NVABL -- Pirates Sweep the Cardinals in Springfield

The details:

To put it lightly, the dice were falling for the Pirates in this one....

Game 1 Fister 10ZG @ Shields 13Y

The Cards went up 1-0 in the 3rd on Zobrist SF, but the Pirates countered with 2 in the 4th inning on Hunter RBI triple and Beltran single. The Cardinals then knocked Fister out of the game in the 5th inning on back to back errors and a 2run HR from 3B Pena to go up 4-2.

It was all Pirates after that -- 3 solo HRs from Cabrera, Beltran, and Victor Martinez, and an RBI single by Joe Mauer put the Pirates up 6-4. The Pirates' bullpen took over, along with Joe Mauer gunning out potential basestealers in both the 8th and 9th innings put this game into the win column for the Buccos.

Game 2 Weaver 11YZ @ Santana 12YZ

The Pirates scored solo runs in the 2nd and 4th innings, and chased Santana from the game with 5 straight 2 out singles in the 5th inning - to go up 5-0. The bullpens took over, and the Pirates win 5-1.

Game 3 Bumgarner 14X @ Harvey 15XYZG

This was all Pirates.... many many double numbers rolled, and once the dust settled, Cabrera was 3-6 with a double, 2 HRs and 4 RBIs... Mauer 3-5 with 3 RBIs... Cargo and Beltran had HRs... Andrus was a HR short of the cycle.... 13-7 Pirates....

Game 4 Sale 12XZ @ Strasburg 12XY

Pirates going for the sweep. 3 doubles in the 2nd resulted in a 2-0 lead for the Buccos. 3 Springfield singles and a wild pitch in the bottom of the inning tied the game at 2-2. The Cardinals went up 4-2 on 3 straight 2-out hits in the 3rd -- 2run single for 2B Aaron Hill. The Pirates got to the Cardinals bullpen for 2 runs in the 6th, capped by a 2-run single by Elvis Andrus. 

The game was tied at 4-4 until the 9th inning, when the floodgates opened against the best of that Cardinal bullpen.... walk, SB, sac, rbi-single, double, rbi-single, another rbi-single... before they could get the second out of the inning.... the Pirates scored 4 runs.... the thoroughly frustrated Cardinals get back a run, and bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but Caleb Thielbar comes in to strike out Manny Machado to end the game. Pirates win 8-5, and earn a surprising sweep against the division leaders.

Chris -- thanks for adjusting your schedule to get these last two series in....

Pirates looking to schedule last three series against Oakton, Stonehenge, and Seacoast to finish up the regular season.

NVABL -- Springfield (1) @ Sterling (3)

The long anticipated matchup of Cardinals and Pirates was played Monday night....

Here are the details:

Game 1 Harvey 15XYZG @ Fister 10ZG

The Cardinals strung together 6 straight hit and error numbers in the top of the 2nd, but could only come away with 2 runs, while getting 3 runners thrown out on the bases in the inning.  Don't know that either one of us had ever seen that before....  Back to back doubles by Castro and Aaron Hill extend the lead to 4-0 in the fourth.

In the bottom of the inning, the Pirates jump all over Harvey for 5 runs, with a 2-run triple for Jay Bruce, an RBI single for Andrus, and a 2-run HR for Carlos Gonzalez; sending the young right hander to the showers.  The Pirates extend the lead with 2-run HR for Carlos Beltran in the 5th, and a 4-run 8th to run away with Game 1 -- 11-3.

Game 2  E Santana 12YZ @ Nova 12YG

The teams traded unearned runs in the early innings, and the Pirates go up 3-1 on 3rd inning RBI single from Rizzo; and 5th inning RBI double from Bruce.  The Cardinals come back to tie game with Zobrist HR, a 2 out Segura triple and RBI single by Andre Ethier.

 
The Cardinals rally in the top of 9th, with lead-off walk, a wild pitch, and a HBP against reliever Rosenthal, causing a call to the pen for closer Nathan.  Nathan strikes out Hill swinging, froze Segura with a backdoor slider, and coaxed Andre Ethier to ground out weakly to Rizzo at first to end the inning.

 
Facing Stammen, Carlos Beltran lead off the bottom of the 9th, with a pooch single to left.  Pinch runner Nick Franklin was bunted to 2nd, but Bruce flew out to left for the 2nd out of the inning.  That's where "last Elvis standing" Andrus ripped a double down the 3rd base line to drive in the winning run.  Pirates 4 Cardinals 3.

Game 3  Shields 13Y @ Sale 12XZ

The Cardinals score early and often to give Shields a solid 6-0 lead through 7.  Shields gave up only 3 hits through 8 innings, but appeared to tire in the 9th; giving up 3 hits in the bottom of the 9th, capped by an Anthony Rizzo 2run double -- but it was too little too late.  Cardinals 7-2 winners of Game #3.
  

