The IBL's Chicago Iron Pigs

[gehrig38]

WEEK 20
2 vs Michigan (47-74 36 GB MW)
Off Day
3 @ New York (68-53 +5 EM)
1 vs Staten Island (51-70 17 GB EM)

GAME 122
Walt Thompson (17-4) went 6-5-1-1-1-5 before a rain delay forced him from his start and Ken Johnson (H10) and Randy Pennington (H15) got the game to Cruz for the last 4 outs and his 39th Save. Pedro Salinas’s 3 run shot (his 33rd) in the 3rd was the game winner. Collins, Coates and Chavez had 2 hit days.
CHI 4 MICH 2 (84-38 +10)

GOOD GAMES
27 year old Yankee SS Jesus Ortega had his 1st career 3 homer day in a 9-8 Staten Island win over Columbus. He drove in 5.

Cyclone slugger Carlos Andrade had his 2nd 5 hit game in a week as he went 5-5 with 2 RBI’s in a 7-1 win over El Paso. He’s now leading the Frontier League at .353.

Patriot SP Carlos Vargas tossed a 6 hitter in a 5-0 win over LA today, to move to 7-9 5.27 in 25 starts this year.

CONTRACT TALKS
Chicago inks newest acquisition:
Catcher George Knox has made fast friends, hitting .321-6-23 in his first 24 games since being acquired from Sacramento. He’s also making plans to hang around, agreeing today to a 3 year 4.7M dollar extension with a 4th year team option at 2.5M.

(This was about a no brainer. He's on the edge of arbitration, with the expectation being he'll hit/miss by days. (FWIW after my 1992 season in Philly, with this line 14-11 2.35 26 starts 10 CG's 4 SHO 226.1 IP 165 H WHIP 0.990 I made arbitration by 3 days..going from league min. to I think 1M). Anyway, it'll be close, and to me error on the side of caution with a guy this good is the way to go. He's INSANELY cheap for the skill set and position. And if Hudson is on the decline, which this season makes me believe he might be, he's my start and I miss not a beat, and pay him a quarter of what guys half as good are making to catch. With Ramirez now 24, in Tulsa, and his offensive projections not as otherworldly as they were when we dealt for him, he's still a decent option if forced, and outstanding as a potential backup or AAA insurance. Shane Jackson is just 21, and in Denison and already the best defensive catcher in the organization, but his bat is lagging behind, still projectible but lagging. Ramirez is RH, Jackson left, which means I'd love to seem him start improving. After those 2 it's Leenan at Heavener. Drafted in the 5th round last year out of Appalachian State he can catch and throw at an above average level now, doesn't block well or call a good game, yet, but he's hitting .305 in Heavener. He's 22 and left handed. That's a long winder way of saying I got my starting catcher inked to a VERY cheap deal for the next 3 years, 4 if/when I pickup the option, with 3 younger guys as potential good-very good options for my future tandem. What Knox does now give me is potential to float Hudsons name around this winter as I would guess his remaining years/dollars (3+ team option for 9.6M total) makes him immensely valuable as a trade piece.

GAME 123
Ken Lee (13-6) took a perfect game into the 9th before a leadoff walk to Ronald Wright, and 5 pitches later lost the no-hitter, and the shutout when Calvin Dundee homered on a 2-2 pitch. Lee would finish with a career high 13 K’s in a 9-2-2-2-1-13 masterpiece. Pedro Salinas was 3-5 with a single, double (24) and a triple (1), driving in 5 (107). Ron Miller was 2-4 with his 21st homer and Hugh Collins was 4-4 with 2 runs and 4 RBI’s on his 14th home run. Luis Chavez was 2-3, driving in 2 (106) and Lorenzelli was 2-5. Jean Chartier was hurt but word is it’s DtD.
CHI 14 MICH 2 (85-38 +10)

INJURY NEWS
Las Vegas OF Jesus Andrales will miss the next 3-4 weeks with an oblique injury. The 27 year old is hitting .341-9-68 as Vegas trails WC #2 leader Houston by 1 game.

Michael Griffin (COL) will likely miss the remainder of the regular season after a severe groin injury sidelined him yesterday. The 32 year old is hitting .305-15-53 for the #1 Wild Card Clippers. They are 10 in back of us in the Midwest, and 10 ahead of Green Bay in the #2 slot.

GAME 124
Alejandrez was horrible in a 3.2-6-7-7-4-1 beating but the offense beat up the Knight bullpen and Ernesto Cruz wiggled out of an 8th inning jam and got the final 4 outs for his 40th save.
Pedro Salinas walked 4 more times, scoring twice and Luis Chavez was 3-5 with 3 doubles (21), driving in 2. George Knox was 2-5 with his 21st homer and 5 RBI’s (70). Chartier stole his 35th base. Ricardo Quintania was 2-4 with a double (20) and his 10th homer in the loss. 24 year old Knight Ace Jesus Romano went 6.1-8-4-3-4-4 in the no decision and his 4 K’s keep him tied with Walt Thompson at 184 for the FL lead.
CHI 9 NY 8 (86-38 +10)

GOOD GAMES
Artie Johnson (EP) threw a 5 hitter in a 1-0 win over Dayton to move to 16-6 4.39 on the year. The win matched the 25 year olds career high set last season when he went 16-10.

GAME 125
You tend to learn lessons in the big leagues the hard way. One of them, and you learn it quickly when you pitch for sucky teams, not so fast on good clubs, is that you can lose a game within 5 minutes of it starting. The leadoff hitter can and many times is, the winning run. I say this because my young pitchers are learning this lesson. Bryan Rogers (10-6) should have lost today. He went 6-5-5-5-5-4 and again the offense picked him up, plating 5 in the top of the 7th to turn a 5-3 deficit into a 8-5 lead, and win. Pedro Salinas’ 34th homer (part of a 3-5 3 RBI (110) day) was the killing blow. Luis Chavez hit his 33rd in the 1st. Salinas is at 34-110, Chavez 33-109. Rodriguez (H8) and Pennington (H17) got 5 big outs and Cruz the final 4 for his 41st save. He’s now just 7 short of his IBL single season record 48 saves.
CHI 8 NY 5 (87-38 +10)

GAME 126
Zamora (10-3) continues to improve. Going 6-2-0-0-3-6 and holding the Knights hitless into the 5th. Still not economical, but getting better, needing 103 to navigate the 6. He outduels 15 game winner J.R. Robinson who goes 7.2-8-4-4-3-5 in the loss to fall to 15-8. Alberto Rivera goes 2-4 hitting his 1st IBL homer, and driving in 3. Will Harris goes 2-4 and scores twice. New York manages just 2 hits on the day as Ellison, Winston and Sanchez go 3 hitless, punching out 4.
CHI 4 NY 0 (88-38 +10)

STUFF
Gerardo is 3-0 in his last 5, the team is 4-1, and he’s tossed 34 IP 26 H 9 ER 32 K’s 12 BB to a 2.38 ERA, lowering his ERA from 6.85 to 5.82. Walks and the big inning are still a nagging issue, but he’s 23 years old and it’s expected. His control is moving into elite territory, with our scouts now giving him some upper tier projections. If he can bring down the H/IP to a more manageable number he’s going to be special.

