Monthly Archives: June 2013

British Baseball Beat: Falcons flying on 7-game winning streak

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There’s a new sole leader in the National Baseball League (NBL).

The Herts Falcons (12-4) are flying high with a one-game lead over both the London Mets (9-3) and the Southampton Mustangs (11-5) after they swept a double-header on the road against the Bracknell Blazers (7-9) last Sunday.

The victories, by scores of 9-1 and 13-1, extended the Falcons’ winning streak to seven games, firmly establishing them as the form team in the NBL.

The Southampton Mustangs and Harlow Nationals (9-7) are also both on a good run having won their last four games each respectively. The Mustangs got the better of the Lakenheath Diamondbacks (7-7) at RAF Feltwell last Sunday, whilst the Nationals picked up two wins at home against the Essex Arrows (7-9) to make it six wins from eight games for the two-time reigning champions.

Something will have to give this Sunday as the Mustangs and Nationals meet for a double-header at the latter’s Northbrooks Park. The two teams met in the reverse fixture on Opening Day back in April and took one win apiece.

In fact, all four double-headers in the NBL this Sunday are a repeat of the Opening Day schedule.

Herts Falcons will travel to Croydon to take on the South London Pirates (4-10). The division-leaders would seem a good bet to complete a sweep on the back of their current winning streak and their broom-waving against the same opponents on Opening Day. However, the Pirates’ surprising win last Sunday in the second game of a double-header against the London Mets should warn Herts off from underestimating their opponents at all.

The Mets, currently dealing with several injuries, have now lost three of their last four games after winning their first eight in a row. It’s far from being a crisis, but they will be keen to get back on track this Sunday against the Lakenheath Diamondbacks, who they defeated twice to start their season in style on Opening Day.

As for the Essex Redbacks (2-14), they will travel to the Bracknell Blazers carrying the weight of a ten-game losing streak. The Blazers were the Redbacks’ first NBL opponents in this their debut season and what better way to end a losing sequence than by gaining a measure of revenge against the team that ‘welcomed’ them to the top-tier with two defeats.

Around the leagues

Elsewhere, the Nottingham Rebels are now 11-0 in the AAA-Midlands after two victories over the Birmingham Maple Leafs last Sunday. The Stourbridge Titans (1-11) will have the next attempt to end the Rebels’ run, although the odds are in Nottingham’s favour to extend their streak to 12 games.

The Liverpool Trojans lead the way in the AAA-North with a 10-1 record and, once again, you would expect them to add two more wins to their tally this Sunday as they take on AA-North teams the Oldham North Stars and Bolton Robots of Doom. Bolton did get the better of the AAA-North’s Halton Jaguars last Sunday and after a stuttering start to the season, losing four of their first five games, the Robots have won five in a row to pull themselves back into contention in the AA-North division, which the Hull Scorpions still lead with an 11-1 record.

The Cambridge Royals and Oxford Kings couldn’t be separated last Sunday as the two teams split a double-header and they are locked together at the top of the AAA-South division with 10-4 records. The Royals travel to Richmond to face the Knights this Sunday, whilst the Kings are at home against the Herts Ravens.

Hove Tuesday (9-1) won two games against the Kent Mariners last Sunday to stretch their winning streak to nine games and to keep the Daws Hill Spitfires (7-0) behind them in the AA-South even though the Spitfires beat the Herts Hawks 15-3 to continue their unbeaten start to the season. Both teams face tough games this Sunday, with Hove taking on the 8-2 Guildford Mavericks and Daws Hill hosting the 8-2 London Mammoths.

As for the A-South, the Herts Raptors and Milton Keynes Coyotes both earned a victory to improve their records to 5-2. The team on the rise is the 2013 debutants Haverhill Blackjacks. After dropping their first two games of the season, the Blackjacks have won four in a row and they will face a good test of their recent progress this Sunday against the 5-2 London Marauders.

iScore therefore I am

Last week, the British Baseball Federation endorsed the iScore app as the preferred scorekeeping application for British baseball.

As an entrenched pencil-and-paper scorer, the prospect of scorekeeping being reduced to tapping on an iPhone does sadden me a little (‘enhanced features’ for me means using coloured pens), but then again my scorekeeping is normally done for enjoyment rather than what you could describe as an administrative task.

There are various benefits to British baseball fans of teams using the iScore system. Using the technology may make the task of scorekeeping more appealing to more people for a start, subsequently resulting in more records being created.

We then have the benefit of the MLB.com Gameday-esque iScorecast feature that allows fans to ‘watch’ the game from anywhere in the world. Finally it should make the collation and publication of stats an easier task and therefore, hopefully, see more of this data collected and available for fans and researchers to look at.

A number of teams have previously used the GameChanger scoring system that works in a similar way to iScore; however you have to pay the company a ‘Premium’ subscription fee to get to individual player stats (even for box scores from individual games). For a developing sport that wants to get more people interested in the domestic leagues, having the stats behind a paywall was a major drawback and one that the iScore system will rectify as the stats will be imported directly into the BBF website, on public display where they should be.

