RK Possums (9-3-3) vs.  KK Thunderwolves (5-9-1)

The Possums remained in a tie for first place thanks to a dominant showing against the Thunderwolves.  Rick had the second best overall showing for the week.  He had good numbers on both offense and pitching.  The Possums were near the top of the league in home runs, RBI, and SLG.  Khris Davis feasted on bad Ranger pitching with five home runs and 13 RBI.  He led the team with a 0.774 SLG.  Eugenio Suarez was close behind with another five home runs and nine RBI.  The team didn’t record a stolen base, and Kyle captured this category with a league-leading eight steals, five of which came from Whit Merrifield.  Rhys Hoskins had a great week, too.  He hit five home runs and had nine RBI.  This secured the category for the Thunderwolves.  Kyle was close in OBP, but Rick held him off and took a 3-2 lead.

On pitching, the Possums continued their solid overall production.  They led the league in wins and WHIP thanks to gems from Matt Scherzer and Trevor Bauer.  The pair struck out 21 in 15.0 innings pitched.  Neither allowed a run and they totaled for just eight baserunners.  This gave the Possums the foundation they needed.  Marco Gonzales and Justin Verlander added serviceable starts and the team nailed down all of the categories they needed for a victory.  Kyle never had a chance after implosions from Nick Kingham and Felix Hernandez.  Rick earned a safe 8-2 win and continued his quest to wrestle the title away from the Lannisters.

LK Armadillos (10-4-1) vs.  KG Capital City Goofballs (3-8-4)

The Armadillos also got the job done with relative ease against the Goofballs, but the result was closer than that of the Possums/Thunderwolves match.  The Armadillos took four of five offensive categories, and none of them were in doubt.  J.D. Martinez had three home runs (and one other that was removed after a postponement).  Alex Bregman and Matt Chapman added two more each.  Stephen Piscotty was strong in part-time duty with a 0.600 SLG.  By contrast, the Goofballs struggled to get anything going on offense.  Brian Dozier had a couple of steals and Kevin won the category, but he found himself in a 4-1 hole before accounting for pitching.

Neither team had good pitching stats.  Injuries have certainly played a part in both teams’ problems, and the ugly results were on display here.  The Armadillos bullpen was able to come through with five saves, but with terrible peripherals.  Craig Kimbrel had an 8.10 ERA along with two saves.  Kevin managed more wins, but they were the only three starts that were any good from his starters.  Several others bombed, and the bullpen also blew up.  The Armadillos were more efficient and had more strikeouts, but neither team had a good ERA.  WHIP also went to the Armadillos.  Kevin had a chance on pitching, but couldn’t get the one or two starts he needed to make the overall match competitive.  The Armadillos are still in a tie for first place, and the Goofballs’ nightmare 2018 continues as they sit a half game behind the Thunderwolves in sole possession of last place.

JK Lannisters (8-2-5) vs.  SM Lasershow (4-8-3)

The Lasershow enjoyed their best stats of 2018 but only managed a tie against the resourceful Lannisters.  Sean had some of the best pitching numbers in the league.  He led the league in ERA and was second in wins.  Trevor Williams and Kyle Freeland were excellent, and did not allow a run in either of their starts.  However, the Lasershow made a strategic decision to start only five pitchers.  This basically forfeited strikeouts to the Lannisters.  Jeff enjoyed clutch Sunday performances from stopgaps Nate Eovaldi and Carlos Rodon.  The pair were sharp and decreased the Lannisters’ WHIP dramatically.  Despite leading for most of the week, Sean lost the category and the Lannsiters narrowly took three pitching categories.  This was critical given the Lasershow’s offensive explosion.

Sean got a monster four home run, eight RBI week from Salvador Perez.  He also got three home runs and 10 RBI from Christian Yelich.  David Peralta was the only Lasershow batter with more than eight at-bats who had a SLG under 0.450.  Sean led the league in home runs, RBI, and SLG.  The Lannisters tried their best to keep up, and led the league in ERA while finishing second in SLG.  They were also tied for second in steals.  Mike Trout was on fire with three home runs, four steals, and seven RBI.  Jose Abreu emerged from a slump with three home runs.  On most weeks, this would have been enough for a win.  The Lasershow were able to win SLG by a small margin after a strong Sunday from Scooter Gennett.

