Weekly Top Five: June 15-June 21

The second round of interleague play wrapped up this week, and the Clemente League came out on top as the Bobby Cox Division outclassed the Billy Martin Division.

  Tommy Lasorda 24 vs. 24 Sparky Anderson
  Tony La Russa 22 vs. 26 Earl Weaver
      Bobby Cox 29 vs. 19 Billy Martin
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Clemente League 75 vs. 69 Munson League

With two-thirds of this season's interleague games in the books, the Clemente League leads by just four games, 146 to 142. The final round of interleague will begin in late August.

As I'm rather busy this week, I'm just going to post a top four. Here you go!

#4: Parks Golden at Golden Gate Park

Willis Parks

June 21: Carolina 2, San Francisco 5. At the age of 34, Carolina's Willis Parks is having himself a career year, and this afternoon, at Golden Gate Park, he has himself the best game of his career. Park leads off the game with a double, hits a solo home run in the third, triples and scores in the eighth, and singles in the ninth—a cycle!

This is the third cycle this year and the second by a Carolina player. Teammate Scott Andrews hit for the cycle on May 13 against Georgia. It's the 12th cycle in ABL history.

Today's performance pushes Parks's average to .312 and his OPS to .824.

Unfortunately, the rest of the Crush offense leaves their bats at home. Parks gets four of the team's six hits, and San Francisco wins easily, 5-2.

#3: Vegas and Ann Arbor Battle

Derrick Scott

June 16: Las Vegas 6, Ann Arbor 0. Derrick Scott grew up beside the Mississippi River, an Iowa boy who husked corn in the summer. He's now starring under the neon lights of Vegas, and tonight he pitches a five-hit shutout. He strikes out 10, walks one, and generally sails through the Barn Owl lineup. The only real trouble comes in the seventh, when the Barn Owls manage to load the bases with two outs, but Scott gets Brooks Davis to pop out to short. Dave Lewis goes 3-for-4 with a double and three runs batted in.

June 17: Las Vegas 1, Ann Arbor 2. Barn Owl starter Michael Bryan holds the Jokers scoreless, but he is constantly working out of trouble and leaves after only 4 2/3 innings having thrown 97 pitches. He doesn't get the win, but he and four relievers hold the Jokers to just one run. Backup catcher James Kernaghan hits a solo home run in the sixth. Solo home runs account for all the game's scoring, as Davis and Jeffrey Coffman go deep for Ann Arbor.

Maurice Gould

June 18: Las Vegas 3, Ann Arbor 4. Maurice Gould retires every batter not named Z-Rod, pitching eight innings, striking out 11, and walking none. Lorenzo Rodríguez gets two hits off of Gould. Z-Rod singles and homers off of Gould. The homer is the only run that Gould allows, and the single is the only other hit that Gould allows. Gould leaves the game with the Jokers ahead, 3-1.

The Barn Owls, clearly glad to see a different pitcher on the mound, rally in the bottom of the ninth. A single and a home run off the bat of Roberto Guzmán tie the game at three. In the 10th inning, Jeffrey Coffman's sac fly scores Clarence Wauchope. Gould's brilliance is all for naught as Ann Arbor walks away with the win.

#2: Wine Shuts Out the Jacks

Chris Wine

June 20: Minnesota 2, Jacksonville 0. Prior to this season, Chris Wine had been a dependable arm in Minnesota's rotation—roughly a league-average starter. He went 8-7 with a 4.70 ERA on Minnesota's division-winning 2012 team. Like seemingly all of the team's pitchers, he declined in 2013, going 11-11 with a 5.15 ERA in 2013. His 2014 season was cut short by injury.

This year, the 24-year-old New Jersey native has upped his game to a new level, and today Wine (6-5) pitches his first career shutout. He gets off to a rocky start, allowing a single and a double in the first inning, but he manages to escape without allowing a run. The Jacks manage to get only one more hit off Wine, a fourth inning double. He walks one and strikes out seven.

Matt Smith's hustle leads to a first-inning Berserker run. Smith singles to lead off the game. Xavier Chávez hits a fly ball out to deep right field, and Smith alertly tags and advances to second, then scores on a Zach Milford single.

#1: California Comeback

June 15: South Carolina 7, So Cal 8. The Bombers take a three-run lead, 7-4, into the bottom of the ninth. Closer Cal Henry not only strikes out the first two batters, he gets them to strike out swinging at his devastating curveball. He then gets two strikes on Rich Sweet.

It's now, when the Republic trail by three with the bases empty and are down to its final strike, that So Cal makes it move.

Ramón Guzmán

Sweet grounds a single to left. Alfredo Yánez lines a double down the first-base line. Chance Park falls behind in the count, 0-2, but works it full and lines a single to left. Sweet and Yánez score. Ramón Guzmán falls behind, 1-2. So Cal, for a third time this inning, is down to it's last strike. Guzmán homers to left, and the loyal fans at Staples Field roar in celebration of a miracle comeback.