July Players of the Month

San Francisco was the league's hottest team of July, going 21-7 and expanding their lead in the Drabek Division to 17 1/2 games. Meanwhile, the Golden Falcons posted a 19-9 record in July and getting a little breathing room atop the Fisk Division. Vancouver (17-11) has come on strong and moved up not only in the Fisk Division, but also in the wild card standings. El Paso (18-14) has come out of nowhere to even up their record before falling down under .500 just before the month ended. Sardine City (8-20) posted the league's worst record by far and has just surpassed Philadelphia as the worst team in the league.

July's JR Cigar Smokin' Batter of the Month is Jhonny Peralta of Arkansas. Now in his second year with the Falcons, the well-traveled Peralta has helped the Falcons return to glory, leading the Kruk Division by 4 games as of the end of the month. Peralta has been decent for the Falcons this year, but really cranked it up in July. Peralta hit .339 with a 1.043 OPS, smacking 13 doubles and 7 homers, with 33 RBIs and a .643 slugging. Overall, Peralta is htiting .255/.332/.442 with 17 homers and 71 RBIs. Other considerations: El Paso's Dexter Fowler (.359/.439/.521, 2 3Bs, 26 runs), Empire City's Adam Jones (.916 OPS, 10 2Bs, 8 HRs, 24 RBIs), Poovey Farms Freddie Freeman (.342/.440/.535, 11 2Bs) and Kyle Seager (.915 OPS, 9 HR, 23 R, 3 SB), Allentown's Matt Kemp (.923 OPS, 7 HR), Vancouver's J.D. Martinez (6 HR, 20 R, 24 RBIs), and Tucson's Jose Altuve (.309, 12 SBs).

July's Omaha Steaks Pitcher of the Month is Clayton Kershaw of Hoboken. Kershaw had gotten off to a mediocre start for the Cutters, but has turned on the heat in July. Kershaw won 5 of his 6 starts with a 1.80 ERA and 0.84 WHIP. Kershaw struck out 63 in 50 innings while walking only 3. On the season, Kershaw is 12-9 with a 3.23 ERA. Other notables: El Paso's Jason Hammel (3-0, 1.84, 0.72 WHIP), Marietta's Pat Neshek (2-0, 0.52, 7 SV, 0.81 WHIP), Tucson's Ken Giles (2-1, 1.56, 8 SV, 0.69 WHIP), Poovey Farms' Danny Duffy (1.13, 0.88 WHIP) and Yu Darvish (6-0, 51 K), and Arkansas' Zach Britton (3-0, 1.17, 4 SV).

Many teams endured some minor injuries during the month and San Francisco even got Anibal Sanchez back after being out for over a month. Livingston took the longest duration injury when backup catcher Ryan Hanigan took an ill-advised swim in the Amazon river and was swarmed by piranhas. Surgeons have just finished reconstructing his left arm and are now ready to move on to his right. Philadelphia's Dustin Pedroia reported feeling blase to the team doctors. While no real injury was found, doctors advised Pedroia to take a few weeks off and try to "find himself." Poovey Farms and Livingston's matchup on the penultimate day of the month knocked out both starters Yu Darvish and Chris Archer for a bit. After watching the Princess Bride, both were convinced they could survive the fire swamps. Both sustained injuries, but luckily avoided any R.O.U.S.'s.