LK Armadillos (10-5-3) vs.  JK Lannisters (12-5-1)

As the season draws to a close, every match is important.  The Armadillos faced the Lannisters in a close battle for the top of the leaderboard.  After weeks of inconsistent offensive performance, the Lannisters exploded to lead the league in home runs, RBI, and SLG.  Leading the way were Justin Upton and Manny Machado.  Each had four home runs and the pair combined for 19 RBI.  Jose Abreu and Mike Trout had three home runs each, while Paul DeJong and Kris Bryant had two apiece.  The Armadillos put up excellent totals early in the week, but it wasn’t enough.  Gary Sanchez had a monster four home / 10 RBI week, and Giancarlo Stanton added three home runs.  The team also led the league in OBP thanks to Stanton’s performance.  Unfortunately for the Armadillos, the Lannisters had a 3-2 advantage before pitching.

The Lannister bullpen was a standout for the week with six saves to the Armadillos’ four.  This put immense pressure on both pitching staffs.  The Lannisters were slightly better than the Kershaw-less Armadillos.  Reynaldo Lopez and J.A. Happ suffered abysmal starts.  Dallas Keuchel was great in one start, but the rest of the Armadillos’ squad was mediocre.  The Lannisters weren’t much better, after a Jacob deGrom meltdown.  However, the strong bullpen and a few quality starts were enough to capture ERA and WHIP.  The Armadillos won strikeouts, but the Lannisters took the week.  The result has to be frustrating for the Armadillos, because their offense was the second best in the league.  The win puts the Lannisters firmly in the lead for the title, but there are still four teams within just three games of the lead.  The Armadillos fell to three back, but can still make up ground and own the tiebreaker.

RK Possums (8-6-4) vs.  CP Legion (9-6-3)

The Possums kept their title hopes alive with a surprising tie against the Legion.  Rick’s week looked a lot like the Armadillos – great hitting and middling pitching.  Leading the way was Josh Donaldson with four home runs.  Nine other Possums’ players had home runs, and the team was second in both OBP and SLG.  The Legion didn’t put up good offensive totals except for steals.  Delino DeShields had three for the week and the Legion were second in the league.

Chris had a much better week pitching.  Despite a bat stat line from Danny Salazar, the team had the best ERA, saves, and strikeout total in the league.  Roberto Osuna and Raisel Iglesias had three saves each.  Luis Severino and Brad Peacock allowed just one run in two starts.  Overall the Legion had the best pitching line for the week.  Rick struggled, especially for the rate stats.  However, he did manage five wins.  This was enough to secure the tie for the week.  Carlos Rodon and Brad Peacock had good outings for the Legion but their teams let them down and neither got a win.  This cost Chris the victory for the week.  However, the Legion are just 2.5 games back and still alive in the title hunt.  The Possums are three back, but the tie keeps their dream alive as well.

KG Capital City Goofballs (10-6-2) vs.  KK Thunderwolves (3-13-2)

The Goofballs continued to use a horde of players to amass solid production and continue to ascend up the standings.  This week Kevin used 22 hitters and ten pitchers, or more than three quarters of the entire roster!  His best player was Nelson Cruz, who hit three home runs.  However, more unknown names like Rhys Hoskins added a home run, and Lorenzo Cain contributed a steal in just five at bats.  The Goofballs don’t have the star power of some other teams, but they have solid depth and continue to hunt for production on the waiver wire and free agent pool.  The team’s efforts have paid off and the deep roster continues to enjoy success.  This week the Goofballs led the league in OBP and had solid offensive numbers that could have topped the league most other weeks.  The Thunderwolves continued to struggle on offense, but did lead the league in steals thanks to big weeks from Rougned Odor and Whit Merrifield.

Neither team had the best pitching stats, but Kevin had enough good arms to take four categories.  Kyle Hendrisk and Dinelson Lamet had two good efforts each.  The Thunderwolves relied on Zack Greinke and Yu Darvish, but a series of injuries and bad starts derailed the team’s chances.  The Goofballs cruised to a win and are not in second place, just 1.5 games behind the Lannisters.  There are six weeks left and the teams meet once more, so Kevin will need to win and get help.  However, his position at the top of the league shows that his aggressive approach to acquisitions works.  It’s also a reminder to other struggling teams (like the Thunderwolves) that a re-build can happen quickly if you can find the right parts.

SM Laswershow (2-13-3) vs.  HP PhoeGnomes (9-9)

The week’s final match saw the PhoeGnomes defeat the Lasershow.  Sean’s demise came because of his pitching, where he posted the worst ERA and WHIP in the league by a considerable margin.  Jim Johnson struggled, as did Trevor Rosenthal.  Hector Neris contributed little, and the solid work from Rick Porcello and Pat Neshek went to waste.  Heather countered with a great week from Gio Gonzalez.  In two starts, Gonzalez didn’t allow a run and had a 0.87 WHIP.  Charlie Morton was good, as was the bullpen.  Heather cruised to a 4-0-1 advantage.

Sean fared better on offense.  He had a good SLG number thanks to a huge four home run week from Rafael Devers.  Heather had much less power, but did take OBP and steals thanks to Jose Altuve and Austin Hedges.  Solid efforts from Jay Bruce and Ryan Zimmerman weren’t enough to help the Lasershow, and Heather earned another victory.  She is now in 6^th place and 3.5 games back.

Next Week

The final matches continue in the 20^th week of the season.  The Legion and Goofballs have a critical match.  The losing team is likely out of title contention.  With the Lannisters facing the Thunderwolves, both teams will want a victory to keep pace and play for the final match-up with the league leaders.  The Armadillos look to keep their title dreams alive against the PhoeGnomes.  Finally, Rick hopes to stay alive against the Lasershow.