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.