GAME 127
Walt Thompson remains on course to set the Iron Pig single season record in ERA (3.58 Mike Davis ’12) Wins (20 Ken Lee ’16) W% (.833 Ken Lee ’16) CG’s (5 Ken Lee ’16) IP (228 Mike Davis ’12) BB/9 (Ken Lee 2.2 ’16) K’s (199 Alejandrez (’12) K/9 (Alejandrez 8.0 ’12) K/BB (Lee 3.22 ’16) WHIP (Lee 1.14 ’16) and VORP (50.7 Davis ’12) as he tosses a 4 hitter to move to 18-4 3.30. He went 9-4-1-1-2-5 on 115 pitches. Chartier and Riggs had 4 of our 7 hits, Salinas tripled in Chartier in the 1st.
CHI 3 SI 1 (89-38 +11)

STUFF
Walt Thompson is now leading the Frontier League in the pitching triple crown as well. His 18 win are 2 better than El Paso’s Artie Johnson, his 189 K’s are 1 better than Alaska’s Zito and his 3.30 is .15 better than Zito’s there as well.

WEEK 20 RECAP
FL POTW-Pat Dobson (MICH) 8-15 3 HR’s 8 RBI’s (.263-31-79)
CL POTW-Jose Rodriguez (PHI) 12-24 1 HR 8 RBI’s (.291-17-73)

INJURY NEWS
Bulldogs vulnerable? Lose Hedden….
Pittsburgh has a comfortable 8 game lead on Baltimore in the Keystone right now but today learned 2016 Batting Champ and CL Hank Aaron Award winner Allen Hedden will be out for the next month after straining an intercostal. Hedden is hitting .265-25-71 and joins 2016 FL Aaron Award winner Angelo Gomez on the 15 day DL. Gomez is still 2 weeks from a rehab assignment after breaking a thumb 13 days ago.

IBL SINGLE SEASON SAVE RECORD
Ernesto Cruz (CHI) 48 ‘13
Bill Barlow (SAC) 47 ‘13
Greg Patterson (BRO) 47 ‘13
Sherwood Jacobs (NY) 46 ‘12
Julio Arroyo (PIT) 46 ‘14

IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago (2)
2) Tulsa (1)
3) Sacramento (3)
4) Columbus (4)
5) Los Angeles (7)
OUT El Paso (7)

[gehrig38]

And the trends over the past 3 weeks...

In the Frontier League:
New York has gone 11-7 and it's been enough to pickup 4 games on the 7-11 Cyclones and Yankees. They're 6 up but Brooklyn makes it feel like a safe lead, not being able to put anything together.

We've gone 13-5 to move 11 up, gaining 2 on 11-7 Columbus and pretty much eliminating the Blizzard from any division possibility.

El Paso's 11-7 moved them another game ahead of 10-8 Edmonton, and Alaska. Arizona is on their move to a high draft pick again.

Green Bay's skid has put Edmonton, Brooklyn and Alaska right into the thick of the #2 WC spot, which feels like it may be the only FL race come September.

Remember the Wild Card is now a 1 game winner take all to move on. So winning a division is hugely important.

In the Coastal Pittsburgh appears to have become vulnerable, losing their 2 MVP's for an extended period, and Casisas out of their rotation. They have gone 8-10, and their 12 game edge on Baltimore has shrunk to 8 as the Railcats 12-6 run has closed the gap. When you have Bray and Roa though, 8 is still a nice gap.

Tulsa is going to win the Lone Star again, with Whimster looking at an MVP and Perkins contending for a Koufax.

LA's 7-11 run has seen the River Cats lead go from 1 to 4.

In the Wild Card it appears the race, as in the FL, is for the 2 spot. Houston's 10-8 run is nothing to write home about but with Vegas doing a 6-12 nose dive the Roughriders went from 2 back to 2 up, and Baltimore goes from 8 out to 4. It might seem easy to call Philly and New Hampshire pretenders, until you realize that 20 days ago the Fisher Cats were 46-63 and 14 games back of the 2 spot, and after going 15-3 since then they're now 7 back and closing. They've never won more than 75 in a season, and have finished last every year but 1 (and that was a 71-91 2nd place finish), so this is something for New Hampshire fans, and players, to grab onto. They've got Don Evans hitting .323-18-60 and Alberto Vargas (whom they didn't sign until April 3rd) hammering CL pitching to a .275-39-96 clip. They're running crazy again, leading the CL with 189 stolen bases, and they're 3rd in average but once again they're pitching is killing them. SP are 11th in ERA, their pen is 12th.

Too close and too early to jump on any races as decided, excluding Ichiro running away with the CL SB title and new single season record. Whimster might tease us with a run at 61. Soto and Andrales will likely duel for another batting title, both have already won at least 1.

It's looking like Bray or Thompson will be the 1st to 20, and Ernesto Cruz, if he can remain healthy, will set a new single season Save mark.

Bray and Thompson are both staring at potential pitching triple crowns, with Bray having already won one. I expect Zito to push Thompson in ERA and K's. Roa may challenge his teammate for the K title, and Rodriguez (TUL) and Harvey (LV) could make the ERA race interesting.

Any way ya look at it, the last 6 weeks should be fun with the new playoff format. We could see a play in game, to play the play in game....

[gehrig38]

WEEK 21
2 vs Staten Island (53-74 18 GB)
3 @ Green Bay (66-61 23 GB)
2 vs Edmonton (65-62 5 GB)

ORG NEWS
Our first ever June draft pick, Anthony Martin, was taken out of the AA Bakersfield rotation and will get a few weeks to relieve. If he doesn’t blow people away, which I am not expecting, it’ll be time to call it a day, and admit we made a big mistake with the pick.

GAME 128
Bill Alexander doubles (16) homers (19) and drives in 5 (80) to back Ken Lee (14-6) and the pen holding it for a 10-5 win. We hit 5 doubles with Jean Chartier going 3-4 and scoring twice. Paul Riggs was 2-3 with his 34th double. Chavez (28) and Riggs (14) stole bases. SS Mario Orosco committed his 24th error of the season in the loss.
CHI 10 SI 5 (90-38 +11)

GAME 129
Pedro Salinas was 3-4 with 2 doubles (27) and Ron Miler went 2-5 with 3 RBI’s (73) on his 22nd homer. George Knox went 2-4 with his 22nd homer, driving in 4 (74). Eric Coates went 3-3 with an RBI (53) and scored twice. Alejandrez went 7-3-2-2-3-5 to move to 14-6 4.13 on the season.