The tie is a good result for the Lasershow against the Lannisters, but Sean has to be somewhat disappointed in the swing in WHIP that cost him the outright win.  The Lannisters once again withstood a monstrous effort and avoided the loss.  With head-to-head battles against both the Possums and Armadillos looming, the tie is almost as good as a win for standings purposes.  The three teams are still almost deadlocked with multiple meetings that will decide the title.

HP PhoeGnomes (5-8-2) vs.  CP Legion (4-6-5)

The week’s final match saw the Legion win an ugly battle against the PhoeGnomes.  Heather’s offense was ice cold with low RBI and steal totals.  The Legion posted solid numbers across the board.  Yasmani Grandal provided great value with four home runs.  Michael Conforto and Paul Goldschmidt each had two home runs of their own.  Adalberto Mondesi had three steals, as did Jose Ramirez.  Chris cleared and easy five category sweep.

Neither team had good pitching stats and both team’s rate numbers were at the bottom of the league.  The list of struggles is a long one for each team.  Shane Bieber, Ross Stripling, and Junior Guerra imploded for the PhoeGnomes.  They undid the good work for Chris Sale, Madison Bumgarner, and Jhoulys Chacin.  These three pitchers allowed just three total runs in their three starts.  The fact that the PhoeGnomes’ team ERA was well over 5.00 shows how bad the others were.  Robbie Ray and Sean Newcomb also allowed only three runs in three starts for the Legion.  Their work was wasted by traumatic outings from Luis Severino, Nick Pivetta, and others.  Heather did manage to win saves, but Chris’s offensives sweep gave him enough cushion to win the battle despite poor pitching.

Next Week

The Lasershow hope to continue their hot streak against the Armadillos.  The week’s most interesting battle pits the Possums against the Legion.  Chris has the type of team that can give Rick trouble.  The Lannisters meet the slumping PhoeGnomes.  Finally, the Goofballs have a chance to climb out of the league’s dungeon against the Thunderwolves.  Kyle’s team has shown improvement this year, and neither team wants to suffer the pain of last place.

RK Possums (9-2-2) vs.  LK Armadillos (9-4-1)

The week’s most important match paired the league-leading Possums against the impressive Armadillos.  If the Possums won, they would extend their lead over the rest of the league.  With just ten weeks left to play, the Armadillos couldn’t afford to fall two games behind.  Rick put up an impressive pitching performance, but the Armadillos’ offense and bullpen rose to the occasion and earned the upset.

The Armadillos led the league in home runs and RBI.  They tied for the lead in steals and were second in SLG.  Ten Armadillos’ players had home runs, including four from Starling Marte and three from Alex Bregman, Trevor Story, and Greg Bird.  Bird led the team with 11 RBI, and Marte added 10 plus three steals.  Story and Ozzie Albies had two steals, and Billy Hamilton was the only player with more than 10 at-bats with a SLG under 0.455.  The Possums tried their best on offense, but couldn’t quite match up to the Armadillos.  Charlie Blackmon had 15 hits and two home runs.  Cesar Hernandez had 14 hits and a steal.  These performances were good enough to be close, but the Armadillos earned a clean five-category sweep.

The pitching matchup was much closer.  Rick relied on volume to build strong counting stats.  His pitchers combined for 83 strikeouts, easily the best total in the league.  Justin Verlander had 29 in 18.0 innings pitched, and Trevor Bauer stayed hot with 19 strikeouts over 12.0 IP.  Max Scherzer had the “worse” ERA for the week at 3.46.  With numbers like this, it seems like Rick would have run away on the pitching side.  However, the bullpen couldn’t record enough saves.  The Armadillos got four from Craig Kimbrel.  Despite a miserable start from Freddy Peralta, they also earned the ERA and WHIP titles based around fewer innings pitched.  On a normal week, Rick would have a good chance with a 2-3 pitching split.  However, the strong offense from the Armadillos put Rick in an untenable position where he needed to sweep.

The Armadillos earned a critical win to stay in the race.  For Rick, the loss represents a missed opportunity to put distance between himself and the rest of the field.  The two teams are now in a tie-breaker for first place, but both find themselves behind the Lannisters after a shocking turn of events on Sunday.

KG Capital City Goofballs (3-7-4) vs.  JK Lannisters (7-2-5)

The week’s most bizarre match featured the Goofballs and Lannisters.  After leading for most of the week, Kevin was shocked by a strange series of events on Sunday that left the Lannisters with an improbable victory.

