REBELS CAPTURE LEAD

After many months and big talk, the Philadelphia Rebels, getting strong pitching and timely hitting and benefitting from Brooklyn’s bludgeoning of St. Francis, have taken over sole possession of first place in the BARB Central Division. The big question: can they hold it?

The elder Melkonian’s team was, as has been mentioned many times, counted out more than once this season. But since the trade deadline, which forced Ron to take a hands-off approach, his team has stepped it up. Since September 1, Philly has a 17-10 record, good for third-best in the league behind Yuma (second) and, somehow, Central CA (first).

St. Francis, on the other hand, is 9-12 and has seen Philadelphia make up five games in the standings during the month. The Friars have lost seven of their past 10, while the Rebels have the opposite recent record.

Entering a big five-game series against the Brooklyn Moabs, St. Francis led the division by a single game. It was the wrong time to be playing the Moabs, obviously.

Eric Caskey’s squad, still thick in the wild card race (and not eliminated from division contention until September 29), won the first three games of the series by a combined score of 28-9. Scott Hatfield even micro-managed his rotation for the final 20 games of the season to get his best starters in his biggest games, but the potent Brooklyn bats bashed nine long balls in those three contests.

Meanwhile, the Rebels lost their first of the five-gamer at the Sin City Cowboys, 8-6, before going on to win the next two to tie and take the lead from St. Francis.

The news for the Friars gets worse before it gets better. Now in the division lead, they are facing the team that is immediately behind them in those standings: Brooklyn. The Moabs sit just two games back, and while they play the Friars for two more and the now-Eastern Division champs Frostbite Falls for one, they finish the campaign with three against cellar-dwelling Los Angeles. St. Francis has three against Worcester, which can hit at any time, before a final trifecta at home against Sin City.

But the ebb and flow of baseball changes on a whim sometimes. While the outlook may look bleak for Hatfield, his powerful offense could come alive in the final eight and take back the division.

If the playoffs opened today, Yuma would host St. Francis (a matchup of teams that looked destined for the #1 and #2 seeds just a month ago) and Philadelphia would travel to Frostbite Falls in first-round action. Both would be best-of-5 series. But a reversal of St. Francis and Philly would create an intriguing opening battle between the Melkonians.

SQUIRRELS SOAR ON

Champagne-soaked and delirious, Frostbite Falls players celebrated the franchise’s first division title in five years. It was also possibly the earliest the team clinched the division in any season. It wasn’t without late questions, however. The team began to tail off going into the final 10 games, and Brooklyn, though nine games back at one point, kept fighting and made it interesting.

Even the clincher was in doubt from the get-go. Normally reliable Jhoulys Chacin, who may or may not be on the playoff roster, allowed six runs (two in the first), all earned, in 4.2 IP against Pottsylvania. Luckily for him the offense found a way to hit Creeper ace Chris Carpenter. Jayson Werth, whose bat disappeared for most of the season, hit two big home runs, and Albert Pujols doubled three times to drive in four, including a two-run double to put the Squirrels up for good in the sixth.

One of the biggest saving graces for the Minnesotans was their lack of serious injury. Yes, Brett Anderson was lost for the season to Tommy John surgery and Evan Longoria missed an early month. But for the most part, when a player went down another one stepped up and played just as well until the starter came back. In all, only one player who played an important role throughout the season will miss the playoffs: closer Joakim Soria.

In other BARB action:

WORCESTER 6, LOS ANGELES 1

WP: Craig Kimbrel (6-0, 4.16)

LP: Trevor Cahill (7-16, 4.94)

A matchup of two potential 2012 playoff teams went the way of the defending champs. Mark Teixeira and Billy Butler both homered and, after Brandon Morrow was mysteriously removed after allowing a two-out, none-on single in a tie game in the fifth, youngster Craig Kimbrel earned the win with two K’s in 1.1 perfect innings. The Wolverines showed flashes of the talent coming back, with Dexter Fowler, Mike Stanton and Starlin Castro combining for all five hits and Trevor Cahill pitching well despite taking his lumps.