INJURY NEWS
Chartier, who was STUPIDLY still in the game, went down in the 9th running the bases and is out for a few days while we await word.

GOOD GAMES
Boston Bomber Tony Daugherty tossed a 4 hitter over Dallas in a 2-0 win. He’s 2-3 3.33 in 11 games, 5 starts.

GAME 130
Rogers (11-6) struggles with command again, walking 5 in 5 innings before leaving with 104 pitches and a lead. The pen holds on and the offense busts out late. Eric Hudson hits his 4th homer driving in 3 (45) and Pedro Salinas hits his 35th.
CHI 8 GB 3 (92-38 +11)

Big injury in Brooklyn:
Batting leader Carlos Andrade suffered a serious leg injury today. A broken knee, torn ACL/MCL and is out at least the next 6, and more likely 8, months. Andrade was leading the FL in hitting at .350 and had helped propel the Cyclones into a tie for the 2nd WC spot. They are just 4 back of Division leading NY in the Empire as well. For the year the 26 year old was at .350-20-100, all team highs. 1B Jorge Garza was recalled from AAA Baton Rouge and veteran Dave Norfleet will move to 1B.

GAME 131
Hugh Collins 9th inning leadoff homer broke a 6-6 tie, made Randy Pennington (3-1) the winner and Ernesto Cruz got the final 3 outs for his 42nd save. Pedro Salinas was 2-4 with his 36th homer, Will Harris went 2-3 driving in 2 (12) and Bill Alexander doubled twice (18). Todd Helton (23) and Andruw Jones (41) homered in the loss.
CHI 7 GB 6 (93-38 +12)

INJURY NEWS
We’re going to find out what it’s like to win in the post season without Chartier, a year early. A severely sprained ankle will land him on the 60 day DL, and likely signal his last game as a Chicago player. John Johnston will be recalled as the RH half of our IF backup with Will Harris. If it does end this way, my conscience is clear, I can’t pay a guy that much money who’s a DL trip waiting to happen. Played in 149 and 150 games in ’14 and ’15. 136 in ’12, 49 in ’13, 81 last season, and was up for about 130 this year. 20+ million is what you pay a 150+ game, .315-40-120 guy, or the player this kid should have been, the player he was in ’13, .326-24-123, 26 doubles, 10 triples, 37 stolen bases. Last year he hit .399, but played in just ½ the season. I’d love to keep him, he’s a stud, but at that price, and that long, no way.

GAME 132
The only thing stopping Walt Thompson (19-3) right now is rain. A lengthy 6th inning delay cost him but he still managed a 5.2-5-1-1-1-7 win. Pennington and Johnson punched out 5 over the final 3.1. Paul Riggs was 3-5 with 4 RBI’s on his 36th double and 7th homer. Luis Chavez belted 2 solo homers (35). Hugh Collins went 2-5 and stole his 11th.
CHI 7 GB 1 (94-38 +12)

GOOD GAMES AND AN AMAZING ROOKIE
Clipper SP Barney Watt allowed just 6 hits in a 13-0 whitewashing of El Paso. The win moved him to 9-3 4.11 in 16 starts, and opened Columbus hold on the #1 WC to 13 games. El Paso now leads Edmonton by 5.

Wow. 22 year old Pat Kelley, the #1 overall pick, now has a 1-hit, 2-hit and 3-hit shutout in his first 10 IBL starts. He just returned from the DL last week, out for a month with a tired shoulder, but picked up where he left off. He’s 6-3 2.92 in 10 starts this season.

GAME 133
Ken Lee (14-7) lost the game before it was 5 minutes old. 2 quick outs and then 2 runs on 3 hits in the first were enough for Edmonton SP Rob King (10-10 4.22) as he held us to 3 hits over 8 (8-3-1-1-5-1) and Nicholas Clark closed it out after kicking a leadoff grounder for his 17th save.
EDM 3 CHI 1 (94-39 +12)

CONTRACT TALKS
Pittsburgh traded a top hitting prospect in Miguel Deleon last month for OF Jose Palacios. Palacios, you could say, has been a hit since arriving. Hitting .264-14-37 in 53 games since arriving. Today the Bulldogs announced a 4 year 30.8M dollar extentiosn with the 31 year old that will keep him in three rivers through the 2021 season. When Hedden and Gomez do return Palacios will slide to the lower half of the Bulldog order and give them immense depth heading into the post season, and the next few years.

GAME 134
Alfredo Alejandrez (15-6) was solid in a 7-4-0-0-1-6 outing. Hugh Collins went 3-5 with a double (18) and Pedro Salinas drove in 2. Rivera and Hudson had 2 hit days, with Rivera doubling twice (4). Coates (12) Lorenzelli (8) and Collins (12) stole bases.
CHI 7 EDM 0 (95-39 +13)

WEEK 21 RECAP
FL POTW-Dan Bond (DAY) 12-27 4 HR’s 8 RBI’s (.245-22-60)
CL POTW-Juan Molina (LA) 14-30 4 HR’s 14 RBI’s (.320-18-65)

IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago (1)
2) Sacramento (3)
3) Tulsa (2)
4) Columbus (4)
5) Los Angeles (5)

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by gehrig38

We’re going to find out what it’s like to win in the post season without Chartier, a year early. A severely sprained ankle will land him on the 60 day DL, and likely signal his last game as a Chicago player. John Johnston will be recalled as the RH half of our IF backup with Will Harris. If it does end this way, my conscience is clear, I can’t pay a guy that much money who’s a DL trip waiting to happen. Played in 149 and 150 games in ’14 and ’15. 136 in ’12, 49 in ’13, 81 last season, and was up for about 130 this year. 20+ million is what you pay a 150+ game, .315-40-120 guy, or the player this kid should have been, the player he was in ’13, .326-24-123, 26 doubles, 10 triples, 37 stolen bases. Last year he hit .399, but played in just ½ the season. I’d love to keep him, he’s a stud, but at that price, and that long, no way.

Sound analysis. I hate it when a favorite player boxes you in a corner like this, but he leaves you no choice.

[Papi]

I'm in the same boat right now with the most popular player on my team. My closer, who has been with big league team for 12 years, just backed away from contract talks. He's strong as an ox and never gets hurt and has lead the league in saves the last 6 or 7 years, posting ERA's under 2 in 4 of the last 5 years.

