JOPLIN MINER MAGAZINE

CH4 MVP: MOOKIE BETTS 333/433/705 The Miners went 16-8 in Chapter 4 but the Salem Cowtippers went 20-4 to drop Joplin 9 games out of first place.  Nevertheless, the Miners hold the lead for the first wildcard spot 12 games ahead of the next wildcard contender. Mookie Betts ( 333/433/705) continued to make his case for Ozzie League MVP.  In addition to his hitting, Betts continues to make outstanding defensive plays and went 5/6 in steal attempts in chapter 4.  Freddie Freeman (289/372/505) and Yan Gomes ( 342/372/562) forced teams to pitch to Betts.   The starting rotation earned its pay in Chapter 4: Chris Sale ( 1-2-4-2.38-36/10) Charlie Morton ( 1-1-0-1.90-27/11) Hyun-Jin Ryu ( 2-2-0-2.34-34/12) Masa Tanaka ( 3-0-0-2.38- 16/9) The most interesting stat was the fact Sale earned 4 saves basically because Craig Kimbrel needed some rest.  In fact , Kimbrel only has 24 innings left to pitch over the final 56 games.   The rest of the bullpen did pick up the slack, posting

SALEM COWTIPPERS TOP DOG     CHAPTER FOUR POWER RANKINGS  1. SALEM COWTIPPERS 181 2. KANSAS LAW DOGS  154 3. AKRON RYCHE 153 4. LOS ALTOS UNDERTAKERS 147 5. JOPLIN MINERS 129 6. CHICAGO BLACK SOX 78 7. RAVENWOOD INFIDELS 59 8. ST LOUIS APOSTLES 48 9. CHARLOTTE MUSTANGS 47 10. SOUTH CAROLINA SEA CATS 29 11. SOUTHERN CAL SLYME 17 12. GREAT LAKE SPHINX 13 13. BUCKINGHAM SOVERIGNS 12 14. CLEVELAND ROCKS  (27) 15. FLAGSTAFF OUTLAWS  (46) 16. LAS VEGAS FLAMINGOS (49) 17. BEAR COUNTRY JAMBOREE (52) 18. SOUTH LOOP FLURIES(64) 19. SASKATOON SASQUATCH (68) 20. KANSAS CITY BOULEVARDS (95) 21. NORTH CAROLINA ISP ( 114) 22. NIAGARA LOCKS ( 115) 23. DARIEN BLUE WAVE ( 194) 24. MYRTLE BEACH HITMEN ( 229)

Gerrit Cole throws 6 Innings of No Hit Baseball Los Altos' Press Room issued the following report: Game 1: Chris Sale vs. Gerrit Cole It was the current Undertaker ace going against the former Undertaker ace to open things up today. Sale was greeted rudely, a two run shot in the first by Steve Pearce. Sale really settled in after that, going 7 innings, giving up just 3 hits and striking out 10. Gerrit Cole did him one better - he went 6 innings without giving up a hit, walking two and striking out 10. Joplin's first hit of the day came in the 8th as Austin Wymns singled off Seranthony Dominguez. Jose Iglesias singled with one out. Adam Engle pitch ran for Wymns and both runners moved into scoring position on a double steal - on a hit and run. However, Jeremy Jeffress saved the day by striking out the next two. In the 9th with one out, Sean Doolittle got the call against two lefties. He hit Freedie Freeman, then walked David Peralta - and the pitch on ball 4 was so wild