Thunderwolves Get First Win;  Possums Overtake Armadillos;  Legion and Lannisters Take Care of Business

CM Happy Holidays (2-5) vs.  KK Thunderwolves (0-6-1)

After a disappointing start to the season, Kyle knew he needed a win against the slumping Happy Hollidays.  There is no way he could have expected to get on the board with a dominant 10-0 sweep.  The Thunderwolves performed best on offense, where a group of four players each hit two home runs.  Ryan Braun was the standout – he paired two steals with his two home runs.  Jonathan LuCroy provided offense from the catcher position.  Gregory Polanco led the team with nine hits, and also contributed a steal.  The Happy Hollidays had little offense to counter the Thunderwolves.  Ben Zobrist had a nice week, but he was the only player with an OBP above 0.320.  Kyle dominated all five categories and finished tied for third in home runs and SLG.  He led the league in OBP and was second in RBI.
The Thunderwolves pitching was less impressive, but it was good enough to earn another 5-0 category sweep.  Yu Darvish returned to form in his second post-injury start.  Jose Fernandez was also excellent, but Zach Greinke, Yordano Ventura, and Michael Wacha all struggled.  The Hollidays tried for quality over quantity, but none of the team’s starters were effective.   The team allowed 27 runs in 46 IP, including a disastrous week for Adam Wainwright.  Neither team has a lot to brag out on pitching, but the Thunderwolves did more than enough to earn the victory.

Kyle’s first win of the season was a long-time coming.  However, the return of Darvish along with better offensive production could help turn the team around.  The Goofballs and Hollidays are only a half-game ahead of Kyle in the standings, so there is plenty of time for the Thunderwolves to make it back to the middle tier of the league.

LK Armadillos (5-1-1) vs.   RK Possums (2-4-1)

Like the Thunderwolves, the Possums started slowly this season.  However, they have turned things around in recent weeks and hoped to keep things rolling against the Armadillos.  Rick took advantage of Larry’s weak offensive showing, but the Armadillos countered with better steals totals and a higher OBP.  Rick’s power came from some unlikely sources.  Wilson Ramos hit two home runs, as did Xander Bogaerts.  Adam Duvall also added a home run and four RBI in his only game played.  Four other Possums also hit homers, and rick built a commanding leader in the power and RBI categories.  The Armadillos countered with a rebound week for Starling Marte, who had four steals.  Ian Desmond added two more, along with a team-high 0.444 OBP.  This was enough to give Larry two categories to Rick’s three, before accounting for pitching.

The Possums and Armadillos threw roughly the same number of innings, so the winner of the week would be the team with the best individual performances.  The best pitcher for either team was Justin Verlander, who threw eight shutout innings with only five base runners and ten strikeouts.  Clayton Kershaw was almost as good, allowing two runs over 16.2 IP and striking out 17.  However, his good work was undone by disastrous outings from the Armadillos’ bullpen.  Craig Kimbrel and Jeurys Familia threw 3.1 IP and allowed six earned runs.  Their poor performance resulted in a tie in the saves category.  The Possums edged the Armadillos by two strikeouts.  Larry was able to win ERA, but Rick won WHIP.  This split-decision gave Rick the three categories he needed to ensure victory.

The Possums pulled off the upset and moved to within a game of 0.500.  The emergence of Xander Bogaerts is the most positive news for the Possums this year.  After heavily investing in Bogaerts through the years, the Possums now have one of the best shortstops in the league.  Meanwhile, the Armadillos are left looking for answers after a series of disappointing results.

KG Capital City Goofballs (2-5) vs.  JK Lannisters (5-1-1)

After upsets to the Hollidays and Armadillos, the Lannisters were the next target of an underdog.  The Goofballs played the Lannisters tough in the first match of the season, and this second round was no different.  Early in the week, the Goofballs’ pitching looked like it might deliver a victory.  The Goofballs threw 79 IP and had the best ERA in the league by far.  They also had the lowest WHIP, second most saves, tied for second in wins, and were fourth in strikeouts.  The staff was led by a pair of Rays, Jake Odorizzi and Chris Archer.  The pair threw 20 IP, allowed three earned runs, and just eight base runners.  Johnny Cueto was also dominant, throwing 15 IP with an ERA of 0.60 and a WHIP of 0.67.  David Price and Tom Koehler were also excellent.  Unfortunately for the Goofballs, the Lannisters also deployed productive starters.  Rich Hill continued to play well, and was one of a trio of Lannister pitchers who struck out 15 for the week.  Stephen Strasburg and John Lackey each pitched two great games, and only Wei-Yen Chen was a bust for the week.  The Goofballs took both rate stats, but the Lannisters had more quantity and won wins, saves, and strikeouts.

