The Drive tightened their grip on first place, and everyone but the Dragons cowered. I don’t have time to write more than this, nor do I have the will…
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Kaline Drive | 17 | 8 | .677 | — | 131.6 | 89.3 |
| Haviland Dragons | 14 | 11 | .567 | 2.8 | 144.3 | 125.5 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 12 | 12 | .501 | 4.4 | 120.3 | 122.9 |
| D.C. Balk | 11 | 14 | .453 | 5.6 | 120.1 | 132.1 |
| Peshastin Pears | 12 | 14 | .451 | 5.7 | 128.4 | 141.5 |
| Cottage Cheese | 10 | 14 | .422 | 6.3 | 107.4 | 126.1 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 10 | 15 | .411 | 6.7 | 114.6 | 139.5 |
| Bellingham Cascades | 10 | 15 | .407 | 6.8 | 123.5 | 160.0 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 9 | 16 | .362 | 7.9 | 113.5 | 153.5 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 9 | 17 | .355 | 8.2 | 136.8 | 184.6 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 5 | 19 | .225 | 11 | 83.3 | 153.5 |
Kaline: W2, L(-1), 7-(-3) (42PA; 10.3IP)
| AVG: 0.257 | OBP: 0.381 | SLG: 0.486 | OPS: 0.867 |
| ERA: 0.87 | WHIP: 0.777 |
Yesterday’s kindness from the Drive was just a ploy, it seems. Today’s three game swing in their record marked the beginning of the end for all of us! (is that dramatic enough to be entertaining?) After his first or second day in first Tom promised he would move out of first, and since then he has only increased his lead over the rest of us. Aaron Civale was brilliant (CG 1 run outing), and the law firm of Winker and Wilmer bashed a HR apiece to lead the Drive to a spectacular day.
Haviland: W2, L(-1), 8-(-4) (62PA; 19.3IP)
| AVG: 0.278 | OBP: 0.371 | SLG: 0.407 | OPS: 0.778 |
| ERA: 1.87 | WHIP: 1.088 |
Ok, so the Drive were not outsmarting and outplaying everyone yesterday. The Dragons kept almost an identical pace, and in doing so gained a spot in the standings and .2 games on the Drive. They were the only EFL team to gain on the Drive yesterday – every single other team lost ground. The Dragons were, like the Drive, led by excellent pitching – the best of whom was Jesus Luzardo (must have been mad I said his teammate was the most exciting Dragon) who pitched 6 innings and gave up 0 runs. The Law firm of Carlos and Kolten combined to go 6 for 11 with a 2B and a HR.
Flint Hill: L, (-1)-7 (42PA; 3.3IP)
| AVG: 0.162 | OBP: 0.262 | SLG: 0.297 | OPS: 0.559 |
| ERA: 2.73 | WHIP: 0.909 |
Now looking up at two teams, I realize they have one thing in common (besides really good pitching) – their mascot names begin with Dr. So from now on we are the Dronadoes. It has a nice ring to it, I think! Nothing else about the Dronadoes day yesterday was nice. The pitching was ok but not enough, and the hitting was horrible though Keston Hiura was awesome, going 3 for 4 with a HR. Today will be a big day for the Dronadoes, with three different SP going. We will either inch our way back into the race or fall so far out that all of the trades we are making (oops, those are secret) will mean nothing!
DC: DNP, 3-0 (34PA; no pitching)
| AVG: 0.280 | OBP: 0.471 | SLG: 0.360 | OPS: 0.831 |
The Balk pitchers took yesterday off, so the batters had some BP, and it was BP that focused on two things – singles and BBs, of which they got 7 of each. Otherwise, this off day allowed the Balk to leapfrog the Pears in the standings, and they now sit in fourth. But the way these two teams are do-si-do-ing in the standings, who knows what will happen tomorrow!
