For some time now the general trend in the EFL has been toward stabilization, working from the edges toward the middle. Canberra and DC have been 1 – 2 in the standings since April 27 — 12 straight days now. Canberra seized the top spot April 26 (13 straight in first place). Portland settled into 9th place on April 23a. Kaline drove into 10th place on (or maybe one or two days before) April 20 (at least 19 days in a row). And the Wolverines have been in last place since around the beginning of Week 2.
For approximately 32 days in a row, the W’s have anchored the league, a solid, impenetrable barrier against whatever terrors lie beneath us, reinforced more recently by the steady Drive and the solid Rosebuds. Meanwhile the Kangaroos and Balk have supplied security against dangers from above. These have been the grownups creating a safe place for the rest of you kids to play.
And a week ago, Flint Hill took over 3rd place a week ago, and hung on tight, so the middle of the league was protected by three layers of stability on both top and bottom.
Until yesterday.
Standings Week 7, Game 2 (May 7)
| Team | Wins | Losses | WPct | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canberra Kangaroos | 23.93 | 14.07 | .630 | 0.0 |
| D.C. Balk | 21.09 | 16.91 | .555 | 2.8 |
| Haviland Dragons | 19.65 | 18.35 | .517 | 4.3 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 19.53 | 18.47 | .514 | 4.4 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 18.84 | 19.16 | .496 | 5.1 |
| Salem Seraphim | 18.74 | 19.26 | .493 | 5.2 |
| Cascadia Glaciers | 18.36 | 19.64 | .483 | 5.6 |
| Peshastin Pears | 18.09 | 19.91 | .476 | 5.8 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 17.68 | 20.32 | .465 | 6.3 |
| Kaline Drive | 13.95 | 24.05 | .367 | 10.0 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 9.81 | 28.19 | .258 | 14.1 |
Yesterday every team from 3rd place to 9th shifted its position in the standings (except the Seraphim… more about them later). The two biggest gainers — Haviland and Portland, each leaping 4 spots higher in the standings — took merciless advantage of the two bottom-dwelling teams. Teams playing the top-dwelling ‘Roos and Balk slipped down the standings but ended up fewer games behind first place. the Tornados slipped one spot in the standings that way, but the Pears dis something entirely unprecedented: in a single game, they fell from 4th to 8th place, while gaining 0.2 games on the Kangaroos!!
Let’s see how all this happened.
Canberra (-0.18) v. Flint Hill: (1.18) Some of us are envious of the not-that-bad day the Kangaroos had Tuesday. Of their 13 (!) hitters, ten got hits, Isaac Paredes leading with 3 for 4 including a homer. As a team, the ‘Roos went .286, .364, .469. Championship teams hit like that on an average day! Their pitchers weren’t sharp: 6.3 ip, 4 er, 5.71 daily ERA. But championship teams do pitch like that sometimes. It’s not a cause for alarm. So how did the ‘Roos end up winning a negative 0.18 games?
It was the Tornados, thanks to unlikely monster hero Andy Ibanez! He went FOUR for four, with a walk, a double, and TWO home runs. Juan Soto was very good (3 for 4 plus a HBP) and even Julio Rodriguez chipped in (1 for 3 with 2 walks and a stolen base). But Ibanez was the man, and the Twelve Tornado hitters finished the day .378, .481, .600. Tornado pitching was also a run per game better than the ‘Roos, over more innings: 13 ip, 6 earned runs.
DC (1.00) v. PP (0.00). Shoto Imanaga covered precisely on game’s worth of pitching in excellent fashion (7 ip, 2 er) to take care of that side of the ledger. Six of the eight Balky hitters got hits, with Alex Verdugo leading the pack (3 for 5 with a homer) to a .355, .375, .613 batting line. This was going to be a very good day for DC unless the Pears did very well, too.
