CP Legion (1-1-3) vs.  JK Lannisters (4-1)

The Lannisters and Legion renewed their bitter rivalry in the week’s closest match.  Chris dominated on offense but the Lannisters used timely pitching to stay in the hunt.  The end of the week provided an exciting back-and-forth finish that ended in a draw.

Chris started the week with an offensive barrage.  Eleven Legion players had a home run including three each from Jose Ramirez, Aaron Judge, and Odubel  Herrera.  Judge added eleven RBI and Ramirez collected the team’s three steals for the week.  Chris led the league in home runs, RBI, and SLG by a large margin.  They were second in OBP to the Goofballs.  The Lannisters didn’t have bad stats, but they weren’t enough to keep pace with Chris’s output.  However, the team did manage four steals (two each from Mookie Betts and Mike Trout).  This was enough to swing the category and prevent the Legion from achieving the offensive sweep.

On pitching, both teams had excellent numbers.  The Lannisters led the league in WHIP and wins.  They were second in strikeouts and ERA.  The Legion were near the top in these critical categories, but the Lannisters maintained a slim lead.  The Legion earned four saves.  This prevented a sweep for the Lannsiters.  Luis Severino and Sean Newcomb were great in two starts.  They combined for 24.0 innings pitched, three earned runs, and 30 strikeouts.  The Lannisters relied on a 14 strikeout start from Charlie Morton against the Rangers, and another great outing from rookie Walker Buehler.

By the last day of the week, the two categories in play for OBP and ERA.  The Legion opened the week with a lead but the Lannisters rallied behind good pitching to aim for a tie.  There was a slim chance that the Legion could lose control of OBP and possibly the week, despite their power numbers.  Going into Sunday, both teams emptied their lineups.  Chris deployed two players to try to get steals.  The Lannisters hoped these two would fail, and drop the Legion’s OBP.  Instead, both hit home runs!  This forced the Lannisters to put more players in the lineup.  The Legion did the same.  The Lannisters took the category briefly, but fell just one hit short.  It was too late to insert Mookie Betts into the lineup by the time the Legion had dropped in OBP, but this decision still cost the Lannisters.

Though Chris held on to OBP, the ERA category was equally important.  The Legion had three pitchers start, but a rain delay forced Luis Severino into the game later than expected.  This, along with a Blake Snell injury, reduced the Legion’s strikeout potential.  The Lannisters still had to deploy Luis Castillo, because it was possible that Severino could strike out enough players to shift the category!  This put ERA at risk for the Lannisters.  Ultimately Severino had a good outing, but only struck out seven.  Castillo paired with a Kenley Jansen garbage time inning to maintain ERA and strikeouts.  After so many moves, the match ended in a fitting tie.

The tie is somewhat bitter for the Legion.  They would have beaten any other team in the league.  The Lannisters would have beaten three other teams.  Still, when category margins are this small, both teams would gladly take the tie over the loss.  A handful of at bats and innings pitched could have turned the score for either team.

HP PhoeGnomes (1-3-1) vs.  KG Capital City Goofballs (0-2-3)

The week’s second biggest match saw the Goofballs pick up their first win of the season against the Thunderwolves.  After weeks of inconsistency, Kevin finally got a complete week with both good hitting and pitching.  The team tied for the lead in steals and had the second best SLG and best OBP.  Ten different players had a home run, but the best of the week was Freddie Freeman.  He had three home runs and six RBI.  Javier Baez added a home run and two steals.  However, Kevin’s depth was the real story.  Ten Goofballs had OBP above 0.350 and only three regulars slugged below 0.450.  The PhoeGnomes were solid as well.  Wilson Contreras had a monster week with three home runs, 12 RBI, and a steal.  His OBP was 0.500 and his SLG was 1.174.  George Springer had a SLG of 1.000.  Heather had some great numbers, but the Goofballs were just a little bit better across the board.  The teams tied in steals, but Kevin held a 4-0-1 advantage.

