RK Possums (7-2-1) vs.  HP PhoeGnomes (3-6-1)

The Possums continued their hot streak against the PhoeGnomes.  Rick’s offense was stellar for the week:  The team led the league in home runs and RBI.  Evan Gattis was the star for the week.  He had four home runs, 10 hits, and 15 RBI.  The Houston DH was joined with three home runs apiece for Khris Davis and Xander Bogaerts.  Davis and Bogaerts represent two of the Possums’ better moves over the last few years.  Rick identified strong young players and kept them though some down periods.  Now they are rewarding the Possums with great stats each week.  Ten total Possums had home runs, which contributed to a strong SLG.  However, Heather put up a fight to the end.  Her team had an advantage in OBP thanks to great weeks from Jose Altuve and Matt Kemp.  Mitch Haniger added three home runs and Trea Turner contributed two steals.  This was enough to give Heather second category despite the Possums’ strong performance.

Neither team had outstanding pitching numbers.  Rick relied on a good week from his bullpen along with his usual high strikeout numbers.  Rick won both categories after a four save week from Arodys Vizcaino.  Max Scherzer struck out 10 in just 6.0 innings pitched, and Trevor Bauer added twelve in his lone start.  Heather enjoyed a good week from Junior Guerra and captured ERA with a middling number.  She also took wins.  However, WHIP slipped away after a disastrous Jake Arrieta outing.  Heather came up just short, and suffered a close 6-4 loss.  The rare downturn in pitching shows that the Possums are still vulnerable.  Heather was close, but her usual strong pitching couldn’t quite overcome a few bad starts.  The win vaults the Possums into first place ahead of the Lannisters and Armadillos.  The Possums hope that their rise continues, and the PhoeGnomes once again ask what they have to do to earn a victory.

LK Armadillos (6-3-1) vs.  JK Lannisters (5-2-3)

The week’s second most important match paired the Armadillos and Lannisters.  Despite a heroic effort from the Lannisters offense, the Armadillos scored a close win despite bad pitching on both sides.  Jeff’s offense rallied behind four home run weeks from Nelson Cruz, Mike Trout, and Marcell Ozuna.  Trout was on fire for the week with a 0.750 OBP and 1.368 SLG.  Ozuna finally emerged from his season-long slump and contributed ten hits and eight RBI.  The Lannisters were near the top of the league in home runs, OBP, and SLG.  However, they failed to generate as many RBI as several other teams.  The Armadillos had only ten home runs but still managed three more RBI from the week.  They were led by a strong week from Starling Marte.  Trevor Story added seven RBI.  The Armadillos had nine players with at least one homer and fourteen contributed RBI.  This indicates a strong week up and down the lineup.  The Lannisters had better stats, but the Armadillos had more contributions from the lower end of the roster on days with few games.  This delivered two categories, and made all the difference for the week.

Neither team had acceptable pitching stats.  The Armadillos used only four starters.  Patrick Corbin and Carlos Carrasco had disastrous outings.  On the plus side, Edwin Diaz had four saves.  This gave the Armadillos one easy category win.  The Lannisters suffered a series of injuries and bad starts.  Gerrit Cole had a rare down outing and Wade Davis suffered a meltdown in relief.  Overall, the pitching on both sides was atrocious and not championship caliber.  The Armadillos won a sloppy 6-3-1 victory.  The win puts the Armadillos in a tie for second.  The Lannisters have a slew of injuries and struggled to even find enough starters for the week.  Both teams are digging deep on the waiver wire to look for reinforcements.

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

The Legion and Goofballs managed to record yet another tie for both teams.  On the positive side, the Legion’s offense was strong.  They were among the league leaders in OBP and SLG.  They also won home runs and RBI.  Carlos Correa led the way with three home runs and eight RBI.  Jose Ramirez, Paul Goldschmidt, and Brandon Nimmo each had three home runs.  Nimmo’s strong Sunday was a big part of what allowed the Legion to secure the category and the tie for the week.  Kevin had a great week from Freddie Freeman with three home runs.  Javier Baez and Lorenzo Cain added strong steals totals.  This gave Kevin a crucial category win.  Besides steals, the Legion were dominant and appeared to have an edge before pitching.

The Legion and Goofballs each had strong pitching stats relative to the rest of the league.  The teams were tied in saves.  Chris had two saves from Brad Boxberger, but his untimely blown save on Sunday cost the Legion the category and a win for the week.  The implosion also skewed the Legion’s ERA and WHIP.  The Lannisters had a similar problem with Wade Davis on Sunday.  The Goofballs were able to take strikeouts thanks to a big week from Jon Gray.  The Rockies’ starter had 19 strikeouts in 11.0 innings pitched.  However, Gray also allowed nine earned runs and had a bloated WHIP.  Chris got a great start from Luis Severino, but it wasn’t enough to affect the rate categories quite enough.  The teams had to settle for yet another tie, and both are left with questions around their pitching staffs.

SM Lasershow (2-6-1) vs.  KK Thunderwolves (3-6-1)

The week’s final match saw the Thunderwolves earn a strong win against the Lasershow.  Kyle’s squad had a good offensive week.  Eduardo Escobar and J.T. Realmuto each had ten hits.  Realmuto and Rhys Hoskins had three home runs each.  This contributed to a solid SLG number as well as wins in home runs and RBI.  The two teams tied in steals, but the Lasershow weren’t competitive in OBP.  Francisco Lindor had a great week with two home runs and a steal, but he didn’t have enough support outside of David Peralta.  Mitch Moreland was miserable with a 0.136 SLG in 22 at-bats.  This gave Kyle four solid category wins before pitching.

Neither team had strong pitching numbers, but the Thunderwolves were able to do enough to win the week.  Kyle’s strong point was his bullpen.  The team had six saves with four coming from Shane Greene.  Kyle Barraclough had a nice week for the Lasershow, but Kyle barely won the category.  He also dominated in strikeouts thanks to strong weeks from Chase Anderson and Aaron Nola.  Sean had a good pair of starts from Eduardo Rodriguez, but several other starters didn’t contribute much.  The Thunderwolves’ improved play had been evident for a few weeks, so Kyle is probably happy to earn a win.

Next Week

After the Possums moved into first place, they face a test against the Goofballs.  Kevin knows he needs to win and not fall further behind the league leader.  The Thunderwolves will try to stay hot against the Lannisters.  The Legion will try to rebound from their tie against the struggling Lasershow.  Finally, the PhoeGnomes and Armadillos will face off with both teams needed to build momentum.