Reds Clinch With Blowout + 8 2-3 No Hit Ball

 Our most "boring" three series of the year wrapped up our NL inter division round robin. Basically the Reds and Brewers still needed the chance to beef up their records against the hapless Pirates, and the now depleted Nats against the also relegated Marlins.

However, the first of these final games yielded some suspense, as the Reds needed to go at least 2-4 vs. the Pirates, or the Phillies would snatch the last qualifying spot and the Reds would drop to relegated.

The Reds clinched with a 10-3 sweep in the first game, as rookie of the year candidate Jonathan India reached base 4 of 10 times in the series in which 12 of the Reds 13 hits went for extra bases. The Reds then passed 5 other teams when Mahle, Sims and Garrett went through the line-up 3 times allowing only one baserunner, a walk. Polanco then spoiled the no-hitter with a 2 out double in the 9th off Garrett, but the Reds won 4-0 to take the series 5 games to 1 and improve to 44-40. 

With that win we have a phenom in the standings below - all 10 teams would make the 6-team playoffs if the season ended today. The 5 teams the Reds passed are all 2 games above .500, meaning they are all in a tie for 6th place. The Nats and Cubs likely fall now that they are playing with their depleted rosters, but still a thrilling final run.

Here are the final records for the relegated teams and then those that will continue in our 2 divisions. Results of the final 2 relegated series below.

The best in our game played the worst, so no surprise the Brewers won 5 games to 1 to knock the Pirates below a .300 winning percentage to end their season.

Four Pirates errors resulting 2 unearned runs to waste a great outing by Keller in a 3-1 Brewers win. In the second game former Rays SS Adames had 2 doubles and 2 homers in his last 4 at bats and led a 9-0 sweep. The Brewers will enter divisional play with a 3 game lead over any other team in either division.

Marlin Bryan de la Cruz debuted with a double on a 2 of 5 game and 12-11 win in 11 innings the nightcap after Corbin pitched the Nats to a 1-0 win in 10 innings in the opener.

Now thar these "boring" three series are over the 5 relegated teams are done for the season. The actual contenders start to go through 20 divisional series (4 for each qualifier, one each against each of their "South & East" and "North & West" Divisional foes).

At that point the 2 divisional champs get byes and the next four best records overall play wild card series, while the worst 4 records will be dropped. 

Phillies Close vs. Mets and Braves Trying to Catch Reds for Last Spot

 The Phillies entered their last two series with an outside chance to catch the Reds or someone for the last qualifying spot for divisional play.

Our process this NL Statis-pro season was:

1. All 15 teams played 36 games, at which time the bottom 5 were relegated meaning the would not play each other, but still play so the 10 advancing teams could play all 14 other teams. The Giants, Pirates, Rockies, Phillies and Marlins were initially relegated.

2. However, if a relegated team passed one if the top 10 teams while playing out the games they had, they could bump them. This happened as the Giants (now 43-41) blew past the Diamondbacks (now 42-48). Heading into the final series the Reds were still in danger at 39-39, though their last series will be against the worst relegated team, the Pirates. The Phillies were the best relegated team at 28-32, but their final two series were tough against the Braves and the Mets.

3. The Phillies hosted both, and if they could move up then they would advance to take the Reds place in the "South-East" division for four final series against the other divisional teams - the Mets and Braves again as well as the Cardinals and much weakened Nats.

4. We will update the four remaining games in order in this blog, then put pictures of the two series and the updated standings at the bottom.

Game 1 - Harper's 3-run triple in the bottom of the 8th rallied the Phillies to ultimately force extra innings. On of only a few SP: AA base theoves, Roman Quinn, made the last out of the 9th and the started the bottom of the 10th on second base. He stole third on a "72" - a number on which only 4 players in the game could steal third, and then tagged and scored the game-winner on McCutchen's sac fly. Phillies 6, Braves 5 in 10 innings, and at 30-33 they pull within a game and a half of the Reds.

Game 2 - The thrilling series continued with a second extra inning game. In the top of the 10th Freeman hit a 2-run homer, but in the bottom Miller hit a 2-run homer to force the 11th. Then d'Arnaud hit a 2-run homer and the deeper Nraves pen won out as Wilson continued his 3rd inning out of the pen for the win. Braves 7, Phillies 5 in 11 innings, and  the Phillies drop two games behind the Reds and desperate to sweep the Mets or otherwise need to count on the lowly Pirates to beat the Reds for them to get in.

Game 3 - The Phillies played their third straight extra inning game, but wasted 7 scoreless innings by Nola to fall on 3 straight singles in the 10th. Mets 2, Phillies 0 in 10 innings. Phils fall ti brink of elimination at 32-37.

Game 4 - Velasquez not inly win, but hit a 3-run homer as part of a crazy 16-9 win over the mets. Hoskins went 5 of 7 with 2 doubles and a homer.  The sweep for being ahead 5+ after 8 innings keeps the Phils mathematically alive at 35-37, but they would need the Pirates to get sweep credit in one of the 2 games and win both games against the Reds for the Phillies to claim the 10th spot away from them for divisional play. Even if the Reds lose the Series 2 games to 4 they would remain in the 10 teams advancing with a 41-43 record. Phillies 16, Mets 9 (sweep).

Fountain of Youth: Cueto, Posey, Longoria Blast Rockies to Tie for Playoff

 Posey's hits in his first four at bats included a homer and 2 doubles, Longoria added 3 homers, and Cueto pitched well in homer friendly Coors Field in the 6th with a 7-1 lead en route to a 9-3 sweep.

