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Four weeks ago the Ducks had one foot out the door on the way to irrelevance. Despite being two games out of the playoffs and having multiple players in races for individual awards at the time, the team themselves did not even seem to have any interest in the season. Well, during the last four weeks a fire has been lit under these Ducks' asses. They have gotten a handle on staying on top of their front-office responsibilities, and are taking the field with the intensity we expected to see all season long. The turnaround started slow: a pair of 1-0 wins over Belgian in week seven. That was followed by a 16-6 mercy and 4-2 victory on the road at the Island the following week. Then, last week in the first set against El Diablos, we finally got the sign that the Ducks are back: a split with El Diablos at Pervis Memorial. It was not just the fact they got the split, either. The first game, won by the Ducks, was a six inning  duel between Craig Skinner and Dennis Pearson. 34 of 36 outs were recorded by strike out, no runs were allowed during regulation, and only two hits total. If that bout of vintage Pearson was the marching cadence, then the "shot heard around WSEM" was the three-run home run to deep center field that came in the top of the sixth off that same man's bat - Dennis' league leading thirteenth home run.With all that said about the resurgence of the Ducks, however, El Diablos have all but clinched the Garcia Division pennant. Their win in last week's split reduced their magic number to three. A repeat of that will bring it down to just one. El barrido makes the teal pennant official this week. Nothing less than a split can be expected from El Diablos in the second half of this home-and-home series, either, as their offense had their way with the Ducks new number two pitcher, Phillip Morris, in game two: an 11-1 mercy behind a dominant 3 walk, 1 hit performance by Chandler Phillips on the mound. They outhit the Ducks 7 to 1 in  the second game, including a walk-off home run of their own off the bat of Kyle Tomlinson; his tenth on the season, which puts him third in the league. Kyle is joined in that top five by teammates Dakota LaDouceur (9) and Nicco Lollio (8).As much as it should concern the Ducks not having that second spot in the rotation as secure as expected, the silver lining to the first volley of games in this series is that even when facing a potent offense Pearson is firing on all cylinders and functioning as a true ace at this point. That alone could prove invaluable during the Ducks wild card chase. Before all of that, however, the match-up of he and Skinner is must see TV. Even after the three-run blast, Craig has an ERA of 0.48 and a 0.81 WHIP to accompany his 7-2 record. In fact, that home run is just the second hit he has given up on the season. Dennis' overall ERA and WHIP are still inflated at 4.88 and 2.81, but in his last three starts he has posted a 2.00 ERA and 1.67 WHIP. He also has a 3-0 record over this stretch, including two shut outs. It may not be for a title or even high stakes, but some of the best heavy weight match-ups are purely for bragging rights. Clear your schedules now (well, once we are told the date and time), this is primed to be one for the record books: Pearson vs. Skinner, round two!
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| Field of Make-believe | Reservation | Swamp | |||||||
| 6/29 | 6/29 | 6/30 | 6/30 | 6/30 | |||||
| HB | 9|8 | WA | 7|18 | HB | 2|16 | WA | 13|7 | EL | 5|3 |
| KF | 4|3 | KF | 0|0 | WW | 4|5 | WW | 2|0 | DU | 0|4 |
| Unavailable Pitchers: 1 Game: Matt (BW), Morris (DU), C. Phillips (EL), N. Braden (HB), Linebrink (IS), M. Brannan (KF), DeTizio (WW), Hughes (WA) 2 Games: N/A |
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Rough week for the house with every Picker posting at least 50% correct. Let's call it the karma kickback for week six when only one correct pick was made. Chris and Rich both went 4-0, moving them to 23-18 and 27-14 overall, respectively. Alex followed at 3-1, now 14-23 on the season. Even bringing up the rear at 2-2, David was still respectable, and is now 16-24 on the year. Everyone hit on both over/unders, although going over 46.5 total Ks in the Els/Ducks series looked promising before the mercy in game two. The only other pick last week was the point spread in the Balls/Aces series, where HB +6.5 came through with room to spare as the Aces only outscored by 2 in the series. Now, onto a busier week ten: 5 series and 6 teams on the fields. It is also a week where we could see some big movement at the front of the pack, as Rich and Chris are poised for as much as a five point swing. |
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 David (16 - 24) |
 Richard (27 - 14) |
 Alex (14 - 23) |
 Chris (23 - 18) |
 @  Total HR: Over/Under 9.5 |
Over Greg Brannan does a somersault coming home when he hits his 3rd home run of the day. |
Under Corbs gives Paquin an underdog on the swingset. |
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Under During the forth inning stretch of game one, Nick Coffee goes to play in the sandbox naked. |
 @ Robs by tree in RF: Over/Under 2.5 |
Under But Hollister does his best Greg Brannan impressions over there in right. Carl Coffee finally throws the bat after walking instead of setting it against the K zone. |
Under Bischoff throws a perfect game and is carried off the field by kids from the playground. |
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Under The only way the Brannan's get a base is when they tear down the field. |
@  Series Result |
1 - 1 Split Castle's hot streak is ended and he goes 0-fer |
1 - 1 Split |
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Holy Balls Sweep Shore receives the golden sombrero. |
@ Series Point Spread: WA -4.5 |
Warriors +4.5 One game is a perfect game from both starting pitchers for the first 5 innings. |
Wicked Aces -4.5 |
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Wicked Aces -4.5 Austin with two ding dongs. |
 @  Series Result |
El Diablos Sweep Snap, Crackle, Pop and Lock it! Mark Phillips actually runs out a base hit. |
El Diablos Sweep game 1 start delayed for 25 min someone forgot to bring the balls. |
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1 - 1 Split Josh Roberts tries to steal home and everyone laughs hysterically. |
