The Baltimore Monarchs advanced to the Cartwright Cup series for the third time in four years with a tight low scoring 6 game series win over the Chicago White Sox. Baltimore scored 23 runs in the series against 13 for Chicago. Balitmore will face Omaha, a team known for a potent offence much like the Monarchs, in the next round.
What went right:
The biggest key was the performance of the pitching staff. A team 2.21 ERA was the difference especially considering this was the 10th ranked staff in the JL during the regular season. Trade deadline acquisition Stanley Price was the star posting 2 big wins with a downright dominate 0.64 ERA in 14 innings.
...Also what went right is that we won...
What went wrong:
James Endres will miss the rest of the playoffs with an elbow injury. For a team with high hopes and built to win now this is the third big blow to the starting rotation with Jeff Baeza and Todd McKeever already out until almost 2013. Stanley Price, David Lewis, and Juan Rivera will be key and likely to get two starts each in the next series (if it goes to seven). The fourth spot has yet to be identified and manager Travis McDermott has said he will not name a starter until that game.
What comes next:
Omaha will be a big challenge. The offence is as good as anyone in the league. Looking through the pitching staff they are probably one of the more overlooked units in the league, however, are dealing with their own injury issues. They've been on a roll late in the season and coming off a huge series win against Hawaii. It will be a good test and a good series.