In the nightcap the Giants rallied against Rockies closer for a 4-3 lead. Longoria hit a 3-run homer earlier, then Ruf singled to start the 9th with the score tied 3-3. He moved to second on Longoria's grounder, Yaz singled him ti third, and LaStella brought him home with a sac fly.

The 5 games to 1 series gives the Giants a 43-41 record and puts then in a virtual 5-way tie for the last 2 playoff spots.

Colorado finishes 27-39, as the second relegated team to finish the season (Arizona 36-42). The three other relegated teams still have games against the 10 advancing teams who must finish playing all of the other 14 NL teams. Philadelphia is 28-32, Miami 26-34 and Puttsburgh 21-45. At the 36-game mark tge Giants were relegated, but they played themselves ahead of the DBacks to replace them in the 10 advancing teams.

Padres Win top .500 for first time at altitude

 The Padres finally broke .500 with two wins in Colorado, entering a 4-way tie for the last two wildcard spots.

Musgrove was the star of the series. He pitched the only quality start in the series at hitter friendly Coors Field (6 innings, 3 runs) and more impressively did something we dont remember in years of Statis-Pro - hit two extra base hits as a pitcher.

Tatis, Myers and former Pirates All-Star 2md baseman Frazier.

The Rockies are finishing the last three series of the year at home as a relegated team. They beat the Cubs 4 games to 2, lost this series 4 games to 2, and close with the Giants.

Rockies wrap play hosting Cubs, Giants and Padres

We are wrapping up our NL inter divisional play with the series of relegated teams who have yet to play another NL team. At the end of this 14th series for each team that advanced those teams will have played all 14 other NL teams and next play their four divisional foes (see bottom photo) below.

We start by having the Rockies wrapping up their season by hosting the Cubs, Padres and Giants.

The Cubs came in only 23-31 against the other 9 teams to advance, but were actually in playoff position due to an incredible 20-4 mark against the other relegated teams.

However, with the new depleted roster, they blew a potential 5-0 sweep and barely hung on 5-4 when Story and Blackmon were out to leave bases loaded (the combined to go 8 of 19 with 5 doubles and 2 homers).

The Rockies then had a sweep of their own with a 10-4 win to take the series 4 games to 2.

Kershaw , Price lead Shutouts of Cards in Last Inter-Division

 Despite a slow start early this year, the Dodgers look like the NL team to beat. The Cards fell from the playoffs (if season ended today) but were beaten as badly as you can while still getting credit for only losing the series 2 games to 4.

The Dodgers outhit the Cards 18-7 and 29 bases to 8 as their No. 3 and 4 pitchers (albeit Kershaw and Price) led consecutive 4-0 shutouts. Seager led the way with a 4 of 9 series and homer. We play a team needs a 5-run win to get credit for a 3 games to 0 series sweep.

Statis-pro AL Set for Fantastic Finish

 We poised for a fantastic finish in the Statis-Pro American League. The AL is played in Montana this year while our previous blog covered the NL being played in Alabama. 

After all the trades, it is still about the returning injured players. The White Sox just got two huge outfielders back from the 60-day IL.

The big question might be which dominant pitchers will return to impact the race?

Boston already has Chris Sale back, will the Rays get Tyler Glasnow back?  Or the Yankees get Luis Severino or Cory Kluber back?

The Red Sox and Yankees continue to battle for the division lead in the east. (means a first round bye in this format)

Meanwhile the Rays have finally gotten above .500 and are trying to move up in the wildcard seedings.

Out west, the Astros (with a revamped bullpen) maintain the best record but the White Sox are gaining ground.

However, the Angels and A’s picked a bad time to go into a tailspin, each losing 5-straight and opening the door for that final spot.

As for the individual awards, the Cy Young is just as wide open as the playoff chase.  There still is no clear leader.

There are three strong contenders for the MVP, with Alex Verdugo of the Red Sox, Alex Bregman of the Astros, and Gleyber Torres of the Yankees.

Here are the standings and individual statistics with 35-games in the books. Note while the NL standings appear to be further into the season, that is because that season is played which each game as a 3-game series while the standings below are based on each game counting as one game. Also keep in mind these AL teams have tougher schedules since they play none of the 5 relegated AL teams. The NL teams won .599 of their games against relegated teams.

AL “East”

Boston               22-13

New York          21-14

Tampa Bay       18-17

Cleveland         15-19

Toronto             14-20

 

AL “West”        

Houston            23-12

Chicago             21-14

Los Angeles      17-18

Oakland            15-20

Minnesota       11-24

 

Batting

LeMahieu, NY  (48-147)             .327

Verdugo, Bos   (51-157)             .325

Arraez, Min      (36-111)             .324

 

Hits  (35 games)

Verdugo, Bos   51

LeMahieu, NY  48

Engel, Chi          45

 

Extra Base Hits (2B, 3B, HR)

Verdugo, Bos   (13, 1, 12)         26

Bregman, Hou (11, 1, 10)         22

Devers, Bos      (13, 0, 9)            22

 

Home Runs

Verdugo, Bos   12

Abreu, Chi        11

Arozarena, TB 11

Four tied at      10

 

Runs Batted In

Arozarena, TB 31

Torres, NY        30

Verdugo, Bos   29

 

Runs Scored

Verdugo, Bos   33

Anderson, Chi 30

Torres, NY        29

 

Earned Run Average

Quintana, LA    5-1        2.21      (8 starts)

Ray, Tor             5-1        2.41      (8 starts)

Rodriguez,Bos 5-3        2.48      (9 starts)

 

Relief Man                      Sv-Opp

R.Igesias, LA     0-0        11-11

Pressly, Hou     1-1        11-13

Barnes, Bos      0-1        11-13