Hopefully the move to iScore will prove to be a positive step for teams and fans alike.

BGB Fantasy League Week Ten

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Week Ten in the BaseballGB Fantasy League produced a top-of-the-table clash between SWAT and Norwich No II. Did the latter close the gap or were SWAT able to extend their lead? Read on to find out.

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SWAT* 32 12 41 12 .306 .867 4 8 57 4 3.23 1.43 10
Norwich No II 31 5 18 7 .266 .741 2 4 47 3 1.62 1.13 2

SWAT won the match-up in decisive style 10-2, extending their lead at the top of the standings to 8.5 games. It was a clean sweep of the offensive categories as SWAT received excellent contributions from Paul Goldschmidt (12 RBI), Everth Cabrera (8 stolen bases), Adrian Beltre and Domonic Brown (3 homers apiece). The back-end of the Yankee bullpen was extremely productive in the saves (4 for Mariano Rivera) and holds (David Robertson with 3) stakes as well. The No II pitching staff was able to take the ERA and WHIP categories and continued to benefit from good play by two fast-emerging Cardinals, Matt Carpenter and Shelby Miller.

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Orpington Isotopes 23 8 38 9 .260 .753 5 3 38 0 3.88 1.25 2
Cardiff Redsox 41 13 39 1 .281 .839 4 4 54 1 3.67 1.22 10

Cardiff Redsox were also able to complete a 10-2 match-up victory, in this case over the Isotopes. The Redsox benefited from solid performances across the board, but in particular from Troy Tulowitzki, Yoenis Cespedes and Mike Minor. Mark George’s Isotopes were able to rescue two categories with five pitchers (Bartolo Colon, R.A. Dickey, Jeremy Hellickson, Brandon League and Adam Wainwright) each contributing a pitching win and five members of the batting lineup amassing 9 stolen bases combined. Dodgers fan Mark was also able to plug Yasiel Puig into his lineup and immediately received some impressive returns.

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The Cheddar Chasers 31 4 26 4 .359 .937 2 3 37 0 4.76 1.44 4
Beck ‘Nams (GB) 22 7 27 1 .263 .830 5 4 63 0 3.68 1.24 7

The Beck’Nams (GB) took a 7-4 victory over my Cheddar Chasers. Felix Hernandez led the Beck’Nams’ pitching staff to 5 of the 6 categories, adding a pitching win and 15 K’s to the team’s totals. My Chasers were able to combine for a more-than-decent batting average but there were no exceptional performances on the week and they can often prove to be decisive in a head-to-head format. Evidence of that came in the form of Carlos Gonzalez’s brilliant 12 RBI week for the Beck’Nams which allowed them to take that category by a single RBI.

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NE Riverkings 24 4 16 3 .300 .791 2 4 55 1 1.69 0.91 5
Batteries Essential 27 8 31 7 .284 .823 4 7 53 0 4.81 1.22 7

The match-up between the NE Riverkings and Batteries Essential was predominantly a case of decent pitching for one side (Riverkings) and decent hitting for the other. The difference therefore came in Batteries Essential being able to pilfer two of the pitching categories, whilst the Riverkings could only rescue one from the batting side.  Dan Uggla and Jay Bruce led the Batteries’ offence, whilst Ryan Dempster helped out in the pitching categories with two pitching wins and 12 strike-outs. Howie Kendrick and Jason Heyward were the main pluses for the Riverkings’ batting lineup, with Cole Hamels, Clayton Kershaw and A.J. Griffin doing a good job on the mound.

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Richie’s RBI’s 26 7 23 3 .247 .700 3 2 48 1 3.27 1.39 6
Weston-Super-Sox 25 2 20 2 .261 .731 4 1 51 1 3.73 1.19 5

Richie’s RBI’s narrowly got the better of the Weston-Super-Sox in their match-up. The Super-Sox’s offence didn’t fire for most of the week and the RBI’s were able to take advantage by securing four of the hitting categories. Oakland A’s teammates Coco Crisp and Josh Donaldson helped the offence along, with the New York Yankees’ Brett Gardener chipping in with 5 runs and 6 RBI.  The Super-Sox found more joy in the pitching categories, most especially through the efforts of the Atlanta Braves’ Kris Medlen who contributed 2 pitching wins and 12 K’s to the totals.

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The Wright Stuff 30 9 33 0 .280 .843 2 2 27 1 2.18 0.90 6
Iron Men 26 6 26 2 .291 .784 5 1 48 0 1.16 0.75 6

Finally, the Wright Stuff and Iron Men couldn’t be separated as they shared the twelve categories. David Ortiz mashed three home runs and collected 12 RBI for the Stuff, whilst Matt Holliday’s tenth-inning Grand Slam against the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday night took his weekly totals to 9 runs and 7 RBI for the Iron Men. On the pitching side, Jordan Zimmermann continued his excellent start to the season by adding 12 K’s and a pitching win to the Iron Men’s pot, whilst Tommy Milone added 11 K’s to a Wright Stuff pitching staff that has just welcomed a new addition in the form of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ top prospect, Gerrit Cole.

