1. Sioux City Explorers (56-31, 1st, West)
Record last week: 3-0 vs. Lincoln, 2-1 @ Sioux City
Remaining schedule: 3 vs. Lincoln, 2 @ Sioux Falls, 4 vs. Sioux Falls, 4 @ Winnipeg
After the RedHawks won the first half of the six-game, home-and-home series, the Explorers bounced right back to win the back half on the road and most importantly, clinch the season-series victory over yet another challenger for the top spot in the West. Any baseball fan would welcome a playoff series between Sioux City and Fargo-Moorhead as each of the six games was tightly contested outside of the RedHawks 8-3 win to close the set. The Explorers may not stand out offensively on the stat sheet, but they just broke the all-time team stolen base record which is a huge part of how they bring in runs and take advantage of every hit they get.
2. Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (50-37, 3rd, 6 GB in West)
Record last week: 1-2 vs. Sioux City, 2-1 vs. Cleburne
Remaining Schedule: 3 vs. Gary SouthShore, 3 @ Chicago, 3 vs. Winnipeg, 4 @ Sioux Falls
The Explorers managed to slow the RedHawks momentum with a huge series win in Fargo, but the RedHawks were able to bounce back with another tight series victory against Cleburne with all three games decided by one run. The RedHawks have a fairly favorable schedule ahead outside of four huge games to end the year in Sioux Falls, but if the Explorers keep playing how they are it will be a longshot for any team in the West to catch up to them for the top spot.
3. Lake Country DockHounds (50-36, 1st, East)
Record last week: 2-1 @ Kane County, 0-3 vs. Milwaukee
Remaining Schedule: 3 @ Chicago, 3 vs. Kane County, 3 vs. Chicago, 5 @ Milwaukee
They may have gotten swept over the weekend, but Lake Country did clinch a spot in this year’s postseason and are six games up over Chicago for the all-important top spot. If you’re looking for points of concern for a team that has dominated the East for much of the second half, the offense has cooled down a bit and you do still have six games against a Chicago team that currently leads the league in batting average (.271), so the division race is not over yet. But this is one of if not the most balanced team in the league, they’ll have a chance to prove that in the final four series of the regular season.
4. Kansas City Monarchs (52-36, 2nd, 4.5 GB in West)
Record last week: 3-0 @ Milwaukee, 1-2 @ Kane County, 1-0 vs. Winnipeg (this week)
Remaining Schedule: 2 vs. Winnipeg, 3 @ Cleburne, 3 vs. Milwaukee, 4 vs. Cleburne
The Monarchs are starting to heat up and they just got back a huge piece of their early season dominance in Isiah Gilliam, who left the Monarchs for the Mexican League but is now right back in their lineup. When he left he was the leader in the American Association with a .389 batting average and a whopping 1.248 OPS. The Monarchs also have a favorable schedule coming up, giving them an outside shot at overtaking Sioux City for the top spot despite not owning that tiebreaker.
5. Sioux Falls Canaries (49- 38, 4th, 7 GB in West)
Record last week: 4-2 @ Lincoln
Remaining Schedule: 3 @ Cleburne, 2 vs. Sioux City, 4 @ Sioux City, 4 vs. Fargo-Moorhead
The Canaries took care of business in a long week on the road in Lincoln, taking four of six. They did so by swinging the bats, scoring at least seven runs in five of the six games. Their big four in the lineup in Jabari Henry, Josh Rehwaldt, Calvin Estrada (league leader in hitting at .340) and Jordan Barth is going to be tough for anyone to face in the postseason, but their team ERA of 4.63 makes you question if they can score enough against the likes of Fargo-Moorhead, Sioux City and Kansas City, who all have great pitching staffs.
