Portland padded its lead Sunday. Again. Ho hum.
EFL Standings for 2018
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Portland Rosebuds | 97 | 52 | .650 | — | 812.8 | 583.4 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 96 | 54 | .637 | 1.8 | 755.9 | 563.0 |
| Brookland Outs | 83 | 66 | .555 | 14.1 | 775.4 | 700.7 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 82 | 67 | .552 | 14.5 | 687.7 | 621.8 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 81 | 68 | .541 | 16.2 | 785.3 | 729.9 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 78 | 72 | .522 | 19.1 | 706.8 | 670.8 |
| Haviland Dragons | 75 | 74 | .503 | 21.8 | 722.8 | 709.2 |
| Cottage Cheese | 71 | 78 | .477 | 25.8 | 710.9 | 743.3 |
| Kaline Drive | 71 | 78 | .475 | 26 | 648.5 | 683.4 |
| Peshastin Pears | 69 | 80 | .460 | 28.2 | 640.0 | 695.0 |
| D.C. Balk | 66 | 83 | .445 | 30.5 | 636.5 | 715.6 |
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(Stats are for Saturday and Sunday)
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Portland: W 2, L 0; 11 – 8. (125 PA, .284, .352, .486; 18 ip, 8 er, 4.00 ERA).
Old Detroit: W 1, L 1; 4 – 14. (113 PA, .228, .310, .327; 23.7 ip, 12 er, 4.56 ERA).
Ozuna and Rendon each went 3 for 4 with a homer. No one on the W’s came close to that. The Rosebuds extended their lead again, this time by half a game to 1.8 games ahead. I would call this the fourth most exciting race in the league, except it’s not all that exciting with the Wolverines going backward, and I’m not even sure it’s a race anymore judging by the level of effort coming from the Wolverines. For example, Shohei Ohtani hit a homer Saturday, but after that went 0 for 5 over the weekend. Twice he left men on base for Justin Upton to drive in with homers rather than doing it himself. He also tried to steal second Sunday against the Mariners who threw him out.
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Brookland: W 1, L 1; 7 – 14. (86 PA, .208, ,.291, .468; 16.7 IP, 7 er, 3.78 ERA)
Canberra: W 0, 2; 6 – 8. (84 PA, .186, .313, .314; 3.7 ip, 2 er, 4.91 ERA)
Pittsburgh: W 1, L 1; 10 – 11. (69 PA, .246, .333, .475; 12.3 ip, 8 er, 5.84 ERA)
Despite the worse record, the Kangaroos crept closer to the Outs over the weekend, cutting the 0.8 game gap in half. The BO/CK race is the second most exciting in the league! Meanwhile the Alleghenys have pulled themselves to within 1.7 games of the Kangaroos, making the CK/PA race the third most exciting in the EFL! So I suppose this means the Kangaroos are having the most fun in the league right now. Shouldn’t they be making roster moves like crazy?
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Flint Hill: W 1, L 1; 13 – 13. (69 PA, .258, .333, .468; 5.3 ip, 1 er, 1.69 ERA.)
Haviland: W 1, L 1; 14 – 11. (85 PA, .256, .389, .526; 17.3 ip, 9 er, 4.67 ERA)
The Tornados and Dragons are both at least 2 games away from any other teams, meaning their races are lacking pizzazz compared to the yawner atop the league. These teams have learned to quit worrying and enjoy the ride. I hope. Although it might be that the Dragons still have designs on sixth place: they just made a roster reallocation. So don’t rest too easy, Tornados! And whatever you do, Tornados, don’t activate Justus Sheffield unless you want to lose control over him for the 2023 season. Although maybe that far-off pay-off will be worth sacrificing if activating Justus helps you adjust family dynamics in your favor. (It seems to me you will have enough troubles this off season as it is.)
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Cottage: W 1, L 1; 11 – 11. (69 PA, .300, .377, .467; 12 ip, 6 er, 4.50 ERA).
Kaline: W 1, L 1; 5 – 6. (91 PA, .210, .297, .321; 12.3 ip, 3 er, 2.19 ERA).
Cottage doubled its lead over Kaline, extending it to 0.2 games. This is the most exciting race in the league!
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Peshastin: W 1, L 1; 8 – 14. (71 PA, .246, .268, .435; 1.3 ip, 2 er, 13.50 ERA)
D.C.: W 1, L 1; 8 – 5. (66 PA, .233, .288, .467; 18.7 ip, 5 er, 2.41 ERA)
The Balk gained 0.1 game on the Rosebuds, working to get back within 30 games of the lead. I don’t know if that counts as a race, but it’s still exciting.
Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2018
| AL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Boston Red Sox | 103 | 47 | .687 | — |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 96 | 54 | .637 | 7.5 |
| New York Yankees | 91 | 58 | .611 | 11.5 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 82 | 66 | .554 | 20 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 78 | 72 | .522 | 24.8 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 67 | 82 | .450 | 35.5 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 43 | 106 | .289 | 59.5 |
| NL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Atlanta Braves | 83 | 66 | .557 | — |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 82 | 67 | .552 | 0.7 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 76 | 72 | .514 | 6.5 |
| Washington Nationals | 76 | 74 | .507 | 7.5 |
| New York Mets | 69 | 80 | .463 | 14 |
| D.C. Balk | 66 | 83 | .445 | 16.7 |
| Miami Marlins | 58 | 91 | .389 | 25 |
| AL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Cleveland Indians | 83 | 66 | .557 | — |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 81 | 68 | .541 | 2.4 |
| Minnesota Twins | 68 | 81 | .456 | 15 |
| Detroit Tigers | 61 | 88 | .409 | 22 |
| Chicago White Sox | 59 | 90 | .396 | 24 |
| Kansas City Royals | 52 | 97 | .349 | 31 |
| NL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Chicago Cubs | 87 | 62 | .584 | — |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 85 | 65 | .567 | 2.5 |
| Brookland Outs | 83 | 66 | .555 | 4.3 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 82 | 68 | .547 | 5.5 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 74 | 74 | .500 | 12.5 |
| Cottage Cheese | 71 | 78 | .477 | 16 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 64 | 86 | .427 | 23.5 |
| AL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Houston Astros | 94 | 55 | .631 | — |
| Oakland A’s | 90 | 60 | .600 | 4.5 |
| Seattle Mariners | 82 | 67 | .550 | 12 |
| Haviland Dragons | 75 | 74 | .503 | 19 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 74 | 76 | .493 | 20.5 |
| Kaline Drive | 71 | 78 | .475 | 23.2 |
| Texas Rangers | 64 | 85 | .430 | 30 |
| NL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Portland Rosebuds | 97 | 52 | .650 | — |
| Colorado Rockies | 82 | 67 | .550 | 14.8 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 82 | 68 | .547 | 15.3 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 78 | 72 | .520 | 19.3 |
| San Francisco Giants | 70 | 80 | .467 | 27.3 |
| Peshastin Pears | 69 | 80 | .460 | 28.2 |
| San Diego Padres | 60 | 90 | .400 | 37.3 |