The Week 11 match-ups

SWAT* (1st) v The Cheddar Chasers (10th)

Norwich No II (2nd) v Orpington Isotopes (7th)

Beck ‘Nams (GB) (3rd) v Weston-Super-Sox (5th)

Iron Men (4th) v Richie’s RBI’s (11th)

The Wright Stuff (6th) v Batteries Essential (8th)

Cardiff Redsox (9th) v NE Riverkings (12th)

MLB this Week: Early games on Wednesday and Thursday

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Only Wednesday and Thursday provide MLB games scheduled to start before midnight U.K. time this working week.

However, what we lack in quantity should be made up for in terms of quality.

On Wednesday Kaufmann Stadium should be hosting a pitching duel between Justin Verlander and James Shields.

The Royals trade for Shields was meant to be part of an effort to put the team in playoff contention for the first time in years.  Unfortunately for Kansas City, that optimism hasn’t translated into a strong start to the season, but Shields has lived up to his side of the bargain with some impressive pitching that is completely lost in his deceptive 2-6 win-loss record.

There are good pitchers on show in all of the four early games on Thursday. The first match-up is arguably the most impressive with Adam Wainwright and Matt Harvey scheduled to be the starting pitchers. Harvey left his last start on Saturday with tightness in his back but the Mets are confident that he’ll be ready to go on Thursday and it should make for a great contest against Wainwright, who has arguably been the best pitcher in baseball so far this season.

All times are in BST.

Monday 10 June

No early games

Tuesday 11 June

No early games

Wednesday 12 June

17.35. LA Angels at Baltimore (TBA – Hammel) *ESPN America
19.10. Detroit at Kansas City (Verlander – Shields)
19.20. Cincinnati at Chicago Cubs (Leake – Wood)
20.40. Atlanta at San Diego (Maholm – Volquez) *ESPN America

Thursday 13 June

18.10. St. Louis at NY Mets (Wainwright – Harvey) *ESPN America
19.20. Cincinnati at Chicago Cubs (Latos – Samardzija)
20.10. Washington at Colorado (Gonzalez – Francis) *MLB.com Free Game of the Day
20.35. NY Yankees at Oakland (Kuroda – Parker) *ESPN America

Friday 14 June

No early games

All of these games are available to watch live via the MLB.TV subscription at MLB.com.  The early games being shown on ESPN America are highlighted above, while the full ESPN/ESPN America schedule can be found on their website.  BBC 5 Live Sports Extra can be found on digital radio, digital TV and on the BBC.co.uk website (coverage on the website is only available to UK residents). The complete schedule for this week’s MLB games can be found on MLB.com

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Draft decisions

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Whilst the Biogenesis drug investigation dominated the baseball headlines last week, the more positive major story of the week came in the form of the annual amateur player draft.

In recent years MLB has done a better job of making the first draft day seem like more of an event. Baseball’s draft will always live in the shadow of the NFL and NBA equivalents, due to the low profile of the players being drafted and the length of time (often 3 years or so) it takes for them to make it to the Major Leagues.

However, MLB had acted as if they knew they couldn’t compete with the NFL and NBA hoopla and therefore didn’t bother to even try. Prior to its television debut in 2007 this important event, the first stepping stone for the stars of the future, was simply conducted on a conference call.

Many baseball traditionalists spit on the floor at the mention of the word ‘Moneyball’, yet, whilst it didn’t portray some old-time scouts in a particularly flattering way, the book unquestionably raised the profile of the amateur draft, which continues to be the most important event of the year for scouts.

It could also be argued that the ‘Moneyball’ culture – intelligent and objective analysis of data to inform good decision making – has made the draft all the more crucial.

With teams becoming ever smarter, there are fewer opportunities to ‘win’ a lopsided trade and to acquire talent relatively cheaply.   It’s increasingly difficult to win in MLB without successful drafts, whether to bring through your own young players or to have attractive trade chips to acquire established Major League players that can be difference makers when you most need them.

The free agent market can still provide a means to add quality players to a roster; however teams are doing all they can to sign their best players to extensions before their contracts expire, and in an increasing number of cases before the player is anywhere close to becoming a free agent. The Cincinnati Reds’ decision to sign MVP first baseman Joey Votto to a 10-year, $225m contract extension in March 2012 is arguably the most eye-catching example of a team that isn’t a major financial powerhouse investing a considerable sum to lock up their cornerstone player for years to come.

As the potential premium free agent class reduces in number, so the price to acquire such players goes up. Just as importantly, those players may not reach free agency until later in their careers if they have opted to take up the offer of a guaranteed contract during their arbitration years, which teams often agree to if they can buy out some potential free agent years in the process.