Everyone for the visiting Cardinals contributed on offense -- 4 hits for Mesoraco, 2 hits each for Kemp, Davis, Gentry, Craig and Segura.
 
  

Game 4  Strasburg 12XY @ Bumgarner 14X

A sloppy game -- the Pirates had 4 errors by their infielders in the first 4 innings.  The Cardinals added 2 more in the boxscore.  Typical of the game was the Pirates' Jay Bruce who singled with one out in the 5th, and went to 2nd on an error by Rajai Davis.  He went to third, and scored on back-to-back wild pitches by suddenly flustered Strasburg -- who then promptly plunked the pesky Andrus......
   

The teams traded HRs -- 2 by Davis and Hill in top of the 7th inning and a big 3run 2out HR by Joe Mauer to tie the game at 5-5.    All 3 Pirate runs were unearned because of an earlier error by the 3B-6, Machado....   A quiet 8th and top of the 9th is followed by a lead-off walk by Stammen to Jason Kipnis to start the bottom of the inning -- followed by a steal of of second base, a sacrific bunt, and a game winning sacrifice fly by the ever-pesky --- hunk-a-hunk-of-burnin'-love -- Elvis Andrus...  Pirates win Game 4 6-5, and the series 3 games to 1.

 
The rematch is set for next Monday night -- in Springfield.
 

Our Hero

Oakton 3 at Stonehenge 1

July 1, 2014

Lynn 8X at Jimenez 14XW
STO 1 0 3  0 1 0  0 2 0  7 11 0
OAK 1 1 0  4 2 0  0 0 x  8 11 0

W  Jimenez
L  Lynn
S  Holland
HR Goldschmidt, Santana
     Cuddyer, McCann

Paul Goldchmidt's two run homer off of Jimenez in the 3rd puts the visitors up 4-2 but Justin Upton's bases loaded clearing double in the fourth helps put the hometeam up 6-4.  McCann adds a two run homer off of David Carpenter in the bottom of the fifth to give Oakton a three run cushion.  They will need it as Stonehenge's Carlos Santana fires back with a two run shot of his own in the eighth to draw within one.  Greg Holland gets the Druids in order in the 9th to save game one for Oakton.

Kuroda 11YZ at Hernandez 13XZG

STO 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  0 1 1
OAK 0 0 0  0 0 0  1 0 x  1 2 0

W  Hernandez (CG)
L  Kuroda (CG)

Stonehenge and Oakton set the modern day NVABL record as both pitching staffs allow only three combined hits.  Troy Tulowitzki dials 66 leading off the seventh for Oakton's first hit of the game.  The King goes all the way allowing one hit, in the fifth to Mike Carp, walking two, and striking out 12.


Zimmermann 13YZ at Sanchez 16XYG

STO 0 0 2  0 0 1  0 1 2  6 7 3
OAK 0 0 1  0 1 0  0 0 0  2 6 1

W  Roark
L  Sanchez
HR Gennett, Florimon
     Upton

Sanchez strikes out 14 batters in just 6 1/3 innings before being removed (innings limit), but Stonehenge's Joey Votto breaks a 2-2 tie scoring on a Brandon Moss four base error.  The Pedro Florimon breaks it open in the ninth with a two run homer.


Wainwright 13XZG at Kershaw 19XZG

STO 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  0 3 0
OAK 0 0 0  0 1 0  0 0 x  1 7 0

W  Kershaw (CG)
L  Wainwright

Kershaw goes complete allowing three hits and walking two while K'ing 10 Druids in the shutout.  Adrian Beltre is 4 for 4 while an Upton double followed by a Robinson Cano RBI single is all that is luckily needed for the Aviators.

Oakton is fortunate to come away with a 3-1 series victory and draw within two games of Roswell in the Division of Death.

Newsletter - September 1, 2014

The Clubhouse Report

Northern Virginia APBA Baseball League

September 2014

Farewell to a New Manager

We are sad to see it not work out with David Neely after only one month.  The league has two teams looking for new managers.

