(BPI-Van Schaick Island, New York) Biff Barnes Jr. TML Highlight Reel Franchise All Stars - May 2021 ======Wombats Open Up Big Lead!

The Walla Walla Wombats put up a strong 20-10 record in May and have opened up a league best 8-game lead in the Williams Division over Marco Island (18-12 for the month).

Elsewhere in the Oceanic Conference , Mudville (18-12) surged into first place in the Steinmetz Division , now leading Albany (12-18) by 1 game and ‘Skayuna (11- 19) by 3 games! In the Ruth Division , Kentucky (17- 13) took a 1-game lead over Arkansas (16-14).

Over in the Atmospheric Conference , Santa Ana (20-10) joined the Gatto Division pennant race, moving into a tie for 2 nd with New York (16-14), both now only 3 games behind Beverly (18-12). In the Robinson Division , Madison (19-11) pulled to within 2 games of leader Duluth (15-15). In the Pertierra Division , Camarillo (17-13) has bubbled to the top, leading Chesapeake (16-14) by 1 game, Toxic Waste (15-15) by 3 games and California (13-17) by only 4 games!

------The batting leader is still Madison’s J.D. Martinez with .359 average, with a big lead over Kentucky’s Mookie Betts at .328. Martinez still leads in Hits (80) and OBP (.426). Kentucky’s Jose Bautista and Duluth’s Miguel Cabrera are tied with 21 HRs. Marco Island’s Tommy Edman is the RBI leader with 53. Betts remains the SB leader (23 SB/8 CS).

The new ERA leader is Walla Walla’s Justin Cole Hamels at 2.05, followed closely by Duluth’s “Pitcher of the Month” (2.07). Arkansas’s Josh Johnson (9-0, 3.32) is the victories leader, followed by five pitchers with 8 wins. The Strikeout leader is Danny Way’s Gerrit Cole , with 131 K. The Saves leader is still Albany’s Koji Uehara (16/17 in 23 GR, 2.10 ERA).

Below are some awards and tid-bits from May in the TML Franchise All Stars League.

** Player of the Month **

(MG) Scooter Gennett .406, 52-128, 9-1-7, 84 TB 25 R, 23 RBI, 10 W, 1 HBP OPS 1.106, 37 RC 2 GW-RBI

Honorable Mention: Mookie Betts(KY) .318, 10 HR, 31 R, 19 RBI, 32 RC (DW) .313, 7 HR, 31 R, 17 RBI, 30 RC Allen Craig(MN) .386, 6 HR, 17 R, 16 RBI, 28 RC Andrew Benintendi(AV).336, 3 HR, 19 R, 19 RBI, 28 RC Gaby Sanchez(TR) .314, 10 HR, 24 R, 23 RBI, 28 RC J.D. Martinez(MN) .386, 6 HR, 17 R, 16 RBI, 28 RC

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** Pitcher of the Month **

(DT) Stephen Strasburg 5-1, 1.83, 6 GS, 6 QS, 0 CG 44.1 IP, 23 H, 8 W, 54 K .149 OAVG, 0.70 WHIP

Honorable Mention: Tommy Hanson(BV) 2-0, 1.45, 5 QS, 0.94 WHIP Cole Hamels(WW) 4-1, 1.70, 5 QS, 0.90 WHIP (MN) 4-0, 2.06, 5 QS, 0.87 WHIP James Shields(CH) 3-2, 2.44, 5 QS, 0.88 WHIP Jered Weaver(CH) 4-1, 2.28, 5 QS, 1.02 WHIP Zack Wheeler(SA) 5-0, 2.45, 5 QS, 1.09 WHIP Jake Odorizzi(M9) 3-0, 1.66, 4 QS, 0.97 WHIP

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** Top Pitching Performance of the Month **

Mudville’s Jake Odorizzi hurled a nifty CG, 1-hit shutout at visiting Danny Way . The very first batter of the game, Jason Werth , lined a 1-2 pitch into right center for a double. He was left stranded there. Odorizzi settled into an unhittable groove only allowing one other base runner (a 2-out walk to Anthony Rizzo ). He retired the final 16 batters. Danny Way’s starter Gerrit Cole pitched 5 innings and fanned 15 ... yes ... every out he recorded was a strikeout!

5/18/2020, DW20-M920, Progressive Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Danny Way 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 1 0 Mudville 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 x - 2 7 0

Nine IP H R ER BB K PCH/STR ERA J.Odorizzi (W 5-3) 9 1 0 0 1 10 105/67 2.41 ------** Offensive Performance of the Month **

On the first day of the month, Albany’s Matt Olson had played a big role in his teams 11-10 dogfight win over host Perth . Olson staked his team to a 4-0 lead in the 1 st by socking a . After Perth responded with 5 runs of their own in the bottom of the 1 st , Olson regained the lead for his team with a 3-run HR in the 3rd . Albany added 3 more in the 6 th and hung on to win by one.

5/1/2020, AV20-PC20, Fenway Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Albany 4 0 4 0 0 3 0 0 0 - 11 13 0 Perth 5 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 - 10 12 0

Avalanche AB R H HR BI BB AVG M.Olson 1b 5 2 3 3 7 0 .211 1: GS-HR ; 3:3-RBI HR ; 5:1B; 7:F7; 9:43 ------

** Overtime Game of the Month **

The longest game of the month was a 22 inning marathon between Arkansas and host ’Skayuna . After a prolonged 0-0 pitching duel, Arkansas finally scored the first and only run in the game in the top of the 22 nd inning! It began when Daniel Bard hit Yan Gomes with a 2-1 pitch. After an F9, Freddie Freeman drew a walk, followed by an RBI-double by Scott Kingery . Kevin Quackenbush earned the win by setting the Squires down in order in the bottom half of the 22 nd .

5/20/2020, AR20-SS20, Busch Stadium 123 456 789 012 345 678 901 2 R H E LOB Arkansas 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 1 1 10 3 19 ‘Skayuna 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 0 0 11 1 12 ======Next up ... June highlights!

Staff Columnist - Biff Barnes Jr. Previous articles: http://tmlam.org/news/2021- APR.pdf