Albert Pujols is one of the greatest hitters in MLB history and when he hit the free agent market in the 2011/12 offseason his track record suggested he deserved one of the most lucrative free agent contracts ever signed. That’s exactly what he accepted from the Los Angeles Angels (10-year, $240m), but the big compromise the Angels had to make in acquiring Pujols was in signing him to the contract a month before his 32nd birthday.

The second half of that contract will see the Angels paying Pujols $140m during his age 37 to 41 year old seasons. They will be paying him for his exceptional performances for the St. Louis Cardinals many years earlier rather than for his contributions to the Angels at the time.  You can call it inefficient spending or ‘not much bang for your buck’, either way it’s in stark contrast to the value you can receive from a young player, even before you factor in the way a fanbase can be energized by an exciting homegrown talent coming through, such as the Matt Harvey effect with the New York Mets this season.

The Houston Astros selected pitcher Mark Appel with the first overall pick in the 2013 draft. Appel might have been the Astros’ Number One pick last year if signability concerns (i.e. how much money he wanted) hadn’t dropped him to the eighth pick, where the Pirates drafted him and were unable to come to a financial agreement.  If the Astros can strike a deal with Appel then he will join last year’s Number One pick, shortstop Carlos Correa, in a rapidly improving farm system that should bring Houston back into playoff contention in a few years’ time.

Rewarding failure in this way isn’t a perfect situation, especially in cases such as the Astros where they are deliberately slashing their Major League payroll and fielding a relatively weak team. However, the process does mean that the big spenders can’t keep on snapping up all the best talent and gives the current weaker teams reason to be optimistic that they can compete in the near future.

Number One selections Stephen Strasburg (2009) and Bryce Harper (2010) have been instrumental in raising hopes for pennant-winning baseball in Washington, whilst David Price (2007) has been one of a gaggle of young players that have turned the Tampa Bay Rays from a laughing stock to a genuine contender in the AL East division despite the presence of the powerhouses that are the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

Baseball fans in Pittsburgh have had little to cheer over the past 20 years, but they’ve had a promising start to the 2013 season with a group of good young players and pitcher Gerrit Cole, their Number One selection in the 2011, is due to make his Major League debut on Tuesday.

It’s also the case that you still need to make good decisions wherever you are picking and selections in the draft can play an instrumental role in shaping a team’s future. The Detroit Tigers had the second overall selection in the 2004 draft and the team’s fortunes since then may have been markedly different had the San Diego Padres not taken Matt Bush as the Number One pick.

More pointedly, the Padres may have been a completely different MLB team in recent years had they called Justin Verlander’s name that fateful day.

All 30 teams will be hoping they made a Verlander pick, rather than a Bush pick, in the first round this year.

British Baseball Beat: From Three to Two

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There are now only two teams in the British Baseball Leagues that remain unbeaten after the London Mets’ brilliant winning start to their campaign was ended at eight games last Sunday.

The Nottingham Rebels and Daws Hill Spitfires kept their perfect seasons going, but the Herts Falcons won both games of a double-header against the Mets and showed just how competitive the National Baseball League is this year in the process.

British Baseball Federation NBL report

AAA-South report

AA-South report

The Mets may have lost their unbeaten record but, as you would expect, they showed plenty of quality whilst trying to keep the run alive. At 2-0 down heading into the top of the seventh inning of the opener, the Mets scored twice and could have taken the lead had reliever Jordan Farkas not managed to escape a bases-loaded jam. With three Mets base-runners left stranded, the momentum swung firmly in the Falcons’ favour and they completed the 3-2 victory in the bottom of the inning with a walk-off single by Dave House.

The second game was just as tight as the Falcons prevailed by a score of 4-2. The fact that the games were low-scoring affairs suggests that they were two crisply-played games and that impression is emphatically backed up by Cristobal Hiche’s closing comments in the Herts’ Website review of the double-header:

“I have been saying it for the last two weeks and I’ll repeat it again, this is quality baseball not only by the Falcons but by most teams in the NBL. Every game is going to be close with great pitching, good hitting, and fantastic defence. Just as an example, only 2 errors were made in the 2nd game by both teams combined! That’s MLB level right there.

Just take a look at the box score and replace the Falcons name with the Yankees and you would think this box score was taken out from the MLB subway series (i.e. Yankees-Mets rivalry). So come down to the ballpark and check out the Falcons next time”.

Despite the Mets’ two losses, they remain at the top of the National Baseball League standings with an 8-2 record having played four games less than both the second-placed Falcons (10-4) and the third-placed Southampton Mustangs (9-5), who gained two comprehensive victories over the Essex Redbacks in what was a thoroughly disappointing day for Redbacks Manager Vince Warner.

The London Mets’ pitching has been excellent so far this season and the team has conceded an average of only 2.8 runs per game through their first ten contests, over half a run better than the next best 3.5 (over 14 games) allowed per game by the Mustangs. At the other end of the scale, NBL-newcomers the Redbacks are currently giving themselves a mountain to climb while conceding an average of 11.19 runs per game in their sixteen contests.

