Rascals Report: League-Leading Rascals Remain on a Tear

Seventy games into the season, the River City Rascals are flying high.

Sporting not only the best record in the league (52-18), but , the Rascals have dominated the Frontier League this season. The 2010 Frontier League champs—who are again this season—are the first team in the league to 50 wins and are the only team to not have 20 losses.

What was once a tight race in the West Division is no longer close. On July 3, the Rascals lead the Southern Illinois Miners by just 1.5 games. Now, on Aug. 7, the Rascals lead the Miners by nine games. The third place Normal CornBelters are 18.5 games back.

Looking Back

The Rascals closed out July with a win and finished the month 21-6. River City started August off with four straight wins before dropping Saturday's game to the Joliet Slammers. In all, last week the Rascals went 5-2.

• Sunday, July 31: Evansville won the first game of a doubleheader 4-1.
• Sunday, July 31: In Game 2, the Rascals came back and throttled the Otters 7-0.
• Monday, Aug. 1: Off.
• Tuesday, Aug. 2: In , the Rascals came out on top 11-10 to beat the Windy City ThunderBolts. 
• Wednesday, Aug. 3: The Rascals' offense remained hot, beating the ThunderBolts 12-7.
• Thursday, Aug. 4: River City completed the sweep of Windy City with a 4-1 win.
• Friday, Aug. 5: River City kept things rolling with a 6-1 win against the Joliet Slammers.
• Saturday, Aug. 6: Joliet got revenge on the Rascals, pounding River City 16-1.

Looking Ahead

After Sunday's game, the Rascals will have a day off before hitting the road. River City will have six days away from T.R. Hughes before returning on Tuesday, Aug. 16. 

• Sunday, Aug. 7: Joliet Slammers at River City Rascals (5:05 p.m. at T.R. Hughes)
• Monday, Aug. 8: Off. 
• Tuesday, Aug. 9: Rascals at Windy City ThunderBolts  (7:05 p.m. at Standard Bank)
• Wednesday, Aug. 10: Rascals at Windy City ThunderBolts  (7:05 p.m. at Standard Bank)
• Thursday, Aug. 11: Rascals at Windy City ThunderBolts  (7:05 p.m. at Standard Bank)
• Friday, Aug. 12: Rascals at Joliet Slammers (7:05 p.m. at Silver Cross)
• Saturday, Aug. 13: Rascals at Joliet Slammers (6:05 p.m. at Silver Cross)

Who’s Hot

How does a team win nearly 75 percent of the time? A stellar offense and lights-out pitching. All season long the Rascals have excelled on offense—a league-best 420 runs—and on the mound—the 3.87 team ERA is fourth in the league.

•  Outfielder Stephen Holdren has been raking during the last week of play. He's hitting 11-for-24 (.458) with four homers and nine RBIs. His on-base percentage is .552 and his slugging percentage is an outrageous 1.042.
• Catcher Danny Sawyer has a team-best 10 RBIs in the last week. He has also put up a .455 batting average (10-for-22).
• In two starts, Don Lisi gave up just one run in 11 innings of work, good enough for a 0.82 ERA in that stretch.
• Pitcher Josh Lowey threw seven innings of one-run ball on Aug. 5 against Joliet. He struck out eight in the game.

Who’s Not

Some Rascals, but not many, are struggling.

• Pitcher Jason Pankau allowed nine runs, eight earned, in his last 3.1 innings of work. Still, he managed to pick up a win in one of his three appearance in the last week.
• Outfielder Jareck West has just three hits in his last 21 at-bats (.143).

Standings

As of Sunday, Aug. 7, at 12 p.m.