After the first 2 series (7 games total) things stand exactly where they started with Tacoma holding a 3 game lead over Salem and a 10 game lead over Helena as all 4 teams went 4-3 over this 7 game stretch. While Salem would have liked to have picked up a game, we've been able to rest several key starters for the stretch kick, and aside from today's injury to Alex Gomez, are just about full go heading into the final kick. Meanwhile, Helena was going to need a big kick to make up that much ground, and while there's no shame in going 4-3, its not going to be enough to win the division. Of course on the other side of things, Jacksonville's late slide has enhanced the chances of Helena to steal the last WC spot, 4 games behind Jacksonville along w/ Trenton and the surging Salt Lake City.
Tacoma starts a 10 game stretch w/ 7 vs Philly and 3 more vs Montreal, while Salem gets 7 vs Boston and 3 vs Iowa City. W/ Salem sitting 8 games behind Philly for the 2 seed (Tacoma would be 5), this coach is now pulling for Philly to sweep those 7 games, or at least win 5 of them while hopefully taking care of busines, especially vs Iowa City which is now leading their division and a mear 1 game behind Salem (4 behind current division leader Tacoma) for that 3 seed (and hence avoiding Montreal as long as possible). After this kick, the 2 square off for a final showdown, heading into the last 2 weeks of the season. Salem really needs to find itself tied up w/ Tacoma heading into that series, so I'm hoping for a 7-3 stretch over the next 10 or better, while Tacoma drops 6 or more vs that tough schedule. MVP canidate Kit Purcell is just getting healthy, so they'll have their potent offense on full fire as they try to tackle the top 2 organizations in the AL
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