As for run-scoring, the reigning champion Harlow Nationals lead the way both in actual runs scored (103) and runs scored per game (7.36). They added 21 to their total last Sunday with 8-6 and 13-0 victories over the South London Pirates.

The second game was most notable for an impressive pitching debut by 15-year-old Marty Cullen Junior. He went the full five innings in a mercy-rule shortened game, shutting out the Pirates and allowing only two hits. They were two much-needed wins by the Nationals who evened up their record to 7-7 and put themselves firmly back into the playoff race.

Photos from Grovehill Ballpark

The Mets-Falcons double-header didn’t just produce some quality baseball. It also inspired some great shots by intrepid baseball photographers, most notably:

Jim Garnett

Richard Lee

And our own Joe Gray (@Project_COBB):

 

Rebels and Spitfires

Outside of the NBL, the Nottingham Rebels and Daws Hill Spitfires remain as the two unbeaten teams.

The Rebels have won their first nine games of the season and lead the AAA-Midlands division by 2.5 games ahead of the MK Bucks (6-2). The Birmingham Maple Leafs will be the latest team looking to end the Rebels’ run as they host the division  leaders at their Marston Green field this Sunday. The Leafs suffered two defeats, by scores of 14-3 and 12-2, when the two teams met in Nottingham back on 21 April, but they go into this fixture in good form having won their last three games.

As for Daws Hill, they sit on top of the AA-South division with a 6-0 record, just ahead of Hove Tuesday (7-1) and the London Mammoths (7-2), with games in hand on both. The Spitfires took two wins on the road against the Brentwood Stags last Sunday and go for win number seven this weekend in a home game against the Herts Hawks. The Hawks are 2-3 so far this season and will be eager to return to action after their scheduled game against the Sidewinders last weekend had to be postponed.

BGB Fantasy League Week Nine

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With the MLB season heading into June, which teams in the BaseballGB Fantasy League are forging ahead in the standings as I begin ‘pinch-blogging’ the Fantasy League updates?

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Cardiff Redsox 33 5 24 2 .297 .835 6 4 51 0 3.23 0.96 2
Norwich No II 43 13 33 7 .312 .906 3 4 55 1 1.64 1.05 9

The biggest win of the week came courtesy of Norwich No II’s 9-2 success over the Cardiff Redsox. They swept the six offensive categories thanks to impressive weeks from Chris Davis, Matt Carpenter, Brandon Phillips and Jean Segura, whilst Jose Fernandez and Jeff Samardzija added a combined 33 strike-outs to the pitching staff’s total. The Redsox were able to take the WHIP and Wins categories, with the resurgent Jarrod Parker contributing two W’s to the pot.

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Beck ‘Nams (GB) 18 3 19 4 .256 .728 6 4 67 1 3.84 1.08 4
SWAT* 38 10 38 7 .350 .957 1 5 26 2 5.23 1.38 8

Despite Norwich No II’s strong week, SWAT were able to hold onto top spot in the league with an 8-4 win over the Beck’Nams (GB). SWAT swept the offensive categories with Paul Goldschmidt, Adrian Beltre and Dexter Fowler leading the way. Beck’Nams were able to rely on two great performances apiece from aces Cliff Lee and Justin Verlander to help capture four of the pitching categories, with the pitching staff amassing 67Ks over the week.

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NE Riverkings 24 4 16 5 .260 .688 0 3 33 0 5.09 1.58 4
Iron Men 19 9 32 3 .222 .693 1 2 60 1 4.91 1.23 8

Iron Men are third in the league following an 8-4 match-up win over the NE Riverkings.C.J. Wilson, Madison Bumgarner and Max Scherzer helped the Iron Men to win the majority of the pitching categories, with Hisashi Iwakuma’s pitching win being the only one collected by either team’s pitching staffs. Nate McLouth’s four stolen bases allowed the Riverkings to take that category as Freddie Freeman led the offence with 5 runs scored, 6 RBI and a 1.167 OPS.

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Orpington Isotopes 26 8 26 3 .226 .666 6 3 40 2 4.57 1.27 5
Batteries Essential 27 3 15 7 .287 .779 2 4 35 0 3.21 1.21 7

Batteries Essential got the better of Mark George’s Orpington Isotopes 7-5. The two teams split the pitching categories, with Mark’s Isotopes amassing six pitching wins, two thanks to a typically strong week from Adam Wainwright. However, the Batteries took four of the hitting categories to take the match-up victory with Jacoby Ellsbury’s five stolen-base game against the Phillies proving to be a real difference maker.

