(NOTE: This post was written on Wednesday, August 5 but for some reason didn’t get published. Look for a new post to cover Wednesday’s game results. The Commissioner’s Office apologizes for the incompetence. )

Our leaders made a statement. Some of our upstarts might not have been listening.

(DUH-DUH-DUH-da-da-DUH-da-DUH-da-da…)

Kaline 1.4, Salem (-0.5). Kaline leads the series 4.1 – 2.0.

Embarrassed Monday by a shutout loss to the Salem Sinking Seraphim, the Drive reasserted their dominance yesterday. While the Drive offense continued its sluggish pace (56 PA, .250, .291, .346) their pitching came through loud and clear: we are in charge in this pennant race! Four of them combined for 18 1/3 innings at the cost of 5 earned runs. Ryan Weathers and MacKenzie Gore produced identical 6 ip, 0 er outings. I should also point out that Henry Bolte, who was offered in a trade that didn’t go through, made a statement of his own: amid that sluggish offense, he went 3 for 4 with a stolen base. “Trade me, will you? I’ll come back to haunt you!”

The Seraphims’ heads are no doubt spinning. A day after dominating the Drive, they could only muster 2 innings with 1 earned run allowed. The offense was also flat: 44 PA 214, .250, .333. Kyle Tucker (2 for 3 with a home run) and Jo Adell (2 for 4 with a double and a walk) were the only Seraphim to shine. They were not enough to avoid a Kaline wipeout.

Cascadia 2.1, MLB (-1.1). Cascadia leads the series, 4.5 – 1.5.

So far the Glaciers have proven to be an effective barrier against any of the lower 9 EFL teams who might attempt to make a run to the top. Yesterday they showed they aren’t just a big lunky barrier to upward mobility: they can also move quickly to obliterate a threat. In the biggest wipeout victory of the day, Glacial pitchers produced 21 innings of 1 earned-run nearly-utter suppression of the MLB offense. Jesus Luzarado led with 8 shutout innings. And a Kaline-esque 16 batters took 58 PA to produce .302, .345, .660 offense, built around 5 home runs (Benge, Hoerner, Chourio, and two dingers by Wilyer Abreu).

Go Glaciers! Their dominance of their series against MLB has pulled the league closer than ever to .500. We are at .4978, which translates to a 624.2 – 629.8 record.

Canberra 1.5, Flint Hill (-0.5). Canberra leads the series, 5.4 – 0.6.

I have to think the Drive are getting a little spooked by the unrushing Kangaroos, who gained on Kaline despite the Drive’s big day. But if the Drive are spooked, what are the Tornados? If the ‘Roos win again today by the same margin (VERY hard to do on a bonus day), Canberra will take over third place!

As it was, Canberra “only” took over fourth place yesterday with their 1.5-win wipeout of the Tornados. The ‘Roos were just OK at the plate (49 PA, .231, .367, .359). The lion’s share of Canberra’s offensive effectiveness was thanks to Riley Greene’s 3 for 5 with a homer. But the pitching was unmistakably in control, even though Grayson Rodriguez’ 7 ip, 2 er came in a rehab start (he’s on the VIL at the moment…). Logan Henderson went 6 innings for 2 earned runs to lead the 11 ip,, 2 er contingent actually pitching in Canberra.

Freddy Peralta, in what will be his final start for the Tornados, earned his ticket out the door with 3 2/3 ip, 7 earned runs allowed. A relatively thin contingent of Tornado hitters performed well — .290, .389, .516.

Portland 0.9, Peshastin 0.1. Portland leads the series, 3.1 – 2.9.

Here we find our first match that didn’t result in a true wipeout (assuming a wipeout occurs when one team hogs the entire win). But it was a near-wipeout — of a 4th-place team by our cellar dwellers! The Rosebuds got good pitching in abundance: 14 ip, 5 er. Zack Littell surrendered 4 of those earned runs in his 6 2/3. But Cade Povich went 6 shutout innings to bolster the Rosebud drive for a big win. Rosebud batters produced abundantly (.346, .370, .5380 as well, albeit with only 27 PA:

By the way, Freddy Peralta’s hopes of redemption this season were dashed when, a day after being traded away by the Tornados, he re-traded away by the Rosebuds for a few minor league prospects, all of whom were released — traded for nothing but salary relief, in other words. Spare a thought for poor Freddy Peralta’s doubly-humiliating rejections. But also. let this be a warning to you about those canny Tornados: they got the excellent Casey Mize and the suddenly resurgent Brandon Pfaadt for a guy the Rosebuds immediately dumped for nothing but salary relief. ¹

The Pears pitched fine, too: 7 2/3 ip, 3 er, for a 3.51 daily ERA. but their hitters were not at their best: 41 PA, .243, .317, .297.

Old Detroit 1.0, Pittsburgh 0.0. Old Detroit leads the series, 5.8 – 0.2.

The Wolverines wiped out the Alleghenys yesterday — but just barely. Tarik Skubal pitched fine (6 ip, 2 er) in his disorienting first appearance as a Dodger (boo!), but Trey Yesavage got yanked after just two shutout innings because something hurt in that fragile boy’s body. Two relievers added three shutout innings to make the day’s total 11 ip,, 2 er. To which the offense added an unexciting but adequate 52 PA, .277, .346, .340.

Two Allegheny pitchers combined for 4 ip and 4 earned runs allowed, which put the A’s in a hole for yesterday’s game. Allegheny hitters blasted two home runs (Bichette and Albies) but otherwise were uninspiring: 32 PA, .214, .281, .464.

Haviland 0.9, DC 0.1. Haviland leads the series, 5.8 – 0.2.

The Dragons came within an inch of inflicting a wipeout on the Balk, even though seven Haviland hitters only managed a 26 PA, .200, ,231 .360 slash line. Dragon pitchers did better: 13 ip, 6 er, led by Troy Melton’s 7 ip, 0 er outing against the hapless Mariners.

The Balk hit better than the Dragons: 25 pa, .273, .320, .409. And they pitched better (5 ip, 2 er) but in significantly lesser volume. I don’t know why the outcome wasn’t more even, other than carryover factors from performances earlier in the week limiting DC’s .060 raw winning percentage so far.

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1. Kudos, too, to the Wolverines who, after waiting with foot tapping for years, DFA’d Pfaadt in a pique of exasperation at the end of June, just days before Brandon began his miraculous turn-around to become a very good starting pitcher. The lesson is clear: if you are getting offers from the Wolverines and the Tornados, it’s the Wolverines who are most likely being chumps. ↩︎