This Week In The Trans Atlantic: Week 11, 2028

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This Week In The Trans Atlantic: Week 11, 2028

#1 Post by Vic »

By Hamish Campbell
The Edinburgh News
06-19-2028

The Big Picture
There was a bit of a surprise at the top of the division last week: the barest hint of mortality from the Havana Leones.

Havana went 2-5, splitting a 4-game series with Kentucky and dropping all 3 of its games against the resurgent Arlington Bureaucrats. The mini-stumble dropped the Leones (44-27) behind West Virginia (45-26) in the race for best record in the Imperial League, and also tightened the Trans Atlantic Division race by a couple of games.

Scotland, meanwhile, did its best to shake off the injury woes that have devastated its starting rotation, and rode timely hitting to a 4-3 week – a four-game sweep over Amsterdam, followed by a three-game losing streak in London. Not the best way to end the week, certainly, but the Claymores did pull to within 5 games of Havana.

San Juan continued its June struggles, going 3-4 on the week after splitting a 4-game set with London and dropping 2 of 3 to New Orleans. The Coqui are now 7-10 for the month, and have dropped a game below .500 into a tie with London for third in the division.

As for London, the Underground are 11-6 in June after posting a 5-2 record last week, splitting its series with San Juan and sweeping the Claymores.

The division is tightening, folks. Stay tuned.

Havana Happenings
Here are a couple of keys to the Leones’ troubles last week: No. 1 - the lineup really struggled at the plate, with such usual stalwarts as OF Claudio Hernández and 1B Ira Murdoch both hitting below .200. Murdoch, in fact, struck out 11 times in 27 AB, posting a meager slash line of .111/.143/.222. No. 2 – Ricardo Pérez, one of the premier closers in either league, lost two games against Arlington that Havana normally would have chalked up in the win column. We don’t expect to see that repeated too often … Player of the Week: We’ll go with SS Ricardo Mateo, the only Leones regular who posted a batting average over .300 last week. For the period, he slashed .304/.304/.478 – decent but unspectacular numbers that still were the best of a bad lot for the Leones … Game of the Week: We’ll go with the 5-3 victory Havana posted over Kentucky on June 13, riding the 5-hit, 9-K pitching of staff ace Enrique Vázquez to a solid win. 3B Vern Duncan and DH Bill Jones knocked in two runs each to lead the Havana offensive attack, and stopper Denny Davis notched his second save of the season in two innings of relief to nail down the win.

Coqui Cables
When San Juan hit last week, it really hit (8-0 and 7-2 wins over London). And when it didn’t, well, it really didn’t: 8-1, 6-0, 5-2, and 2-1 losses, and a 1-0 victory. It added up to three wins and four losses, and the club’s first dip below the .500 mark (35-36) since the opening week of the season … Player of the Week: 1B/3B Kwan-cheol Kang gets a reluctant nod here after slashing .393/.414/.429 for the week, but little of that production seemed to end up on the scoreboard. He scored just one run and knocked in only one for the week … Game of the Week: We’ll give the nod to the Coqui’s exciting 1-0 win over New Orleans on June 17. SP Tatsui Kuono scattered 3 hits and 1 walk over 7.1 innings of shutout work, striking out 4 along the way. Stopper José Gómez and setup specialist Otis Pearson came on to close out the victory. The lone run of the game came in the bottom of the fifth when the Coqui employed a little “small ball.” 1B Jack Speed led off with a single then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by LF Mike Rose. He moved to third on a wild pitch by Trendsetters SP Jorge Medina, and came home on a SF to deep left-center by CF Dean Walden.

Scottish Scoops
The Claymores, despite a recent string of devastating injuries, actually ran off 10 straight wins from June 5 to June 15 before losing to London on the 16th. For the month, so far, Scotland is 12-5, with a winning PCT of .706. The joy in the Claymores front office is tempered by the knowledge, though, that they’ve patched together a starting rotation that has no clear ace, now that Francisco Robles has gone down for the season, and middling overall talent at best. They've been proactive, though. The Claymores signed SP Allen Guthrie to a one-year free agent contract and threw him into action immediately: he went 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA in his first action for the Scottish. The team also brought April free agent signee Roger Keller up from AAA Aberdeen, and he’s gone 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA in two starts, so far. The team also dealt minor-league RP Tam Lochhead and its 2029 second round draft pick to Aurora at the end of last week, in return for RP Tomás Moya and his cousin, SP Orlando Moya. Tomás is already on the big-league roster, and Orlando is expected to join him there in a matter of weeks. Whether all of the machinations will result in a serviceable pitching staff is still an open question, but Claymores fans are keeping their fingers crossed – and enjoying the wins while they can … Game of the Week: The 4-1 victory over Amsterdam on June 12 showcased the newly-signed Guthrie, who pitched 5.2 innings of scoreless ball before exiting with a sore elbow and drawing groans from the Scottish faithful. The injury proved short-lived, though, as Guthrie made his next start, as scheduled, and threw 7 innings. In his first outing since last season, though, Guthrie allowed 7 hits, struck out 6, and walked no one en route to the win. Four relief pitchers contributed to locking down the victory, while SS Naomi Honma and C Jason Aaron provided much of the offense.

Underground Utterings
Suddenly, London has morphed into that team no one wants to see pop up on their schedule. Just ask Scotland, which was riding a 10-game win streak before London swept their 3-game series at the end of the week. The improvement, as we’ve pointed out in past weeks, has been steady – to the point that London has now gone 11-6 in June. The Underground have pulled to within a game of .500, tied San Juan for third place in the division, and inserted themselves in the Imperial League wild card discussion. They’re hot and getting hotter … Player of the Week: How can we do anything but join the Imperial League in honoring SP Clark Snow, who went 2-0 while pitching 16.2 scoreless innings in his last two starts – a 6-0 win over San Juan on June 13, and a 4-0 victory over the Claymores on June 18. He notched 12 Ks and allowed just 4 walks over that span and solidified his position as the ace of London’s staff … Game of the Week: Since we’re on a roll with Snow, let’s look at his June 18 win over Scotland, where he went 8.2 innings before being lifted in the bottom of the 9th after allowing a two-out double to Scottish LF Gabriel Martinez. London brought in setup man Marcos González to finish off the Claymores, which he did by striking out SS Orlando Barrón on a full count.

How They Stand
As of the morning of June 19, it’s 1). Havana, 44-27; 2). Scotland, 39-32, 5 GB; London, 35-36, 9 GB; San Juan, 35-36, 9 GB.

See you next week!
Vic Caleca
Scottish Claymores
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Re: This Week In The Trans Atlantic: Week 11, 2028

#2 Post by Leones »

When I first glanced at the lead I thought it read:

...the barest hint of morality from the Havana Leones.

I was almost offended that we might have any morality! :^ Gave me a good chuckle.
Patrick Hildreth
- La leña roja tarde pero llega

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