Legion, Possums Stay Alive; Armadillos and Goofballs Win

RK Possums (12-8-2) vs.   JK Lannisters (15-6-1)

With only three weeks left, the Possums faced a must-win against the Lannisters.  If the Possums win out and the Lannisters lose at least two games and tie one, Rick can win the title by tie-breaker.  Knowing this, the Possums put everything they had into a match against a depleted Lannister squad.

Rick delivered the best offensive performance in the league for the week.  The Lannisters struggled all around, and only won steals.  Rick was led by Xander Bogaerts, Joey Votto, Khris Davis, and Charlie Blackmon.  All four players had two home runs each and totaled 19 RBI.  This gave Rick the league lead in SLG and home runs.  He finished second in RBI and third in OBP.  The Lannisters had okay home run numbers, but no OBP or SLG presence.  It was one of the team’s worst weeks of the year.

On pitching, things got worse for the leaders.  Almost all of the Lannisters’ opening day starters are injured.  As a result, they threw several sub-par starters into the mix and got terrible results.  The Lannisters had the worst ERA in the league (on a week when two other teams had 6.00+ numbers).  They also had the worst WHIP.  Rick, on the other hand, lapped the league in wins, saves, and ERA.  They were second in WHIP.  All of Rick’s starters were consistent.  Only Justin Verlander gave up zero runs for the week.  The rest of the staff all gave up four or fewer with the exception of Miguel Gonzalez.  Zach Britton continued to pile up saves, and A. J. Ramos added three of his own.  Overall, Possums won in dominant fashion and stayed alive for another week.  The Lannisters played poorly, but have two favorable matches to end the season.  They need only a win to clinch the title.  The Possums must now wait to see what happens between the Lannisters, PhoeGnomes, and Happy Hollidays.

CP Legion (12-7-3) vs.  CM Happy Hollidays (2-19-1)

The other team left in the hunt is the Legion.  Chris is a game back, but does not have a tie-breaker on the Lannisters.  This means he is essentially 1.5 games behind.  He had to defeat the Happy Hollidays to remain in contention.  They won, but it was an ugly week that happened to come against another struggling team. Chris had good counting numbers on offense and tied for the league lead in steals.  However, his OBP was surprisingly low and his SLG was not above 0.420.  Fortunately for the Legion, the Hollidays had one of the worst offensive weeks in league history.  They managed only ten RBI for the week on two home runs.  They also had the worst SLG by far, at 0.293.  If not for Matt Kemp’s ten hits, it would have been eve worse.  Francisco Lindor was ice gold, managed just two hits in 23 at-bats.  For the Legion, Trea Turner had three home runs and four steals.  These numbers won two categories on their own.

On pitching, both teams were terrible.  The Happy Hollidays “won” ERA with a 6.203 number.  Chris P. took WHIP, and piled up strikeouts.  Overall, The Legion won handily, but benefitted from playing a weak team on a cold week.  The win keeps Chris’s hopes alive.  He must continue to win and hope that the PhoeGnomes can stop the Lannisters.  This would for a tie going into the final week.  He will still need the Hollidays to win or tie against the Lannisters, but anything is possible on the last week when playing time is up in the air.

HP PhoeGnomes (12-10) vs.  KG Capital City Goofballs (12-10)

The Goofballs kept on winning with a close, odd victory over the PhoeGnomes.  Kevin only won four categories, but it was enough to stop Heather and move Kevin closer to third place.  Leading the way was… Everyone?  Kevin started 21 offensive players and only two of them did not have hits.  One of them, Brandon Belt, had three walks.  Only Brad Miller went 0-4.  However, all of these players left the team with a mediocre SLG and OBP.  Kevin won RBI and steals, and tied home runs.  Heather’s more concentrated approach yielded fewer counting stats but better rate performance.  Andrew McCutchen showed signs of life with three home runs and 10 RBI.  This gave the teams a 2-2-1 split before pitching.

Kevin threw more than twice as many innings as Heather.  This gave him a massive edge in all counting stats.  This was clear in strikeouts, where Kevin led the league.  However, Heather was able to counter the counting advantage with great performances in terms of wins and saves.  She tied Kevin in both categories.  Unfortunately, Kevin had a slightly lower WHIP thanks to a rough week for Zach Davies.  Kevin secured his fourth category and earned a bizarre 4-3-3 victory.  The win puts Kevin in fourth place and a game behind the Possums.  Kevin is clearly playing for a medal, and wants to claim a spot on the podium in just his second season.

KK Thunderwolves (6-13-3) vs.  LK Armadillos (11-9-2)

The final match of the week paired the Thunderwolves and Armadillos.  Larry looked to continue to win, while the Thunderwolves hoped to pick up some momentum as the season ends.  The Armadillos won a closely contested battle.  On offense, both teams were evenly matched.  Kyle had a better SLG and RBI total, while the Armadillos took steals and OBP by equal margins.  Home runs were tied.  Kyle enjoyed three home run week from Ryan Braun and the red-hot Hanley Ramirez.  Larry benefitted from Gaby Sanchez’s three homers, and seven individual home runs from different players.

Pitching was where the battle was decided.  After the 2-2-1 hitting split, Larry deployed Clayton Kershaw and Ervin Santana, both of whom had good weeks.  Kyle threw fewer innings and had a bad Yu Darvish start, which put ERA, WHIP, and strikeouts out of reach.  Kyle’s bullpen fell just short, and he lost saves.  This was just enough for Larry to take a narrow win.  Once again, Kyle has to be disappointed with his outcome despite a pretty good week.  The Armadillos are looking better, and hope to move past their injury woes.

Next Week

The most important match of the week is the Lannisters versus PhoeGnomes.  If Jeff wins, he will clinch the title.  Heather would love to upset the leaders.  Chris must defeat the Armadillos and Rick needs a win against Kyle to stay in the hunt.  The Armadillos and Legion are one of the league’s most bitter rivalries and Larry would love to inflict some damage on the Legion.  Rick will have to take out Kyle and hope the PhoeGnomes take care of business.  Finally, the Goofballs look to keep moving forward against the Hollidays.