This Week In The Trans Atlantic: Week Ten 2028

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Vic
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This Week In The Trans Atlantic: Week Ten 2028

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By Hamish Campbell
The Edinburgh News
06-07-2028

The Big Picture
It was only a matter of time, folks.

The London Underground has been on a steady uptick over the past month, and finally broke out in a big way to open Week 10, sweeping a three-game set with Kentucky and taking the first two of a three-game set against San Antonio.

With Scotland suffering a multitude of injuries that has left its pitching staff in a shambles, the Underground looks ready to make some noise in the Trans Atlantic, pulling within two games of the Claymores and three of San Juan.

Whether first-place Havana will even hear echoes of the fracas for second place is an open question, though. The Leones had a pretty terrific stretch themselves to start Week 10, going 4-1 against Scotland and Amsterdam to stay in first by 7 games.

But that’s OK - regardless of what Havana does, there's plenty for the rest of the division to play for. As it stands right now, San Juan and Scotland are leading the hunt for both Imperial League Wild Card spots, with London just two behind.

Things are heating up as we head into June!

Havana Happenings
Player(s) of the Week: CF Maxime Plamendon has been on something of a tear lately, slashing .300/.323/.800 over the past 7 days. During that stretch, he smashed 4 home runs, racked up 6 RBIs, and posted an eye-popping .471 WOBA … On the pitching side of the ledger, it’s hard to pick a standout as the staff pretty much sparkled from top to bottom. For the sake of argument, though, we’ll highlight SP Kenny Ashley who started twice (May 29 and June 4), allowed 1 earned run in 13 innings for an ERA of 0.69, struck out 12 and walked just 3. He’s earning that $17 million salary, folks! Game of the Week: Speaking of strong pitching, our GOtW choice features a primo outing by Glenn Thomas, who shut down Amsterdam on June 6 as the Leones won 7-0. Thomas went 7 innings, and allowed just 3 hits while walking 1 batter and striking out 9. Offensive fireworks were provided by Plamendon, who went 3-4, and RF Motoki Suzuki, who went 2-4 with a couple of RBIs. Player of the Game? Thomas, naturally … Record Tied: Finally, we must note that LF Mike Hale tied a team record for triples in a game when he hit 2 against Scotland on June 3.

Coqui Cables
San Juan had a nice start to Week 10, too. The Coqui went 4-1 against Arlington and Kentucky, pulling a game ahead of Scotland for second place in the division. The only dark spot for the week: reliever Luis Reyes went down for the rest of the season with shoulder inflammation, expected to sideline him for 7 to 8 months … Player(s) of the Week: Mito Nomura made his first big league appearance of the season a memorable one, allowing just 2 hits in 7 innings on the way to a win over Arlington on June 2. The 27-year-old right-hander struck out four, walked four and won Player of the Game honors … While we’re on the subject of excellent performances, we can’t neglect C Jesús Negrete who slashed .444/.450/1.056 for the past 7 days. He hit two doubles, 3 homers and picked up 8 RBIs en route to a .576 WOBA … Game of the Week: Much to pick from, but we’ll go with the 13-2 beat-down of Arlington on June 3. Negrete and LF Michael Drew each had three hits to pace the Coqui attack, and they each hit home runs, too. Although it was nice to have double-digit run support, SP Hou Hao didn’t need it: he went 7 innings and allowed 2 runs to notch his 8th win against 4 losses for the season.

Scottish Scoops
The Claymores went 3-2 to begin Week 10, and barely noticed as the team continued to be ravaged by injuries. Just days removed from losing No. 3 starter Jorge Vázquez for the year, Scotland lost staff ace Francisco Robles to a season ending shoulder injury. As if that wasn’t enough, Ernest Singleton – who was called up from Aberdeen to replace Vázquez in the rotation – strained his forearm after throwing 5 strong innings against Hartford on June 6 and will be sidelined for at least two to three weeks. To make matters worse, SP Kazuhiko Nishiyama suffered a setback in his recovery from an elbow injury during a rehab stint at Aberdeen and trainers are now saying they don’t know when he’ll be able to return. Finally, adding insult to injury, RF Vincent Powell – who jacked three homers against Havana on June 3 to tie the IL regular season record – sprained his ankle later in the week and is listed as day-to-day … Game of the Week? Dunno. We couldn’t even see the games behind all the golf carts hauling Claymore pitchers to the emergency room …

Underground Utterings
If you’re wondering what’s behind the Underground’s recent surge, look towards that little hill 60 feet, 6 inches from home plate. London’s team ERA of 3.58 now ranks 4th in the Imperial League, and its bullpen ERA of 2.21 is 1st. The folks arrayed behind the pitchers are doing pretty well, too: London ranks second in the IL for defensive efficiency. Given that the Underground doesn’t rank above 7th for any of the offensive stats, you can now answer the question of whether you can win in this league with pitching and defense. Yes. Yes, you can ... Game of the Week: We’ll go with the thriller on June 3, London’s 5-4 walk-off victory over Kentucky. The Underground took a 4-3 lead into the top of the 9th and called closer Gideon Byrd to the mound to lock down the win, but things quickly went awry. Thoroughbreds 1B Mark Collier scorched a grounder between first and second, bringing up CF José Aguilera. Byrd ran the count to 1-2, but Aguilera scorched a line drive just past a diving Shigenobu Kawakami at first base that rattled into the right field corner, allowing Collier to score from first. Byrd retired the rest of the side, but the game was tied heading to the bottom of the ninth. Kentucky brought in closer Alfredo Aranda, but London RF Jimmy Hudson led off the inning by launching a 1-0 fastball 390 feet into the right field stands for a walk-off home run. Hudson summed up the feeling of the London faithful in a post-game interview with BNN: “Nice to put this one in the win column.”

Where They Stand
On the morning of June 7, it's Havana 39-21; San Juan, 32-28, 7 GB; Scotland, 31-29, 8 GB; and London, 29-31, 10 GB.
Vic Caleca
Scottish Claymores
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