The Standings

Coastal Division

	W	L	%	GB
Springfield	39	25	.609	--
Roswell	43	29	.597	--
Oakton	35	25	.583	2
Sterling	32	28	.533	5
Delphi	30	34	.469	9
Columbia Pike	26	34	.433	11

Piedmont Division

	W	L	%	GB
Stonehenge	46	30	.605	--
Chino Valley	16	12	.571	6
Arlington	25	23	.521	7
Washington	30	38	.441	12
Occoquan	26	46	.361	18
Seacoast	20	44	.313	20

August Results

CPC 2	at	SEA 2
STP 2	at	ARL 2
CPC 1	at	STO 3
SEA 2	at	OAK 2
SEA 2	at	ARL 2
OAK 1	at	ARL 3
STO 2	at	SPR 2
STP 3	at	DEL 1
ARL 3	at	DEL 1
STP 3	at	CV 1
STO 2	at	DEL 2
CV 2	at	STP 2
SEA 2	at	SPR 2
DEL 1	at	STP 3
CV 2	at	STO 2
CV 4	at	OCC 0

 

Who’s Hot and Who’s Not

The records for the teams during August are:

Sterling 13-7, (32-28) The best team in August was Sterling who made trades to compete this month and the results showed.  They are up around the level of Roswell now, just below the big 3.  With Delphi and Columbia Pike throwing in the towel, the Pirates are sure to be a playoff team.  A big “congratulations” goes out to Walt in turning the season around and especially getting in enough series this month to meet the deadline.  The next big deadline is only 30 days away, he will have to play 4 series this month to avoid the penalty.  The penalty would be a 5^th round pick if this is their second offense, because their 6^th round pick has been traded.

Arlington 10-6, (25-23) I can’t speak to what Arlington is like, but Bart and Bob have played a lot of games and this team is up to 48.  In the post draft rankings that were included in the February newsletter I had this team coming in around 9^th.  So this record above .500 is a little bit of over-achieving and a little bit of Occoquan having thrown in the towel before the games started, and the higher ranked Vermont having played only 28 times.

Chino Valley 9-7 , (16-12) Chino is a team with a lot of bite, and a great closer if they get a lead.  One game against Sterling showed their colors.  The Pirates took a 6-2 lead in the third, but Chino did not lose heart and hit a 2 run homer in the 6^th to close the gap.  A Sterling insurance run in the 8^th, did not hold up as Chino hit a 3 run homer in the 9^th to tie the game and put it into extra innings.  The team kept grinding and hit two solo home runs in the 13^th to take a lead for the first time since the 1^st inning.  Kimbrel pitched the last 3 innings for the win.  It’s a good team.  Chino has played 28 games now and is starting to catch up to having a reasonable amount of games under their belt.

Stonehenge 9-7, (33-15) Stonehenge played 4 times this month and went 9-7.  The splits with Springfield and Chino Valley were about as expected.  The wins vs. Columbia Pike were as expected.  The split vs. Delphi might have been a 3-1 series if the dice rolled evenly.  Dwight has no worries though, he is close to winning the Piedmont division title.  The worst record Stonehenge could finish with is 46-42, so If Washington loses 4 more times in the final 20 games or Stonehenge wins 4 more times, the Senators will be eliminated by virtue of the Druids taking 7 of 8 from them this year.

Seacoast 8-8,(20-44) A .500 month for the worst team in the league, with 4 splits played.  Two of those splits came against very good teams Springfield and Oakton.  What was once a cellar door that was slammed shut has opened up a crack.  Seacoast has not won a single series this year, which is phenomenal.  If they win a series it will make the Hamner race a lot closer.

Springfield 4-4, (39-25) The Cardinals split with Stonehenge and Seacoast.  The Stonehenge series was packed with playoff level excitement.  In the series with Seacoast the results were disappointing, a chance to move into sole possession of first place was squandered.  Still Springfield has been active in acquiring players through trades, and joins Oakton and Stonehenge on paper as the top teams in the league.

Oakton 3-5, (35-25) Splitting with the worst team in the league, and losing 3 of 4 to Arlington was not a good month for the Aviators.  They need to step up their dice to compete for the division title.  Oakton has 28 games left to play and are 2 games behind the pace set by Springfield and Roswell.  It’s still do-able, but it is looking like an exciting race over the next two months.  Oakton will have to play 16 games in September or one per week to avoid losing their 8^th round pick.

Columbia Pike 3-5, (26-34) The Cubs have thrown in the towel, selling at the trade deadline.  What we see here with a 3-5 record is about what we would expect the rest of the way out.  Steve is looking at the #3 overall pick for 2015, but Delphi is ready to challenge.  Hopefully umpiring is winding down because Columbia Pike is another team with only the minimum number of games played.

Delphi 5-11, (30-34)  George has thrown in the towel this year.  Delphi was the primary team selling players at the trade deadline.  The Oracles are currently in position to draft 5^th overall in the free agent draft next year.

Roswell 0-0, (43-29) Thanks Bob, for helping out with Chino Valley and Arlington.  Roswell is tied for first place in the Coastal.  The Greys have had good management and good results this year, but on paper they are rated a bit below the big 3.

