Pestiferous glory

EFL
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB	RS	RA
Portland Rosebuds	62	41	.603	—	532.0	425.7
Old Detroit Wolverines	62	42	.599	0.2	482.3	392.7
Canberra Kangaroos	59	43	.576	2.8	472.4	405.5
Brookland Outs	57	45	.563	4.2	535.9	474.0
Cottage Cheese	57	45	.554	5	539.7	478.9
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	53	48	.525	8	534.8	512.8
Kaline Drive	53	51	.513	9.2	470.1	452.4
Flint Hill Tornadoes	52	52	.502	10.3	467.3	465.8
Haviland Dragons	50	54	.477	13	458.7	479.1
Peshastin Pears	48	55	.464	14.3	430.9	465.9
D.C. Balk	41	61	.400	20.8	419.8	517.1

(Stats are for Wednesday and Thursday games):

Portland:  W 1, L 1; 8 – 9. (54 PA, .265, .333, .347; 5 ip, 3 er, 5.40 ERA).  JT Realmuto kept his MLB suitors enthralled by going 3 for 4 with two doubles, and Adelberto Mondesi backed him up with four hits in 8 at bats. Even though the plate appearances were slight for these last two games, and the pitching wholly inadequate, the Rosebuds do not seem to have carried any replacements in July. So far.

Old Detroit: “L”, 8 – 6. (85 PA, .273, .341, .610; 17.7 ip, 13 er). Eight Wolverines OPSed over 1.000 Tue/Wed: Acuna (1.250), Ahmed (1.143), Hedges (1.750), Iglesias (1.833), Schwarber (1.100), Mallex Smith (1.250), Michael Taylor (1.667), and Trea Turner (1.100).  Six OPSed under 1.000:  Bell (.125), Candelario (.800); Contreras (.762); Devers (.500), Muncy (.722), and Ohtani (.644).  From which one might conclude there is no statistically significant correlation — positive or negative — between hype (or expectations) and performance. On the pitching side, Buehler (9.64 ERA), Greene (18.00) and Richard (10.80) all stank. Richard’s 5 innings thankfully transpired entirely in Toledo.  But Rich Hill helped with 7 shutout innings, so (dropping Richard) the effective team performance was 12.7 ip, 7 er, for a bad but not devastating team ERA of just a hair under 5.00.  This allowed the Wolverines to pester the Rosebuds in a most annoying (and thus satisfying) way from right up close. Nip, nip!

Canberra: W 1, L 1; 11 – 10. (83 PA, .254, .349, .634; 8.3 ip, 4 er, 4). Rhys Hoskins (4 for 8, a double and three homers, 2.306 OPS) and Jose Abreu (4 for 8, a double and two homers, 1.931 OPS) led the way for the Kangaroo offense.  I suppose Seranthony Dominguez led the way for the Kangaroo pitching, but it was only 1.3 ip, 0 er.  Over the two days, the Kangaroos gained 0.2 games on the Rosebuds, moving at a pace that will carry them into first before the end of August. For the moment that are backing up the Wolverines at the pest position.

Brookland: W 1, L 1; 11 – 9.  (79 PA, .232, .329, .464;  32.7 ip, 14 er, 3.86 ERA) The first team we’ve encountered with a satisfactory sub-4.00 ERA for Wednesday/Thursday, the Outs enjoyed the pitching leadership of Charlie Morton (6 ip, 1 er) and Derek Holland (ditto).  On offense, where results were more modest than the teams they trail, the Outs had to live with only   four players OPS 1.000 or more, led by Dustin Fowler at 1.333 OPS (1 for 3 with a triple).  The Outs are, I suppose, in the hole as pests — third string aphids, I guess.

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Cottage: W 1, L 1; 14 – 18. (85 PA, .320, .376, .440; 10.3 ip, 12 er, 10.45 ERA). The Cheese have edged themselves back into the pennant race, at 4.6 games out two days ago and 5.0 this morning.  That 5.o GB is a remarkable achievement considering the unfortunate pitching the Cheese have gotten in the last two days. Danny Duffy reverted to his bad ways from earlier this season (5.7 ip, 7 er), and Tyler Mahle triple chulked (1 ip, 3 er) (as did Scott Alexander on a lesser scale: ).3 ip, 1 earned run. These three “led” the team through a harrowing period, bailed out only by some solid hitting.  Perhaps the most helpful contribution was from rookie Alex Verdugo: 4 for 8 with a double — a nice 1.125 OPS for the two days.

Pittsburgh: W, 6 – 2. (53 PA, .255, .340, .447;  12.3 ip, 4 er, 2.92 ERA).  The work was solid — but especially on the hitting side, it isn’t enough to avoid replacements. Actually, the Alleghenys haven’t used any replacement hitters, but have 27.7 innings from replacement hurlers this month. But here’s a telling note, ominous or heartwarming, your choice:  the Alleghenys, 8 games out, haven’t entirely given up on the pennant race.  They made an allocation change yesterday, activating Blake Swihart’s to 18% to take at least some advantage of his .833 OPS yesterday and 1.125 OPS on the month.