The Goofballs appeared unstoppable on offense.  They were second in home runs, RBI, and steals.  They led the league in OBP and SLG by a wide margin.  Four Goofballs had more than 10 hits (Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo, Eddie Rosario, and Matt Carpenter).  Carpenter in particular was spectacular.  He had seven home runs, 11 RBI, a 0.615 OBP and 1.619 SLG.  Baez added three steals and two home runs.  The Goofballs’ subs were highly effective.  Six players had between 10 and 20 at-bats.  These players added six home runs and 14 RBI.  Five of those players had SLG over 0.550.  The Lannisters enjoyed a monster week from Mookie Betts, who had 17 hits.  Manny Machado, Jesus Aguilar, and Bryce Harper had three home runs each.  However, this wasn’t enough to turn any categories and Kevin won four almost unopposed.  Kevin led 8-6 in steals and seemed poised to earn a five category sweep.

On pitching, the Lannisters were more competitive.  Gerrit Cole was unhittable in two starts and picked up 19 strikeouts.  Jon Lester and Charlie Morton struggled but Jacob deGrom was exceptional.  This was enough for a solid team ERA and WHIP.  The bullpen was strong as well, finishing second in the league in saves.  Kevin was never competitive in ERA or WHIP.  Mike Montgomery undid a nice pair of starts by Chris Archer.  The bullpen didn’t record enough strikeouts to be a threat.  However, the team held a 3-2 edge in wins leading to Sunday.

Kevin entered Sunday with a 6-4 lead.  This seemed insurmountable since the Goofballs had a two steal lead and one win lead.  The Goofballs had one starter going.  Chris Archer was strong over six innings and recorded 13 strikeouts.  However, the team couldn’t muster enough offense to earn a victory.  This gave the Lannisters an opportunity with Jose Quintana starting against the Cardinals.  Kevin’s Cubs rallied to dominate the Cardinals and Quintana earned the victory.  However, this only tied the category.  Kevin still held a 5-4-1 lead.  Kevin responded by emptying his lineup to protect his lead in OBP.  The Lannisters started only their star players, and somehow three of them recorded steals.  Trout and Harper had early steals then Jean Segura untied the category with a late steal against the White Sox.  This flipped the category and delivered an improbably win to the Lannisters.  The shocking result is a bitter one for the Goofballs.  Elvis Andrus had a steal, but he was on the bench.  The miraculous win puts the Lannisters back in first place with a tie-breaker thanks to having fewer losses than the Possums and Armadillos.  The loss lands the Goofballs in last place, and few can argue that the team has experienced some of the worst luck this season.

SM Lasershow (3-8-3) vs.  HP PhoeGnomes (5-7-2)

After the Armadillos upset the leading Possums, the Lasershow tried to become the second team to overtake a higher ranked squad.  Sean delivered one of his best performances of the season and proved his team is making positive strides.  Felipe Vazquez had five saves and eight strikeouts.  Kyle Barraclough added to saves, and Zach Britton notched three more.  This was enough to lead the league.  The success of the bullpen also gave the team a good base for ERA and WHIP.  Eduardo Rodriguez had two great starts and didn’t allow a run.  Kyle Freeland was serviceable over two starts and Trevor Williams came through.  This gave Sean the edge in ERA.  However, the PhoeGnomes were more efficient in about the same number of innings.  Heather had more strikeouts, a better WHIP, and more wins.  Chris Sale was unhittable in two starts, and Ross Stripling was solid in six innings.  This gave Heather a 3-2 lead.

The PhoeGnomes’ best offensive player was Nolan Arenado.  He had 12 hits, three home runs, and nine RBI.  However, several other PhoeGnomes regulars struggled.  Jose Altuve had a 0.231 SLG and Jose Bautista was ineffective over 33 at-bats.  Ian Happ was good in limited duty, but Brandon Nimmo had a 0.185 SLG over 27 at-bats.  In contrast, the Lasershow put on a strong offensive performance.  Christian Yelich led the way with 20 hits, 11 RBI, and two steals.  Yelich was joined by Salvador Perez and Francisco Lindor:  each had 10 hits and combined for four home runs and 22 RBI.  David Peralta was solid in limited work.  Overall, the Lasershow win four categories with ease.  This translated to a 5-4 victory.  The improved Lasershow continue to demonstrate that the team is making positive strides from the disastrous tenure of the previous ownership regime.

