Every EFL team gained on the Rosebuds Tuesday, but the now-second-place Kangaroos gained the most.
Standings: Week 16, Game 2 (July 9, 2024)
| Team | Wins | Losses | WPct | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portland Rosebuds | 52.95 | 39.05 | .576 | 0.0 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 51.58 | 40.42 | .561 | 1.4 |
| Haviland Dragons | 50.66 | 41.34 | .551 | 2.3 |
| Peshastin Pears | 49.51 | 42.49 | .538 | 3.4 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 44.84 | 47.16 | .487 | 8.1 |
| D.C. Balk | 44.50 | 47.50 | .484 | 8.5 |
| Salem Seraphim | 43.90 | 48.10 | .477 | 9.1 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 43.68 | 48.32 | .475 | 9.3 |
| Cascadia Glaciers | 41.74 | 50.26 | .454 | 11.2 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 34.44 | 57.56 | .374 | 18.5 |
| Kaline Drive | 33.32 | 58.68 | .362 | 19.6 |
Keep in mind: two MLB tilts were postponed yesterday, which leaves us with more replacements than we normally would have at this point.
Portland: (-0.24) [Wk 16: 0.44]
Two Rosebud hurlers chulked Tuesday. Bobby Miller’s was a simple chulk, although rather big: 4 ip,, 9 er. Joey Estes — who recently twirled a complete game shutout — neary quintuple chulked: 1.7 ip, 8 er. With an inning of scoreless relief, the Portland squad racked up a 22.84 daily ERA, skyrocketing their weekly ERA to 8.27 (8.41 before being improved by 2 2/3 replacement innings. Solid hitting also limited the damage somewhat: .257, .333, .514. Trade-rumors-target Jazz Chisholm led the offense, going 2 for 4 with a home run and a stolen base.
Canberra: 1.19 [Wk 16: 1.52]
Quinn Priester had a good day yesterday, allowing only 1 earned run in his 6 innings, and Gregory Santos’ first inning of the 2024 season was scoreless, helping the ‘Roos compile 9.7 innings of 0.94 ERA pitching. Kangaroo hitting was so-so (.214, .313, .452), 5 of their 9 hits going for extra bases, but that was good enough to win more than 1 game Tuesday.
Haviland: 0.20 [Wk 16: 0.39]
The Dragons seem to be under some sort of a spell the last couple of weeks. Again on Tuesday they seemed snake-bit (an ironic malady for a Dragon). Roansy Contreras chulked (2 ip, 4 er). Only 5 Dragons reported for duty on the offensive side, and they weren’t so hot, either: 3 for 17 with 3 walks and one HBP — that was it for their offense: .176, .318, .176.
Peshastin: 0.57 [Wk 16: 0.71]w
If it weren’t for Colin Rea’s bad day (5 ip 7 er), the Pears might have won at least 1 game Tuesday. Having a full slate of hitters would have helped, too. The six they did have were fantastic! .364, .417, 1.091 is a VERY good batting line. Cal Raleigh was the star, for sure: 3 for 5 with a double and two home runs, but Ben Rice, Brandon Marsh, and Keibert Ruiz also homered.
Pittsburgh: (-0.08). [Wk 16: 0.22]
After going Monday pitcherless, the Alleghenys eased into the pitching game by sending Bryse Wilson out to pitch a inning. He allowed a run, so the team’s ERA today is a little worse than replacement. Allegheny hitting had plenty of volume (42 PA from 10 players, going .158, .217, .158) — but it was also worse than replacement, Adley Rutschman’s 2 singles in 4 AB was the “highlight” of Allegheny batting prowess Tuesday.
DC: 0.79 [Wk 16: 0.87]
Jose Quintana spun seven shutout one-hit innings. The only reason the Balk didn’t get more than a win was their weak hitting: 50 PA, .244, .380, .317. Harrison Bader led the way: 3 for 4. The only extra base hit was a home run by new Balk Adolis Garcia
Salem: 0.67 [Wk 16: 1.09]
The Seraphim CLOBBERED the ball (.400, .444, .680), but that was only 6 hitters’ worth of work, so replacements snuck in to blunt that work somewhat. But it was still good enough for the Seraphim to win the day despite some iffy pitching (11 ip, 7 er) in which Ryan Pepiot (5.7 ip, 1 er) picked up a little after Ben Lively went 5.3 innings, coughingup 6 earned runs.
Flint Hill: 0.97 [Wk 16: 1.05]
Tornados were out in force yesterday — which may have been connected to the cancellations of games in Kansas City and Minnesota. Twelve batters piled up 49 plate appearances for a nice .268, .327, .561 batting line. Brayan Bello stumbled (5.3 ip, 5 er) but was picked up by 5 more pitchers covering 10 innings at a cost of only 2 more earned runs. The highlight, surely, was Julio Rodriguez going 4 for 4 with a double and a home run.
(Here’s an inside scoop: in late June the Wolverines tried to pry Julio away from the Tornados in trade talks. Multiple offers were made, one or two of which were seriously considered. It was, frankly, an attempt to buy low on the struggling superstar, but the packages offered were designed to give the T’s a boost in this year’s pennant race. The “talks” were extensive, and fun, but in the end we could not find a deal. Yesterday’s performance by Julio probably tasted extra sweet to Tornadic tongues. Good luck trying to pry Julio away now. )
Cascadia: 0.29 [Wk 16: 0.90]
The Glaciers got plenty of innings (13) from their pitchers, but they weren’t very good innings (9 earned runs). They got barely enough plate appearances (30), but they were spread over only 7 position in the batting order. Still, they were good plate appearances: .296, .333, .593. Gio Urshela led the way: 3 for 5 with a triple and a home run.
Old Detroit: 0.59 [Wk 16: 1.20]
Blake Snell pitched for the first time since — early May? When his ERA for 2024 was over 9.00? This time Snell covered 5 innings without allowing an earned run. That was enough to win the day despite a poor offensive performance: .250, .344, .250. Amed Rosario — acquired in the Adolis Garcia trade — led the way Tuesday, going 2 for 3.
Kaline: 0.37 [Wk 16: 0.47]
Jason Adam pitched a lonely inning for the Drive, scorelessly. Drive hitters, on the other hand, were out in force. Twelve Drives combined for 46 PA, at a .275, .370, .650 output. Logan O’Hoppe was the star: 3 for 4 with two home runs. l
