A series win against Manama
The week started with Baghdad completing a four-game sweep in the Ballpark of Baghdad, but there was better news as the Red Crescents moved onto Manama to face the Pearls in their stadium. Bert Hackworth took the win in the series opener in which Riyadh scored all their six runs in the first four innings helped by Guillaume Martin’s 2-run homer in the top of the first. We completed the series win, our second in Manama, with a 3-2 win, all runs coming in the first innings. It was Sean Gardner’s ninth win of the season and Riyadh’s 45th. Three runs by the Pearls in the third innings of the final game in the series broke open a 2-2 tie and gave Manama some form of success. Returning home to Riyadh we continued in form with three runs in the last two innings of the game against Beirut enough to grab a 4-2 win and giving closer Ch’ang-chieh Xin his first win of the season. The last game of the week was a disappointing 1-9 defeat as the Red Crescents were outhit 15-6 and ended the week with a 3-3 record.
While the Chinese Taipei enter their last six games still chasing a Wild Card, our Triple-A side, the Port Elizabeth Windies, have also bucked up having received many offcuts from Riyadh. An 8-2 record in their last ten games had raised their record to .500 at 60-60. They were still 16 games back of leaders Luanda and it was most unlikely that the Windies would challenge for even a post season berth, but it would be a great fillet if they could finish their inaugural season above .500. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Double-A Santiago and A ball South Guam, both have a losing record and precious little chance of improving on that. South Guam might have a small chance though if the Chinese Taipei fail to make the post season. If that would be the case, several of their better players would be promoted to Saints which might give them some extra boost.
2046 Riyadh Results (up to Aug 11)
Vs BURT
| Team | HW | HL | AW | AL | RF | RA | Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baghdad | 3 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 77 | 117 | 8-15 |
| Beirut | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 103 | 124 | 13-12 |
| Jerusalem | 7 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 78 | 135 | 9-14 |
| Manama | 4 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 113 | 137 | 9-16 |
| Team | HW | HL | AW | AL | RF | RA | Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 27 | 0-3 |
| Bucharest | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 9 | 2-1 |
| Cairo | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 31 | 3-3 |
| Mumbai | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 26 | 0-5 |
| Tripoli | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 2-1 |