KK Thunderwolves (4-9-1) vs.  CP Legion (4-5-5)

The week’s final upset featured the Thunderwolves triumphing over the Legion.  Both teams put up decent offensive numbers and were evenly matched.  Chris took home runs, OBP, and SLG.  His top performer was Jose Ramirez.  He had 15 hits, six home runs, 13 RBI, and a steal.   Aaron Judge added 14 hits and Cody Bellinger had 11.  Jesse Winker was also strong in part-time work, with a 0.818 SLG and seven hits in 11 at-bats.  Kyle deployed four hitters with at least 10 hits, including Rhys Hoskins, Eduardo Escobar, Adam Eaton, and Corey Dickerson.  Wil Myers had three hits, as did Dickerson.  Kyle had strong production up and down his line up and took the lead in RBI.  Eaton had two steals, and Kyle won this category as well.  In total, Chris held a 3-2 lead.

The Thunderwolves created separation in the pitching categories.  The Legion suffered several meltdowns and had the worse ERA and WHIP in the league by far.  No legion starter had an ERA under 4.00.  Every Legion pitcher except for Hector Rondon and Raisel Iglesias had at least three earned runs (no pitcher had more than one start).  This gave Kyle plenty of room to win categories with average performances.  Chase Anderson had two great starts, and Aaron Nola was solid in two as well.  James Paxton was injured, and his 0.2 inning “start” raised the team ERA and WHIP.  However, the Legion’s struggles meant that Kyle could absorb this problem start.  Overall, the Thunderwolves dominated pitching 5-0 and cruised to a victory.

The Thunderwolves victory leaves the standings with two groups.  The Possums, Armadillos, and Lannisters are essentially tied at the top.  The next five teams are all at least four games back with 10 to play. However, these five teams are all within 1.5 games of each other.    It’s not impossible for one of these teams to climb upward, but they need to start a winning streak right now.

Next Week

After their landmark victory against the Possums, the Armadillos face the beleaguered Goofballs.  Kevin will never give up, and if the team can just find some pitching they can give the Armadillos a run.  The Possums move on to face the Thunderwolves.  Rick needs to get back on track, but Kyle can cause problems with his pitching.  The Lannisters take on the Lasershow, and the Legion and PhoeGnomes meet.

LK Armadillos (8-4-1) vs.  CP Legion (4-4-5)

The league’s most bitter rivalry took a lopsided turn as the Armadillos defeated the Legion in convincing fashion.  The Armadillos put up the best offensive numbers in the league and found enough pitching after a series of Legion implosions.  Leading the way on offense was Avisail Garcia, who had four home runs.  Nine different Armadillos’ players had homers.  J.D. Martinez had a pair and led the team with seven RBI.  For their part, the Legion had a good offensive showing.  Aason Judge had three home runs and Paul Goldschmidt had seven RBI.  Jose Ramirez had a five steal week, and Chris easily led the league in that category.  They also had a top-level OBP thanks go huge weeks from Yasmani Grandal and Andrew Benintendi.  This gave the Armadillos a narrow 3-2 category lead.

On pitching, the Legion were far less successful.  The starters struggled, especially Sean Newcomb.  He and Robbie Ray allowed ten runs each.  Lance McCullers had a great start, but Luis Severino had a poor effort.  Blake Snell stayed hot, but the Legion still finished with the league’s second worst ERA.  The Armadillos had great production all around and picked up wins and saves.  Craig Kimbel and Edwin Diaz had three saves each.  Freddy Peralta and Patrick Corbin had good starts, and this was more than enough to give the Armadillos easy wins in ERA, WHIP, wins, and saves.  The Legion were close in strikeouts, but the Armadillos cruised to a clean 8-2 win.

JK Lannisters (7-2-4) vs.  RK Possums (9-2-2)

The Lannisters and Possums met in a consequential match for the league’s standings.  Rick was able to do enough to pull out a narrow win and remain in first place.  Rick had the second best offense for the week.  Charlie Blackmon, Max Muncy, and Eugenio Suarez each had three home runs.  Aaron Hicks added two more.  The Lannisters were unable to challenge in home runs or SLG despite a three home run and nine RBI week from Jesus Aguilar.  However, the Lannisters managed to win steals and almost took OBP.  One hit or walk made the difference for the week and the Lannisters lost the category by just 0.0008.

The teams were evenly matched on pitching.  Rick was able to take wins but the Lannisters easily won saves.  Two Lannister starters suffered injuries, and the team was forced to rely on players like Jake Odorizzi and Nathan Eovaldi.  The pair did a great job, though, and gave Jeff the lead in strikeouts.  The Possums god a good week from Corey Kluber and Justin Verlander, though, and won ERA.  WHIP was close, but the Possums had an edge.  This gave them a narrow 6-4 win.  The victory puts the Possums in first place by 1.5 games.  The Possums also own the season tiebreaker over the Lannisters.  After years of success, it appears that a slew of injuries may doom the defending champs for this season.

