Around the ABL: August 13-August 31

It's the dog days of summer, but there continue to be exciting performances all around the ABL.

Maurice Gould

August 13: Las Vegas 11, Dallas 0. Maurice Gould shuts down the Texans, striking out 13 over 8 1/3 innings. How dominant is Doughboy? Only three ABL pitchers have struck out 13 batters in a game. Dave Krause and Raúl Pérez each did it once: Krause struck out 13 Jesters on May 29, and Raúl Peréz struck out 15 in Greenville on May 8. This was Gould's eighth time accomplishing the feat.


August 13: Kansas City 5, Nottinghamshire 6. Down by three in the eighth, the Outlaws load the bases. A Steve Schneider single scores two, and an Allen Greene double gives Nottinghamshire the lead. Fred Jones pitches a perfect ninth, striking out two, to save the game. Tornado speedster Lawrence Fox steals his 50th base of the season.

Aurelia Ramírez

August 13: South Carolina 0, Carolina 2. Natural rivals square off in their only series of the season. Aurelia Ramírez (12-7) goes 7 2/3 innings allowing no runs, three hits, and one walk. He strikes out nine. Ánibal Machado saves his 26th game. The Crush goes on to sweep the series.

Clinton Thomas

August 15: Maple 5, So Cal 6. Alfredo Yánez slugs a two-run home in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game, and Clinton Thomas hits a pinch-hit walk-off homer in the ninth to give the Empire a rare victory. Thomas, a shortstop drafted in round 121, began the season in Single-A and was called up to the majors in June. He's hit well for So Cal, batting .291 in 110 at-bats with seven home runs.

Dave Olson

August 15: Eureka 4, New York 5. With two outs in the ninth and down by one, Mafioso Dave Olson drives a 3-2 pitch through the left-side hole. Pat Haynes comes around to score the tying run. In the 11th, Olson singles with the bases loaded, driving in Bill Cahill for the win.

Kevin Black

August 16: Montgomery 6, Seattle 0. Kevin Black (4-6) shuts out the Sasquatch for seven innings. "Ducky" has had an up-and-down season, but today he scatters six hits and two walks. Charles O'Connor pitches a scoreless eighth and ninth to complete the shutout, and the Mountain Cats go on to take two of three from their division rivals.

August 17: Cabo San Lucas 5, Los Angeles 4. Evil Empire center fielder Jeremy Flanagan taps into the dark side of the force and hits a grand slam in the second. The Bullfighters don't surrender, and Miguel Torres leads the rebellion, homering in the fourth and the sixth. Cabo wins, and now stands 3 1/2 games ahead of Los Angeles in the wild card standings.

Stan Cheslin

August 17: San Francisco 5, Jersey 6. Teenage superstar Stan Cheslin singles, doubles, homers, and steals a base, but its a John Woodward eighth-inning triple that drives in Bill Flynn that puts the Jesters up for good. Cheslin wins August Batter of the Month: he bats .347 with eight home runs, 30 RBIs, 31 runs scored, and nine stolen bases.

Eric McSwan

August 18: South Carolina 2, Maple 14. Eric McSwan slugs a grand slam in the fourth and a three-run homer in the fifth. He also walks in the seventh and scores on a three-bagger from Frank Powers. McSwan wins Player of the Week, batting .433 with 5 home runs, 12 runs scored, and 15 RBI.

Roderick Gray

August 19: Minnesota 9, Greenville 5. Berserker bats announce their presence with authority. Roderick Gray hits a two-run homer on the 10th pitch of the game, and Marvin Welch hits a three-run homer in the second. Minnesota scores eight in the first two innings and cruise to a victory. Gray tacks on a second homer in the eighth: injured for the first three months of the season, he has come back strong and has a 1.069 OPS.

Steve Frend

August 20: Ann Arbor 5, Seattle 15. In a matchup of top sluggers, Lorenzo Rodríguez and Steve Frend both go 3 for 4 with a home run. Over the four-game series, the Barn Owls and Sasquatch combine to hit 26 home runs and score 75 runs. Frend goes on to win a pair of Player of the Week Awards, Batter of the Month, and Rookie of the Month. In August, Frend bats .495 and posts a .612 on-base percentage with 11 home runs, 34 RBIs, 39 runs scored, and 6 stolen bases. He currently has a 15-game hitting streak.

August 23: Kansas City 7, Jacksonville 8. Never leave a ballgame early to beat traffic. Down by six going into the bottom of the ninth, the Jacks reward loyal fans with a fantastic comeback. They get five singles, a walk, two doubles, send 11 men to the plate, and score six to tie the game. In the 10th, Roberto Sosa hits his third double of the game, driving in Corbin Butler for the win.

Stanislav Izyurov

August 23: Montgomery 7, Montreal 8. Two teams battling for the wild card face off in Canada. The Mountain Cats take an early lead, 7-1. Tom Becker hits a three-run homer for the Bandits in the fifth. Dan Allen homers in the sixth, then singles in the tying run in the eighth. The game goes into extras, where Stanislav Izyurov gets his fifth hit of the game, a bases-loaded walk-off double. Montreal completes a sweep of Montgomery and takes a firm lead in the wild-card race.

August 25: Jacksonville 0, Mile High 3. Manuel Ruíz (11-11) pitches his fourth shutout of the season, completing his league-leading 10th game in the process. He allows three hits and does not allow a walk.

Norm Jackson

August 25: Boston 2, San Francisco 0. In a matchup of the two best teams in the Munson League, Cardinal ace Norm Jackson (18-5) dominates the Earthquakes' lineup. "Cheers" hurls eight scoreless innings, allowing only four hits and a walk while striking out seven. The win is Boston's 11th in a row.

Tommy
McCauley

August 27: San Francisco 1, Los Angeles 3. Tommy McCauley tore up Triple-A, batting .341 and hitting 37 home runs. His strong numbers earned him a call to the big club early this month, and he rewards the Evil Empire today by hitting a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth that sends the game into extra innings. In the 10th, Joseph McKee wins the game with his 15th home run of the year.

August 29: Jacksonville 5, Maple 9. Eric McSwan strikes again! Maple's designated hitter walks, singles, doubles, and hits two home runs to lead the Marauders over the Jacks.

Notes: The Munson League wins the third and final round of interleague play. Final scores: Earl Weaver 27, Tony La Russa 21; Billy Martin 27, Bobby Cox 21; Sparky Anderson 26, Tommy Lasorda 22. The Munson League wins all three rounds and takes the season series 238 to 194. ... On August 29, Steve Frend and Stan Cheslin become the inaugural members of the 30-30 club. Frend steals his 30th base, while Cheslin hits home runs number 29 and 30. ... Los Angeles signs ace Kingfish Crawford for three years and $49 million. ... Recently acquired starter Jim Thompson signs with Ann Arbor for four years and $50 million. ... Callum Ritchie signs an extension with Mile High: the All-Star shortstop will earn $37.5 million over 6 years. ... Montreal signs two key players to extensions. Despite his struggles and injuries, center fielder Gordon Thornton signs for five years and $104 million. Closer Joe Lowry signs for three years and $6 million.