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.