HP PhoeGnomes (4-7-2) vs.  KK Thunderwolves (4-8-1)

 

The PhoeGnomes started the season slow, but have come back to life in recent weeks.  They have managed to avoid the ties that plague many of the top teams and are nearing 0.500 for the season.  This week the PhoeGnomes took care of the Thunderwolves despite a minor rules violation.  Heather’s offense was solid with two homer weeks from Jose Altuve and Trea Turner.  Matt Kemp showed that he still have value with a six RBI week.  Kyle didn’t have any answers on offense outside of steals.  Albert Pujols was particularly bad with a 0.091 SLG for the week.  Heather had an easy 4-1 lead before pitching.

There was some minor controversy on the final day of the week.  The PhoeGnomes accidentally started an extra pitcher, but the mishap didn’t affect the outcome.  The offending pitcher did not top either the wins, saves, or strikeouts categories.  These category wins were enough for victory for the week, so no score adjustments were needed.  ERA and WHIP were, of course, altered by the extra start, but both possible offending pitchers (Wade LeBlanc and Shane Bieber) had bad starts.  Therefore the PhoeGnomes were given a warning, but no other action is needed.  The win gives Heather more momentum heading into the second half.

KG Capital City Goofballs (3-6-4) vs.  SM Lasershow (2-8-3)

The week’s final match saw the Goofballs fall to the Lasershow in a minor upset.  Sean’s team had good offensive stats and took four of five categories.  Francisco Lindor had wo home runs, as did Yadier Molida.  David Peralta added ten hits and five RBI.  The Lasershow tied for the league lead in RBI, and dominated OBP and SLG.  Kevin had okay numbers, and all eight of his home runs came from different players.  However, Javier Baez’s three steals were the highlight for the Goofballs.

On pitching, the Goofballs’ woes continued.  Three pitchers had ERAs over 13.00.  Tyson Ross allowed eight runs in just 2.0 innings pitched.  Kevin got three wins, but two of them were from the bullpen.  The Lasershow staff was better, despite a bad Tyler Chatwood start.  Kyle Freeland was great in two starts and Michael Fulmer had a solid week.  Overall, the Lasershow cruised to a 7-2-1 win.  The Goofballs have the second-lowest ERA, WHIP, strikeout, and wins totals in the league.  Kevin needs to address his pitching, but there isn’t much value out there to be had.

Next Week

Week 15 is a long week, so remember to watch your pitcher limits.  The key match for the week is between the Armadillos and Possums.  Larry needs a win to avoid falling farther behind the Possums.  Rick has a chance to take solid control of first place with a win.  The Lannisters will try to keep pace against the struggling Goofballs.  The PhoeGnomes will try to keep up as well, against the Lasershow.  Finally, the Legion and Thunderwolves will face off.  Chris is still on the fringe of contention but needs a win.  Kyle is further behind, but has shown signs of life.

LK Armadillos (7-4-1) vs.  KK Thunderwolves (4-7-1)

The Armadillos convincing defeat of the Thunderwolves was the lone bright spot in a week of dreary ties.  The Armadillos put together the best offensive showing in the league.  Larry led the league in home runs, RBI and SLG.  Alex Breagman came alive with five home runs and ten RBI.  He also contributed two steals.  Nick Castellanos had three home runs and eight RBI.  The Thunderwolves had a decent offensive week highlighted by three home runs from Rhys Hoskins.  Kyle was also close in RBI.  The Thunderwolves got good production from the bottom of their roster with Wil Myers and Gregory Polanco adding home runs.  However, the Armadillos were too strong, and Kyle suffered a five category sweep despite having great home run and RBI totals.

The pitching battle was much closer.  Kyle led the league in strikeouts and wins.  James Paxton picked up two wins and struck out 21 in his two starts.  Vince Valasquez is the only Thuderwolves starter that didn’t pick up a victory.  The Armadillos countered with slightly better quality in fewer innings pitched.  Edwin Diaz picked up four saves, and the Armadillos easily won the single category they needed to clinch the week.  The team enjoyed a handful of good starts, and it was enough to cruise to victory.  The win was a good turnaround for the Armadillos, and the Thunderwolves put up one of their better efforts of the season in the loss.