Kevin had to rely on his offense to carry the week.  The Goofballs deployed an incredible 19 players and 11 of them hit home runs.  Todd Frazier and Lorenzo Cain stayed hot, as did Brandon Belt and Trevor Story.  Frazier was the best of the group, with two homers and two steals.  However, despite all of the home runs, the Goofballs fell short of the RBIs you might expect.  The Lannisters took advantage with massive weeks from Eric Hosmer and David Ortiz.  Nine Lannisters hit home runs, including three from Robinson Cano.  Buster Posey finally returned to form with a pair of home runs and a steal.  Hosmer and Mike Trout added steals, and Jeff tied the category.  Every Lannister with at least 10 at-bats had at least two RBI.  This was enough to give the Lannisters the win in HR, RBI, SLG, and OBP.  They led the league in all of those categories except OBP, where they were second.  Despite this level of production, the Goofballs kept things close until Sunday when the third Cano home run locked down HR and SLG.

The Goofballs fell just short yet again.  Here are the results they would have had against every other team in the league:

• Armadillos: Win 9-1
• Possums: Win 7-1-2
• Hollidays: Win 10-0
• Thunderwolves: Win 7-3
• Legion: Win 8-2
• PhoeGnomes: Win 7-2-1

The Goofballs would have beaten every other team, and the results weren’t particularly close.  The same applies to the Lannsiters.  In their two match-ups, the teams have combined for 61 home runs.  The entire league has hit 602 total.  This means that the Goofballs and Lannisters have hit 10% of the league’s home runs in just 2 of the 32 totals matches that have been played so far.  This also includes the home runs hit on Monday of this week.  Both teams will have to hope that they are not exhausted going into their next matches.

CP Legion (4-1-2) vs.  HP PhoeGnomes (5-2)

The week’s final match paired the PhoeGnomes and Legion.  Both teams are at the top of the league.  The Legion hoped to stop the PhoeGnomes from further ascension.  For her part, Heather needed the victory to get back on track and for tiebreaker considerations.  Unfortunately for the PhoeGnomes, her offense sputtered while the Legion’s put up great numbers.  The PhoeGnomes were near the bottom of the league in HR and were next to last in SLG.  Chris was the opposite, and finished near the top in HR, OBP, SLG, and steals.  Seven Legion players had home runs, and Jonathan Villar was the best of the group.  He had a home, four steals, and OBP of 0.567 in 22 AB.  Brett Lawrie showed signs of life with a home run and a steal.  Heather didn’t have any effective counters, except for Miguel Sano.  He hit four home runs, but few other PhoeGnomes contributed much.  Chris won four categories with ease, but the PhoeGnomes were able to take RBI with a surprisingly high total.  This gave Heather a chance if her pitching performed.

Heather set a strong early pace by winning strikeouts by a huge margin.  Her staff threw 24 more innings than Chris’s, and racked up the most strikeouts in the league.  This number came with a steep cost, though, as the PhoeGnomes had the second worst ERA and WHIP in the league.  Chris wasn’t much better, and actually had the worst WHIP overall.  Heather also had the better bullpen, but Chris was able to tie the critical wins category for the week.  Only one of Heather’s four Sunday starters got a win, and the Legion were able to take the category and the overall win.  Heather had a chance to tie, but the pieces didn’t fall her way this time.  Once again, the Legion were able to take a close match and remain near the top of the league.  Heather is still a strong contender, and will likely fare better when her offense turns around.

Next Week

The Goofballs will look to stay hot against the PhoeGnomes.  Kevin hopes that his luck is better this time around, while Heather needs a win to keep pace.  The Possums want to continue to win, but face the difficult Lannisters.  However, Rick’s pitching often frustrates the Lannisters, and he has one of the better records against the defending champs through the years.  The Legion hope to keep things moving against the slumping Hollidays.  Finally, the Thunderwolves hope for win number two against the frustrated Armadillos.