*Stats and records reflect Pointstreak data as of  5/18/19                              

Saturday, May 18

Brooklyn Dodgers (6-4-1) vs. Kings County Monarchs (2-4) - 8:30 a.m. @Parade Grounds

Through the first month of the season, few offenses in the A Division have been quite as potent as the Dodgers'. Brooklyn comes into the weekend scoring 7.5 runs per game (second only to the Railsplitters), with much of that production coming from the 1-5 spots in the lineup. Manager Tom Alongi has excelled as a table-setter thus far, hitting at a .438 clip and stealing a division-high 18 bases. Jeb Roberts (.476, 8 RBI) and Michael Savas (.400, 2 HR, 11 RBI) have anchored the middle of the lineup, making pitchers pay with runners on base.

The Monarchs—aside from a 13-run explosion against the Astros on Opening Day—have struggled a bit offensively, but appear to have the pieces necessary to turn things around at the plate. Shortstop Michael Guillaro has been a bright spot, as he currently leads all qualified batters with a .600 avg.   

Yonkers Railsplitters (4-2) vs. All City Astros (1-9-2) – 1:30 p.m. @Governor’s Field

It would foolish for teams to overlook the Astros, even if All City has only managed one win on the year. The Astros have shown marked signs of improvement over the last few weeks and have shown the ability to compete with some of the top teams in the division, something Yonkers must be conscious of this weekend. On May 11, the first-year club battled the Skyscrapers (3-3-2) to two ties.

The reigning champs, on the other hand, have been fairly consistent throughout the spring. After sweeping an Opening Day affair against the Yankees, they’ve split their last two double-headers, which were both against good teams in the Dodgers and the division-leading Blacksox. A sweep this week could vault them back into first place depending on how the Blacksox fare on Sunday.

Nassau Yankees (2-3) vs. Skyscrapers (3-3-2) – 4 p.m. @Red Hook

The Skyscrapers may still be looking for a No. 2 starter to emerge, but their workhorse, Jared Slow, has been effective thus far. Slow has thrown more than half of the innings the Skyscrapers have played this year, and with a 3.54 ERA and 42/4 strikeout-to-walk ratio, he has proven his ability to keep his team in ballgames.

The Yankees were showing signs of waking up offensively their last time out, scoring in bunches in a double-header sweep of the Astros. But inclement weather has conspired to keep the team out of action since April 27, so Nassau might need to shake off a little rust this weekend.

Sunday, May 19

NY Blacksox (7-1) vs. New York Patriots (3-2-1) – 2 p.m. @College Point

Jeff Lagares has long been one of the most feared hitters in the division, and his hot start should serve as a reminder as to why. After posting the first sub-.300 average of his long NYCMBL career in 2018, the center fielder is hitting a blistering .571 to lead the Sox offensively. On the mound, the Blacksox have a number of veteran arms, including Jeffery Marvel (2-0, 2.18 ERA),that have the ability to win a game single-handedly.

After battling to a loss and a tie with the Dodgers last week, the Pats find themselves in for another test this week as they continue to navigate their way through their first NYCMBL season. Using 13 pitchers thus far, the Patriots are still looking for the right combination of arms to lead them to the playoffs. Luckily for Snoop Ferreira's club, however, the offense already seems to have found its stride as there are currently six qualified batters hitting over .400.