After posting a .625 winning percentage in 2014 and a .656 mark in 2015, the Miners are winning at a Frontier League-best .667 clip as of Aug. 8, per Pointstreak.com.
Southern Illinois began this week with a 48-24 record. The next-best record up to that point belonged to Evansville, which was 41-29.
Southern Illinois especially turned on the afterburners after the Frontier League's All-Star break. After restarting play on July 15, the Miners peeled off nine straight wins.
“We started off the second half on fire," Miners manager Mike Pinto said in an email interview with the Southwest Illinois News. "We really need to maintain our consistent game-to-game intensity,”
Pinto said this year's team has characteristics similar to past Miners teams — balance in the lineup, consistent defense and solid pitching. The statistics back that up.
As of Aug. 1, Southern Illinois had a league-high 405 runs scored, 300 walks and .360 on-base percentage. The Miners were second in RBIs (367), tied for second in triples (17), third in hits (662) and fourth in on-base plus slugging percentage (.763).
Individually, Shane Kennedy was second in the league in batting average (.350). Aaron Gates was second in runs (58), Alex De Leon was third with 47 walks, Steve Marino was tied for the league lead with 62 RBIs and was fourth in home runs (13), and Craig Massey was second in triples (five). Overall, five Miners who have played at least 52 games this season were batting .294 or better, and seven Miners scored at least 40 runs.
Defensively, the Miners led the league in fielding percentage at .983 and committed the fewest errors with 45.
“The strength this year has been a strong defense,” Pinto said. “We have guys around the field that consistently make great plays and, many times, (they are) spectacular.”
On the mound, Southern Illinois has shone as well. The Miners had the league's second-best team earned-run average at 3.82 and the most saves with 23, plus they have the third-lowest slugging percentage allowed at .359.
Jarett Miller (7-3) was third in the league in innings pitched with 101 2/3 and fourth with a 2.57 ERA. Dyllon Nurenberg had a 6-3 record and was 16th among league starting pitchers with a 3.35 ERA. The rotation also features Dan Ludwig (7-1), who was tied for fourth in the league with seven wins to go with a 4.23 ERA; and Rick Teasley (5-3), who had logged 78 1/3 innings of work.
Reliever Adam Lopez had eight saves with a 0.0 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings.
“The first half had some questions in the bullpen,” Pinto said. “We were forced to make a few moves to bolster it, and they have worked out well.”
As of Aug. 1, the Miners had a six-game lead over Evansville in the West Division. Joliet (39-33) had a five-game lead over Windy City (34-38) in the East Division.
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