Heavy Favorites Dominate; Possums Roll; Armadillos Survive

LK Armadillos (8-3-1) vs.  HP PhoeGnomes (8-4)

The week’s closest match-up paired the Armadillos and PhoeGnomes.  Larry was tied for first place and Heather was just a half-game behind.  The winner had a chance to take sole possession of first, or keep pace with the other top teams.  Both teams showed tremendous power for the week.  The Armadillos led the league in home runs and were second in RBI.  Heather tied for the lead in steals.  The Armadillos’ home run advantage did not translate to SLG or OBP.  Both teams were virtually tied.  Kendrys Morales had four home runs in just 14 at-bats for the PhoeGnomes.  Larry countered with five players with at least two homers, including three from Anthony Rizzo and Edwin Encarnacion.  This boost gave Larry a tiny edge in both rate categories.  Both were decided by less than five thousandths of a point.  The Armadillos left four Sunday home runs on the bench.  Had he not won SLG (and thus the week), there would have been a lot of second-guessing for the league leader.

The 4-1 win on offense left Heather in a difficult position.  Unfortunately for her, the PhoeGnomes’ pitchers were not sharp for the week.  Reliable starts like Jake Arrieta and Madison Bumgarner had ERA’s over 5.00.  However, they did product wins and strikeouts.  The Armadillos were unable to match these counting stats, but good weeks from Carlos Carrasco and Carlos Martinez nailed down ERA and WHIP.  This was more than enough to secure a 6-3-1 victory for the week.  Heather had a chance with a strong Sunday to flip this result, but the PhoeGnomes didn’t have enough offense.  The win preserves the Armadillos’ tie for first place.  The PhoeGnomes drop a game and a half back, but know they are likely to be competitive to the end.

RK Possums (6-5-1) vs.  CM Happy Hollidays (2-10)

The Possums are on the edge of contention and looked to solidify their position versus the Happy Hollidays.  Rick’s team remained red hot, cruising to a 9-1 victory that was never really in doubt.  Joey Votto and Josh Donaldson each had three home runs and a steal for the week.  Albert Pujols added six RBI, and even role players like Evan Gattis contributed.  Rick led the league in RBI and was near the top in home runs, OBP and SLG.  Ben Zobrist and Stephen Piscotty had two home runs each for the Happy Hollidays, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a five-category sweep.

On pitching, Chris M. tried to counter.  Aaron Sanchez was excellent in one start.  Seung Hwan Oh had a great week from the bullpen, and Marco Estrada was productive.  However, Rick pitched more innings and had better overall production.  Justin Verlander and Scott Kazmir had solid weeks, and the Possums overcame bullpen trouble to take saves.  Rick conceded ERA to Chris, but won all four other categories.  Rick is now two games above 0.500 and just two games out of first place.

Josh Donaldson has been a key for the Possums.  Acquired in a trade with the Lannisters, Donaldson has given the Possums 20 home runs and a few steals.  The pick Rick gave up for Donaldson was used to draft Corey Seager, who has 17 home runs at shortstop.  However, Rick has Xander Bogaerts, and Jeff was able to clear up a logjam at 3B.  The trade is a rare example of a deal that has benefitted both teams.

KG Capital City Goofballs (4-8) vs.  CP Legion (7-3-2)

The Legion needed to keep pace with the other favorites, and had a reasonably close match-up with the Goofballs.  However, Chris P. used a pitching-first strategy that paid dividends.  The Legion led the league in every pitching category besides WHIP, and most categories weren’t even close.  Chris combined a huge advantage in innings pitching with quality starts.  This resulted in nine wins, 91 strikeouts, and seven saves.  Chris often sees high strikeout and wins totals, but the saves have to be a welcome sight.  Vince Velazquez and Danny Duffy were the standouts for the week.  The pair combined for 27.2 innings pitched, 30 strikeouts, four wins, and a sub-2.00 ERA.  Cody Allen and Steve Cishek added three saves each.  Overall, it was a dominant performance that Kevin was unable to counter.

On offense, the Goofballs had much more positive results.  Kevin had the second best SLG and home run total in the league.  Brian Dozier had three homers, and Yoenis Cespedes and Freddie Freeman had ten hits each.  Chris had good home run, RBI, and SLG totals too, but they weren’t good enough to counter the Goofballs.  Jake Lamb stayed red-hot, but only Danny Espinosa had a steal for the Legion.  This gave Kevin a chance to salvage a 5-5 draw.  However, Kevin couldn’t find any steals on Sunday.  The Goofballs posted an excellent 0.594 OBP for the day, but it wasn’t enough to take the category from the Legion.  Chris earned a 6-3-1 victory and kept pace with the top of the league.  The loss continues Kevin’s trend of falling just-short against top competition.

JK Lannisters (8-3-1) vs.  KK Thunderwolves (2-9-1)

Like the Possums, the Lannisters enjoyed a relatively stress-free week against the Thunderwolves.  Despite injuries to nearly his entire starting rotation, Jeff managed to win four pitching categories thanks to solid efforts from journeymen like Matt Shoemaker and John Lackey.  However, the Lannisters were unable to record a win for the week, and Kyle managed to take at least one category.

On offense, the Lannisters had the best OBP and SLG in the league.  They tied for the highest steals total.  Kyle produced good power and RBI numbers, but it wasn’t enough.  Kris Bryant exploded for a five home run week.  Bryce Harper added two of his own.  Kyle had good weeks from Nelson Cruz, Ryan Braun, and Wil Myers.  However, no other Thunderwolf regular had a SLG over 0.500.  The Lannisters had six regulars with SLG over 0.500 and piled up steals from Mike Trout.  This resulted in a rare stress-free week for the Lannisters, who remained tied with the Armadillos for first place.

Next Week

The most important match of the week pairs the Lannisters and Legion.  These teams have a long-running history.  After a tie in the first week, both teams will look for a decisive result.  The Possums, Armadillos, and PhoeGnomes will all try to take advantage of a loss from one of the league’s best.  They face the Goofballs, Hollidays, and Thunderwolves respectively.