NL Team Notes - May 16, 2005

Atlanta - The Vixens as a whole have been horrid as of late - of the 10 top stat categories, they rank 14th, 15th or 16th in all but 3 - team average (.256, 8th), team walks (98, 9th) and stolen bases (25, 10th). RHP Fiona Apple has been the lone bright spot - she is 4-1 with a 1.17 ERA over her last 5 games.

Los Angeles - Despite hitting a dismal .225 (last in the VBL), the Amazons are 6th in home runs with 40. In 11 games and 11.1 ip's, middle reliever Jessica Biel has a 4-0 record. The pitching staff has been living dangerously - though they have third best team ERA at 3.50, they have third worst opponents' batting average at .268.

Miami Beach - The Flamingos have stretched their lead to 6 games in the NL East. They are first in both hitting (.277) and pitching (3.43 ERA). LF Jo O'Meara continues to lead the NL in hitting with a .376 average. She is tied for the NL lead in homers with 8.

Philadelphia - The Belles allowed Miami Beach to put some room between them by going 3-7 over their last 10 games. Starting pitching has been horrid - Amanda Swisten (5 games, 1-3, 5.96 ERA), Ione Skye (3, 1-2, 7.80) and Lisa Snyder (3, 1-2, 8.59) are the three biggest offenders. Youngsters Vida Guerra (3-3, 3.51) and Stacie Orrico (3-3, 2.82) have provide the leadership for the hurlers.

Phoenix - 1B Calista Flockhart (17 hr's), OF Steffi Graf (15), and OF Erika Christensen (16) have been lighting up AAA ball with their power display. But none are considered to be strong candidates to make the Firebirds' roster. P Victoria Beckham, a strong candidate to be promoted to the bigs after going 4-1 in 8 games with a 2.30 ERA at AAA San Diego, was lost for the season after suffering a torn rotator cuff.

Sacramento - The Sirens have been struggling to keep pace in the NL West. Despite a 5-5 record over their last ten games, the Sirens still sunk even deeper into last place. LHP Allison Mack has begun to impress - over her last 4 starts, she is 2-2 with a 2.73 ERA. More promising is her ability to eat up innings - over those 4 starts, she had 29.2 innings - an average of over 7 innings a start.

St. Louis - The Unicorns continue their descent toward the NL East basement, with only Atlanta blocking their way. They have been terrible in almost all aspects of their game. They are hitting a lot of homers though - they rank 4th in the VBL with 42. 2B Cleopatra Higgins, who started the season strong, is only hitting .200 (4-20) over her last 5 games.

Seattle - The Emeralds took over first in the NL West with a 7-3 record over their last 10 games. The Emerald hitters, led by 2B Sonia Couling (.357, 5 hr, 25 rbi), have consistently been among the league leaders the entire season. But with the recent return of young phenom, RHP Amanda Bynes, the pitchers have begun to take control. Youngsters Bynes (2-0, 1.40 ERA) and RHP Aurelie Claudel (2-0, 2.13) have led the way.