Buckeyes 10, Mavs 4

No details reported, but the Buckeyes move back into the best overall record in the league, and the Mavs... don't.

Sidewinders 3, Mavs 2

No details reported.

Warpigs and FFTs trade again

Austin Jackson was traded to the Warpigs. In return, the FFTs get Alejandro De Aza, the Pig 2nd round pick, and a 2014 3rd round pick. In addition, the FFTs and Warpigs will swap draft positions in rounds 3-12 of next year's draft.

Drillers 3, Zaps 2

Game 1-Zaps pound Shields card for six runs and hang on 8-5 to take the opener.
Game 2- Jay Bruce hits an 8th inning taters off Benoit to get the Drillers even in the series 3-2.
Game 3- Vazquez dominates with a complete game 3-hiiter in a 7-1 whitewash.
Game 4-The Zaps offense continues to struggle as Bourjos drives in all three Driller runs in a 3-1 triumph.
Game 5- DRILLERS SUCK! signs cover the stands as the Zaps win the getaway 7-4.

Fungoes 3, Goofs 2

Fungoes 3, Goofs 2

Mavs 4, Wahoos 1

Mavs 4, Wahoos 1

Tweeners 5, Zaps 2

Game 1-Morse broke up a nothing nothing tie with a two-run tater in the sixth and the Tweeners cruise to a 7-2 win behind Gio's solid one run allowed over six innings.
Game 2- The game was tied 4-4 in the top of the 9th, but Norm put together a five-hit rally that plated three, and the bullpen held off a Zap rally 7-5.
Game 3- In a disgustingly lopsided game the Al's Evil Empire pounds out 23 hits to beat the Zaps 15-4.
Game 4-The Tweeners build an 8-0 lead and hold off the Zaps to win 8-5 behind Jose Tabata's five RBI outburst.
Game 5- Gio tosses a complete game supported by fourteen hits to cruise 12-4.
Game 6-The good guys finally break out with eight runs in the sixth that knocks out King Felix and win their first game of the series 11-6.
Game 7- The Zaps build a 7-2 lead behind Wandy's strong 6 and hang on to win the getaway 7-4.

Pennant Race Update

Could it be that a team with a losing record makes the playoffs AS A WILDCARD? It's certainly possible. Right now, there are only 5 teams with records over .500. The DVs, Buckeyes, and Rhinos are running away with their divisions, and will all win 100+ games. The AWD leader is the Tweeners, who are 8 games over .500. The only other team with a winning record is the Drillers, and they are only 69-68.

The Fungoes would earn the last wildcard spot right now. They are 76-76 with 10 games to play. Right behind the Fungoes: the Mavs, the Zaps, and the Bees. Even the Inmates or Nads could be a surprise playoff contender.

No, really. The Inmates and Nads are only 4 games in back of the Fungoes. Stranger things have happened.

I've added a link on the website that ranks all the teams with their records and GB status.

Oh, and in the Extra Reserve Contest, the Mavs have fallen out of contention. The Zaps have come on strong, but the Sidewinders still hold the lead.

Tweeners 6, Zaps 1

With the AWD up for grabs, and the NASOMA 2-time defending champs VivaZapastas strutting into town, the Logan County Tweeners rise to the occasion and take 6 of 7 games from the Zaps at the Hooverdome.
Game #1 the Tweeners jump on Niese early for a 4-0 lead, Nova gives a quality start, Tweeners get 14 hits including homers by Victorino, Hart, and Morse, 7-4 Tweeners win.
Game #2 Zaps take the early 3-0 lead on a McCutcheon tater, but the Tweeners hang tough, and Jose Tabata nails the only pitch thrown by Benoit in the bottom of the 9th for a walk-off 6-5 win.
Game #3 Tweeners get homers from Sandoval, Zobrist, Venable, and Victorino; MadBum fans 12; all for naught as Zaps win 10-4. Andruw Jones and Joses Reyes and Bautista combine to go 7 for 13 with 2 doubles, 2 homers, 7 runs scored and 8 RBIs.
Game #4 was a tight affair until Tweeners plate 6 in the 5th, King Felix wins his 16th, final score 11-6. Zaps waste 2 more homers and 5 RBIs by Bautista. A true team attack by the Tweeners as all 9 starters plus the Lone(y) pinch-hitter all hit safely and 7 different Tweeners drive in runs.
Game #5 we go to expanded rosters, but Dan Hudson needs little help with a complete game 5-1 victory. Carl Crawford's leadoff homer was all the Zaps could muster. Tweeners get homers from Cozart and Venable, along with 2-out ribbies from Morse and Sandoval.
Zap bats remained quiet in game #6 as Will Venable had 2 base hits and the NORM TWEENERS beat the TRISTAN VIVAZAPASTAS by a score of 6 to 1.

