BoS Week 4 (American League)

Desmond starting to shine for Swatara in balanced A.L.

"Balancing Acts"

The Brooklyn Mets visited their neighbors in the Bronx, and took them for a ride in a 5-1 series victory, the Mets have suddenly improved to 10-12, and now trail the division lead by 2 games (3rd place). They won two of the games on back-to-back nights in extras. Clay Buchholz set the tone with his one-hit shutout (13 K's) of the Bombers in Game 1; Buchholz is now 2-1, 2.81 ERA, 23 K's in 24 innings. Matt Cain who had a no-hitter last week, is 2-2 with a 3.18 ERA & 24 K's in 28.1 IP. Their offense still is overall flat at the moment, but there is some signs of improvement, raising their average up 10 points is a start. Drew Stubbs is batting .333 with 4 HR & 8 RBI in limited play (30 AB's), as Micheal Bourn has been their most consistent hitter: .311, 4, 9 RBI & 2 steals. Albert Pujols is still looking for his first HR & RBI of the season. If the lineup can come around, Brooklyn can be in the playoff mix, let's see if they can build off this sudden momentum.

The South Shore Fighting Imps still have the American League's best record at 14-9 & are currently on a three-game winning-streak -- plus they win their first big test of the season, a 4-2 series victory over the A.L. West Division Champion Fairgrove Tigers on the road. The team's offense keeps rolling, led by Shin-Soo Choo (who leads the league with a .968 OPS, among many other categories). The team known for its hitting, finds its pitching tops in the A.L. with a 3.00 ERA, while 2nd in Opponent's batting average (.216); Doug Fister has quietly been getting it done with a 3-1 record, while placing 2nd in ERA (2.06). Their staff has the least walks allowed, 49 allowed in 23 games. Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-1, 2.39 ERA & 31 K's) continues to have a great rookie season, while John Lackey is 3-0 after missing all of last season. Joey Votto has been emerging, batting .284, 4 HR & 15 RBI. South Shore hosts division rival Boston next.

The Buffalo Yankees after 4 weeks find themselves on top of the A.L. West. The team has lifted its batting average up to .265, thanks largely to Miguel Cabrera who's bat seems to be heating up, raising his average in a week from .279 to .304, hit his 5th HR, while tallying up 13 ribbies for the Yankees. Jay Bruce remains solid at .299, 5, 15, while Brandon Moss's power numbers have been impressive with 6 HR & 15 RBI, the batting average appears to be going up at .233. The starting pitching still needs to come around for Buffalo, they have the guys to do it, but currently have under-achieved. After winning their series against Boston, 4-1, they now face a Brooklyn team coming off a big 5-1 series victory.

The Bronx Bombers' lone victory in their series against Brooklyn came from James Shields, who is undefeated at 5-0, with a 2.13 ERA. Shields also has 3 complete games & a shutout so far, along with 36 K's in 42.1 innings. Carlos Santana is an offensive oddity for the Bombers this season, he has 7 HR's with 25 RBI, yet is only batting .188 with 16 hits (almost half have been HR's). Santana has drawn 10 walks. Daniel Nava currently leads the team with a .324 batting average, while tied with Robinson Cano for the team lead in hits (22). The team's bullpen needs to be a lot better (3.72 ERA), as Sergio Romo & Ernesto Frieri have been disappointing. Bronx hosts Swatara next.

The Swatara Eliminators currently have the 2nd best record in the American League, as they trail South Shore by a game in the A.L. East. They split their last series against Chicago, in fact they are 5-5 in their last 10 games. They have scored 92, while their opponents have scored 93, they are also 4th in batting & pitching -- it seems that they are in the middle of a whole bunch of areas, while being tops in fielding; This can all be a good sign, since it takes 3 teams from each league to make the playoffs. Swatara has three regulars batting over .300 in Yadier Molina, Victor Martinez, and Ian Desmond. Desmond leads across the board in most of the team's batting statistics, also leads the team with a .943 OPS. The team has logged 9 saves with 5 different relievers (Caleb Thielbar leads the team with 3 Saves). Swatara plays up-and-down division rival Bombers next.

The Fairgrove Tigers lost their series 4-2 to the Imps. The Tigers' starting pitching has been their strength, as their team has held opponents to a .211 batting average. Joe Nathan leads the bullpen with 6 Saves, while Craig Stammen & Louis Coleman have been great support for him. The team's lineup has been frustrating to Tigers fans, the team only has an OBP of .296 with an OPS of .700; Paul Goldschmidt & Adam Jones needs help from the other regulars. Goldschmidt is batting .282 with 7 HR & 16 RBI, while Jones is leads the team with a .319 average, plus 5 HR & 13 RBI. Jason Heyward (batting .198) has struggled, has struck out (23 K's) more times than he has collected hits (19). Fairgrove visits Chicago for 6 games.

The Chicago Nine currently have the 2nd best record against their own division, of course everyone has only played one division match-up to this point; Chicago will get a chance to see where they sit in the division with a home series against defending division champs Fairgrove. Their team's offensive stats nearly duplicate Fairgrove's, although Fairgrove is batting 15 points higher at .243 (Chicago .228). Chicago has got it done through their pitching, as they rank 3rd in the American League in ERA (3.41), and their bullpen sports a 2.11 ERA, as Drew Smyly leads the team with 3 Saves. Shelby Miller continues to have a great season for the Nine, going 3-1, 2.31 ERA with 40 K's in 35 innings of work; while Jacoby Ellsbury (.283, 5, 17 & 13 SB's) continues to be the team's offensive MVP this season.

The Boston Bravos currently have the worst record in the American League at 9-12, losing four straight, while only being 4 games out of first -- fortunate for the Bravos, the league is really balanced at the moment. The bad news is they go on the road against the Fighting Imps next. Shane Victorino leads the team with a .321 batting average, while Adam LaRoche (.300, 5, 17) keeps on delivering for the Chop Shop. The team is only batting .207, while they have been outscored by their opponents 92-69 (-23 Run Differential), they must get their lineup situated, while their pitching needs sto get better. Scott Kazmir is one of their starters that needs to step it up, after 0-3, 4.68 start this season -- Kazmir did not play in 2013 BoS Season, and was originally drafted by Traverse City (involved in the Hunter Pence deal).

*** This concludes the A.L. Highlights for Week 4 ***