The first seven week cycle of the season concluded last week.  The Armadillos managed a close win against the Legion.  The Thunderwolves moved back to 0.500 with a win against Heather.  The Lasershow earned their second victory in an upset of the goofballs.  Finally the Possums and Lannisters finished with a draw.

LK Armadillos (4-1-1) vs.  Legion (1-1-4)

The Legion and Armadillos typically have classic battles.  This week the Armadillos won after Chris suffered a down week for his offense.  The match was close, and Chris was within one steal of earning a tie.  However, both teams’ relative dominance of their respective categories drained the match of much of its drama.

J.D. Martinez had a monster week for the Armadillos with five home runs and eight RBI.  Gary Sanchez added two more.  Billy Hamilton struggled with just two hits for the week and a 0.071 OBP and SLG.  However, the rest of the team rallied and put up good numbers.  Carlos Santana came through in light duty and the team recorded three critical steals.  The Legion were unable to mount much of a challenge.  Jose Ramirez had a good week, but Jorge Soler’s SLG matched Hamilton’s abysmal 0.071 number.  The Legion were last in two offensive categories, tied for last in one, and next-to-last in the remaining two.  Larry won a 4-0-1 advantage and put tremendous pressure on the Legion’s pitchers.

Chris responded with a spirited effort.  Lance McCullers Jr. did the best over two starts.  He struck out 14 in 13.0 innings pitched.  His WHIP was a tiny 0.69.  Ken Giles had three saves, and Trevor Bauer was dominant in his one start.  The Armadillos didn’t have any answers to the Legion’s starters.  Noah Syndergaard was solid but other starters like Carlos Carrasco and Patrick Corbin were mediocre.  Chris won wins, strikeouts, ERA, and WHIP with ease.  However, the Armadillos’ bullpen recorded an astounding nine saves.  Brad Hand had three and then three other relievers scored two each.  This was enough to win the category and the week overall.

Neither team is likely to be happy with their showing this week.  The Legion remain inconsistent at the plate and the Armadillos were probably lucky to have been relatively unchallenged on offense.  A single steal could have changed the result, and steals are normally one of the Armadillos’ best categories.  It was another hard fought week, and both teams will look toward the rematch later in the season.

KK Thunderwolves (2-3-1) vs.  HP PhoeGnomes (1-4-1)

The Thunderwolves have surprised some owners with the strong start to the season.   The PhoeGnomes have elicited the equal but opposite reaction since they have struggled.  Kyle found a way to do enough to move back to 0.500 for the season.  The key was strong pitching.  Kyle had two good starts from Alex Wood and a lot of good bullpen work.  James Paxton recorded another strong outing, and Yu Darvish picked up his first win.  The PhoeGnomes suffered a nightmare start from Kevin Gausman and a weak effort from Joey Lucchesi.  Other starters like Gio Gonzalez and Chris Sale fared better, but it wasn’t enough to challenge the Thunderwolves.  Kyle had the best WHIP in the league and was near the top in the other categories.

Neither team had strong offensive numbers, but Kyle was able to do enough to stay competitive.  Seven Thunderwolves had a home run, and It was enough to tie the category.  Whit Merrifield continued to steal basses and Eric Hosmer added a surprising two of his own.  This was enough to dominate the category and secure the win, even though the team’s SLG and OBP were not good.  Heather won those categories with ease thanks to a great week from Ian Happ.  He had two home runs and a 1.067 SLG.  Heather needed a five category sweep to get a tie for the week, though, and the Thunderwolves did enough to get back to 0.500 and the upper half of the league.

The start continues the baffling struggles for the PhoeGnomes.  After a successful draft, many felt Heather had a chance to compete for the title.  The first cycle hasn’t been kind to the team, and Heather needs to find answers quickly because the season risks falling into a tailspin.

SM Lasershow (1-4-1) vs.  KG Capital City Goofballs (1-2-3)

After a win in Week 01, The Lasershow have struggled to find much success, managing only a tie and four losses.  They got back on track against the Goofballs, but the win was ugly.  Sean had respectable power numbers and got two home runs from Christian Yelich and Yasiel Puig.  Yangervis Solarte had a nice week in part-time play.  Unfortunately the team had the lowest OBP in the league.  The Goofballs weren’t any better, though.  They had the lowest SLG in the league and were near the bottom in home runs and RBI.  Each team won two categories by default, and tied in steals.

The poor offensive showing meant that pitching would decide the match.  The Goofballs showed more inconsistency again, struggling to get saves and keep their ERA in control.  Jon Gray suffered a meltdown and Julio Teheran was ineffective.  Sean had a good week from Eduardo Rodriguez and Trevor Williams.  The Lasershow weren’t at the top of the league in any categories but they were solid all around and had a good wins total.  They edged by in the strikeouts category and did enough to sweep all five categories and secure the win.  Hopefully this win will help the Lasershow get on track and start to make progress in the standings.  The loss continues the baffling, inconsistent start for the Goofballs.  They are now in seventh place ahead of only the PhoeGnomes.  On the positive side, Kevin is just three games back from the lead early on.  It’s possible for him to make progress, but like the PhoeGnomes, they need to make a change soon.

RK Possums (4-2) vs.  Lannisters (4-1-1)

The week’s final match was an odd encounter between the Possums and Lannisters.  Rick posted great offensive numbers early in the week.  He had five players with two home runs, and players like Andrew Benintendi and Xander Bogaerts piled up RBI.  Brandon Belt had a good week, and Josh Donaldson had a critical steal that offset his poor OBP and SLG numbers.  The Lannisters didn’t have the same level of power, but Mookie Betts had a fantastic week with two home runs and four steals.  Mike Trout added two steals and two home runs.  This wasn’t enough to challenge in home runs or RBI, but the Lannisters locked down steals and OBP.  SLG was close until the end, but the Lannisters were foiled by their part time players.  The six players with the fewest at bats had just two hits between them.  Rick had better production from his spot starters and took a valuable third category.

The Lannisters took control of the pitching rate stats early.  Jose Quintana and Charlie Morton led the way with good starts.  However, the bullpen fell apart and had only four saves.  An early double-header cost Jeff a chance to start Kenley Janson, who recorded two saves on the bench.  This gave Rick an opening.  Rick Porcello struggled but he piled up strikeouts over his two starts.  Max Scherzer was good, and Tanner Roark was strong in spot start duty.  This was enough for Rick to take strikeouts and tie in wins.  The end result was a locked-down 4-4-2 tie.  There were missed opportunities on both sides, and the Possums are probably unhappy that they were not able to capitalize on their big offensive showing.  Alternatively, the Lannisters can take comfort in weathering the storm, but know that a win was just a win, save, or 0.0099 SLG away.

Next Week

The second cycle of the season begins with Week 01 rematches.  The Goofballs will try to find something to work against the Lannisters.  The Lasershow will try to keep rolling against the PhoeGnomes.  The Legion and Thunderwolves meet again and Kyle will try to get above 0.500.  The Legion will try to get moving with a victory.  Finally, the Possums face the Armadillos in a match that could have early implications for the final standings.