Kaline: L, 2 – 6. (56 PA, .255, .304, .333; 9 ip, 6 er, 6.00 ERA).  The Drive have had some hat stretches in July, and looked for a moment like they’d pull themselves back into the pennant race.  But not the last two days.  Nik Kingham dug a hole with his 3 inning, 6 er chulk, which Brian Johnson’s 5.7 scoreless innings couldn’t undo. On offense, the Drive had three hitters OPS over 1.000 or better (Desmond: 1.000; Walker, 1.100; Wendle, 1.286) — but also six OPSing .500 or below.  That leaves AJ Pollock at .722 … and Aaron Judge at .900, including a hit by pitch that chipped a bone in his wrist and will have him on the DL for at least three weeks.

Haviland: W 2, L (-1); 14 – 3. (60 PA, .314, .417, .725; 13.7 ip, 9 er, 5.93 ERA).  Which team made the most dramatic move in the standings over the last two days?  The Dragons! Five Dragons OPSed over 1.000:  Alonso (1.250), Avila (1.833), Harper (1.083), Kinsler (2.550 — 3 for 4 with a double, a homer, and a walk), and Soto (2.167 — 2 homers, a single, and three walks in 9 plate appearances). If only Dylan Covey had done better than 4.7 ip, 6 er we might be looking at a three-result.

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Peshastin: W 1, L 1; 5 – 8. (49 PA, .222, .265, .311; 33 ip, 12 er, 3.27 ERA).  A ton of solid pitching, led by Tylaer Skaggs’ 6 ip, 1 er and Jameson Taillon’s 7 ip, 2 er, salvaged a win despite thin, weak hitting. The Pears have compiled 61 replacement plate appearances this month. I suppose the good news is Kevin Kiermaier’s 2 for 7 with a double, a homer and a walk (1.232 OPS).  But that elevates Kiermaier’s July OPS only to .595 — and only .561 on the season. Of course, if you look at this from a slightly different angle, it means Kiermaier is finally getting hot, and he maybe will sail through the rest of the season.

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DC: W 1, L 1; 11 – 12. (63 PA, .321, .387, .589; 7 ip, 3 er, 3.86 ERA).  The Balk took on 7 replacement innings over the last two day, enough to mar the solid 7 live innings they got, and the solid hitting they enjoyed.  Matt Chapman once again justified his high draft pick with a 4  for 7 performance with 2 triples, a homer and a walk.

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AL East
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Boston Red Sox	71	33	.683	—
New York Yankees	65	36	.644	4.5
Old Detroit Wolverines	62	42	.599	8.7
Tampa Bay Rays	53	50	.515	17.5
Flint Hill Tornadoes	52	52	.502	18.8
Toronto Blue Jays	46	55	.455	23.5
Baltimore Orioles	29	74	.282	41.5

NL East
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Canberra Kangaroos	59	43	.576	—
Philadelphia Phillies	58	44	.569	0.8
Atlanta Braves	54	45	.545	3.3
Washington Nationals	51	51	.500	7.8
New York Mets	43	57	.430	14.8
Miami Marlins	44	60	.423	15.8
D.C. Balk	41	61	.400	18

AL Central
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Cleveland Indians	55	46	.545	—
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	53	48	.525	1.9
Minnesota Twins	48	53	.475	7
Detroit Tigers	44	60	.423	12.5
Chicago White Sox	36	66	.353	19.5
Kansas City Royals	31	71	.304	24.5

NL Central
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Chicago Cubs	60	42	.588	—
Milwaukee Brewers	59	46	.562	2.5
Brookland Outs	57	45	.563	2.6
Cottage Cheese	57	45	.554	3.5
Pittsburgh Pirates	53	51	.510	8
St. Louis Cardinals	51	51	.500	9
Cincinnati Reds	45	58	.437	15.5

AL West
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Houston Astros	67	37	.644	—
Seattle Mariners	61	41	.598	5
Oakland A’s	61	43	.587	6
Kaline Drive	53	51	.513	13.7
Los Angeles Angels	52	52	.500	15
Haviland Dragons	50	54	.477	17.4
Texas Rangers	42	62	.404	25

NL West
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Portland Rosebuds	62	41	.603	—
Los Angeles Dodgers	57	46	.553	5.1
Arizona Diamondbacks	56	48	.538	6.6
Colorado Rockies	54	47	.535	7.1
San Francisco Giants	52	52	.500	10.6
Peshastin Pears	48	55	.464	14.3
San Diego Padres	42	63	.400	21.1