1. Sioux City Explorers (59-34, 1st, West)
Record last week: 2-1 vs. Lincoln, 1-1 @ Sioux Falls, 0-1 vs. Sioux Falls (ongoing series)
Remaining schedule: 3 vs. Sioux Falls, 4 @ Winnipeg
They took two tight losses to an ascending Canaries squad in a series that is ongoing into this week, but the Explorers otherwise took care of business and maintained their best record in the league, however now just three games up over Kansas City. With a week to go in the season, Kansas City appears to be the only remaining challenger to the elusive top spot in the West, however the tiebreaker the Explorers own with the head-to-head record could come into play as well, making it essentially a four-game edge.
2. Kansas City Monarchs (56-37, 2nd, 3 GB in West)
Record last week: 3-0 vs. Winnipeg, 2-1 @ Cleburne
Remaining Schedule: 3 vs. Milwaukee, 4 vs. Cleburne
The Monarchs are getting hot again at the right time with only a one-run loss to Cleburne getting in the way of what would have been a perfect week. Overall they are 15-5 in their last 20 contests and have given themselves a shot to challenge Sioux City atop the West. They’ve also just bolstered their roster with two huge additions: all-star infielder Brantley Bell in a trade with the Chicago Dogs as well as pitcher Jackson Goddard, who is returning to Kansas City from the Mexican League. While those are two exciting additions, they also just lost a huge piece of their team in Julian Garcia, who was five strikeouts away from the league single-season strikeout record of 168, but has now signed with the Cincinnati Reds organization.
3. Sioux Falls Canaries (54-39, 3rd, 5 GB in West)
Record last week: 3-0 @ Cleburne, 1-1 vs. Sioux City, 1-0 @ Sioux City (ongoing series)
Remaining Schedule: 3 @ Sioux City, 4 vs. Fargo-Moorhead
Similar to the Monarchs, Sioux Falls is getting hot at the right time, winning eight of their last 10 games including two against the best team in the league in Sioux City (with three more games coming up between them). In their three game sweep of Cleburne to start the week, the Canaries showed off their powerful offense, scoring nine runs in each of those games.
4. Chicago Dogs (49-43, 2nd, 1 GB in East)
Record last week: 3-0 vs. Lake Country, 2-1 vs. Fargo-Moorhead
Remaining Schedule: 3 @ Lake Country, 4 @ Kane County
Well well well, what do we have here? After a sweep of Lake Country and a series win against Fargo-Moorhead, Chicago suddenly finds themselves just a single game back of the DockHounds who have now lost nine consecutive games. This with another series against Lake Country, the final one between the teams, coming up to start this week. Chicago would have to sweep the DockHounds again to pull even in the season-series 9-9 and take the lead in the division, which would be pretty remarkable, but regardless the Dogs have set up a race to the finish for the top of the East and certainly staked their claim as a contender to represent the East in the Wolff Cup Final.
5. Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (53-40, 4th, 6 GB in West)
Record last week: 2-1 vs. Gary SouthShore, 1-2 @ Chicago
Remaining Schedule: 3 vs. Winnipeg, 4 @ Sioux Falls
The flaming hot streak has come to an end and the hopes of stealing the West from the Explorers have all but died, but Fargo-Moorhead is still playing good baseball. They know they’re going to the postseason, now they get one last test with four games to end the season in Sioux Falls before the fun begins. Their league-best pitching staff in terms of ERA (3.57) has been up and down to say the least as of late, allowing eight runs or more in three games this past week, but just one or less in the other three contests.