NORM came up with 3 runs in the 2nd inning. James Loney kicked off the action when he drew a walk. After an out was recorded, Venable stepped in and he tripled. Shane Victorino then worked the squeeze play to perfection. Victorino then stole second base. Alex Presley stepped into the box and doubled. After another out, Pablo Sandoval came to the plate and drew a walk. That early run support was enough for Gio Gonzalez(10-11) and NORM. TRISTAN was out-hit by NORM, 8 hits to 4.

Joel Hanrahan recorded his 9th save. Josh Johnson(0-1) took the loss. He
allowed 4 runs and 7 hits in 7 innings.

In the finale Tweeners pull away with a run in the 7th and 3 in the 8th to win 8-4, thanks in large part to the servings of reliever Nathan Eovaldi. Felix improves his record to 17-8. 2 RBIs each for Zobrist, Scutaro, Venable, and Victorino.

Bring on the Bees.

DVs 4, Buckeyes 1

DiamondVision and the Buckeyes netplayed the last 5 games of their season series at the Buckeye Palace. By winning 4 of 5 the DVs inch ahead of the Bucks for the #1 seed, with a one game overall lead and two ahead in the loss column.

Game 1 – Giancarlo Stanton homers and has 2 doubles while Helton and Granderson add solo blasts in a 7-1 DV win that moves Jared Weaver to 20-6.

Game 2 – Buckeyes ride Aceves 7 and 1/3 innings of 6 hit, 8 strikeout pitching to win 11-3. Giancarlo opened the flood gates in the 2^nd with the dreaded “Double and two base error – all runners score” result that ultimately leads to 3 runs in that frame and the Bucks pile on 5 runs in the 3^rd.

Game 3 – DVs score 5 in the 5^th and coast to a 10-2 win- nothing notable here as even Wrigley and Shea showed little interest.

Game 4 – Ogando turns in a stellar effort in a combined shutout as the DVs score 8 runs on 10 hits in an 8-0 win.

Game 5 – Finally a close game. DVs lead 2-0 after 2, Bucks tie it in the 3^rd, then push ahead 6-2 through 4 as Chipper homers off of Halladay. Undaunted, the DVs answer with Granderson (38^th) and Giancarlo (48^th) HRs and score 3 in both the 5^th and 6^th to go ahead 8-6. Of course the DV bullpen hacks up a fur ball behind Clippard and Bard, allowing 2 in the 8^th, the second run coming on a Shelley Duncan (the baseball player, not the actress – she was “Sandy”) ground ball X chance that Hardy can’t corral. In the 10^th Holliday singles home Granderson and Drew Storen saves the day in the DV 9-8 win.

DVs have 16 games left, Buckeyes 14. Stay tuned for the ultimate DV collapse.

Fungoes 5, Wahoos 5

Fungoes outscored the Wahoos in the series 34-24 and shut the Wahoos out three times. But the Wahoos still managed 5 wins. All five games at WTF were pitchers duels. No team scored more than 3 in those games.

Sidewinders 3, Wahoos 2

Game 1: Wahoos squander a 6-run inning as the Snakes rally against Mujica for the 7-6 win.

Game 2: Snakes jump out to a 3-0 lead after two. Tex hit a grand slam in the third. But the Snakes use a 6-run inning to come back and win 10-8. Danks went all the way. Struck out a dozen. Gave up 13 hits.

Game 3: Wahoos win, 8-5. Guess what. Another big inning. This time the Wahoos were powered by a Youkilis homer and scored 4 in the seventh.

Game 4: Early error by Tex helps open flood gates. We lose 9-0.

Game 5: Wahoos win 3-2 on a double from Jay in the ninth.

The Run for the Playoffs

The DVs have clinched their division and are within striking distance of the Buckeyes for the best record in the league. Congrats to the DVs. Sorry about your unexpected early exit from the post season again. (I just wanted to be the first to say it. And there was nothing unexpected about it - I was just being nice.)

The Buckeyes and Rhinos are on the verge of clinching their divisions.

Among the DVs, Buckeyes, and Rhinos, it appears two will get first round byes and the other will have to play a first round series.

The AWD has the only race going on. The Tweeners lead the Zaps by a game and a half. Even the Bees are only 4.5 back, but they're the Bees, so who cares?

Looks like the Snakeman picked a bad time to give up alcohol.

The battle for the two wild card spots will be interesting. The AWD runner up, the Fungoes, and the Drillers are neck and neck and neck for the two spots. The Mavs and Bees are close as well.

Technically, the Wahoos could still work their way into the playoff talk, but they'd have to actually play some games... and win. Don't hold your breath.

Should be fun. Well, if you're IN the race. For the rest of us, there's the battle for draft positioning.

An Email Exchange

Would you keep Pineda? Man that Lincecum trade sucks. I traded away my favorite Red for 2 unusable pitchers. Other than the Albert Belle trade (I think he was still called Joey then) this is worst trade I have ever made. Holla.

SSWs

 

We all make bad trades. Giving up on Pineda now would just compound it.
Pigman

I know but Pineda showed up overweight to camp and recently was arrested for DUI. If I wanted a fat drunk guy on my team I'd draft my brother.
SSWs

DVs 8, SuperGoofs 2

DiamondVision and SuperGoofs hooked up via netplay to play their season series. DV’s take 8 of 10 as they await their first round playoff disposal.