I want to keep him, but he won't budge from a 5 year contract and he's 37 years old. I suppose I will just wait until Free Agency, and when no one else offers him 5 years, he may come around. I play each game (and have 18 seasons under my belt starting with OOTP9), and I have become really attached to him, but he's being unreasonable and forcing my hand.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 22
1 vs Edmonton
Off Day
3 vs El Paso
2 @ Brooklyn

GAME 135
Eric Coates tied the game in the 7th with a 3 run homer (9), but Dean Palmers 2nd homer (28) was a game winner off Randy Pennington (3-2). Rogers went 7-9-4-4-1-5 in the no decision. Catcher Tom Gentry was 4-5 with his 5th homer to raise his average to .367 in 31 games.
EDM 5 CHI 4 (10) (95-40 +12)

GOOD GAMES
Knight starter Ray Anderson tossed a 3 hitter in a 1-0 win over Alaska to move to give Alaska a 2 game lead over Brooklyn in the Empire.

GAME 136
Rookie 1B Brandon Peck set a Diablo record with 8 RBI’s, and an IBL record as the 1st player to ever hit 2 grand slams in a single game, and El Paso still lost. Zamora (11-3) had ‘that inning’ in the 1st, giving up Pecks 1st granny and 5 runs total. He ended up going 6-6-5-5-1-4 for the win, and in the 8th Peck drilled his record 2nd grand slam off Jake Ellison to force closer Ernesto Cruz into what was thought to be a blowout, for his 43rd save. Hugh Collins was 2-3 with 2 RBI’s (52) on his 16th homer, and stole 2 bases (14). Eric Coates went 3-4 with 4 RBI’s on his 10th homer and Eric Hudson was 3-4. Luis Chavez stole 2 bases (29). Chavez needs 1 more SB to enter the 30/30 club.
CHI 11 EP 9 (96-40 +12)

GOOD GAMES
Blizzard 1B Todd Helton went 5-5 in a 14-8 win over Michigan to raise his average to .335. He trails injured league leader Carlos Andrade by 15 pts for the FL batting title.

GAME 137
Just a bizarre, and almost terrifying game. Walt Thompson grabs his side on the final out of a 7 pitch first and has to come out. The pen and offense put the game into Ernesto Cruz’s hands and for the first time in his career he fails to record and out. Yielding 5 straight hits, 5 runs after Jorge Sanchez gives up Abel Bernada’s 20th homer in the 9th, and the game. Cruz goes 0-5-5-5-0-0…..Thompson will actually be ok, and we’ll likely put him on the mound in another day or two. Bill Alexander goes 3-4 with 2 runs, George Knox hits a grand slam for his 23rd homer and Pedro Salinas hits a solo for his 37th.
EP 9 CHI 6 (96-41 +12)

INJURY NEWS
Texan 1B Lance Berkman will miss 3-4 weeks after tearing a thumb ligament. He’s currently hitting .323-29-90.

Green Bay 3B Scott Rolen will miss the remainder of the regular season after a sever hamstring strain. He ends up hitting .305-22-86. The Blizzard are just 1 game behind Brooklyn for the 2nd Wild Card with Rolen joining Josh Hamilton on the DL (Hailton is due back in 2 weeks).

AUGUST RECAP
AUGUST FL HITTER-Jeffrey Hudson (COL) .385-8-30 20 Runs (.320-39-130)
AUGUST CL HITTER-Troy Glaus (HOU) .330-11-28 21 Runs (.254-34-95)
AUGUST FL PITCHER-Artie Johnson (EP) 5-1 3.05 (18-6 4.26)
AUGUST CL PITCHER-Octavio Vasquez (PHI) 5-0 3.47 (11-9 3.84)
AUGUST FL ROOKIE-Pedro Salinas (CHI) .304-7-25 (.313-37-117)
AUGUST CL ROOKIE-Leonard Plumbly (NH) .386-2-13 (.315-10-45)

ORG NEWS
Tulsa SP Mike Hamilton went 4-0 1.41 to win AAA Pitcher of the Month (17-5 2.77)

Belleview’s Max Briddon won MWL Player of the Month with a .321-4-19 18 Runs (.299-18-92)

[gehrig38]

1 month to go..

[gehrig38]

C Mark Moran, IF John Johnston, Lester Jones, OF Troy Becker, SP Mike Alexander and RP Jose Torres are the 9/1 call ups. Tulsa's in the playoffs and I'll let them play it out before any final moves, but this is enough to rest the regulars.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 22 Con’t

GAME 138
Another ‘1st inning loss”. Ken Lee (14-8) surrenders 4 in the 1st, we answer with 4 of our own and then don’t score again. Artie Johnson (19-6) survives his own 4 run 1st going 8-7-4-4-3-3 to best Lee’s 8-6-5-5-2-7. Jon Sloan saves his 34th with a perfect 9th. Chavez hit #37 and William Griffin was 3-4 in the win.
EP 5 CHI 4 (96-42 +11)

GAME 139
Hugh Collins is rounding into form after being out for a large part of the season. He went 3-4 with 3 runs on 2 solo homers (18) and Eric Coates was 3-3 with his 11th homer. Luis Chavez was 2-4 with 2 RBI’s (119).
Alejandrez (16-6) went 6.2-4-2-1-3-3 for the win.
CHI 8 BRO 2 (97-42 +12)

NEWS
Wes Morgan is back today.

GOOD GAMES
Dallas SP Tim Hudson tossed a 5 hitter over Pittsburgh to win his 15th (15-12 3.86).

Curt Whimster (TUL) went 5-5 with an RBI in a 9-4 win. He’s hitting .310-48-123 on the year.

GAME 140
And another 1st inning loss. Bryan Rogers (11-7) gives up Lou Sparks 2 run shot (15) in the 1st and 24 year old Sonny Miller (Brooklyn’s 1st pick in 2014 out of Pacific College) stuffs the offense with a 8-5-1-1-3-8 outing for Raymond Peters to nail it down for save 30. Rogers throws 6-6-2-2-3-5. George Knox goes 2-3 with a double (22) and triple (2).
BRO 2 CHI 1 (97-43 +11)

GOOD GAMES
Veteran Sergio De La Garza (HOU) tossed a 3 hitter over the short handed Bulldogs in a 4-0 win. He’s 12-15 4.30 on the year.

MINORS NEWS
Knights prospect Albert Pujols went 5-6 in a AAA playoff win today, driving in 5.

WEEK 22 RECAP
FL POTW-Lee Allen (NY) 6-12 4 HR’s 10 RBI’s (.292-25-86)
CL POTW-Curt Whimster (TUL) 13-24 1 HR 4 RBI’s (.309-49-124)

IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago (1)
2) Sacramento (2)
3) Tulsa (3)
4) Columbus (4)
5) Houston (9)
OUT Los Angeles (6)

[gehrig38]

Races are over, and some are just beginning.
Tulsa, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and likely El Paso, are looking like division winners. Brooklyn is putting the pressure on New York now, Sacramento is close to making it a cinch, but LA's playing well. Looking like the FL #2 WC spot and the Empire Division are the 2 real races left.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 23
1 @ Brooklyn (74-67 3 GB)
3 vs Dayton (56-85 42 GB)
3 @ Arizona (68-73 10 GB)

GAME 141
Zamora (12-3) goes 6-5-1-1-0-6 for the win and after a Ken Johnson hiccup (0-0-2-2-3-0) Pennington and Winston end it. Hugh Collins goes 3-3 with 3 runs, Pedro Salinas 3-5 with 2 doubles (30) and 3 RBI’s (121). Bill Alexander continues his late season surge going 2-5 with 3 RBI’s (86) and Chavez drives in 1 (120).

