daily fog: tripped up

From June 30 to July 28, the Orleans Cardinals won 18 games and lost three.

They've lost more games than that just in the last five days.

The Cardinals dropped a 3-1 decision to Harwich last night, their fourth consecutive loss. Once the hottest team in the league for quite awhile, Orleans now has the longest active losing streak.

But the sky isn't really falling. Orleans needs to win exactly one of its last five games to clinch a playoff spot. That's what a hot streak like the one Orleans had will do. It's hard to imagine them not winning at least one.

So with a playoff berth all but sewn up, the question is how will the Cardinals fare in the postseason? If they continue to hit the skids, they'll really be backing their way in. Every other team is in a tight race, and whoever makes it will be riding high. That could be a big difference to overcome.

The lineup Orleans is trotting out isn't the same one that cruised through July. Cole Figueroa and Rich Poythress, two key pieces, are gone, and I'm sure Orleans has felt the impact of their absence. Starting pitcher Eric Erickson has also left, and he was at least a reliable starter.

But as much as there might be an impact from those losses, I don't think the losing streak is proof of it. More than anything, it just looks like a rough patch. The Cardinals have lost a pair of two-run games in which they pitched well, and a one-run game in which they didn't. The only blowout among the four was a 9-4 loss to Chatham on Friday.

So it doesn't seem like the Cardinals have fallen flat. They've just slowed down.

They've got a week to get back up to speed.

Elsewhere

• Harwich won the game over Orleans behind a strong performance by starter Billy Bullock (Florida), who allowed one run in 6.1 innings. Willie Kempf (Baylor) and Steve Kalush (Santa Clara) closed the door with 2.2 scoreless innings of relief. The win snapped a six-game losing streak for the Mariners, who are two points of Brewster for second place.
  

• Also of note from Harwich, an X finally popped up by the name of Dustin Ackley. The North Carolina star hasn't played since July 13 but was apparently still on the roster until today.
  

• Falmouth beat Bourne 3-2 in 12 innings in a crucial Western Division game. The Commodores would have dropped to second place with a loss, but are now still clinging to first by a point. Michael Thomas (Southern) won it for Falmouth with a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the 12th.
  

• Hyannis kept pace with Falmouth thanks to a 2-1 victory over Y-D. Ben Paulsen (Clemson) hit a solo home run in the eighth inning to break a 1-1 tie.
  

• Brewster beat Cotuit 12-4 for its third consecutive win. Yasmani Grandal (Miami) hit a three-run home run and Ryan Wheeler (Loyola Marymount) hit a two-run single to power a 10-run third inning for the Whitecaps. Connor Powers (Mississippi State), Derek Poppert (San Francisco) and Mike Freeman (Clemson) each had three hits. Nick Christiani (Vanderbilt) allowed four runs in five innings and picked up the win.
  

What to Watch For Tonight

• Another match-up with playoff implications in the West as Falmouth visits Cotuit. It'll be the fifth consecutive game the Commodores have played against a Western Division opponent. They've gone 2-2 in those games.
  

• Second-place Hyannis will try to keep the pressue on the Commodores as they send ace Andrew Carraway (Virginia) to the mound against Wareham and Max Perlman (Harvard).