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The Cheddar Chasers 34 3 18 1 .261 .715 3 2 44 2 2.83 1.22 5
Richie’s RBI’s 32 6 22 3 .255 .685 0 3 49 2 3.24 1.08 6

Richie’s RBI’s edged a contest against my Cheddar Chasers 6-5. Ryan Zimmerman’s three longballs bettered the sum total of the Chaser lineup even before Evan Gattis stuck a couple more over the fence. Yu Darvish racked up 20 K’s for the RBI’s but the Texas Rangers didn’t help him earn a win or two along the way. That was good news for me as my team’s three wins – two of the lucky variety via relievers Fernando Rodney and Jake McGee – managed to take that category.

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The Wright Stuff 27 7 20 3 .265 .755 4 4 47 2 3.19 1.06 6
Weston-Super-Sox 28 9 34 2 .275 .794 3 3 45 0 3.38 0.97 6

Finally, The Wright Stuff battled through to earn a 6-6 draw against the Weston-Super Sox despite having seven players on the Disabled List. Five of the six pitching categories went the Wright Stuff’s way as Mat Latos led the team with 14 K’s. The Super-Sox hit back by taking five of the hitting categories. Miguel Cabrera launched three homers and collected eight RBI, Mike Napoli added the same number of runs batted in and Michael Cuddyer had two round-trippers on his way to a 1.730 OPS.

This Week 10 match-ups

This week’s match-ups include a top-of-the-table clash between SWAT and Norwich No II:

SWAT* (1st) v Norwich No II (2nd)

The Wright Stuff (7th) v Iron Men (3rd)

Richie’s RBI’s (10th) v Weston-Super-Sox (4th)

The Cheddar Chasers (9th) v Beck ‘Nams (GB) (5th)

Orpington Isotopes (6th) v Cardiff Redsox (11th)

NE Riverkings (12th) v Batteries Essential (8th)

MLB this Week: CC faces Cleveland on Wednesday

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There are nine MLB games to enjoy this working week that begin before midnight U.K. time.

We draw a blank on Monday and Tueday, but from then on there are a series of good match-ups and talented pitchers scheduled to be on the mound.

The games include CC Sabathia taking on his former team, the Cleveland Indians, Cole Hamels facing the Marlins, R.A. Dickey taking on the Giants and Max Scherzer facing the Rays.

All times are in BST.

Monday 3 June

No early games

Tuesday 4 June

No early games

Wednesday 5 June

17.10. Pittsburgh at Atlanta (Rodriguez – Teheran) *MLB.com Free Game of the Day
18.05. Cleveland at NY Yankees (Kluber – Sabathia) *ESPN America
18.05. Miami at Philadelphia (Turner – Hamels)
19.10. Oakland at Milwaukee (Colon – Gallardo)
20.40. Chicago White Sox at Seattle (Axelrod – Iwakuma)
20.45. Toronto at San Francisco (Dickey – Zito) *ESPN America

Thursday 6 June

18.08. Tampa Bay at Detroit (Hernandez – Scherzer) *BBC 5LSX, MLB.com Free Game of the Day
19.10. Baltimore at Houston (Gonzalez – Norris) *ESPN America

Friday 7 June

19.20. Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs (Liriano – Wood) *ESPN America

All of these games are available to watch live via the MLB.TV subscription at MLB.com.  The early games being shown on ESPN America are highlighted above, while the full ESPN/ESPN America schedule can be found on their website.  BBC 5 Live Sports Extra can be found on digital radio, digital TV and on the BBC.co.uk website (coverage on the website is only available to UK residents). The complete schedule for this week’s MLB games can be found on MLB.com

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: End of May MLB Rankings

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The St. Louis Cardinals have moved up to the top of my rankings, whilst their nearest NL Central challengers at the end of April have gone in the opposite direction.

1. St. Louis Cardinals (previous rank 5)

The Cardinals had the best record in the Majors during May (20-7). Adam Wainwright, Lance Lynn and Shelby Miller led the starting rotation to a very strong showing over the course of the month, whilst a sluggish offence in April really turned things around in May. Losing pitcher Jaime Garcia for the season due to shoulder surgery is a blow, but the Cards have shown in the past that they can use their organizational depth to absorb injuries.

2. Texas Rangers (3)

The Rangers keep on rolling. Jurickson Profar, considered by many to be the best prospect in baseball, rejoined the team in May when Ian Kinsler was placed on the Disabled List. Just like St. Louis, they have the depth to take injuries on the chin and should get stronger as the season goes on with Colby Lewis, Matt Harrison and Neftali Feliz working their way back from injury.

3. Cincinnati Reds (4)

As expected, the Reds are going to be in a fierce battle with the Cardinals in the NL Central all season long. Cincinnati swept three-game series over the Brewers, Marlins and Mets to help them to the second-best record in May (19-8, one win behind those Cardinals), with an impressive offence led by the outstanding Joey Votto.

4. Atlanta Braves (1)

The Braves put together an eight-game winning streak during May on their way to a 15-13 month. Jason Heyward and Brian McCann both came of the Disabled List to join the offence in May. The bad news came from the bullpen where several faltering performances were coupled with both Jonny Venters and Eric O’Flaherty undergoing Tommy John surgery.

