Mister Baseball

The top two teams face off in both the north and south divisions of the German Bundesliga this weekend, while there are a few other matchups between direct competitors with positioning on the line. Paderborn hosts Solingen in the north, looking to buffer their lead at the top of the standings. In the south, Regensburg sits a game ahead of the team they’ll host this weekend, Heidenheim.

North Division

Berlin Sluggers – Bonn Capitals

The Sluggers have had a tough time this season, and while they’ve shown that they can hang with the playoff caliber teams, none of that has translated to the victory column. They’ve been bad on both side of the ball, with league-worst defense and inconsistent offense, but pitching has allowed them to remain competitive. They run into a Bonn team who wants to stretch their winning streak to nine games this weekend, and put themselves in position for second place should one of the top teams slide. As long as they aren’t looking past Berlin, Bonn should come home with two easy wins given the level of baseball they’ve been playing the last three weeks.

Dohren Wild Farmers – Dortmund Wanderers

Dortmund is has slowly started to fall behind the playoff spots, and the chance to take a sweep from Dohren and move closer to .500 is a big opportunity for the Wanderers. The Wild Farmers, on the other hand, can try to get ahead of Berlin at the bottom of the standings, and get out of the automatic relegation spot. Dortmund has been relying on the performance of Game 2 starter Matthew Kemp for their wins, but will need a solid performance in Game 1 from their staff in order to move back into relevancy. The Wild Farmers aren’t much stronger in Game 1, and with the weak offense, it will give Dortmund the opportunity to leave with two wins.

Paderborn Untouchables – Solingen Alligators

This matchup has gone back and forth over the years, but while this year it had looked like it would swing back in the Untouchables favor, a wrench was thrown in the mix this week when the Alligators announced the return of Chris Beck. Overshadowing the Untouchables hot start is Beck’s return to the north after a stint in Heidenheim and the failure of the Alligators to find a successful import infielder. Beck was the best hitter in the north for consecutive years before leaving town, and his solid hand at short will be a relief. Paderborn pitching has been lights out, never allowing more than four runs in a game. Given the Alligators swoon over the first half of the season and the Untouchables looking…well, untouchable… home field advantage will give Paderborn a boost as they extend their lead at the top of the standings.

Pulheim Gophers – HSV Stealers

Hamburg finally found a way to win Game 2 and sweep a series this season, although they still couldn’t get much offense going against Berlin as they squeaked by with a 4-3 win. They’ll have a chance to stretch their lead over the 5^th place team to four games this weekend when they travel to Pulheim. The Gophers have seen the metaphorical bottom fall out of their good start to the season, losing seven straight and now facing teams ahead of them for a few weeks.  Although the Stealers have yet to live up to their expectations, they aren’t playing so bad as to give away two important games. A split this weekend will keep Pulheim within striking distance.

South Division

Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg – Heidenheim Heidekoepfe

Friday night will give some clarity to the top of the standings in the south. Regensburg has shuffled their rotation after struggling through back to back weekends at home, while Heidenheim dropped three of four at home before recovering to sweep Bad Homburg. The two teams have seen their superiority over the rest of the league dwindle, but they hold a slight lead over the crowd currently. If Heidenheim can muster offense against new Game 1 starter Mike Bolsenbroek and bring home a win, they’ll turn to Dusty Bergman to complete the sweep on Saturday and take over the top spot in the standings. Regensburg was rusty in Gauting last weekend after two weeks off, but given the importance of the series, look for them to shake the funk and take at least a split this weekend.

Haar Disciples – Bad Homburg Hornets

Bad Homburg is recovering from early injuries to important role players, and although there is no direct relegation in the south this year, the Hornets have no intent on finishing in last place behind Gauting. Haar was able to manage a split at home against Mainz last weekend, and needs a sweep to jump back into a playoff spot as they finish their first half of the season. They’ve seen their offensive production go the wrong way the last few weekends, and hope to correct it against the Hornets Game 1 starter Peter Ackerman, who they have faced before. Ackerman has been strong if not solid for the weakened Hornets; posting an ERA of 3.21 over four starts leading his team to their two wins. Haar has avoided the past tendency to look past weaker teams this year, noted in the blasting of Gauting at the beginning of the season, and if they can play all 18 innings they’ll grab a sweep.

Mannheim Tornados – Gauting Indians

A Tornado will touch down in Germany this weekend, as the best offense in the league will put their destruction on the worst pitching in the league. As the last place Indians make the trip to Mannheim, they are trying to figure out how to field and hit with consistency. Despite strong pitching performances from John Dobkowski (16K in 17IP) and Dominik Hartinger (3.54 ERA) and the surprising bat of a healthy Thomas Rohrer (T7 in batting average at .400), there isn’t much going the Indians way. The Tornados are coming off a long break and will have their rotation at full strength, lead by Rene Franke. On offense, foreigners Matt Lokken, Kyle Botha, and Ian O’Connor have each been impressive, with Lokken stacking up 10 RBI’s in his first weekend back with the club this year. Given how strong the Mannheim pitching and hitting has been, the Indians can look forward to dinner in Munich, because they’ll be home early.

Time	Div.	Home	Visitor	Field
Dates and Times are subject to change! In case of doubt check with the responsible national federation!
Friday, May 13 2011
19:00	South	Buchbinder Legionäre	Heidenheim Heideköpfe	Armin-Wolf-Aren...
Saturday, May 14 2011
13:00	North	Dohren Wild Farmers	Dortmund Wanderers	Sportanlage SV ...
13:00	North	Berlin Sluggers	Bonn Capitals	Paul-Rusch-Stadion
13:00	South	Haar Disciples	Bad Homburg Hornets	Ballpark Eglfin...
14:00	South	Buchbinder Legionäre	Heidenheim Heideköpfe	Armin-Wolf-Aren...
Sunday, May 15 2011
13:00	North	Pulheim Gophers	HSV Stealers	Gophers Ballpark
13:00	North	Paderborn Untouchables	Solingen Alligators	Ahorn-Ballpark ...
13:00	South	Mannheim Tornados	Gauting Indians	Roberto-Clement...

Standings North

Standings South

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