Washington 0-0, (30-38) Bart went into make-up mode for Arlington and Chino Valley, and didn’t play any games for Washington.  Thanks Bart for being willing to take on this additional load.  By the way, according to the by-laws rule XI.A, Chino Valley and Arlington will be treated as if they don’t exist for purposes of determining playoff spots.  The Senators are on track to participate in the playoffs as the 2^nd place team in the Piedmont division.  If I understand the rules correctly, for purposes of the draft Chino Valley and Arlington would be positioned in the order of their won-loss record, so Washington would slip down and draft in the 4^th position if the winning percentages stay nearly the same throughout the rest of the year.

Occoquan 0-4, (26-46) Since trading Juan Uribe in July, Occoquan has scored only 5 runs.  On paper, I would say Occoquan has reached the point of being the worst team in the league, but Seacoast has a much worse record.  There is so little pop left in this lineup that it felt like a strange feeling when I did some substitute management this month for Chino Valley and the players were getting on base, hitting home runs, and scoring chunks of runs.

Transactions

• CPC sends Rajai Davis, SPR #8 to SPR for Marcell Ozuna, SPR #9
• OAK sends Robbie Ross, Kevin Chapman to STP for STP #6
• WAS sends Craig Gentry to SPR for Cody Ross, OCC #7
• DEL sends Giovani Soto to STO for STO #7, Anthony Varvaro
• DEL sends Ivan Nova to STE for STE #7

The selling began prior to the trade deadline and we saw Columbia Pike, Washington, and Delphi basically throwing in the towel, while Oakton sold off two relievers for a profit who would not be making their 25 man playoff roster.  The biggest benificiaries were Sterling and Springfield, who became very good teams with these pickups.

Sterling has picked up a 18*wg lefty, 12*yzg lefty, and 12yg righty for the home stretch to the playoffs.

Springfield has picked up a lot of speed on the base paths as if they didn’t have enough.  Davis is a B-34 lefty killer, and Gentry is D-34 solid bat with 15 safe numbers.

Stonehenge has picked up a catcher with almost the same card as one they have, but with -8/3 splits instead of 0/-2, plus a better throwing arm.  That will be a big help to the Druids vs. righties the rest of the way. 

2015 Kilg Korner 

Hitting	Pitching	Overall
Team     OPS     Rank     Top Player OAK   0.790     1            Tulowitzki SEA    0.780     2               Stanton STE    0.755     3               Martinez STO    0.744     4           Encarnacon CPK    0.736     5               Puig CHV    0.735     6               Freeman DEL     0.731     7               Bautista WAS     0.730     8               Pence ARL      0.728     9               N. Cruz SPR     0.719     10            Mesoraco ROS      0.715     11            Gattis OCC     0.697     12       A. Ramirez	Team     ERA   Rank       Top Player OAK         3.01        1         Kershaw STO          3.18        2.5  Wainwright ROS         3.18        2.5           Cueto STE           3.35        4               Sale DEL          3.49        5          Darvish SEA          3.55        6            Hamels CPK         3.58        7           Hudson WAS        3.60        8              Gray SPR          3.67        9.5           Smyly ARL          3.67        9.5      Iwakuma CHV         3.75        11         Teheran OCC         3.98        12         Porcello	Team     Rank OAK         1 STO          2 STE           3 SEA          4 CPK         5.5 DEL          5.5 ROS         7 WAS        8 CHV         9 ARL          10 SPR          11 OCC         12

OAK – Hitting and Pitching are both ranked first.  Kershaw is a big reason for the pitching figures being good, and the offense has several solid bats for next year.  Once again, Larry will be a contender.  How many years in a row is this?  Something like 5 or 6, I’ve lost count.

STO – Stonehenge now has 6 starters with 2014 ERAs below 3.00.  Their hitting is great also.  Stonehenge holds only the STO 9^th pick, which has a chance of being the last overall pick in the draft.  Can a team compete without any draft?  It will be an interesting question.  Stonehenge will be able to contend with minimal effort, perhaps losing a couple of 2016 draft picks if they choose to do that.

STE – The Pirates are looking good and they have preserved their key draft picks for next year, as is Walt’s style.

SEA – Second and hitting and sixth in pitching = playoff team.  Lot’s of draft picks to go with this = contender.

CPK and DEL – The Cubs break away from being tied with Washington the last time we did this, and now they are tied with Delphi.  These two teams will be having a good draft also.

ROS – Roswell looks to be a playoff team by having a good draft.

WAS– Dropping, hoping for a good September, otherwise it will be a rebuilding year.

CHV and ARL – This will have to be a rebuilding year.

SPR – Chris sees the writing on the wall with this team and decided to go for it in 2014.

OCC – The Ospreys are the opposite of the Druids.  They are no team whatsoever and hoping there is enough talent in the draft to become good, but if not, another rebuilding year.

Keeping it going.

This will be a busy month in the league as the 76 game deadline approaches.  Thanks for keeping it fun for all.