CP Legion (4-4-4) vs.  JK Lannisters (7-2-3)

The Legion and Lannisters fought to a second tie for the season.  Neither team had stellar offensive numbers, but the Lannisters won three categories while the Legion took two.  Jesus Aguilar stayed hot with three home runs.  Bryce Harper added a home run and 10 walks.  However, the rest of the Lannisters failed to collect many RBI.  For example, Manny Machado had two home runs, 11 hits, and a 0.630 SLG.  He only had four RBI, though.  This gave Chris a key category win.  The Legion also took steals thanks to a good week from Jose Ramirez.  Aaron Judge had a nice three homer week.  This left pitching to decide the match.

Both teams had good efforts on pitching.  The Lannisters took the lead in ERA and WHIP early.  Charlie Morton was dominant in two starts, striking out 24.  The rest of the Lannisters staff was okay, and the team posted a good ERA for the week.  Chris had move victories and got two key dominant starts from Luis Severino and Blake Snell.  The two struck out 35 and allowed one earned run.  This gave Chris just enough of an edge in WHIP to tie the week.

KG Capital City Goofballs (3-6-3) vs.  HP PhoeGnomes (4-7-1)

The second tie of the week happened for the PhoeGnomes and Goofballs.  Both teams had good offensive production.  They tied with 11 home runs.  The Goofballs won RBI and Heather took steals.  Javier Baez had two home runs and 11 RBI for the Goofballs.  Nolan Arenado led the PhoeGnomes with three.  Kevin maintained a slight edge in SLG and OBP.  He held a 3-1-1 lead before pitching.

Heather was able to rally on the pitching side.  She easily won ERA and WHIP.  The Goofballs were ineffective on the mound outside of the Tyler Skaggs and Kevin Gausman.  Five Goofballs had ERAs over 10.00.  Heather had good outings from Madison Bumgarner and Chris Sale, but suffered her own meltdown from Gio Gonzalez.  Gonzalez’s disastrous effort left Heather essentially one start short for the week.    Kevin couldn’t capitalize, though, and Heather won strikeouts, ERA, and WHIP.  The deadlock in wins left the two teams tied 4-4-2.  Heather had a chance to break the tie but Ross Stripling couldn’t match the great effort from Gausman.  Neither team can be happy with the tie, especially with the two deadlocked categories.  Heather is likely to be especially depressed – she left four home runs on her bench to Kevin’s one.

SM Lasershow (2-8-2) vs.  RK Possums (9-2-1)

The week’s final match saw a surprise upset.  The Lasershow tied the Possums on a rare down week for Rick.  The Possums offense couldn’t get going and their usual strong pitching couldn’t do enough to save the week.  Rick won three pitching categories to Sean’s two.  However, the team’s ERA and WHIP weren’t up to par.  The first culprit was Corey Kluber.  He struggled in one start with a 32.40 ERA.  Justin Verlander wasn’t overly effective, and JA Happ was a disaster.  Marco Gonzales and Miles Mikolas had good outings, and that was enough to bring ERA and WHIP under control.  Sean had a solid week up and down his starts, but no one had a real standout effort except for Kyle Freeland.  However, the Lasershow’s consistency paid off in wins and strikeouts.

On offense, neither team distinguished themselves.  Both team’s OBP and SLG were near the bottom of the league.  Sean had a excellent week in steals and led the league, though.  Josh Reddick led the way with two and four other Lasershow batters earned a steal.  The Possums had the better OBP thanks to Joey Votto and Max Muncy.  However, Votto’s OBP hid a low 0.286 SLG.  This lack of power hurt the Possums, and the lost SLG by a small margin.  The Lasershow took home runs late on Sunday thanks to a heroic effort by Francisco Lindor.  His homer overshadowed a great two home run day from Evan Gattis on Sunday.  The Possums are likely to be frustrated by the tie, and Sean is probably glad to have stayed competitive.  However, both teams had opportunities to break the tie, and neither could get quite enough production to grab a full victory.

Next Week

The key match for the week features the Lannisters and Possums.  The Lannisters need a win to keep pace, but their injury troubles keep getting worse and worse.  Meanwhile, Rick has to hope that his pitching rebounds to stay on top of the league.  The Armadillos and Legion renew the league’s most bitter rivalry.  With half of the season done, neither team can afford a loss.  The Goofballs and Lasershow hope to improve on their ties from Week 13.  Finally, the Thunderwolves and PhoeGnomes meet with both teams needing a victory to stay in the middle of the pack.