LK Armadillos (5 – 3 – 4) vs.  JK Lannisters (8 – 4)

The Lannisters exacted more revenge on the Armadillos for last year’s title win, this time with a Sunday power surge.  The Armadillos put up solid numbers and easily won steals.  DJ LeMahieu had two home runs and 10 RBI.  Eleven total Armadillos players had at least one home run.  On most weeks this would be enough to win.  However, the Lannisters dominated RBI with 52, including 15 on Sunday to lead the league.  Manny Machado was on fire with four home runs and eight RBI.  Jean Segura had three in limited playing time.  Matt Chapman had three and nine RBI.  In total, the Armadillos won three categories, but the Sunday barrage gave the Lannisters two.

On pitching, the Armadillos suffered the same fate as the Legion and PhoeGnomes.  Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu allowed 15 earned runs in 17.0 IP.  The team managed single quality start for the week and had the second worst ERA and SLG in the league.  In contrast, the Lannisters had the best ERA total in the league and were second in strikeouts, WHIP, and quality starts.  Gerrit Cole was in the middle of the action with two quality starts and 13 strikeouts.  Luis Castillo rebounded for a nice outing.  Overall, the Lannisters were able to capture the win and stay in first place ahead of the Possums.  The win is the second over the Armadillos this year, meaning there is no way Larry can win a possible tie breaker this time around – The Lannisters will have that advantage.

SM Lasershow (1 – 11) vs.  RK Possums (7 – 4 – 1)

The Possums needed a win to keep pace with the Lannisters.  Though they didn’t have the Lannisters’ strong pitching, Rick had enough hitting and pitching volume to win the week.  The Possums led the league in home runs, steals, OBP and SLG.  Max Muncy led the way with three home runs and 12 RBI.  Joey Gallo had three home runs as well and Ronald Acuna had four steals.  Ten different Possums had at least one home run.  The Lasershow had decent hitting as well, but it wasn’t enough to win a category.  Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had three home runs in the losing effort.

Neither team had dominant pitching stats but the Possums led the league in quality starts with five.  The Lasershow also failed to record a save.  Trevor Bauer and Max Scherzer totaled 36 strikeouts in 22.2 IP.  Jesse Chavez also added a nice quality start.  Max Fried pitched well for the Lasershow, as did Mike Minor.  However, they were only able to take ERA while the Possums took all of the counting stats and WHIP.  This was enough for Rick to earn a win and stay close behind the Lannisters at the top of the league.

KK Thunderwolves (5 – 5 – 2) vs.  HP PhoeGnomes (6 – 5 – 1)

The Thunderwolves and PhoeGnomes met in a battle between two fairly hot teams.  Neither team posted great offensive numbers but Kyle earned the victory thanks to good pitching stats and several PhoeGnomes’ players’ meltdowns.  The Thunderwolves led the league in both ERA and WHIP.  Aaron Nola stayed hot by striking out 10 in his only start.  Lance Lynn bounced back to strike out ten as well.  Zack Greinke was solid over two starts.  The PhoeGnomes managed more strikeouts in fewer innings, but several pitchers suffered catastrophic failures.  Blake Snell, Chris Sale, and Zach Eflin allowed 21 earned runs in 21.1 IP.  This volume of poor quality innings left quality starts, ERA, and WHIP well out of reach, though Heather did win saves.  Kyle held a 3-2 advantage before accounting for offense.

The Thunderwolves were slightly more consistent on offense and narrowly won all five categories.  Rhys Hoskins had three home runs and Josh Bell added two more.  Nick Senzel had two steals.  The PhoeGnomes failed to steal a base.  Matt Olson was strong for Heather with three home runs, but the rest of the offense didn’t click.  The team’s home runs, RBI, steals, and SLG were worst win the league, and their OBP was next to last.  Kyle earned a solid win and stayed above 0.500.  Heather suffered her first down week in a while and will need to regroup next week.

KG Capital City Goofballs (5 – 6 – 1) vs.  CP Legion (6 – 5 – 2)

The Goofballs and Legion struggled to a tie for the week.  The Legion offense was strong, but the pitching staff undid their hard work.  Kevin did just enough to force the tie on the week’s final day of play.  Kevin put up solid offensive numbers.  Juan Soto and Anthony Rendon each had two home runs.  However, the Legion were superior in all of the other categories.  They were second in the league in RBI, steals, OBP, and SLG, and third in home runs.  David Dahl had three homers and eight RBI in relatively few at bats.  Four other Legion players had two home runs, and Trea Turner had four steals.  This was enough to sweep all five categories.

On pitching, neither team was great but the Legion struggled to a greater extent than the Goofballs.  Chris’s team had a 6.11 ERA, but what is truly shocking is that this was only the third worst ERA for the week!  The Legion also joined the Lasershow to earn the dubious honor of not recording a save for the week.  The Goofballs easily won ERA, WHIP, and saves.  However, they needed a strong performance from Miles Mikolas on Sunday to earn a quality start and record enough strikeouts to win both categories.  The Legion were let down by Robbie Ray who failed to get out of the fourth inning.  The tie means that both teams lose some ground to the Thunderwolves, Lannisters, and Possums.  However, given the relatively poor performances, each is probably happy with the result.

Next Week

This week is the long All Star week, so each team can start a maximum of 10 pitchers with a minimum of 7.  Remember that the minimum will still show as five on the site, so we will count at the end of the week to make sure everyone has enough starts.  The Possums face the Armadillos in a critical grudge match.  The PhoeGnomes will try to return to winning form against the Lasershow.  The Lannisters and Goofballs meet in yet another long-week match.  Finally, the Thunderwolves and Legion meet in a critical battle to emerge from the middle of the league.