[gehrig38]

Week 26
3 vs Columbus
3 vs Philadelphia

Game 157
Wes Morgans slams his 43rd in a 3-4 4RBI day to back the pitching of Mike Davis (17-8) 8.1-5-3-3-2-5. Chartier hits his league leading 14th triple in a 2-4 3RBI day, and Gutierrez goes 3-4, scoring 2 and driving in 1. CHI 9 COL 3 WIN

RACE NEWS
With 5 to play West Michigan has a .5 game WC lead over Brooklyn, and trails Dayton in the Central by 3.5.

Sacramento has now closed to within a game of Edmonton in the West, and trails West Michigan by 1.5 in the WC.

All 4 spots in the coastal league are now claimed. Las Vegas clinches the wild card over Fresno.

Vincente Romero won his 21st game and Steve Whiteway won his 19th.

ORG NEWS
Omaha failed to win the Rookie League title, dropping the series 2 games to 1 to Beatrice. They won game 1 10-3, then lost 14-5 and 5-2, still a fantastic season for the Discoverers.

Bakersfield is down 2-0 to the Black Birds in the AA best of 5.

Game 158
Bill Flowers (8-6) pitches 7 strong (7-6-2-2-2-4) and the pen, with a hiccup, gets the ball to Ernesto Cruz who records his 30th save on the year. Wes Morgan doubles and homers (44) in a 2-5 2 RBI day. He’s challenging Alexander for the team HR title, trailing 47-44 right now. Jean Chartier continues his outstanding 18 year old season, going 3-4 with 3 RBI’s. Eric Hudson goes 3-4 to move to 298, and close in on that coveted 300 season. CHI 8 COL 6 WIN

RACE NEWS
Staten Island 1B Travis Bryant went 5-5 today in a SI 10-8 win over Dayton.

Dayton clinches the FL Central with a West Michigan loss. That loss also propels Brooklyn back into the WC lead, with WMI trailing by .5 game, and Sacramento pulls to within a game.

Buffalo locks up the FL East today as well.

Bill Hill hammers HR #59, and Cy May hit’s #54.

Chris O’Slattery (BAL) K’s 8 to win the CL K title over Vince Bray (PIT)

Rich Stone is at .359, leading Ross Tunstall by 13 pts in the CL batting race.

Bill Alexander needs 3 hits in the final 3 games to reach 200, he’s also at 47 HR’s and 145 RBI’s. Eric Hudson is sitting at .298

MINOR LEAGUE NEWS
Denison Hitting Coach Orlando Hernandez had his contract expire. Orlando is one of the games better hitting coaches and I’d like him back, though I don’t have any openings above A ball I am thinking a promise of the AAA job inside a few years will help entice him.

Game 159
Bob Barbour delivers a 2 out walk off HR in the bottom of the 9th to give the Iron Pigs a 3-2 win. Alexander hit his 48th in a 2-4 1 RBI day. Jeff Garrett threw very well (7-3-1-1-2-5) but Johnson, Pennington and Pacheco couldn’t hold it Chris Frank (3-2) got the win. CHI 3 COL 2 Win

RACE NEWS
HOLY COW! Sacramento beats Edmonton to pull into a tie in the FL West at 84-75 with 3 to play.

Things now get crazy! 4 TEAMS!! Are now tied in the WC standings with identical 84-75 records (West Michigan, Sacramento, Edmonton and Brooklyn)
West Michigan has 3 vs El Paso

Sacramento continues their 4 game set with Edmonton

Brooklyn is at Daytona for 3

Bill Hill slams the coveted 60! Now 1 behind Maris for the all time single season record. Hill remains a solid 16 pts ahead of Barton Roberts (WMI) for the batting title.

In the Cl Rich Stone (FRE) is 12 pts up on Ross Tunstall (PIT) 359 to 347

Bill Alexander is sitting on 199 hits, Eric Hudson has dropped to 296

Game 160 (We are going to play our butts off, at 78-81 we need a sweep to get to .500)
So much for that. Another total bullpen meltdown. Tied 2-2 into the 8th, the bullpen implodes for 8 runs over the final 3 frames. Jack Jackson (6-14) battles through 5 (5-5-3-3-2-2) but the pen makes it pointless. Bill Alexander grabs hit 200 in a 3-4 2 2B day, scoring and driving in 1. Never a fan of trades that come back to haunt ya. I’d likely do it again, but Jorge Diaz hit HR 32 in the win for Philly, and since going there he’s at 305-25-70 in 70 games. What could have been….PHI 12 CHI 3

RACE NEWS
Sacramento and West Michigan win, which gives them a 1 game lead in the West and WC respectively. Edmonton is a game out of each race and Brooklyn now sits a game back of the WC as well.

With a win today Sacramento could lock up the West. Actually a Sacramento win vs Edmonton, combined with a Brooklyn loss would clinch at least a tie for the WC with West Michigan, and a potential 1 game playoff.

Mathieu Cafasso (LV) wins #20 for Las Vegas, which means he’ll be lined up to start game 1 of the WC round. He’s also managed to sneak into the triple crown discussion, leading the league in wins, trailing O’Slattery by 9 in K’s and leading the CL in ERA at 2.99.