Which they didn’t. Peshastin pitching went pear-shaped. Colin Rea started, got through 4.7 innings but coughed up 4 earned runs. After 1 inning of relief, the Pears called on Paul Sewald, just off the MLB IL, who was a little rusty, giving up a home run in his one inning of work. 6.7 innings is almost a full game’s worth; 6.72 ERA is a lot of ERA. Not good enough to salvage even a sliver of a win when your 10 batters only manage a .133, .188, .233 line despite another Cal Raleigh home run.
HD (1.64) v. OD (-0.64). The Dragons, who started the week pretty slow Monday, picked up the pace Tuesday. The pitching wasn’t stellar, but it was adequate (4.50 ERA) and plentiful (16 ip). Dragon hitters enjoyed a sparkling Edgar Martinez Day (.364, .451, .523) starring Jonah Heim’s 4 for 4. Even Nick Ahmed went 2 for 4.
Meanwhile, the Woeverines were bad again … but worse than that, they were largely missing. Emerson Hancock showed up to play the role of a starting pitcher. He stank (4 ip, 4 er), pretty much guaranteeing he’ll soon rejoin the six other W’s currently in the minors. Wolverine “batters” hit worse than replacement again (.143, .219, .143). The 8 OD batters only included one outfielder (Adolis Garcia, 0 for 3) since my four other outfielders are either in the minors or among the five injured Wolverines. It’s embarrassing how bad the W’s are. I apologize to the league.
PR (0.99) v. KD (0.1). The Rosebuds were remarkably merciful, for a Johnson. Well, of course, they were playing a Johnson, so one would expect compassion. Fourteen Rosebuds batted. Six of them contributed essentially nothing to the cause. A seventh, Maikel Garcia, went 1 for 5. The other 7 all accounted for multiple bases. Jered Kelenic, for example, went 2 or 2 with a homer, on the way to a very nice .313, .353, .563 team slash line. The Rosebuds only used one named pitcher, who only got one out while surrendering two hits — but no earned runs. That’s a good day, but not usually an entire win in the EFL.
Kaline had to help. And they did. Weak-ish hitting (.241, .353, .373) helped a bit , but the real gift was the Drive pitching: 5.3 ip 7 er. The range of Kaline play is marked out by two Logans: from O’Hoppe, who hit 4 singles in 5 at bats, to Logan Allen, who triple chulked (2.3 ip, 7 er).
SS: (0.69) v. CG (0.31). In the closest matchup among EFLers, the Seraphim beat the Glaciers well enough to protect their hold on 6th place and relegate the newcomers to 7th. No Seraphic pitchers appeared, and Seraphic hitters only managed a mediocre .188, .278, .406 in 36 plate appearances. In a good sign for Seraph fans, Corbin Carroll and Michale Busch each collected two hits, including a honer for each.)
Cascadia could have won with that rather skimpy Seraphic showing. Instead, four Glacial pitchers only managed to cover 3.1 innings while permitting 3 earned runs. And eight icy hitters only produced a .258, /281, /484 batting line — better than Salem’s, but not enough better to make up for the bad pitching. But not to worry: the Glaciers are a half-game closer to the top than they were yesterday morning.
PA: (-0.19), MLB 1.19. It’s the Alleghenys’ turn to face the average MLBers, and they had a rough go of it yesterday. They got a TON of pitching (25.7 ip, from 5 pitchers). Kyle Harrison was outstanding (7 ip, 0 er) and Zach Eflin was nearly as good (7 ip, 1 er). But Edward Cabrera (2 ip 4 er) and Jose Berrios (3.7 ip, 8 er) both chulked, resulting a a (14 ER, 4.90 ERA). Still, that should have been good enough to avoid a negative win… except Allegheny hitters struggled. The Great Jurickson Profar homered, as did Mitch Hanger, but beyond that them the team went 6 for 34 with no extra base hits, resulting in a .190, .255, .333 batting line.
The result? Pittsburgh replaces Portland as the #9 team, the top layer in what has been an impressively stable three-layered river bottom to the EFL stream. Welcome to the bottom, Pittsburgh!