5. New York Yankees (13)

Curtis Granderson’s return from the Disabled List lasted only eight games before a different injury, this time a fractured knuckle, sent him away again. Andy Pettitte also joined the pinstriped throngs on the treatment table, but the month ended positively with both Kevin Youkilis and Mark Teixeira joining the team and it continues to be the case that the longer this banged-up team keeps themselves in contention, the greater the chance that they’ll be a real force as we get to the business end of the season.

6. Tampa Bay Rays (8)

Two separate six-game winning streaks during the month – admittedly one of which included a four-game sweep over the Miami Marlins – powered the Rays to an 18-10 May. The starting rotation suffered the loss of David Price due to a strained left tricep, but the offence more than picked up the slack.

7. Detroit Tigers (7)

Miguel Cabrera was the joint-leader in the Majors with 12 home runs during May as the Tigers’ offence roared despite Austin Jackson landing on the Disabled List and Victor Martinez’s continuing struggles at the plate. Anibal Sanchez, Doug Fister and Max Scherzer were the leading lights in the Majors’ best starting rotation during May.

8. Boston Red Sox (12)

The talent and experience is there to give Boston a chance; however there remain doubts as to whether enough players will hold up over the course of the season. During May, the Red Sox lost closer Joel Hanrahan to Tommy John surgery, Andrew Bailey (now back with the team), Shane Victorino and Will Middlebrooks also went onto the DL whilst Clay Buchholz was held out of a start before being scheduled to take the mound on Sunday night against the Yankees.

9. Baltimore Orioles (9)

The O’s went 15-13 in May despite suffering a six-game losing streak. Chris Davis launched 10 homers in the month, Adam Jones homered in all four-games against the Blue Jays near the end of the month and Manny Machado has started to draw comparisons with Mike Trout and Bryce Harper as one of the very best young players in the Majors.

10. Oakland A’s (14)

The A’s won 12 of their final 14 games in May, including 3 of 4 against the San Francisco Giants, to make for a 16-12 month, after Brett Anderson, Coco Crisp, Chris Young and Josh Reddick headed onto the DL in the first week. No team has been happier than Oakland to see the Houston Astros join the AL West this season: the A’s are 9-0 so far against the Astros.

11. San Francisco Giants (6)

It’s been an interesting season so far for the Giants. They are hanging in there but it has been the offence that has been doing most of the heavy lifting, rather than the pitching staff that has been such a strength in recent years. Their luck was summed up by Ryan Vogelsong. He finally looked like he had found something through five good innings against Washington on 20 May, only to be hit by a pitch and to fracture a finger, putting him out of action for four to six weeks.

12. Arizona Diamondbacks (15)

D-Backs fans might take issue with being behind the Giants in these rankings, seeing as they lead them in the NL West rankings. Patrick Corbin was a perfect 5-0 in five starts during May (1.53 ERA) and Brandon McCarthy was pitching well too before he hit the DL with right shoulder inflammation. Paul Goldschmidt has continued his excellent start to the season and started June off in grand style with a grand slam off the Cubs’ Carlos Marmol on Saturday.

13. Cleveland Indians (21)

The Tribe completed four-game sweeps over both the A’s and the Mariners as they went 18-12 during May to keep the pressure on Detroit in the AL Central. Jason Kipnis led the offence during the month and Justin Masterson continued his good start to the season, going 4-1 from six starts with a 3.02 ERA. The bullpen wasn’t at its best though and Chris Perez poor form culminated in him being sent to the DL.

14. Pittsburgh Pirates (22)

A 19-9 May, capped off by taking three of four against the Detroit Tigers at the end of the month, keeps the optimism high in Pittsburgh that this might finally be the season when the losing-season streak, and hopefully the playoff drought, comes to an end. One thing they do have in their favour is an in-form bullpen, with Jason Grilli and Mark Melancon proving to be an excellent eight and ninth inning partnership.

15. Washington Nationals (2)

May wasn’t a disaster for the Nats (15-13); however the cracks are starting to show in what looked like being an all-around excellent roster. The offence has not fired at all and that will be exacerbated by Bryce Harper’s knee injury that has put him on the disabled list. Add on Stephen Strasburg’s recent lower back pain, likely to see him join Harper on the DL, and confidence levels will have taken a hit from their pre-season standing as favourites for the NL pennant.

16. L.A. Angels of Anaheim (16)

An eight-game winning streak showed that there is still life left in the Angels, although you could argue that the opposition (White Sox, Mariners and Royals) wasn’t exactly the elite of the league. The wins count regardless of the quality of the opposition so the Angels won’t care about that. What they will care about is that they’re still firmly under .500 and they need to string together four good months from now on. Getting Jered Weaver back from injury is a positive sign and Mike Trout was exceptional in May.

17. Philadelphia Phillies (19)

Cliff Lee pitched extremely well for the Phillies during May – 4-1 with a 1.80 ERA in six starts – and Domonic Brown had an impressive month power-wise with 12 homers (his .303 OBP shows he didn’t do much at the plate when he wasn’t leaving the yard). Other than that there wasn’t too much to cheer, particularly with the Youngs – Delmon and Michael – hurting rather than helping the team and Chase Utley landing on the DL.

