SHL Expansion Two–A Hot August

The Expos went into head-to-head divisional play against the Brewers in the drivers seat, but with their backs to the walls last place Milwaukee salvaged their pride, taking 3-of-4. The Padres climbed to the top of the SHL Expansion II by winning three from the Royals, who are at least tied for last and not exactly back in the cellar again.

Fearsome Friars (53-52): Bruce Hurst has regained his early season form for the Padres. He pitched San Diego to two key wins as they moved ahead in the race for supremacy in SHL II. His 2-1 win on August 4th was his best game in months and pushed his record to a very respectable 12-5.

San Diego got good pitching through out the series with Kansas City. Andy Ashby had a rare complete game win on July 30th , giving up only seven hits and a single run on a Johnny Damon homer. If the Padres can get that kind of pitching down the stretch, if they can complement to the best offense in the Expansion Divisions with decent pitching, they will be tough to beat.

Gene Tenace continues to provide a slugging presence for the Padres who continue to be among the offensive leaders in many categories. Tony Gwynn leads the league in batting average with a .369 clip. Steve Finley leads SHL in triples with ten and is having a great season, hitting at a .331 clip. Gene Richards is second in steals in the SHL with 44.

It is hard to believe the Padres pitching will hold up in the heat of the pennant race in August. Andy Benes has not pitched up to his potential and GM Geoff Young may want to look at Clay Kirby who is leading the Portland Beavers staff and has better stats than Ashby who is now in the San Diego rotation. But Young pulled Bruce Hurst after seven innings in his last start and preserving his only quality arm is a smart move.

All Canada Series in Jeopardy (51-54): Montreal and Toronto were making it look as if the class of the Expansion Divisions was north of the border. But now Montreal has slipped back into the pack. It is surprising how bad the Expos can be at home. Sure the Stade Olympique roof is falling and the crowds are scant, but even Jimmy McNulty finally realized the powerful pull of home, so why are the Expos 19-24 in Montreal this season?

In a word, it is the pitching. The pitching has deserted the team in these recent home stands. They got an 8-7 win in Montreal behind Pedro Martinez who struck out 12 in seven innings but John Wetteland nearly blew it in the late innings. But Dennis Martinez who was the staff ace in the first half has lost three in a row and it has not been pretty. He failed to make it out of the third inning on August 6th–an 11-4 blowout loss to the Diamondbacks. Ken Hill and Mel Rojas were torched for 12 runs at home last night in a 12-2 loss.

Brewers Find Winning Formula (44-61): Milwaukee has been finding ways to win. It is not always pretty, but they climbed out of last place and even after the Royals three game win streak, have been able to say out of the cellar.

Ben Sheets pitched a masterpiece on August 2nd againgst Rube Waddell, going the distance for a 9-0 shutout win against the Athletics. B.J. Surhoff was injured in a family squabble and has been out this past week with a bad knee that no one is talking about. Charlie Moore has been pressed into full time duty and he responded with a seven-game hitting streak.

Everyone has been hitting of late. The team has won seven of their last nine and averaged almost 6 runs per game over that stretch. It is still one of the weakest hitting teams in the SHL, with a team batting average of only .256–the lowest in the league.

Tracking the Royals (44-61): The Royals were surging and had left the cellar ever so briefly at the end of July. But then they lost six of eight games and the Brewers took over third place again. Kansas City is on another streak as they have won three in a row to climb back into a tie with the Brew Crew. Kansas City cannot blame Carlos Beltran for the up and down trends. He has been remarkably consistent and is batting .350 in his last ten games with ten RBI. Bret Saberhagen has been pitching well for the past two months, winning seven of his last ten decisions.