Game 161
A disappointing end to a good season. Alfredo Alejandrez (13-11) seems to have run out of gas in September. A 6-10-5-5-0-6 line today, and he battled every inning. Hudson and Chartier had 2-4 days in the loss. PHI 6 CHI 1 LOSS

RACE NEWS
Nick Johnston (LA 19-8 3.88) shuts out Fresno in his final playoff tune up.

In the biggest start of his career Art Howard (EDM 14-13 3.36) tosses a 4 hit shut out over Sacramento that allows Edmonton to pull into a tie with the River Cats in the FL West!

Holy cow! Not sure how to parse this thing now. Here goes:
Sacramento and Edmonton play each other, and are tied for the FL West Division lead. West Michigan is also tied with them. Brooklyn is 1 game back.

Brooklyn needs a WM loss and their win, and there will be a 3 way tie for the WC. WM only needs to win. If they do they win the WC as the Sacramento-Edmonton winner will win the west, and the loser will be a game behind them in the WC.

The loser of the Sac/Edm game has to hope for a White Caps AND Cyclone loss as that would give them a 1 game playoff.

Game 162 (Trying to keep Philly from being the first 100 win team in IBL history with Mike Davis going for his 18th win while going up against Steve “Spuds” Whiteway, who’s after win #20. The 29 year old has been money this year, going 19-9 3.35 in 222.2 IP)

Ha ha. 162 games to get it to go just how you draw it up. Mike Adams (18-8) goes into the 8th (7.1-2-0-0-3-6) and rookie Randy Pennington gets out of 8th inning trouble. Ernesto Cruz comes in to 3 up 3 down the Freedom in the 9th, and end the season with 32 saves. Bartlett and Barbour drive in the Iron Pig runs. CHI 2 PHI 0 WIN

RACES
The Sacramento River Cats pull off a stunning comeback! Going 10-2 over their final 12 games to go from 2.5 out to a 1 game Western Division crown. Sacramento trailed 2-1 going into the 7th but managed to knot the game and All Star Nori Takahashi slammed his 38th HR in the 8th to put them ahead to stay.

West Michigan pulls out their final game and clinches the FL Wild Card by 1 game over Edmonton.

Albert Luna (BAL) grabs his 20th win on the seasons final day.

REGULAR SEASON END NOTES

Bill Hill (DAY) wins the Frontier League Triple Crown! Hills 342-60-153 year paced all players in the Frontier Leagues inaugural season

Rich Stone (FRE) takes home the Coastal League Batting Title finishing at 357-24-96 which bests Pittsburgh’s Ross Tunstall’s .345 average.

Michigan 1B Drew Leduc took hom e the AAA Hitter of the year award. The 26 year old who spent the last few months in the show, threw up a .327-36-98 line in only 397 AAA At bats. Scouts think this kid will consistently hit 40+ 2B’s and over .300. The only knock is his glove is suited to be a DH.

ORG NOTES
Bakersfield loses the AA World Series 3 games to 1 to the Newark Black Birds
Omaha falls in the Rookie League title series 2 games to 1 to the Beatrice Roadrunners

Jim House of the Omaha Discoverers won the NYP Outstanding Pitcher Award. House was 9-3 3.94. House was the 135th pick in the inaugural draft, and a 2012 NYP All Star. Our scouts still think this kid is fringy at best, with marginal upside, but he’s certainly earned another look.

Kevin Nelson of Denison took home the Pacific League Gold Glove award. Kevin was my 22nd pick in the 2012 draft and took home a player of the month award as well as making an all star appearance.

SP Luis Diaz took home the AA Primal League Gold Glove award today. He was then named the Primal Leagues AA Outstanding Pitcher! Diaz went 11-8 with a 3.11 in 176.2 IP, 120 K’s and held opponents to a 211 avg

Belleview took home 3 Gold Gloves. SP Todd Snell, 1B Ricardo Gonzalez and LF Keith Todd

Belleview 20 year old SP Louis Carpenter took home the Outstanding (A) South Pitcher of the Year award after a 12-4 2.39 year. Carpenter was the 57th round selection in the inaugural draft and an All Star this year as well. Chicago scouts have him as a AA/AAA ceiling pitcher who lacks the movement to get IBL hitters out consistently. That being said we need to stockpile arms and he’s got time to surprise us.

Belleviews Millard Young took home the Midwest Leagues outstanding hitter today after his monster .259-28-106 year. The 21 year old 3B from New York, NY was the teams 82 round pick in the inaugural draft. His versatility make him a kid we’ll watch as does his legit big league pop. He can play 5 positions but his lack of speed and inability to make consistent contact have our scouts thinking AA pitching will expose the holes. We’ll see.

Bakersfields RF Alfredo Lozano took home the Primal Leagues outstanding hitter after a .295-20-80 season. He also scored 90 runs and had 27 2B’s and 7 3B’s. The 23 year old Dominican stole 45 bases. Our scouts are wild about this kids defense and his speed, he’s a legit 50 steal guy but the concerns are that his bat is about peaked. Martin has him as a 1.5 top end prospect. At 23 he might be a kid we look to find someone else with interest in.