The PhoeGnomes had good pitching, but couldn’t do enough to overcome the Goofball’s lead.  Heather had good strikeout, ERA, and saves numbers.  However, her team didn’t pick up a win.  The Goofballs had three, and also took WHIP.  Both teams threw minimal innings.  The PhoeGnomes were more effective in ERA and strikeouts, but Kevin got nice starts from Julio Teheran and Kyle Hendricks.  Good bullpen work didn’t win saves, but the strong strikeout totals from Hunter Strickland and Corey Knebel reduced the team’s WHIP.  Kevin claimed his first win, and hopes to keep his momentum going.

LK Armadillos (3-1-1) vs.  KK Thunderwolves (2-2-1)

The third close battle of the week saw the Armadillos defeat the Thunderwolves.  The final 6-2-2 score is not indicative of how close this match was.  Kyle’s best chance was through pitching.  Despite a series of injuries, he put together the best ERA in the league and the second best WHIP.  The two leaders were Aaron Nola and James Paxton.  Paxton threw a no hitter, and the two pitchers combined for 18.0 innings pitched, five earned runs, and 27 strikeouts.  Ivan Nova was the only Thunderwolf to have an ERA over 1.80.  The Armadillos threw fewer innings but had more strikeouts thanks to Carlos Carrasco.  Brand Hand and Craig Kimbrel also secured saves.  Despite such good rate stats, Kyle wasn’t able to get enough wins or saves to claim either category.  This would be all the Armadillos needed to take advantage of better offense.

Kyle’s injury woes on offense are a known problem.  This week saw the Thunderwolves struggle to generate power beyond a decent home run total.  Kyle Seager had three for the team, but only five other players had at least one homer.  Larry had seven players with a home run, including three from Giancarlo Stanton.  Trevor Story had three of his own and 11 RBI.  This was enough for the Armadillos to sweep the offensive categories and earn a close 6-2-2 win.  Kyle needs to find an answer to help his offense.  Meanwhile, the Armadillos are now in first place via tiebreaker over the Lannsiters.  However, the Armadillos have injury issues of their own.  The team’s pitching staff has resorted to stream-quality pickups just to get innings.  The Lannisters have also suffered three season-ending injuries (and suspensions) to good players.  This demonstrates how deep and challenging the competition for first is this year.

RK Possums (3-2) vs.  SM Lasershow (1-3-1)

The week’s final match saw the Possums barely beat the Lasershow.  Sean must be disappointed after his team turned in the second best offensive week in the league.  Like the Legion, they lost steals and then fell victim to slightly better pitching by their opponent.  Sean had a great week from Salvador Perez.  He had three home runs and 10 RBI.  Travis Shaw also had three home runs, and four Lasershow members had two.  Rick’s offense was listless, and at the bottom of the league in home runs, RBI, OBP, and SLG.  However, they did manage five steals.  This was a crucial category win.

Sean’s pitching wasn’t terrible, but it was at the bottom of ERA, WHIP, and saves.  Rick dominated the relief battle by a 7-1 margin.  He also got a great Max Scherzer start and two good outings for Corey Kluber.  This gave Rick enough momentum to claim all five categories and score the win.  The Possums are now just a half-game back of first place.

Next Week

The Possums have a chance to prove they are a true contender with a match against the Lannisters.  Rick’s team has caused the Lannisters problems over the years, and he will hope to again frustrate the defending champs with his power and pitching.  The Goofballs will try to keep moving against the Lasershow.  The PhoeGnomes and Thunderwolves meet at a difficult time for both teams.  Still, this is an opportunity for both teams to try to turn their seasons around.

Finally, the Legion and Armadillos have their first match of the season.  No other rivalry in the league is as bitter as this one.  Almost ten years of trades, near-misses, and fierce competition will be renewed.  As the Lannisters/Legion match showed, weeks can turn on just one steal or at bat.