GOOD GAMES
Vince Bray (PIT) won his 20th in a 7-0 5 hitter to tie his, and Bartolo Serrano’s, IBL record with 4 shutouts in a season. Bray won 20 for the 3rd time in his career. He’s 20-5 2.72 with 204 K’s, all league leading totals as he aims for his 2nd career pitching triple crown.

CONTRACT TALKS
It’s been done hush hush, until today. 28 year old Ken Lee agreed to a 5 year 31.29M dollar contract extension. The deal contains 4 guaranteed years at 22.76M, with a 5th year vesting option (112 starts) of 8.58M.

(A great deal, with more cost certainty. Trims money off expected payroll for ’18 (his arbitration was looking to end up in the 6m range, he’s signed at 4.58 and 5.58 for the next 2 seasons, 6.05 for the 2 years after that, saving me a good chunk over that period.)

GAME 142
A rough 1st inning for Thompson working around an error, but the final out, Alfonso Gallegos, was his 200th K of the season, setting a new franchise record (breaking Alejandre’s old mark of 199). He’d end with a no decision on a 6-9-5-3-1-8 day. Holt, Ellison, Rodriguez and Sanchez (2-3) went 3-1-0-0-1-6. Closer Yohann Diffenderffer (4-8) walked 3 before Alberto Rivera’s walk off single won it in the 10th. Pedro Salinas went 2-4 with 3 RBI’s on his 31st double and 38th homer.
CHI 6 DAY 5 (10) (00-43 +12)

INJURY NEWS
Patriot reliever Julio Salinas, signed to a 3 year 36.6M free agent deal this winter as Philly was building a bullpen for the ages, will miss the rest of the ’17 season and it looks like he may miss the entire ’18 season as well. The 33 year old was diagnosed with a rotator cuff tear today. The Patriots are 70-72, 8 games back of the 2nd WC spot and 9 behind Keystone Division leader Pittsburgh.

CONTRACT NEWS
Michigan announced the signing of 27 year old slugger Pat Dobson (3B) to a 4 year 34M dollar contract extension today. Dobson is hitting .254 with a career high 31 homers and 82 RBI’s.

GAME 143
Ken Lee (15-8) tossed a 6 hit shutout, punching out 10 for the teams 100th win. Pedro Salinas continued his torrid campaign with a 3-4 2 RBI (126) day, hitting his 39th homer. Bill Alexander hit his 20th and drove in 2 (89). Thomas Savary (12-11) went 4.1-8-6-6-3-0 in the loss.
CHI 7 DAY 0 (100-43 +12)

MINORS NEWS
Heavener was shut out today. Well not just shut out but Little Rock Bisons pitcher Victorien Martin (7th round pick this year out of USC) tossed a perfect game, striking out 11 vs them.

Belleview won their opening round series, 2-0 over the Garland Cyclones, and play the Watertown Silver Stars next.

GAME 144
Alejandrez (17-6) took a no-hitter into the 8th before Rafael Quintanilla’s leadoff single. His line, 9-1-0-0-2-5 was the 2nd career 1 hitter for him. 6 Iron Pig homers (Miller (23) Chavez (37) Knox (24) Salinas (40) Morgan (22) and Lester Jones (2) led the 16 run 16 hit attack. Paul Riggs was 3-4, Chavez 2-6 and drove in 3 (123), Knox was 2-5 with 3 RBI’s (82).
CHI 16 DAY 0 (101-43 +12)

MINORS NEWS
Holy crap. Heavener? They had a perfect game tossed against them yesterday. Today? It was not perfect, but it was another no-hitter. Roy Reynolds of Little Rock K’d 11 in the no-hitter to move to 2-0 0.53 on the year.

INJURY NEWS
Roughriders reliever Orlando Ruiz will miss the remainder of the season with a bad shoulder. The 27 year old was 2-0 1 Save in 36 games with a 3.55 ERA.

STUFF
#1 pitching prospect Gabriel Pimentel, a 21 year old righty, got the call a little earlier than September this year and has made 7 starts, he’s 4-2 2.42 with 41K’s 36 BB’s in 48.1 IP. In his last 5 he’s 4-0 1.36.

#1 pick Pat Kelley (BOS) is now 7-4 2.49 in 12 starts. He came straight to the IBL after his record 9.1M signing, and has been spectacular.

Alfredo Alejandrez is 3-0 0.40 in his last 3 starts yielding just 9 hits in 22 IP.

GAME 145
Bryan Rogers (12-7) threw 6 dominant innings (6-8-2-2-1-10) and Rodriguez (H11) and Ellison (H7) got the game to Cruz for his 44th Save. Eric Coates was 2-4 with 3 RBI’s (65) on his 12th homer, Hugh Collins went 2-5 with his 19th homer and Pedro Salinas hit his 41st.
CHI 5 AZ 3 (102-43 +12)

GAME 146
Zamora struggles through a 5-9-5-5-1-5 giving up 2 homers but the pen of Holt (2-1) Sanchez (H6) Winston (H7) Pennington (H21) and Cruz (Save 45) throws 4-1-0-0-2-5 and Pedro Salinas hammers a 3 run shot (42) and drives in 4 (132).
CHI 6 AZ 5 (103-43 +12)

GOOD GAMES
A pair of Aces came up big today. Barry Zito (17-13 3.27) tossed an 11 K 4 hitter over Green Bay and Vincent Bray (21-5 2.61) tossed his 2nd shutout in a row and set a new IBL single season record for shutouts with his 5th in a 3 hit 11K win over Sacramento. Zito now leads the FL in K’s at 226 to Jesus Romano’s 205, and is tied with Walt Thompson at 3.27. Bray is opening up sizable leads across the board in the CL, on his way to a 2nd triple crown.

PLAYOFF NEWS
Us, and Columbus, clinched a playoff berth today. The Clippers lead the Blizzard by 17 games and have clinched a berth in the wild card round, at least.

