A to Z League Labor Day Update: Puget 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 Puget Division.

The Puget is an interesting division. Bainbridge Island has been at or near the top of the division for most of the season, but never by very much. Now they suddenly find themselves leading the division by nine games over second-place Snoqualmie, picking up three games in the past week. BI has won five in a row, including a sweep of Ocean Shores, and seven of its last eight. Meanwhile Snoqualmie has been spinning its wheels, going 4-6 in their last 10.

It's also notable that Snoqualmie has a better run differential than does Bainbridge Island. The S's have scored 10 more runs than the Bees and have given up six more, so the difference is just four runs. The stats suggest the two clubs are pretty evenly matched--except the stats in the won-lost column.

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND: 81-52, leading the division

Bert Blyleven

Bainbridge Island has managed to put up the third-best record in the league without any starting pitchers who are putting up particularly sterling numbers. Bert Blyleven is the big winner of the rotation at 12-7, but his ERA is 4.04. Kevin Brown is at 9-3, Vida Blue 6-7. They're picking up games out of the bullpen. Rod Beck is 12-5 in relief and has notched 31 saves, fifth in the league. He's also fourth in blown saves with nine, which may be where some of the wins have come from. Armando Benitez is 8-4 and Zach Britton 5-1. The bullpen is 15 games over .500.

The BI offense continues to score, led by Barry Bonds who has 45 home runs and 110 RBI, second in the league in both. Jeff Bagwell is second on the club with 22 homers and Bobby Bonds has 21.

The Bees have three more games this week at Long Beach, then four at home against Jefferson County.

SNOQUALMIE: 72-61, second in the division, 9 games back

Joakim Soria

As noted above, Snoqualmie has a better run differential that division-leading Bainbridge Island, yet trails by nine games. Some are looking to the S's bullpen for answers.

They've had trouble closing games despite the presence of three Hall of Fame relievers on the roster. At least, they WERE on the roster. Bruce Sutter was named closer at the start of the season; he saved 16 games but went 4-5 with a 5.19 ERA. Then Lee Smith got the nod; he saved seven, but was 0-7, 6.28. Finally on August 8 manager Casey Stengel got fed up with both, farmed them to the reserve roster, called up Jeff Shaw and Huston Street, and pulled John Smoltz from the rotation to be the new closer. He's saved four games in five opportunities, but coaches Billy Southworth and Red Schoendienst have been urging Stengel to give Joakim Soria a shot at closing and return Smoltz to the rotation.

Mike Schmidt leads Snoqualmie with 36 home runs and 98 RBI.

Snoqualmie plays three more games at Davenport this week before coming home for a four-game set against Cashmere.

RENTON: 70-63, third place, 11 games back

Eppa Rixey

Renton has been sneaking back into contention, if that's what you call being 11 games out with 35 to play. They've won five in a row, including a sweep of Davenport, and before that had a 12-game road trip during which they went 6-6, so they've won 11 of their last 17.

It appears that manager Wilbert Robinson has finished using Babe Ruth as a starting pitcher. The Bambino went 2-4 and 4.15 in eight starts--not bad, but not the sort of boost Uncle Robbie was looking for. Plus, during a start on August 9 Ruth had to bow out early because of major indigestion (official medical analysis) and spent 11 days on the injured list. He hasn't pitched since, perhaps in part because his injury replacement, Eppa Rixey, has pitched OK--1-1, 3.05 in six starts.

The Babe continues to rake at the plate: he has 37 home runs and 95 RBI.

Renton plays three more games this week at Cashmere and then four at home against Ocean Shores.

TUMWATER: 62-71, fourth place, 19 games back

Luis Tiant, Jr.

Tumwater continues to bump along, going 6-6 over their last dozen games. Oddly enough, they split a series at home against Moses Lake, one of the better teams in the league, and also split a series at Yakima, one of the worst.

Pitching has been a problem for the T's, whose 4.24 club ERA is 20th in the league. John Tudor has been a standout at 12-5, 3.07. One hundred thirty-three games into the season they're still looking for their second starter. They do have at least one hurler gunning for the league lead in a statistical category. Luis Tiant, Jr. is 8-17 and tied with Jack Quinn of Quincy for most defeats. Tiant's father, Luis, Sr., is 8-12, so they're the leading father-son duo with 29 losses. They're the only father-son pitching duo in the league, but it's still something.

Mike Trout is having a marvelous season with 38 home runs, 96 RBI, 92 runs scored, and a .298 average, all tops on the team. He's another T chasing a dubious mark, as he's whiffed 174 times to lead the league.

Tumwater plays three more at Ephrata this week, then heads home for four against Davenport.

NORTH BEND: 48-85, fifth place, 33 games back

Hideo Nomo

North Bend is the worst team in the league, thanks to the worst hitting and second-worst pitching. They're so bad they're likely to be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention any day now, with a little more than a month left in the season.

It's a little odd that North Bend's club ERA (4.26) is so bad, given that their five current starters are all better than that. Hideo Nomo has the best mark, 3.26 in 18 starts, but his record is just 3-8. Hal Newhouser (9-11, 3.48), Don Newcombe (6-11, 3.95), Gary Nolan (6-10, 3.98), and Phil Niekro (8-7, 4.20) all deserve a few more runs, and wins.

North Bend plays three more this week at Ocean Shores and then returns home for four games against Long Beach.