The Brewster

Third two-win week sees Riyadh slip to fourth
In the end the Red Crescents finished April with a 12-16 record, not brilliant, but the most wins the franchise has ever had in the opening month of the season. Riyadh is currently two games ahead of Baghdad which is believed to be the latest they have ever been ahead of anyone in the BURT standings. May brings our first real foray into the BANC division with a home series against leaders Bucharest and a trip to fellow expansionists Cairo.

Bert Hackworth has sent me an email saying he’s very keen on a contract extension, probably not the right time to ask as he’s been tagged with three losses in five starts and owns an ERA not far short of 7.00. 33-yr-old Arturo Rivera is still proving a great pickup at the back of the bullpen, in 24 innings pitched he’s only allowed two runs and has an ERA of 0.73. He also has 20 strikeouts, second on the team to Ricardo Quadrado who has 21 K’s.

Diesel “All-Star” Dave is certainly blowing hot and cold at the moment, well more like frozen, as he managed just one hit in his last six games while adding 11 strikeouts to his impressive tally. Left fielder Juan Martinez is certainly establishing himself as a team mainstay in his third season in Riyadh. He’s on a pace to definitely have a career year, looking to hit around 25 homers and 100 RBI currently. Jose Leyva is also getting noticed, his batting average of .287 is currently the best of the regular starters while he also is producing in the outfield too with a ZR of +2.3 & a deff Eff of 1.018 out in centre.

Two players with UMEBA experience in Riyadh have slipped as low as Double-A in the organisation, but have taken it in different ways. 22-yr-old Ivan Thomas has been hitting .325 with six homers & 21 RBI and is pushing to head back up the levels while 22-yr-old Burt Davies must be close to the end of his chances as he continues to flail at thin air with his bat. He is currently hitting just .176/.230/.191 even at this low level. Last year’s #1 draft pick, 20-yr-old Jouo Rovanpera , is settling in well in his first full season in A Ball, improving his defence slowly at both MI positions while hitting three homers & nine RBI in his first 17 games in South Guam during 2048.




2048 Riyadh Results against the UMEBA (up to May 4th)

Vs BURT

Team	HW	HL	AW	AL	RF	RA	Series
Baghdad	1	2	2	3	37	47	3-5
Beirut	1	2	1	1	11	22	2-3
Jerusalem	1	3	2	1	33	31	3-4
Manama	2	3	1	2	28	37	3-5

Vs BANC

Team	HW	HL	AW	AL	RF	RA	Series
Athens	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0
Bucharest	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0
Cairo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0
Mumbai	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0
Tripoli	0	0	1	2	11	9	2-1