Federal Reserves
Boston Overcomes Injuries, Surges into East Race
DETROIT (July 10) -- The Boston Federals lost another pitcher for the season on July 26, when Bert Blyleven broke his ankle sliding into second after a double off Sandy Koufax.  Blyleven (4-9, 3.58) joins Jim Rooker (10-2, 3.42), and Gary Nolan (6-10, 5.20) on the long-term DL, along with shortstop Clete Boyer and a pair of relievers.  But with a quarter of their opening day roster lost for the year, the Feds still managed to win 10 of their last 12 games to cue up a replay of last year's three-way race in the East Division.

The surge began will stellar pitching performances, with a Jerry Koosman four-hitter, and back-to-back shutouts by Bert Blyleven and Mike Cuellar.  But since the 3-2 loss to Detroit on July 24, the Feds have tallied 53 runs in their last seven games (7.6 per game), including 31 runs in three games.  Rico Petrocelli and Orlando Cepeda each have three homers and 9 RBIs in those seven games and are hitting over .375 for the week, along with Chuck Hinton and Spanky Spangler.

Chris Short, a former top-of-the-rotation guy who started the year in Philly, stepped into the rotation in mid-June and has excelled, going 4-1 with a 2.78 ERA in eight starts, including three straight wins.  And Jim Coates, who owns a 0.89 ERA in 19 games, notched a pair of relief wins in the Blyleven injury game and a 6-3 ninth-inning win over Washington on July 31.

Boston passed Manhattan for third place and cut its deficit with Washington from nine games to 3.5 games in just two weeks.  But Detroit is still in second place ahead of them, and with three Opening Day starters on the DL, GM Brendan Harris will rely on Short, Marcelino Lopez, and the likes of and Glen Hobbie or Jay Hook to cover starts down the stretch.  But the Feds can take heart in their resurgent offense, their 7-4 record against Washington, and the seemingly endless supply of reservists filling in slots of players lost to injury.

 

WEST DIVISION Atlanta scored 101 runs in 11 games (9.2 runs per game) in a 9-2 run that pushed them five games ahead of Dallas in the West Division.  Atlanta scored at least 10 runs in six of the 11 games, including both losses, a 13-10 setback vs. Washington and a 17-12 slugfest with San Francisco.   Gaylord Perry, Jim McAndrew, Wayne Simpson, and Jack Billingham each suffered blowout losses as Dalls dropped 8 of 12.  Simpson and McAndrew had July ERAs of 7.22 and 6.20 respectively.    Outlaws lost six in a row July 22-28, including four games in which they blew leads.  Ken Henderson had 5 RBI against St. Louis July 21 and won ROM with .320-5-17 in 23 games.  Lost Frank Robinson (fractured foot, 3 weeks) and Don Demeter (forearm strain, 6 weeks) two days apart.    The Maroons inked 2B Joe Morgan ($10.1M/5 yr), SP Don Sutton ($8.3M/4 yr), and MR Bob Locker ($5.3M/5 yr) to long-term deals.  SS Jim Fregosi signed a $20M/5 year deal in April.   Bill Parsons threw the seventh one-hitter of the season, blanking St. Louis 3-0 on July 31, and ending the Colts' five-week stay in last place.   Lost 11 of 14 as the runs dried up.  1B Lee May is hitting .080 in last 19 games and Billy Williams hit .191 in July.  "Sweet Swingin" my ass.

EAST DIVISION Lost 7 of last 10, due in part to Al Oliver's herniated disk and Ray Fosse's slump.  Mons are 7-11 since Oliver, the Mons top hitter (.301-14-52), suffered a herniated disk on July 9.  Fosse hit .356 in June, but only .224 in July.  Lee Thomas also slumped, from .319 to .246.     Dock Ellis keeps on rolling, with a league-high 13 wins, including 3-1 in July.  Reggie Jackson, Dick Allen, and Frank Howard combined for 22 HR in July, but Howard will miss August with a torn quad.    Orlando Cepeda is back on top of the home run chart, after hitting a game-winning 3-run homer in D.C. July 31 to catch LA's Frank Robinson, who was homerless in four games before breaking his foot July 26.   Dropped to fourth after 2-11 skid.  Phil Niekro is 4-0, 0.84 in last 6 starts.  Joe Horlen was 0-3, 4.50 in 5 July starts.  Ron Santo caught fire in July, hitting .309 with 9 HR and 22 RBI.    Jim Palmer struck out nine Gray Sox in a one-hit shutout July 25, then tacked on eight more shutout innings at Brooklyn six days later.  Palmer won POM with a 3-1 record and 1.54 ERA in five starts, and leads the league with three shutouts.   Closer Ray Lamb has not allowed an earned run in 17 appearances, notching nine saves and two wins and helping the Superbas to a 16-14 record in one-run games (vs. 24-52 in all other games).