The wildcard race ends as soon as it started
Sep 1 @ Baghdad L 5-6 (F/10)
Sep 3 v Manama L 6-9
Sep 4 v Manama L 5-6
Sep 5 v Manama W 10-5
Sep 6 v Beirut W 6-1
Sep 7 v Beirut L 4-5 (F/11)
Going into September we were actually on the fringes of a wildcard race, five games behind Manama, they were 4-6 in the last ten and we were 7-3. We had two series against the Pearls to come in the month too, could we? Would we? It was a short-lived dream though, first full series up in the final month we hosted Manama and blew it with a series loss. We finished the week seven games adrift of the Pearls and with just one series at Manama left among the remaining 20 games of 2049, it’s really hard to see any way the Red Crescents can force themselves back into the wildcard race.
We can’t complain though, we’ve edged ourselves to 75 wins in 2049, just seven wins shy of a first ever winning season for the Red Crescents. The records are tumbling, most wins, highest attendance average, most attendance, most revenue etc, etc. During the series at home to the Hebrew Hammers Riyadh are expected to welcome the 2,000,000th fan through the gates of The People’s Palace this season, a fantastic feat. With only a handful of minor league games to go, all four minor league affiliates have posted winning records and Port Elizabeth have become the second ever affiliate to secure a post-season berth.
Kevin Morales has had his six-game winning streak snapped, but is still on an eight-game steak without a loss as he moves on the 16 wins in 2049. Meanwhile Ricardo Quadrado was won his last two starts, taking him to 11 wins this season and 35 wins for the Red Crescents overall. Still determined to be a free agent, Masaki Sato, has passed the 40-homer mark for 2049 and has a real chance of a career year in homers & RBI. New backup catcher Cris Cordero has hit his first homer for Riyadh and walked five times in his first 13 PA’s for the Red Crescents with a triple slash average of .375/.615/.750, a very small sample size but perhaps we might have found a replacement for Diesel “All-Star” Dave when he finally hangs up his cleats? Dave is currently just two games away from his 500th appearance in the UMEBA and is now over 1,150 appearances for the BBA & UMEBA combined. The disappointing Romeu Tameiro is now back off the IL and will slot into the #5 spot in the rotation, replacing the even more disappointing Jose Lima who will take a long/swing role in the bullpen.
2049 Riyadh Results against the UMEBA (up to September 7th )
Vs BURT
| Team | HW | HL | AW | AL | RF | RA | Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baghdad | 7 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 169 | 147 | 19-11 |
| Beirut | 5 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 113 | 144 | 10-17 |
| Jerusalem | 9 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 101 | 78 | 18-8 |
| Manama | 9 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 132 | 143 | 13-17 |
| Team | HW | HL | AW | AL | RF | RA | Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 33 | 33 | 3-3 |
| Bucharest | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 20 | 0-3 |
| Cairo | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 26 | 27 | 4-2 |
| Mumbai | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 28 | 26 | 4-2 |
| Tripoli | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 22 | 3-3 |