(BPI-Van Schaick Island, New York) *Corrected* Biff Barnes Jr. TML Highlight Reel – May 2020 ======Wildcats String 22 Straight “W”s!

In the Oceanic Conference , the Kentucky Wildcats (25-5 in May) went on a 22-game winning streak coming out of April, which was ended on a 10-inning, 5-4, home loss to Rocky Mountain ! Kentucky has opened up a 7-game lead over 2 nd place Perth (19-11) in the Ruth Division . For the month, the Kentucky pitching staff posted an amazing 2.28 team ERA, supported by the bat of (.398, 5 HR, 31 R, 14 SB in May). In the Steinmetz , Walla Walla (19-11) had a strong month and now leads Albany (14- 16) by 4 games. In the Williams , California now has a 6-game lead, as no divisional opponent was better than their 14-16 record in the month!

Over in the Atmospheric Conference , the Madison Danes (19-11) showed no signs of slowing down and now have a 6-game lead over Vanderlyle (19-11) in the Robinson Division . Madison was led by their trio of “Aces” in Max Scherzer , Madison Bumgarner and “ of the Month” . The three combined for a 13-5 record in their 18 GS in May. In the Gehrig , Traffic (19-11) took over first place, as Chesapeake (16-14, 4 GB) and Toxic Waste (14-16, 5 GB) both stumbled. In the Gatto , Murderous (14-16), despite a losing month, lost no ground to Santa Ana (14-16) and still leads by 3 games.

------We have a tie for the batting lead between Traffic’s Gleyber Torres and New York’s Tim Anderson , both at .347. Kentucky’s Mookie Betts is 3 rd at .341. Santa Ana’s rookie Pete Alonso still leads with 22 HRs, one ahead of Marco Island’s Ketel Marte . Chesapeake’s Jorge Soler is the RBI leader (54). The new SB leader is Kentucky’s Betts (21/28).

The new ERA leader is Kentucky’s at 1.88. Albany’s is 2 nd at 2.13 and is tied for the victories lead at 9-0 with Darvish (9-1). The leader is still Madison’s Max Scherzer now with 122 Ks. The Saves leader is still Walla Walla’s (14/14 in 19 GR, 0.95 ERA).

Below are some awards and tid-bits from May in the TML American.

** Player of the Month **

(BB) Kris Bryant .380, 35-92, 8-1-12, 81 TB 29 R, 28 RBI, 18 W, 2 SB OPS 1.358, 41 RC 3 GW-RBI

Honorable Mention: Ketel Marte(MG) .370, 12 HR, 32 R, 28 RBI, 40 RC (AV) .324, 13 HR, 29 R, 31 RBI, 38 RC Tommy Edman(MG) .377, 7 HR, 29 R, 17 RBI, 34 RC Yoan Moncada(CH) .411, 8 HR, 24 R, 18 RBI, 34 RC Gleyber Torres(TR) .362, 10 HR, 20 R, 27 RBI, 32 RC Mookie Betts(KY) .398, 5 HR, 31 R, 15 RBI, 32 RC Carlos Santana(BB) .296, 11 HR, 27 R, 22 RBI, 31 RC Christian Yelich(TX).333, 9 HR, 20 R, 22 RBI, 31 RC ------

** Pitcher of the Month **

(MN) Shane Bieber 3-1, 2.62, 6 GS, 4 QS, 1 CG 44.2 IP, 24 H, 11 W, 56 K .153 OAVG, 0.78 WHIP NO-HITTER

Honorable Mention: Mike Minor(WW) 3-1, 2.00, 5 QS, 0.84 WHIP Zack Wheeler(TX) 4-1, 2.43, 5 QS, 1.01 WHIP Mike Clevinger(DW) 4-1, 3.07, 5 QS, 1.15 WHIP Max Scherzer(MN) 4-1, 2.68, 5 QS, 1.19 WHIP Charlie Morton(PC) 3-1, 2.45, 5 QS, 1.20 WHIP Brad Keller(TR) 4-0, 2.75, 5 QS, 1.27 WHIP Kenta Maeda(AV) 4-0, 2.01, 4 QS, 0.79 WHIP Jacob deGrom(DW) 4-2, 3.12, 4 QS, 1.12 WHIP Brandon Woodruff(SS) 3-0, 2.23, 4 QS, 1.32 WHIP Yu Darvish(KY) 5-1, 1.82, 3 QS, 1.03 WHIP Anthony DeSclafani(KY)5-1, 2.75, 3 QS, 1.31 WHIP ------

** Top Pitching Performance of the Month **

Madison’s Shane Bieber tossed the season’s first no-hitter on the road at host Santa Ana ! Bieber came within one batter of a perfect game, when he walked pinch-hitter Jordy Mercer on a 3-1 pitch in the 9 th inning with 2 outs! Bieber fanned 13 on the way to his gem.

5/13/2019, MN19-SA19, Wrigley Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Madison 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 2 9 0 Santa Ana 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0

Danes IP H R ER BB K PCH/STR ERA S.Bieber (W 6-1) 9 0 0 0 1 13 117/79 2.76

Honorable Mentions: 5/ 7: M.Boyd(M9) 6.1IP, 3H, 2R, 2W, 15K , Won 5/12: G.Cole(DW) 7.0IP, 3H, 4R, 3W, 15K , Lost ------

** Offensive Performance of the Month **

Murderous’s Teoscar Hernandez led his team to a blowout victory over visiting Toxic Waste . Hernandez was 4-for-4, with a pair of 2-run doubles, a 3-run HR and an RBI single. He drew a walk in his other PA. On the day, Hernandez tallied 8 RBI .

5/26/2019, TX19-MX19, Camden Yards 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Toxic Waste 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 6 2 Murderous 2 6 0 3 1 0 1 1 x - 14 12 1

Crows AB R H HR BI BB AVG T.Hernandez cf 4 2 4 1 8 1 .250 1:2-RBI 2B ; 2:3-RBI HR ; 4:2-RBI 2B ; 6:BB ; 8:RBI 1B

Honorable Mention: 5/ 7: M.Pena(CH) 4-5, 3 R, 6 RBI, 2R HR , 3R HR , 1R 1B , 1B ------

** Overtime Games of the Month **

The longest game of the month was a pair of 14 inning affairs. The first was between Albany and host Perth , won by Perth on a 2-out, walk-off, 3-run HR by D.J. LeMahieu . The second was between ‘Skayuna (again) and host Lake Wobegone . ‘Skayuna finally ended the game when David Peralta singled in a run in the 14 th and Neil Anderson set down the side in order in the bottom half, finishing up 3 solid innings of relief. Both pitching staffs were “on” as their were only 5 walks and 17 Ks in the 2-1 game. Lake Wobegone starter Mike Foltynewicz made it into the 12 th inning before yielding to his bullpen!

5/27/2019, AV19-PC19, Fenway Park 123 456 789 012 34 R H E LOB Albany 010 003 000 000 00 4 9 1 7 Perth 100 000 030 000 03 7 10 0 9

6/1/2019, SS19-LW19, Targer Field 123 456 789 012 34 R H E LOB ‘Skayuna 001 000 000 000 01 2 6 2 5 Lake Wobegone 001 000 000 000 00 1 9 0 9 ======Next up ... June highlights!

Staff Columnist - Biff Barnes Jr. Previous articles: http://tmlam.org/news/2020- APR.pdf