GAME 147
Walt Thompson (20-4) retakes the ERA lead with a 5 hit shutout of Arizona. He goes 9-5-0-0-0-8 in his 2nd shutout of the year, lowering his ERA to a league leading 3.13. The win ties the Chicago single season record set by Ken Lee last year, and is a career high for him as well. Luis Chaves was 3-5 with a double (22) and 2 RBI’s (125) and Ron Miller went 2-4 with 2 RBI’s (77) and his 24th homer.
CHI 8 AZ 0 (104-43 +12)

WEEK 23 RECAP
FL POTW-Pedro Salinas (CHI) 11-26 5 HR’s 14 RBI’s (.316-42-133)
CL POTW-Rajah Lashari (PHI) 9-16 5 HR’s 10 RBI’s (.250-29-96)

IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago (1)
2) Tulsa (3)
3) Columbus (4)
4) Los Angeles (6)
5) Sacramento (2)
OUT Houston (6)

[gehrig38]

Brooklyn and New York are officially in a race. The meet, starting after tomorrow's off day, for 3 in Brooklyn and then don't meet again.

Edmonton went 0-7 this week to 'officially' drop out of any race. El Paso is close to locking it up anyway. Green Bay (2-5) and Alaska (3-4) gave the 5-2 Cyclones huge breathing room in the race for the 2nd Wild Card with just 15 left.

LA's 6-1 week got them 2 on Sacramento and if they can hold close they meet the River Cats in the next to last series of the year, in LA.

Curt Whimster (TUL) is at 52 homers, tied for the 4th highest single season total ever, and he's on pace for 57, which would be the 2nd highest ever. He's 8 shy of Bill Hill's single season record of 60.

Ichiro continues to set the standard for SB in a season.

Vincent Bray, barring a miracle, will win his 2nd pitching triple crown. Walt Thompson needs a Zito slip up, or a record game to have a shot in the FL at a triple crown.

[gehrig38]

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)

[gehrig38]

Things are clearing up in most races...

[gehrig38]

WEEK 25
3 vs Alaska
3 vs West Michigan
Off Day

GAME 154
Alejandrez is going for #18, which would tie his career high (’13 and ’15) as well as his 100th career win which would be 3rd all time behind Thompson (108) and Vincente Romero’s (HOU) 105. Up against CC Sabathia (Alaska is throwing 3 straight lefties this series).
And 4 1 hit innings later, it rains. His day ends with a no decision but he’ll have 1 start remaining before the playoffs.
However we do have an interesting observation. Mike Alexander came in to relieve again, and in his 6.2 IP of relief, he’s punched out 14 batters….
Luis Chavez goes 2-3 with 2 RBI’s (132) on his 39th homer. He also steals his 30th to enter the 30/30 club. Lorenzelli (12) Riggs (16) and Collins (19) also steal bases. Lorenzelli drives in 3 (30) with a bases clearing double (17).
CHI 8 ALK 3 (107-47 +10)

RACES
New York about sews it up, moving to 5 up with 8 to play. Both Philly (5 back) and LA (3 back) miss chances to pick up games. Alaska remains 3 back and Green Bay moves to 4 back of Brooklyn for the 2nd wild card.

We clinched the Midewest.

GAME 155
Bryan Rogers (13-8) in what may be his last start before the playoffs, went 6-5-2-2-3-8 before the offense busted it open against Barry Zito (17-14). Lester Jones continued to impress, coming in as a mid game replacement he went 2-2 with his 3rd homer and 3 RBI's (11) and Mike Moran hit his first Chicago homer in a 1-1 day.
CHI 10 ALK 2 (108-47 +11)

GOOD GAMES
21 year old #1 prospect Gabriel Pimentel tossed a 2 hitter over New York today. He’s 5-2 2.71 in 9 starts.

LA Wizard Tommy Hobbs threw a 1 hitter in a 4-0 win over Las Vegas to move to 16-11 3.59.

INJURY NEWS
The Knights lost more than a game today. 37 year old slugger Mathew Moore will miss the post season after breaking his hand in the clubs 1-0 loss to Arizona. Moore had slumped to .238 this season but had 20 homers and 76 RBI’s.

STUFF
With an FL leading 1006 runs we are 46 from our season record of 1052 set in 2015, with 7 games to go.We’re 15 homers from our record 248. We’ve blown away our record for walks, with 753 and counting. The old record was set last year at 650. Our .380 OBP is 11 pts better than our previous best and our .483 team slugging is .002 behind last years record .485 clip. Our OPS is .863, .11 pts better than our record .852 set last year.

Pitching wise we’ve set a new record with 12 CG’s, tied our record of 10 shutouts and our 3.96 ERA is .25 lower than our record 4.21 in ’13. The 1369 K’s is already 73 better than last year’s high. Barring disaster the staff will establish a new best in WHIP as well (1.25 now, 1.29 last year was low).

This is also our 3rd straight 100+ win season. Our previous best being 105-57, and the 108 wins is a new single season mark as well, breaking El Paso’s 107-55 mark of 2015.

GAME 156
2 outs from a record 11th shutout when an error and a passed ball cost us. Zamora (14-3) went 7-2-0-0-3-4 to outpitch Quinton Morton (14-15) 5.2-8-6-4-3-1. Lester Jones hit his 4th homer (16-40 with 4 HR’s 12 RBI’s in 22 games with a .538 OBP) and Paul Riggs and Eric Coates were both 2-4. Riggs hitting his 40th double (3rd straight 40+ double season).
CHI 7 ALK 1 (109-47 +12)

RACES
New York keeps Brooklyn 4 back with 6 to play, El Paso clinches at least a tie, 6 up with 6 remaining. In the Keystone Philly is just 3 back of Pittsburgh and 6 back of Houston for WC #2, they head to Houston for 3 starting today. Sacramento gains a crucial game on LA, now 4 up with 6 left. Brooklyn is 4 up on both Green Bay and Alaska, Houston 4 up on Vegas, in the wild card races.

Jesus Andrales (LV) has returned from his DL stint and gotten enough AB’s to qualify for the CL batting race, and is now tied with Vincente Soto (LA) at .339. I’ll be following this one in the notes daily.

RECORDS
Curt Whimster hit #55 yesterday, needing 5 more.
In the FL Andruw Jones (GB) hit his 50th, and leads Arod and Pedro Salinas by 7.

GAME 157
Walt Thompson will be making his last regular season start. He spins a 7-5-0-0-3-8 line for…a no decision. A 0-0 game into the 10th was won on Ron Millers 2 run homer off Feliciano Klondsman (6-3). Jake Ellison won his 6th without a loss this year. There were 10 total hits in the game.
CHI 2 WMI 0 (10) (110-47 +12)

INJURIES
Columbus was dealt a SEVERE blow to their post season hopes when 34 year old Gregory McCain jammed his shoulder in their game today. He’ll be out at least a month, meaning they’ll make their post season bid without him. This is his 4th DL trip this year and he’s been out since October 17th with the same shoulder issue, and was hurt last week as well. This was his first game back. He’s hitting a combined .328-15-62 in 95 games (.330-8-27 in 54 games since the trade from Tulsa).