18. Chicago White Sox (20)

The White Sox have two figures of hope in Chris Sale and Jake Peavy leading the rotation and both Jesse Crain and Dylan Axelrod provided some good work from the bullpen in May. The pitching contributions simply haven’t been enough to overcome a stagnant offence so far. Alex Rios was probably their best hitter in May and his batting line of .280/.325/.486 with four homers is decent without being particularly inspiring. Unless the likes of Adam Dunn, Paul Konerko and Jeff Keppinger can turn their seasons around, it could be a year when good pitching goes to waste.

19. Colorado Rockies (25)

After an eye-catching 16-11 record in the first month, the Rockies went 12-16 in May to drop them back a bit but still leaves them exceeding expectations so far. With Troy Tulowtizki and Carlos Gonzalez leading the way at the plate they’ll have a chance to stay somewhere in the reckoning if they get some luck with injuries. Jhoulys Chacin and Jorge de la Rosa have been positives on the mound and we’ll have to wait and see whether Roy Oswalt – signed by Colorado on a Minor League deal – can work his way back to the Majors.

20. L.A. Dodgers (11)

The big-spending Dodgers went 13-13 in April which seemed a disappointment at the time considering the expectations on the team; however it was relatively successful compared to their 10-17 May, beginning with an eight-game losing streak that had the rumour mill going into overdrive regarding manager Don Mattingly’s future with the club. Matt Kemp hit just one home run whilst struggling to a .291 OBP during May before a groin injury put him on the Disabled List. Brandon League has also had a tough month out of the bullpen.

21. Toronto Blue Jays (10)

The Blue Jays and Dodgers go hand-in-hand; dramatic off-seasons raised expectations that have been nowhere near met due to injuries and poor performances. Jose Bautista started coming to life in May, but the team hasn’t showed many other signs of improvement that would create hope for a turn around.

22. San Diego Padres (28)

The Padres had a decent May with a 15-13 record that has stated to move the team forward. The big problem has been with the pitching staff, where Jason Marquis, Andrew Cashner and Huston Street all struggled through the month, with Street’s May ending with a trip to the DL. Chase Headley has performed well since coming back from injury and both Jedd Gyorko and Everth Cabrera, the latter leading the NL with 19 stolen bases, have made good contributions too.

23. Seattle Mariners (24)

Jesus Montero and Dustin Ackley were seen as two talented young position players that could turn around the M’s faltering offence of recent years. Unfortunately an eight-game losing streak culminated in those two players being demoted to the Minor Leagues as Seattle continues to work out how they can put together a roster that can help Felix Hernandez to the playoffs. Hopefully the M’s Front Office can start to find the answer over the coming months, but it’s extremely unlikely that King Felix’s postseason debut will come in 2013.

24. New York Mets (23)

In a season when expectations are justifiably low, fans have to latch on to seemingly small victories as a source of great comfort to get through the season. Matt Harvey has been a shining light in that respect and a four-game sweep over the New York Yankees, including getting the better of the great Mariano Rivera, certainly counts as something to celebrate in a season when there will plenty more losses than victories.

25. Kansas City Royals (18)

Oh dear. A 14-10 April provided reason for optimism in Kansas City only for a dreadful 8-20 May to put the Royals into a tailspin yet again. Hall of Famer George Brett has accepted the call to take over as the team’s hitting coach, but when you’ve gone this long without winning it’s easy for heads to drop. ‘Here we go again’ is likely to be the overwhelming feeling in KC right now.

26. Minnesota Twins (26)

A ten-game losing streak made for a long May in Minnesota. They did win six of their last eight to end the month on a positive note, but the lack of quality pitching in their starting rotation makes it difficult for the team to find consistency regardless of the ever-impressive efforts of Joe Mauer.

27. Chicago Cubs (27)

The Cubs took three wins against White Sox in the battle of Chicago, but those victories mirrored the reaction of the Mets: good wins to hold on to considering there has not been much else to get excited about. Matt Garza has come off the DL to add another good arm to the rotation, whilst Kyuji Fujikawa went the other way with the relief pitcher being yet another player undergoing Tommy John surgery.

28. Milwaukee Brewers (17)

The Brewers ended April with a 14-10 record and were in second place in the NL Central, just 0.5 games behind the Cardinals. What a difference a month can make. Milwaukee lost nine of their first ten games in May and ended it being swept in a four-game series by the Minnesota Twins, landing them with a terrible 6-22 record for the month.

29. Houston Astros (29)

Two six-game losing streaks during May saw the AL newcomers go 10-18 in the month.

30. Miami Marlins (30)

The rebuilding continues in Miami. May brought a seven-game losing streak and a nine-game losing streak as they matched the Brewers’ MLB worst record of 6-22 during the month.