NEWS

 

Saturday, May 6

Downtown Bulls (3-6) vs. NY Indians (5-3) @Elmjack Alternate -1:30 p.m.

The Bulls gamely battled to a split with the NY Tigers last weekend but will have a tough cross-divisional test against the Tribe this weekend. 

One of the top-ranked teams in the Brooklyn/Queens conference, the Indians should be coming into this weekend with a good deal of momentum. In their last three contests, they handed the previously unbeaten Mustangs their first loss of the season, then thrashed the expansion Braves last weekend, outscoring their opponents 35-3 over the course of a double-header.

 

Sunday, May 7

NYC Mud Hens (5-1) vs. NY Patriots (5-3) @St. Mary’s – 8:30 a.m.

The Mud Hens come into the weekend fresh off their biggest wins of the season, scoring a double-header sweep of the Tigers (Brooklyn/Queens) last weekend. Although their bats have been slow to come around thus far – they managed just three hits in a 1-0 Game 1 win against 2016 Cy Young winner Greg Polius – they have relied on terrific performances by a deep pitching staff. A total of eight hurlers have taken the mound for the Mud Hens in the first three weeks of the season, combining for a 0.97 ERA over 36 innings pitched.

Like the Hens, the Pats are also coming off a decisive sweep, as they handed the NY Tigers (Bronx/Manhattan) a pair of losses last Sunday. The Patriots have shown the ability to grab extra bases so far, posting 20 stolen bases on the year (2nd in the league) and the Hens will be forced to contend with their aggressiveness on the basepaths if they hope to pull out a win.

 

Giants (1-5) vs. NY Tigers (5-4-1) @Randall’s Island – 8:30 a.m.

The Tigers suffered their first sweep of the season last weekend but will look to bounce-back against the last place team in the Bronx/Manhattan division. Although the Giants’ record might suggest otherwise, don’t expect this one to be an easy task for the first-year club.

On April 23, the Giants lost two hard-fought contests to the Pats, a team that handled the Tigers last week, so Dexter Khan’s club has shown the ability to hang with some of the toughest teams in the division. The Tigers will need quality outings from the pitching staff, which gave up 17 runs in two games with the Pats, if they want to get back in the win column.

 

Gotham City Bats (6-2) vs. RoughRiders (5-1-1) @Van Cortlandt Park – 8:30 a.m.

The most anticipated matchup of the weekend pits the top two teams in the Bronx/Manhattan Division against one another with first place hanging in the balance.

The Riders split with the Beers last weekend, suffering their first loss of the season in the process, but should be buoyed by a strong performance against top Bronx/Manhattan hurler Ryan Smith. Against the dominant right-hander, the Riders seemed to be in line for a 2-1 win over the Brew Crew before a blown save sent the game into extra-innings, where they cobbled together a game-winning rally against Beers’ reliever Anderson Herrad.

The performance against Smith should give the Riders confidence that they can hang with any pitcher in the league.

The Bats have quite a few dominant arms on the roster, including Ben Strack, who has gotten off to a 3-0 start while posting a 1.31 ERA.

 

San Pedro Mariners (2-3) vs. Whitestone Nationals (3-3) @Baisley – 9 a.m.

The Mariners’ record is a bit deceiving considering the amount of talent they have on the roster. Over the first few weeks, the Mariners have played the toughest schedule of any team in the league, contending with the Indians, Mud Hens and Tigers (Brooklyn/Queens) in that time.

But with a plethora of quality arms and a lineup loaded with power bats, the Mariners look to take two from a Nationals team that seems to be on the rise.

Last week, the Nats avenged an early-season sweep to the Mustangs, taking two games from their rivals to knock them out of first place in the division. A lot of that had to do with an absolutely terrific outing by Tyler Quintana, who limited the ‘Stangs to just three hits on the day. Quintana fanned 11 batters to pick up his first win of the season.

 

Tigers (3-4) vs. Braves (0-7) @Canarsie – 9 a.m.

The winless newcomers will face another top-flight ballclub this week in a Tiger team looking to get back to their winning ways after a sweep at the hands of the Hens. Despite his hard-luck loss last week, Greg Polius remains the best pitcher in the Brooklyn/Queens Division and has not allowed an earned run all season.

The Tigers have a deep lineup from top to bottom, but expect big things from Les Guzman (.474, 6 RBIs) and Khalil Bratton (.462, 6 RBIs) this weekend.

 

Beers (4-5-1) vs. Blue Jays (2-4) @St. Mary’s Park – 2:30 p.m.

Both the Beers and Jays split last weekend, but the Jays could be in trouble as it appears as though Beers’ ace Ryan Smith is rounding into form.

Smith, who has pitched somewhat sparingly over the last few years, has been a workhorse for the Beers this year, logging 20 innings of work thus far to lead his club. He has pitched to a 0.35 ERA and struck out 43 batters in that time, serving as both a starter and a closer (2 saves).

The performance of Anderson Herrad, who has posted a 1.82 ERA over 15 innings, means that Beers have found a reliable No. 2 starter, which should make them tough to beat down the stretch.

 

*All records/schedules are compiled from Pointstreak as of May 3, at 11:30 a.m. Some games have been entered by word of mouth, but may not be represented in the team's overall record