-Angels game last night. Newly-acquired Alex Bregman broke through for a 3 for 5 night with a double. Among the slew of Dragon pitchers, Chris Archer (6 ip, 1 er ) and Danny Duffy (6.7 ip, 2 er) did well, but Jose Berrios (5 ip, 4 er) and Carlos Martinez (5 ip, 6 er) did not. Thankfully, or the W’s would be in third place right now.
Pittsburgh; L, 7 – 7. (.286, .382, .571; 8 ip, 6 er). Being in third place would also make it harder for the W’s to pretend that the Alleghenys are not breathing down the leaders’ necks. Mike Trout homered in the first inning for the second straight game, forcing the M’s to make dramatic comebacks. Last night, Trout also tripled to up the ante, and he walked. Yeah. He had a daily OPS of 3.083. His season OPS is now .991 — the same as that other man, Jose Altuve. It’s a good thing Stephen Strasburg flamed out a little (4.7 ip, 4 er), otherwise the A’s would be within 2 games of the lead.
Peshastin: W, 5 – 4. (.303, .395, .455; 6.7 ip, 0 er) The Pears benefitted, barely, from Seth Smith’s pinch-hit walk last night. They didn’t benefit from Ross Stripling’s emergency start in LA, where he went 5 scoreless innings, because Stripling is inactive this month.
Canberra: W, 8 – 8 (.300, .391, .675; 8.3 ip, 7 er). That there is almost precisely a replacement pitching line — the 7.56 ERA surpassing a replacement player’s by only 0.06. The main problem was Taijuan Walker’s rocky start against the Angeles — he allowed all 6 of their runs (earned) in his 4 innings of pitching. Bryce Harper continues to struggle (0 for 3 with 3 strikeouts), but new Ranger Jonathan Lucroy didn’t (2 homers in 4 ab).
Cottage: W, 6 – 5. (.354, .392, .438; 5 ip, 2 er). Chris Iannetta’s single in three trips barely registered last night at Safeco. Sonny Gray righted his ship for a day, enough to allow the Cheese to squeeze just in front of the Tornados.
Flint Hill: L, 1 – 2. (.259, .300, .259; 8 ip, 1 er). Tornado pitchers tore through opposing lineups, but it wasn’t enough to secure a win for the Tornados. They now have the pleasure of looking at the Cheese’s backside in this year’s pennant race.
Kaline: W, 6 – 2. (.344, .400, .406; 1.3 ip, 0 er). For all the Mariners the Drive acquire, they had none in action last night. Angel Johnny Giavotella played but wasn’t much of a factor. Carlos Perez played, and went 2 for 3. Ichiro Suzuki got one hit, leaving him with 2999 going into today’s game.
D.C.: W, 8 – 7. (.289, .325, .737; 5 ip, 4 er) Franklin Gutierrez went 3 for 5, only missing an itty bitty triple to complete the cycle, carrying two teams to narrow, come-from-behind wins.
(Update: Machado grounded into a double play in the 5th inning. JJ Hardy — who also homered earlier — did the same in the 6th. So they were doing their very best to undo the damage they’d done to their opponents.)
| AL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 69 | 40 | .632 | — |
| Baltimore Orioles | 62 | 47 | .569 | 6.9 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 63 | 48 | .568 | 6.9 |
| Boston Red Sox | 60 | 49 | .550 | 8.9 |
| New York Yankees | 55 | 55 | .500 | 14.4 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 52 | 57 | .475 | 17.1 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 44 | 63 | .411 | 23.9 |
| NL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Washington Nationals | 65 | 45 | .591 | — |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 59 | 51 | .535 | 6.2 |
| Miami Marlins | 58 | 52 | .527 | 7 |
| New York Mets | 56 | 54 | .509 | 9 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 51 | 61 | .455 | 15 |
| Atlanta Braves | 40 | 70 | .364 | 25 |
| D.C. Balk | 38 | 72 | .345 | 27 |
| AL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 67 | 41 | .618 | — |
| Cleveland Indians | 62 | 46 | .574 | 4.7 |
| Detroit Tigers | 61 | 49 | .555 | 6.7 |
| Chicago White Sox | 53 | 57 | .482 | 14.7 |
| Kansas City Royals | 52 | 58 | .473 | 15.7 |
| Minnesota Twins | 44 | 66 | .400 | 23.7 |
| NL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Chicago Cubs | 68 | 41 | .624 | — |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 58 | 52 | .527 | 10.5 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 55 | 53 | .509 | 12.5 |
| Cottage Cheese | 52 | 57 | .476 | 16.1 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 49 | 59 | .454 | 18.5 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 44 | 65 | .404 | 24 |
| AL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Haviland Dragons | 70 | 41 | .627 | — |
| Texas Rangers | 64 | 47 | .577 | 5.6 |
| Houston Astros | 57 | 53 | .518 | 12.1 |
| Seattle Mariners | 56 | 53 | .514 | 12.6 |
| Kaline Drive | 50 | 61 | .451 | 19.5 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 49 | 61 | .445 | 20.1 |
| Oakland A’s | 48 | 62 | .436 | 21.1 |
| NL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Portland Rosebuds | 70 | 40 | .635 | — |
| San Francisco Giants | 63 | 47 | .573 | 6.8 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 61 | 49 | .555 | 8.8 |
| Peshastin Pears | 61 | 49 | .555 | 8.8 |
| Colorado Rockies | 55 | 55 | .500 | 14.8 |
| San Diego Padres | 48 | 62 | .436 | 21.8 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 44 | 66 | .400 | 25.8dd |