Guest League Update by Larry Kramer!

Legion (3-4-4) at Lasershow (2-7-2)

The Legion entered the week frustrated from several ties and other close losses. But with Jose Ramirez and a resurgent Paul Goldschmidt leading the way, the Legion served notice that they intend to stay in the race by soundly defeating the game, but outmanned Lasershow with a strong 9-0-1 week.

Chris’ team was led by Ramirez with 2 HR/6 RBI/4SB and Goldschmidt with 3 HR/6RBI.  The surprising Brandon Nimmo added 2HR/7RBI with Cody Bellinger chipping in a couple of solo shots.  The Legion had a good, steady week as they jumped to a lead and never let up.  They totaled 40 walks and had an outstanding .387 OBP for the week.

On the pitching side, Chris got great starts from Nick Pivetta (20Ks and only 4 runs allowed in two starts) and high strikeout starts from Clevinger and McCullers, and a strong effort by Blake Snell.  Raisel Iglesias provided 3 saves, and the Legion coasted to the win.

The Lasershow tried to put up a battle and managed to stay relatively close in HR, RBI, and WHIP, but ultimately could salvage only a tie in Saves.  Mitch Moreland, rejected Ranger, had 10 hits, a HR, and 5 RBI, Lindor added 2 HR/6 RBI, and David Peralta had a homer and 5 RBI to lead the Lasershow offense.

Trevor Williams led the pitching side for Sean’s team with only 3 runs allowed in 13 inn with 13 Ks.  Kyle Barraclough had two saves, but the rest of the staff managed only mediocre work, and the Lasershow couldn’t stay with the Legion.

 

Possums (8-2-1) at Goofballs (3-5-3)

The Possums have taken the league by storm so far, and show no signs of letting up.  They defeated the Goofballs (7-2-1) with an offensive barrage and enough  strong pitching performances to neutralize a similarly good pitching effort from the Goofball starters.

At the plate, Rick’s team got good at bats from Joey Votto 2HR/9RBI, Eugenio Suarez 2HR/6RBI, Aaron Hicks 2HR/4RBI, and C. Hernandez with a homer, 3RBI, and 2 steals.  Pitching wise the Possums had the usual dominating starts from Verlander, Kluber, Scherzer, J.A. Happ, and Trevor Bauer (twice) – the Possums starters have been amazing thus far.  But the bullpen also helped swing the week for the Possums as Sean Doolittle and B. Treinan combined for 5 saves.

The Goofballs made it close for most of the week.  Kevin’s hitters performed admirably.  He had 3 players with a pair of homers – Schwarber, M. Carpenter, and A. Rendon.  He also had 4 players with 4 RBI for the week – M. Carpenter, Rizzo, Freeman, and J. Baez – plus Rendon with 6 RBI.  The Goofballs had a strong .385 OBP for the week (with 38 walks).  However, this was the only category on the hitting side that they were able to pull out.

Pitching categories were closer than they appeared as the Goofballs got two great starts from Berrios (1 run/18Ks) and fine starts from Jon Gray, the recycled Tyson Ross, and recently acquired D. Kuechel.  Keone Kela added 3 saves, but it wasn’t enough

 

Armadillos (7-3-1) at PhoeGnomes (3-7-1)

Nolan Arenado and his PhoeGnomes teammates annihilated the hapless Armadillos 9-1.  And it didn’t even seem that close!  Arenado, a coveted trade target for the Armadillos for as long as he has been in the majors, teased his frequent suitor with a 4 HR / 12 RBI week.  The Gnomes were locked and loaded and they put everything together this week.

They had 6 other players with homers and easily swept all the hitting categories except RBIs.  Jose Altuve and Matt Olson had big weeks and Heather also had 5 different players with steals.

Heather’s team won all the pitching categories with ease.  Chris Sale went 14 inn with 2 runs given up and 24 strikeouts!  M. Bumgarner had a great game, and A. Chapman saved two games.

The Armadillos were awful.  They came in leading the league by a good margin in steals and saves.  They lost both categories – and weren’t able to record even one save as the Gnomes dominated the week.  G. Stanton came alive with a 3HR/7RBI week, but it was wasted as he had little help.

On the pitching side, J. Flaherty went 7 inn/1 hit/13 Ks and P. Corbin went 7 inn/ 3hits /12 Ks, but neither could even get a win.  Spot starters D. German , J. Teheran, and M. Soroka were all pounded.  The usually reliable bullpen had no answers, and the Armadillos suffered a humiliating defeat.  Larry’s team has released 7 players since Sunday in an effort to turn things around.

 

Lannisters (6-2-3) at Thunderwolves (4-6-1)

The best drama was provided by these two teams who battled back and forth all week, but on Sunday the whole matchup came down (as it has so often has this year) to the Sunday night game.  The Lannisters won all the hitting categories except steals.  So this was a matchup that would be determined on the pitching side.  The Wolves had taken the lead on Sunday afternoon (helped by a disastrous relief appearance by Pedro Strop for the Lannisters).  The defending champs only chance to overtake Kyle’s team was to win ERA – and the only pitcher with a chance to appear in a game was Wade Davis.  The Rockies went into the 9th inning down by three runs.  But miraculously for Jeff, they called on Davis to pitch the 9th inning, and he set the Marlins down in order.  And that 1-2-3 inning swung the ERA category — and the week to the Lannisters (6-4).  What a finish!

The Lannisters should feel fortunate for the victory, which was definitely a tribute to their strong bench.  Nellie Cruz carried the team (10 hits/3HR/8RBI) with some help from Asdrubal Cabrera and Jesus Aguilar who combined for 3HR/11RBI.

Incredibly, however, Trout, Harper, Machado, Bryant, and Ozuna went 20 for 96 (.208) with one HR!

The Lannisters pitching was strong with deGrom, Cole, and Morton combining for five solid starts.  And the bullpen was able to record 5 saves with strong stats.

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Thunderwolves, who thought they had a tie for sure.  Kyle’s team had a good week from A. Beltre with 2HR/6RBI.  R. Hoskins and the surging Shin Soo Choo both chipped in 4 RBI, and Realmuto added 6 of his own before being injured.  On the negative side for Kyle, Eric Hosmer and Whit Merrifield went a combined 4 for 33 (.121) for the week.

The Thunderwolves pitching was excellent with nice starts from Greinke (two), Aaron Nola, Alex Wood, and C. Richard.  Cody Allen had two saves for the week.  But the Wolves were frustrated by the last minute heroics by Wade Davis, and they fell to the Lannisters.

Next Week

This week the league leading Possums will try to keep the momentum going in a matchup with the Lsasershow.  Sean’s team would love to pull off an upset.

The red hot PhoeGnomes will do battle with the Goofballs.  Neither team wants to lose this match.

The Armadillos will try to regroup against the Thunderwolves who will be looking for a big win after coming close to upsetting the Lannisters.

And the premier matchup of the week will be the Lannisters-Legion battle between two strong rivals who had to lose to anyone, much less each other.