STREAKS
Houston 21 year old rookie Jorge Saucedo was 1-4 to extend his hitting streak to 20 games. He’s hitting .295-4-29 in 87 games in his rookie season. He was discovered, and signed, by Houston out of Mexico in 2013.

RACES
Brooklyn beat Edmonton 3-2 to gain a game on New York, and is now 3 back. Green Bay and Alaska trail them by 4 in the WC. Philly and Pittsburgh both lost to keep the Patriots at 3 out. LA picks a game back up on Sacramento, now 3 out.

Jesus Andrales was 1-1 with 2 walks to get his average to .340, and Vincente Soto was 2-4 with his 14th homer in LA’s 12-3 win over 1st place Sacramento, to remain tied with Andrales at .340.

GAME 158
Ernesto Cruz comes into a 3-1 game in the 9th and promptly allows single, single and the runners move to 2nd and 3rd on the throw in. A passed ball makes it 3-2, tying run on 3rd and he K’s Barton Roberts, then K’s PH Carlos Arredondo, and gets Julian Martinez to fly out to end it, for his 46th save. Ken Lee (16-10) finished strong going 7-4-1-1-1-9. Hugh Collins was 1-3 with his 21st homer and Eric Hudson went 2-3 driving in a run (49).
CHI 3 WMI 2 (111-47 +12)

RACES
New York’s magic number is as Brooklyn couldn’t capitalize on their 6-3 loss to Columbus. Sacramento beat LA to clinch at least a tie, and Pittsburgh did the same in the Keystone.

Vincente Soto was 2-4 in their 7-3 loss to Sacramento to move to .342 on the season. Jesus Andrales went 1-3 in the 51’s 1-0 win over Corpus Christi to remain at .340.

Curt Whimster remains stuck on 55 homers.

GAME 159
In what is likely his last regular season start for this franchise Alfredo Alejandrez (17-8) tires, imagine that, after 105 pitches and a dreadful 6-9-6-6-2-3 line. He will end his Iron Pig career with 99 wins. Pedro Salinas hit his 44th homer in a 2-3 1 RBI (137) day. Massi Lorenzelli was 2-3 with a triple (2).
WMI 6 CHI 3 (111-48 +11)

GOOD GAMES
Boston Bomber Mark Buerhle tossed a 4 hitter over Baltimore to end the season at 13-13 4.78.

RACES
Brooklyn and Columbus locked up the Wild Cards, El Paso clinched the West. One race to be decided as Brooklyns win coupled with New Yorks loss leaves the Cyclones 2 games out with 3 to play. New York will host Buffalo (64-95) and Brooklyn will host El Paso (85-74) in the season’s final 3 games. Brooklyn could have had it a bit easier playing a team with nothing left but resting for the post season, but El Paso is fighting for the 2 seed to host their first round series.

As it stands now the FL Playoffs are (# seed):
(1) Chicago
(2) (2 and 3) New York (86) El Paso (85) Brooklyn (84)
WC 1 Columbus
WC 2 New York/Brooklyn

We will play the Wild Card Play in winner. Brooklyn was 7-5 vs El Paso 5-7 vs New York, New York was 5-7 vs El Paso for tie breaker purposes.

And in the CL the playoffs look like this:
(1) Tulsa
(2) Sacramento
(3) Pittburgh
WC 1 Los Angeles
WC 2 Houston/Las Vegas

CL BATTING RACE
Jesus Andrales went 2-4 with his 10th homer and 3 RBI’s (78) in a 4-0 win over Corpus Christi. Vincente Soto was 0-4 in a 7-6 13 inning loss to Sacramento. Andrales is now at .342, Soto .339.

RECORDS
Curt Whimster kept a glimmer of hope alive for stat watchers everywhere. Drilling a 9th inning homer in a 9-7 loss for #56 to tie Cy May for the 2nd best single season total ever. He needs a miraculous final weekend to do it, but he’s one of the few guys who could rattle off 4 homers in a series without a second thought.

WEEK 25 RECAP
FL POTW-Stu Gaskin (MICH) 11-23 3 HR’s 6 RBI’s (.240-22-73)
CL POTW-George Quinn (PHI) 12-25 2 HR’s 7 RBI’s (.284-20-67) Nicknamed “Beefsteak”… Really? Their 2016 #1 pick out of Mt. St. Mary’s college and if scouts are anywhere near right on this kid he’s going to see this list many many times in his career.

IBL CAREER LEADERS: WALKS
Tom Johnston (DAL) 776
Mario Orosco (SI) 728
Lou Sparks (BRO) 704
Mathew Moore (NY) 701
Curt Whimster (TUL) 640

IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago (1)
2) Tulsa (3)
3) Columbus (2)
4) Sacramento (5)
5) Los Angeles (4)

[gehrig38]

WEEK 26 and the end of the line for 18 teams..BUT WAIT!!!
We have a great season that has a GREAT ending in more race than 1!!!!

3 @ Michigan (70-89 41 GB)

GAME 160
Rogers gets beat up early (13-9) and goes 6-6-8-8-3-6 giving up a 3 run shot to Bob Herman (who hit 2 for 39 on the year) and a 2 run shot to Alfredo Ortiz (3). Hugh Collins goes 2-4 with 3 RBI’s (66) on his 22nd homer. Luis Chavez fores 3-5 with an RBI (136) and Wes Morgan doubles (18) and homers (24) in a 3-3 1 RBI (81) day. Herman was 2-4 with 5 RBI’s (116).
MICH 10 CHI 6 (111-49 +10)

RACES
Brooklyn beat El Paso 7-4 behind Martin Walley’s 2 homers (10) and New York was beaten 4-1 by Buffalo. The Cyclones are now just 1 game behind New York in the Empire.
Las Vegas lost 6-1 to Sacramento and was eliminated. Houston and LA are the CL Wild Cards. But the bigger news out of that game was that River Cat CF Ramon Cano separated his shoulder and will miss the playoffs! He was hitting .257-26-83 on the year.

Jesus Andrales was 2-4 in the 51’s loss to raise his average to .343, Soto went 1-5 in LA’s 5-2 win over Philly to drop to .337. In that same game Jesus Castro (PHI) was 1-3 and is now at .337 as well.

Houston Rookie Jorge Saucedo has now hit in 22 straight.

BUG ALERT!!! A pitcher in SL 2 (George Perkins) won his 22nd game, the game made a note of the fact he’d ‘broken’ the record of 22 set by “Ernie Kelly” of Dayton. Kelly does in fact hold the record of 22 in SL 1, and Tulsa WAS in SL 1, but they are in SL 2 now, and he didn’t break it, he tied it, and the more important point is that the single season record is 24, set by Vince Bray in SL1….FWIW Vince Bray tossed 8 scorless to win his 22nd yesterday as well, which the game did not mention.

