RK Possums (12 – 6 – 2) vs.  LK Armadillos (8 – 7 – 5)

Week 21 saw the Lannisters lose and several teams have a chance to gain ground.  Two prime contenders were the Possums and Armadillos.  Each team needed a win but the Armadillos in particular wanted to pick up a full game on the league leaders.  The Possums have more margin for error, but had a chance to take a small lead if they could pull off the win.

Both teams posted good all-around numbers.  However, the Armadillos were able to take command with strong pitching.  The team threw fewer innings but were more efficient.  Andrew Heaney was especially strong with 10 strikeouts and a quality start in just 6.0 IP.  Patrick Corbin was also great with two quality starts and 17 strikeouts in two starts.  Michael Pineda and Jack Flaherty also had strong starts with lots of strikeouts.  The Possums enjoyed an incredible week from Justin Verlander (including a no-hitter) but the rest of the starters let the team down.  Blake Treinen had an infinite ERA and starters like Trevor Bauer and Charlie Morton were largely ineffective.  The Armadillos swept all five categories, leaving the Possums with a difficult challenge to try to earn a tie.

Rick was better on offense and posted numbers near the top of the league in several categories.  The more remarkable was the team’s 10 steals, easily the best in the league.  Jonathan Villar and Mallex Smith totaled seven.  Eugenio Suarez had a monster week with five home runs and eight RBI.  Xander Bogaerts was almost as good with four home runs and seven RBI.  The Armadillos countered with a great week from JD Martinez who had four home runs and 10 RBI.  Nine different players had at least one home run, so Larry’s lineup was somewhat more consistent from top to bottom.  The Possums took four categories but couldn’t pull off the sweep they needed to earn a tie.  The Armadillos won what was likely a must-win game, and remain in contention.  The loss doesn’t cost the Possums and ground and they remain 0.5 games behind the Lannisters.

CP Legion (11 – 7 – 2) vs.  KK Thunderwolves (8 – 9 – 3)

The Legion were able to capitalize on the Lannisters’ loss by defeating the Thunderwolves.  Kyle put up a strong effort and several categories were tied and the result could have gone either way.  The Legion’s offense was the bright spot for the week.  Kevin Newman and Aaron Judge each had three home runs.  Three other players had two home runs each.  Newman was particularly strong with a 0.571 OBP and SLG over 1.000.  The Thunderwolves enjoyed three home runs each from Josh Bell and Eduardo Escobar.  The team was solid in RBI but fell behind in rate stats.  This led to the Legion earning three categories and tying two.  This would end up being the difference in a win and a tie for the week.

On pitching, the Legion struggled.  They posted the worst ERA and WHIP totals in the league by a wide margin and Kyle easily took both categories.  On the positive side, the team did strike out a lot of batters.  Caleb Smith totaled 10 strikeouts but also allowed 11 earned runs.  Noah Syndergaard allowed nine earned runs in just 3.0 IP.  The Thunderwolves were better in terms of rate stats but had trouble garnering enough innings to have a chance to win strikeouts.  Six of Kyle’s eight starters failed to reach 6.0 IP which limited the team’s potential for quality starts.  This meant that Kyle took saves and the rate stats but couldn’t pick up the extra categories he needed to make up for the ties on offense.  Chris earned a narrow victory but the battle could easily have gone either way.  The Legion now stand just behind the Lannisters and tied with the Possums.

KG Capital City Goofballs (9 – 9 – 2) vs.  JK Lannisters (13 – 6 – 1)

The league leaders suffered a down week on both offense and pitching.  The Goofballs capitalized with strong offensive production and good pitching and earned a dominant win to stay in the title hunt.  The Goofballs led the league in every offensive category except for steals.  Mitch Garver led the way with three home runs and ten other players had at least one each.  Fifteen Goofballs’ players had a SLG of at least 0.500.  The team posted a dominant effort and the Lannisters were unable to mount much of a push in any category except for steals.

The Goofballs were equally impressive on the mound.  Lucas Giolito and Jose Berrios each had quality starts and totaled 17 strikeouts.  The rest of the team pitched well but didn’t seem to get as many strikeouts as one might expect.  This gave the Lannisters their second category and the team led the league by a wide margin.  However, the rest of the stats were more mixed.  A few deplorable outings ended up costing the team.  Luis Castillo, Jacob deGrom, and Gerrit Cole each allowed at least four runs despite striking out several batters.  This limited the team’s potential for quality starts, and the Goofballs earned an easy win for the week.  They are now just 2.5 games behind the leaders but will need help to win the title.  The Lannisters suffered their second consecutive negative result and will have to play better to hold on to the title.  Two weeks of poor offense and mediocre pitching are troubling signs for the team’s chances.

SM Lasershow (3 – 17 – 0) vs.  HP PhoeGnomes (8 – 11 – 1)

The PhoeGnomes and Lasershow met in a battle for pride, and by virtue of their win, the PhoeGnomes are still mathematically in the title hunt.  Heather put up one of her best performances of the season in what was an elimination situation.  They had the best overall pitching in the league.  The two stars for the week were Mike Clevinger and Madison Bumgarner.  Bumgarner had a quality start and nine strikeouts in 7.0 IP.  Clevinger was even better with a quality start and 10 strikeouts.  Josh Hader added two saves and had seven strikeouts.  The Lasershow got a great start from Max Fried who had 11 strikeouts and a quality start in 6.0 IP.  Sonny Gray had two nice starts as well, but the team couldn’t put together the numbers that the PhoeGnomes posted.  Heather swept all five categories before accounting for hitting.

Each team posted similar numbers on offense.  Neither team led the league in any categories but the all-around numbers were solid.  Francisco Lindor had a great week for Sean with three home runs.  Heather countered with a huge week from Yadier Molina.  The veteran catcher had four home runs and eight RBI in just 19 at-bats.  Seven other PhoeGnomes’ players had a home run including two from Matt Olson.  This was enough to secure four more categories and set up a comfortable win.

Next Week

With just four weeks left and every team in contention except the Lasershow, every match is important.  The Thunderwolves and PhoeGnomes are in much-win situations against the Goofballs and Armadillos respectively.  The Legion need to keep pace against the game Lasershow.  The week’s most important match is a huge battle between the Possums and Lannisters.  Rick needs a win to take over first place.  A tie would leave the Possums a half game behind.  There is no way Rick can win a tiebreaker, so a tie would be a net positive for the Lannisters since it would give them the tie-breaker.