WEEK 24
Off Day
3 vs Columbus (92-55 Clinched WC)
3 @ Buffalo (59-88 22 GB)
GAME 148
Ken Lee (15-7) got beatup in a 5-7-7-7-1-5 outing, giving up three homers (McCain (15) Strong (18) and Darcy (9) so the pen and a slew of call ups got some PT. Clipper 2014 1st Rounder Mike Jones improved to 13-7 4.02 going 8.2-4-1-1-3-6 for the win. Ron Miller went 3-4 hitting his 25th with 2 outs in the 9th.
COL 7 CHI 1 (104-44 +11)
GOOD, BIG GAMES
Knights Ace Jesus Romano came up huge in the 1st game of a 3 game showdown with 2nd place Brooklyn. He tossed a 1 hitter for a 4-0 win. He’s 14-9 3.48 in 32 starts.
GAME 149
Alejandrez (17-7) ends his hot streak with about the worst outing of his career (1.1-8-7-7-2-1). Mike Alexander cam in and in his first 2.2 he k’d 8! Ended up going 4.2-5-3-2-2-9. Christian Schall drove in 5 (105) with his 38th double and 35th homer. Wazir Ubadah went 4-6 with his 18th homer and 4 RBI’s (79). Greg McCain was 3-5 with an IBL record tying 5 runs.
COL 13 CHI 1 (104-45 +10)
RACES
New York got RBI doubles from Nick Crawford (30) and Mike Doyle (31) in a 4 run 8th to go from down 4-2 to winning 6-4 in the second game of their crucial series. The win gives NY a 4 game lead in the Empire.
STATS
El Paso Diablo SP Artie Johnson won went 8-6-2-0-1-8 in a 4-2 win to nab his 20th victory of the season.
GAME 150
Columbus sweeps us, 7-1, 13-1 and 8-1 today. Never once felt the offense had it, and Marcos Diaz (10-4) was a stud today, tossing a 3-hitter (9-3-1-1-1-5). Bryan Rogers (12-8) couldn’t overcome Christian Schall’s 36th and Leonardo Garcia’s 8th and 2 Chicago errors, but he was dominanting anyway. He went 6-8-6-4-2-12 in the loss.
COL 8 CHI 1 (104-46 +9)
STUFF
Ya I’ve been there. Beaten up by a team in the regular season means zilch in October (see Anaheim ’04, Oakland ’07) but this close to the end to get drubbed that bad, I don’t like it. Columbus is an extremely good team. My hope is that Brooklyn or whomever is the 2nd WC, takes them out.
GAME 151
Gerardo Zamora (13-3) tosses his 2nd 3 hit shutout of his short career going 9-3-0-0-1-5. The offense opened it up early, Paul Riggs going 3-4 and scoring 3 on his 39th double. Alberto Rivera (2) and George Knox (25) homered, Knox driving in 5 (87) and Luis Chavez drove in 3 (128) on his 23rd double.
CHI 12 BUF 0 (105-46 +9)
MINORS
Tulsa was beaten by the Amarillo Bulldogs in the Wild Card round 2-1.
Belleview beat the Garland Cyclones 2-0 but lost to the Watertown Silver Stars 2-0 in the Division series so the minor league seasons are completed.
Jimmy Mason was recalled from Tulsa (he went 14-5 4.54 and is a legit 4-5 on many clubs now, will give him some innings and maybe a last week start before the winter. He was a 2012 minor league FA and was the #46 IBL prospect in 2016). I also added Mike Hamilton to the 40 man and recalled him. He’s 24, had a great year and is a surefire rule 5 pick for someone if he’s not protected, and I’d rather be able to deal him if that’s how I want to go. Same for 23 year old OF Gabriel Fries.
GAME 152
Walt Thompson (21-4) tosses his 2nd straight shutout and the staffs 3rd in the past week. Going 122 pitches for a 9-7-0-0-0-6 win. Bob Veeck had 3 of the Bison hits.
CHI 7 BUF 0 (106-46 +10)
RACES
Brooklyn and New York both lost to keep the Empire at 3 games for the Knights. In the Keystone we could have some monumental stuff happening. Philly has gone 4-1 with Pittsburgh going 1-4 to see the Pats close to within 5. Philadelphia just took 2 of 3 from the Bulldogs in a mid week series. Hedden and Gomez are both back healthy though, for Pittsburgh.
The Wizards have clinched a berth. Right now it’s the Wild Card, but they are just 3 back of Sacramento. Tulsa has clinched the Lone Star.
Vince Soto (LA) leads Jesus Castro (PHI) .342 to .338 in the CL batting race and injured Carlos Andrade (BRO) looks like he’ll win the FL title from the DL as he leads Todd Helton (GB) .350 to .333.
Ichiro (DAL) is at 70 steals.
Walt Thompsons shutout should have locked up the ERA title, he’s at 3.00 and Zito (ALK) is at 3.43 now but Thompson is 12 K’s behind (230-218) in his triple crown bid. Vincent Bray is 1 win ahead of George Perkins (TUL) and has sewn up the K title (220-194) and likely the ERA title as well (2.64-3.12)
RECORDS
Curt Whimster homered twice in a 4-3 loss to the Railcats. The 2 home runs give him 54 on the year with 10 games left, he needs 6 to tie the record.
GAME 153
Ken Lee (15-10) bobbed and weaved but couldn’t dodge the knockout. Giving up 2 homers in a 6-8-5-5-2-4 loss. Ruben Lopez was 3-4 with 2 RBI’s (36) on his 9th homer. We managed 4 homers (Salinas (43) Chavez (38) Collins (20) and Morgan (23) but they were all solos.
BUF 5 CHI 4 (106-47 +9)
RACES
Brooklyn lost to Staten Island and New York scored 2 in the 9th for a come from behind walk off win in Dayton to extend the Knights lead to 4 in the Empire.
Alaska finishes a 5-1 week to move to within 3 of Brooklyn for the 2nd WC spot.
Philly goes 5-1 to move from 8 to 5 back with 9 left. Almost over, but not quite.
LA is 3 back of Sacramento, gaining 1 this week.
Artie Johnson won his 21st, to tie Walt Thompson for the FL lead in wins. Alejandrez is 3rd with 17.
WEEK 24 RECAP
FL POTW-Jose Gonzalez (ALK) 12-24 4 HR’s 8 RBI’s (.354-5-10)
CL POTW-Alberto Vargas (NH) 6-8 3 HR’s 8 RBI’s (.280-45-114) Making use of your AB’s…..
IBL LEADERS IN VORP AT 1B
Curt Whimster (TUL) 87.2
Pedro Salinas (CHI) 75.0
Alejandro Villanueva (SI) 60.6
Todd Helton (GB) 59.0
Carlos Andrade (BRO) 58.2
IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago (1)
2) Columbus (3)
3) Tulsa (2)
4) Los Angeles (4)
5) Sacramento (5)