Since I’m continually tired of typing it, and in the interest of saving kilobytes on the server, wherever you see “*” – simply insert the following verbiage : “DVs hit a bunch of solo homeruns on the way to a ”

G1 – “*” 11-5 victory

G2 – “*” 10-3 victory

G3 - “*” 7-2 victory

G4 – “*” 6-5 victory in 11 innings as Mike Adams finally gets tired after pitching something like 7+ innings

G5 – “*” 5-2 victory

G6 – “*” 10- 6 LOSS after the SuperGoofs management lamblast their players in the press in the game 5 post game press conference

G7 – “*” 6-0 victory

G8 – “*” 10-6 victory

G9 – “*” 8-4 victory

G10 – Fearing they would miss their team plane home after the marathon series, Daniel Bard serves up a bottom of the 9^th , walk off grand slam to Ryan Roberts as the Goofs win 6-2.

DVs 6, Fungoes 1

The DVs spend an evening as they wait on their inevitable first round playoff loss with a 6-1 beatdown of the formerly playoff bound Fungoes. There were some games that were closer than the previous 7, and the Fungoes had horrible rolls and luck with very few BP HR’s even attempted.

The details:

G1 – (first 4 in the DV bandbox) Hardy singles in the 8^th to key a 5-4 win. Fungoes had broke on top 2-0, with the DVs hitting back to back solo shots to tie it. DVs had taken a 4-2 lead, only for the Fungoes to hit 2 homers in the 7^th to tie it at 4 before Hardy’s heroics.

G2- DVs hit 7 solo homers in a 8-5 win. Stanton and Trumbo were heard after the game bitching about the lack of runners on base keeping their RBI totals down.

G3 – Hardy and McCann (and maybe a few others) hit home runs in a 8-1 DV win

G4 – DVs complete the sweep with a 15-2 win

Last 3 are September games from WTF Fungoe-land

G5 – Holliday homers in the 10^th off Papelbon in a 3-2 DV win. Fungoes had rallied in the 9^th to tie it, only to see Papelbon’s first appearance in the series dashed.

G6 – Fungoes get off the deck with an Orlando Hudson grand slam walk off in the 10^th in a 7-3 win

G7 – DVs ride Halladay and 3 relievers to a 5-0 win

Time Flies

Is it possible that it was SEVENTEEN years ago that Cal Ripken broke Gehrig's consecutive game mark?

Wahoos 3, Tweeners 0

Game 1: Wahoos win, 2-1. All the runs were scored in the 3rd inning. Jimmy Rollins had a 2-run homer. Wade Davis went all the way while scattering 8 singles. Daniel Hudson was the tough luck loser.

Game 2: Wahoos win, 8-7. Bumgarner was wild and ineffective. Wahoos scored 5 in the third but had to get a little lucky to hang on after giving up 15 hits to the Tweeners.

Game 3: Randy Wolf pitches a masterpiece. Wahoos win, 5-0. Wolf allowed four hits. Gio Gonzalez walked 8 in his 7 innings.

Miracle Healing in Cleveland

Ian Kinsler before the game: Hey, Wash. My back hurts. I think I'll take today off.

Jurickson Profar, the 19-year-old prodigy who was recently called up replaces Kinsler in the lineup and homers on his initial MLB at bat.

Ian Kinsler: Hey, Wash. I'm feeling better.

Profar then doubles on his next at bat.

Ian Kinsler: Hey, Wash. Full recovery. I'm ready to go. Put me in, coach.

Warpigs 3, Wahoos 3

The Wahoos and Warpigs rolled dice last night...

The first two games were played at The BallPork. The last 4 at The Reservation.

Gm 1 - Wahoos won 5-1. Two Pig errors allowed 3 unearned runs. Jair Jurrjens tossed a 4-hitter.

Gm 2 - Warpigs won 8-2. Jeremey Hellickson threw his final 7 innings of the year to get the victory. Dustin Ackley knocked in 3.

Gm 3 - Wahoos win 8-7. David Freese homered twice for the Pigs. Mark Teixeira homered and doubled for the home team. Felipe Paulino went 2.2 innings for the save, holding onto a 1-run lead. The Pigs' Freddie Freeman reached 100 RBI for the year with a first inning homer.

Gm 4 - Wahoos won 9-4. Dillon Gee: 1 inning of relief, 6 runs. Ballgame.

Gm 5 - Warpigs win 4-0. Playing in the worst pitcher's park in the league against a team that runs a pretty good lineup out there vs lhp, Erik Bedard threw a complete game shutout, limiting the Hoos to 4 hits. Cameron Maybin went 4-4 with 3 doubles.

Gm 6 - Warpigs win 6-2. Brett Lawrie goes 3-5 with a double, a homer, and 4 RBI.

The Warpigs end their season at 70-92.