Peshastin: W, 6-5 (45PA; 6.1IP)
| AVG: 0.300 | OBP: 0.356 | SLG: 0.475 | OPS: 0.831 |
| ERA: 2.95 | WHIP: 1.311 |
Pear players must have overheard their manager’s complaint yesterday, which was that so many injuries had occurred they had given up hope on the season. They went out and gave Phil something for which to hope. Tommy Edman went 3 for 4, and the pitching staff threw 6 solid innings, and the Pears won. Take that, Phil!
Cottage: W1, L1, 4-7 (46PA; 13IP)
| AVG: 0.122 | OBP: 0.196 | SLG: 0.146 | OPS: 0.342 |
| ERA: 2.77 | WHIP: 0.846 |
Wow, EFL pitching was really good yesterday, which has not been the case this season. Another solid effort, this time for the Cheese, led by Chris Paddack and Taijuan Walker. The hitters, on the other hand, were terrible. Alex Verdugo went 1 for 3 with a 2B and a SB, but no one else did anything worth reporting.
Canberra: DNP, 2-2 (41PA; 2.7IP)
| AVG: 0.297 | OBP: 0.341 | SLG: 0.676 | OPS: 1.017 |
| ERA: 13.33 | WHIP: 2.593 |
Roo hitters provided one of the offensive lines of the day, led by Kyle Tucker’s near cycle (he decided to get two triples instead of stop on second to make one of them doubles…so selfish). Rich Hill was a Poor Mound, and that’s all I have to say about that.
Bellingham: W, 8-(-1) (31PA; 12IP)
| AVG: 0.320 | OBP: 0.452 | SLG: 0.400 | OPS: 0.852 |
| ERA: 3.00 | WHIP: 1.000 |
A very nice day all around for the Cascades. Brad Miller and Hanser Alberto combined for 5 hits and 2 2Bs, and team continued to prove that Ks are not a necessary part of the game like so many other players and teams are apt to demonstrate. The Cascades batters combined for only 3 Ks on the day, which is as many as some players get in one day. And the excellent EFL pitching continued with solid performances from Tommy Milone and Brett Anderson.
Pittsburgh: L, 6-8 (45PA; no pitching)
| AVG: 0.268 | OBP: 0.333 | SLG: 0.439 | OPS: 0.772 |
The Allegheny management finally made an appearance yesterday, commenting on the Jovial Eloy Jimenez post shared by the Rosebuds. In those 14 words we learned so much – namely that they hadn’t laughed for 19 straight days, which might explain why Allegheny players seem to be so uptight on the field. In fact, the pitchers were so anxious they didn’t even show up to work, which turned out to give Mark another reason to not laugh today – so the streak must now be 20 days. Excited to be named their most exciting player, Dominic Smith went 2 for 4 and Max Muncy decided to do something nice for his owner by hitting a HR. I imagine a better performing Muncy would make Mark much happier.
Portland: L, 2-10 (40PA; 4IP)
| AVG: 0.167 | OBP: 0.250 | SLG: 0.250 | OPS: 0.500 |
| ERA: 9.00 | WHIP: 2.250 |
Yesterday the Rosebud owner provided a great example of looking for levity in other places when your team is just providing nothing but bad outcome after bad outcome. A few of the league’s members expressed gratitude for the email sent out by Mark, and I know for a fact that one of the owners who didn’t respond via email was also entertained by the post. I imagine Portland was also trying to get us to look away from his performance yesterday, and so we will. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.
Old Detroit: L, 5-6 (48PA; 1.7IP)
| AVG: 0.250 | OBP: 0.354 | SLG: 0.425 | OPS: 0.779 |
| ERA: 0.00 | WHIP: 0.000 |
The post shared by the Rosebuds featured one of the player OD management tried to posit as the most exciting player on his time in lieu of my suggestion of Walker Buehler. I’ll admit, it was exciting to watch his facial expression – but last I checked facial expressions don’t usually win baseball games. But you know what might? A heating-up Rafael Devers, which is exactly what is happening these days. He went 3 for 4 with a 2B and a HR – his second 3-hit day in a row. That is exciting.