A to Z League Labor Day Update: East Division

It's Labor Day in the A to Z League and the 22 clubs all have just 35 games remaining on their regular-season schedules. Clear leaders have emerged in two of the divisions with a month left to play. Two others remain close. This week we'll look at each.  Today: the East Division.

The East has tightened up a bit, which is a little amazing because in early August three clubs were in a tie for first palace. Moses Lake established a two-game lead, in part by winning nine in a row. Wenatchee pulled to within a game of first place with an 8-3 win at Moses Lake Sunday. It was the third straight loss for the division-leading M's. Cashmere, on the other hand, fell a game in the standings after going 3-4 for the past week, and are now seven games off the pace. It's a tough division; Moses Lake and Wenatchee have the most and second-most wins in the league, respectively.

MOSES LAKE: 83-50, leading the division

Mike Mussina

Moses Lake soldiers on without Pedro Martinez, who went down with an injury August 24 and isn't expected to be ready to return for at least another week. Pedro is 12-2 and his ERA sits at 2.70, third in the league.

The pain of Pedro's injury has been somewhat alleviated by the  presence of two "new" guys. Mike Mussina has been on the roster all season, beginning as a long reliever and spot starter. He started a couple of games in May and won both of those, then joined the rotation as a regular in early August. He's gone 5-0 in seven starts since, and overall is 8-0 with a solid 2.96 ERA. When Martinez went down manager Connie Mack called on Jack Morris to fill in. In three starts, Morris is 2-1 with a 2.86 ERA.

Dennis Martinez (7-6, 4.70) has taken over Mussina's old role of long reliever/spot starter. If Morris continues to pitch well El Presidente may be the odd man out when Pedro returns.

Moses Lake will open the week with three more games against Wenatchee and then play four at home against South-leading Goldendale.

WENATCHEE: 82-51, second in the division, 1 game back

Adam Wainwright

Wenatchee remains right in the race despite also being bit a little by the injury bug. Billy Wagner has just returned from a stint of a couple of weeks on the injured list and will bring some stability to the back end of the bullpen. Adam Wainwright went down about a week ago and probably won't be ready to return from the injured list for a couple of weeks more. At 12-3 Waino is the club's second-winningest pitcher, and his ERA is  3.86. Honus Wagner has been nursing a sore ankle for a few days, but may be back in the lineup in another day or two.

Wenatchee has scored 696 runs on the season, second in the league and just one fewer than Goldendale. Ted Williams is a triple-crown contender; at .338/43/101 he's third in batting, third in  homers, and fourth in RBI.

Wenatchee opens the week with three more key games at Moses Lake, then goes home for four against Ephrata.

CASHMERE: 76-57, third place, 7 games back

Rico Carty can hit

Cashmere has been sliding a bit. They've lost three of their last four and seven of their last 10, and have lost four games in the standings to both Moses Lake and Wenatchee over that stretch. At seven games back with 35 to play, their pennant hopes are not great. They've been losing some close games. Of their seven recent losses, five have been by two runs or fewer.

Scoring has been a bit of a challenge for the C's. For example, in his last two starts Roger Clemens has allowed just two runs on nine hits total, and has two no-decisions to show for the effort. It seems an odd problem for a club that can't find playing time for Rico Carty, who is hitting .357 mostly as a bat off the bench. When your outfield is Ty Cobb, Oscar Charleston, and Roberto Clemente, there's no room for a guy with limited defensive ability.

Cashmere has three more games to play at home against Renton, then heads off for a four-game series at Snoqualmie.

DAVENPORT: 70-63, fourth place, 13 games back

Joltin' Joe

Davenport is in about the middle of the pack in both hitting and pitching in the league, so their standing in a tough division is understandable.

Joe DiMaggio has been out of the lineup for a couple of days, nursing a bruised wrist suffered when he was hit by a pitch. He should be back out in center field in a day or three.

Davenport has three games coming up against Snoqualmie and then four at Tumwater.

EPHRATA: 62-71, fifth place, 21 games back

Can Cal Eldred save Ephrata?

Ephrata is in the bottom third in the league in pitching, and the big trouble has been finding a fourth and fifth starter. They have a nice ace in Dock Ellis, who is 15-6 with a 3.38 ERA. Yutaka Enatsu has the club's best ERA, 3.19, and is 10-8. Scott Erickson is 10-05, 4.20. Beyond that, it's been tough. Dick Ellsworth and Carl Erskine have been badly hammered in particular.

Cal Eldred is the latest to get a shot. He's had a couple of decent outings and two no-decisions.

Ephrata has three more games at home this week against Tumwater, then four at Wenatchee.

QUINCY: 51-82, sixth place, 32 games back

Jack Quinn

Quincy represents three letters, and they're still tied for the second-worst record in the A to Z League. The letter are Q, U, and I, and none  of them could have fielded much of a team on their own. The Quirks could be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention this week.

Despite a dismal season, Quincy has a few players leading league statistical categories. Jack Quinn, 3-17, is tied with Luis Tiant, Jr. for most losses on the mound. George Uhle is tied for the  league lead in balks with three. Chase Utley leads the loop in being hit by pitches with 19. Utley is the club's standout player, putting up an .834 OPS and a slash line of .276/19/71. Ichiro is batting .304, but his efforts to be moved to Snoqualmie have not bourne fruit.

Quincy has three games this week at home against Goldendale, and then four on  the road at Kelso.