GAME 161
Zamora (15-3) finishes with a win but gives up 3 homers doing so (6-8-6-6-2-6). Holt (H2) and Mike Moore (H1) get it to Cruz who saves his 47th. Bob Herman went 2-5 hitting his 40th homer and driving in 3 (119). Alberto Rivera was 2-5 with his 3rd homer and 3 RBI’s (17) and George Knox went 2-4 with his 27th double and 91st RBI.
CHI 9 MICH 6 (112-49 +10)

GREAT GAMES
New Hampshire and San Antonio needed 16 innings to decide the game (6-5 Fisher Cats) and 24 year old Fernando Barrera went 6-8 in the contest to become just the 9th player to ever have a 6 hit game, and the first New Hampshire player to ever do it.

CONTRACT TALKS???
Alfredo Alejandrez came to me with an ‘offer today’… That offer? 4 years 135.88 million… Stop laughing, that was the ask…. My response? 3 years 37.39 million with the 3rd year vesting at 410 IP. Meeting over….

BATTING RACE AND HR CHASE….
Jesus Andrales went 1-6 in Vegas’s 15 inning 4-3 win, to drrop to .341, Soto went 2-5 in LA’s 10 inning 6-2 win over Philly (won on Tyler Still’s 10th inning Grand Slam) to raise his average to .338 while Jesus Castro was 1-3 in the same game to stay at .337.

Curt Whimster went 3-5 with 4 RBI’s (148) and hit home run #57. That marks the second best single season total ever, and is a new Coastal League Single Season Record. (The game did NOT call it out, another “BUG” I think).

EMPIRE DIVISION RACE!!!
New York sends ace Jesus Romano to the mound in a must win vs Buffalo. Bison SS Wes Web, a mid season call up hitting .320-16-61 in 74 games, drills a 2 run homer in the 3rd and the Bison staff stifles the Knight offense and Glenn Hanna closes it out for his 18th save…..

Meanwhile in Brooklyn….

A Cyclone 5-0 lead disappears when Rafael Cuesto of El Paso hits a 2 out grand slam in the 8th off Closer Raymond Peters puts El Paso up 6-5! It’s just Peters 2nd blown save in 36 chances. In the bottom of the 8th pinch hitter Pat Piercey hits a 2 out, 2 strike 3 run homer to retake the lead 8-6! Peters (10-4) closes it out for the win and Brooklyn ties New York for the division lead with 1 game remaining!

GAME 162
Mike Hamilton gets the start and goes 7.1-4-2-2-2-6 and a slew of relievers hold on long enough that Alberto Rivera’s bases loaded tie breaking walk in the 9th is the difference. Arturo Rodriguez (6-2) gets the win and Ernesto Cruz ties his own IBL record by recording his 48th save.
The teams combine for just 10 hits total.
CHI 3 MICH 2 (113-49 +11)

(Honestly were it not for Cruz having the ONE BAD GAME!! When he gave up 5 runs on 5 hits without an out, I seriously thought he’d win, or be in the top of the Koufax voting. I still think he should be, and depending on how voting goes may be, but I was thinking he was a legit potential winner as his ERA then, was 0.67 and without that game he ends the season with 48 saves, a record tying total, and an ERA of .75…. Damn. His totals are 1-3 48-52 saves 1.50 60 IP 43 H 73 K’s 5 BB. They would have been 1-2 48-52 .75 ERA 60 IP 38 H…. Wow. Still amazing season but that would have been an awesome line.)

OMG THE RACES!!!
El Paso scores 4 in the 1st and holds off Brooklyn as Artie Johnson wins his 22nd on the season, John Sloan saves his 39th.

Meanwhile in New York A 1-0 Knight lead evaporates when Buffalo slams a 7 run 6th inning on them. The loss coupled with El Paso’s loss means the two teams will have a 1 game playoff to decide the division on Monday!

Batting Race!! Are you kidding me???
Ok follow this…
Vincente Soto goes 2-5 with his 15th homer, driving in 3 (48) in a 7-6 loss to Philly to raise his average to .339…..

In the same game Jesus Castro goes 3-5 for Philly, to raise his average to .339…

Over in Tulsa Jesus Andrales punches out in his final at bat, to finish the day 0-3, and his average falls to .339!!!

NO IDEA who the winner is except my guess would be Castro given how the names are on the leader board. Whoever it is wins it by just thousandth’s of a point…

[ELDoro]

Do you manage out all your games,sim, or a little of both? Just curious.

[gehrig38]

GAME 163
New York (Ray Anderson 10-11 5.36) @ Brooklyn (Sonny Miller 2-2 1.76)

Miller is a 24 year old rookie and September call up. He’s made 4 starts going 2-2 with a 1.76 in 30.2 IP, 23 H, 29 K’s and 12 walks. He was the Cyclones #1 pick in 2014 (20th overall) out of Pacific. The #47 IBL prospect entering this year.

Will call the game as it plays….
A norm Crawford 1st inning single scores Thomas Angel, and Juan Torres follows with a solo shot to make it 2-0 Knights. Brooklyng gets a harmless single, 2-0 after 1.

Casey York hits an RBI single in the bottom of 2 to make it 2-1 Knights after 2.

Juan Torres silences the crowd with his 2nd homer in the 3rd, a 3 run shot to make it 5-1.
Later in the inning Jeremy Moore singles in Les Allen, Jeremy Christenson and Tomas Angel both draw bases loaded walks and it’s 8-1 heading to the bottom half of 3.
Pat Piercy comes up big in the bottom half, getting 3 back on a 3 run homer. 8-4 New York after 3.

Mark Doyle singles in Juan Torres and Jeremy Moore doubles in Lee Allen to make it 10-4. Ricardo Quintania singles in Doyle and later Angel singles, scoring moore. 12-4 New York.
Kevin Peters hits a sac fly in the bottom half, 12-5 New York after 4.

A New York errors gives Brooklyn it’s 6th run, 12-6 after 5.

Same score after 6.

Martin Walley punches out to end the 7th, runners on the corners. 12-6 after 7.

Norm Crawford drives in Juan Amador and Lee Allen hits a sac fly to make it 14-6 in the top of 9 which is where it ends. The rookie was rattled and New York holds Brooklyns late season charge off, to win the Empire.

[gehrig38]

Originally Posted by ELDoro

Do you manage out all your games,sim, or a little of both? Just curious.

I pitch every inning, 1 pitch at bats, of every single game. I have every setting for the AI manager set to exactly what I want, and allow the AI to hit for me. I generally tend to play the offense in the 8th and later of close games to make sure my pinch hitters, runners and so forth are handled right and to make sure the defensive replacements are exactly what I want.

So ya, I sim every half inning I pitch of every single game in the regular season, and post season, and the game handles my offense.

[gehrig38]

How it all went down!

NOTICE ANYTHING WRONG? Somehow a setting got messed up, Pittsburgh is not in the playoff brackets, I've managed to fix it, but the seeding isn't showing differently...