By Hamish Campbell
The Edinburgh News
Call it the great power outage of 2029.
Or, maybe, the week the Claymores forgot their bats on the Edinburgh-London high speed train.
Whatever you call it, how do you explain the (up until now) top-scoring offense in the Imperial League suffering through four consecutive shutouts at the hands of the London Underground?
Well, start with the team as a whole slashing .153/.216/.000 for the series. Then continue with only two members of the lineup batting over .250 for the series, with the other regulars ranging from .214 to .077.
Is this the start of a worrisome new trend, or an inexplicable anomaly?
Impossible to say at this point, unless your name is Nostradamus. But it’s still concerning.
The only bright spot is that Claymores’ pitchers did their jobs, limiting the Underground to just six runs in 4 games. But it’s hard to feel good about losing a series 1-0, 2-0, 2-0, 1-0.
Claymores fans will just have to hope the boys in powder blue can find their bats in the Virgin Rail Group lost and found and pack them safely for their upcoming series with Charleston and New Orleans …
Top Hitter
Vincent Powell, LF: 11-22, 7 G, .500/.607/.1.136, 4 HRs, 7 RBIs, 4 Runs, 1.744 OPS
Top Pitcher
Soichiro Ogawa, SP: 2 GS, 0-1, 13.2 IP, 2 R, 1.32 ERA, 9 Ks, 3 W
News and Notes
OF José Guillén continues to recover from his strained hamstring, but is still at least 3 weeks away from coming off the IL. Team trainers expect he will do a rehab stint at AAA Aberdeen before returning to the Claymores, which means he will miss most or all of August. Guillén was slashing .258/.323/.480 with 15 HRs and 50 RBIs before he went down on June 24 … SP Roger Keller, also down with a hamstring issue, is still at least 4 weeks away and also will need a rehab stint before returning to the major league club. Mid-September is his most likely return window. Keller was 3-3 with a 2.64 ERA, 55 Ks and 22 Ws in 17 games before his June 30 injury … Promising RP Subaru Adachi, who had been pitching effective ball before going down with a shoulder injury on May 12, is unlikely to return this season.
IL Trans Atlantic Division Standings
As of the morning of July 23, 2029
|Team...........|W | L | W % |GB |RD |
|Havana|.......|62|38|.620| -- |+78|
|Scotland|.....|56|42|.571| 5.0|+79|
|San Juan......|53|46|.535|8.5|+13|
|Amsterdam..|48|51|.485|13.5|-30|
|London........|43|55|.439|18.0|-53|
Fresh From the Farm
AAA Aberdeen went 2-4 last week, dropping to a 48-52 record. The Golden Sands are in 4th place in the AML Europe and Islands Division, 3 games behind 1st place Camaguey … RF Manuel Mejia has been raking over his last 6 games, going 8-21. That translates to a .381 BA with 3 HRs and 6 RBIs … AA Inverness struggled to a 3-4 record last week, slipping to a 57-42 record. The Highlanders are in 2nd place in the ATAL Euro-Caribbean Division, 4 games behind Port-au-Prince … RP Keiji Honda continues his promising comeback from a shoulder injury that put him out of action for 6 weeks in May and June. Over his last 10 appearances, he has notched 2 saves in 22.2 IP with a 0.40 ERA and 15 Ks … A-level Govan was a woeful 1-5 last week, dropping to 39-49 on the season. The Shipbuilders are in 4th place in the AWL Intercontinental Division, 19.5 games behind 1st place Utrecht … LF Yorikane Nakayama has been the lone bright spot in that stretch, going 9-22 in his last 7 games. He’s had a .409 BA with 2 HRs and 6 RBIs … Short season affiliate Maui went 3-3 over the last week, bringing its record to 17-19 on the year. The Mahi-Mahi are in 4th place in the HL Archipelago Division, 12 games behind Lana’i City. CF Jiro Murase has been hot at the plate. Over his last 11 games, he’s 18-45, good for a .400 BA with 3 HRs and 5 RBIs.
