LK Armadillos (8-1) vs. RK Possums (6-3)

The week’s most important match-up saw the Armadillos face-off with the Possums.  The Armadillos’ hot start makes every match-up critical for teams lower in the standings.  The Possums needed win to try to keep pace.  Despite a valliant effort, Rick was unable to hold on for a win or a tie, and the Armadillos earned yet another win.

Larry’s team posted the best stats across the board in the league.  However, his pitching was in rare form.  The team led the league in ERA and WHIP, never an Armadillos strong suit.  However, the team ceded IP and K to the Possums, who had a pretty good week of their own.  The Possums had a good WHIP and ERA but it wasn’t enough to keep pace.  Logan Gilbert and Chris Bassitt had good starts for the Armadillos, but Rick countered with volume from Mitch Keller and a gem from Jon Gray.  Unfortunately for Rick, neither of his reliever had a chance for a save over the weekend, which led to a 3-3 tie for saves.

On offense, the teams were also close.  Rick had the edge in steals thanks to seven different players picking up at least one each.  He also had a great OPS thanks to solid work from Luis Robert Jr and Fernando Tatis Jr.  However, the Armadillos countered with stronger counting stats.  They won home runs, RBI, and runs.  Jose Ramirez was the key to the victory, with a 10/23 week, 4 home runs, 8 RBI, and 7 runs.  Four other players also had two home runs, including a shocking contribution from the long-forgotten Gary Sanchez.  This was enough to win 3 categories, and a victory for the Armadillos.  The loss is a bitter one for the Possums, who fall another game behind and had a good chance at the tie.  Both teams were evenly matched and had a competitive week, but as we’ve seen so many times this season, the Armadillos had a tiny edge when they needed it. 

KK Wolf Spiders (5-4) vs. CP Legion (2-6-1)

The Wolf Spiders and Legion engaged in a fun battle featuring abysmal pitching and closer offense.  Neither team had pitching worth writing about, but Chris was the better of the two and “won” four categories, despite having and ERA over 4.00 and the second worst WHIP in the league, behind only the Wolf Spiders.  Andrew Abbott had a nice week for the Legion, and his 0 ER over two starts were enough to give Chris the edge.

On offense, the situation was different.  The Legion weren’t able to get a lot going.  Their OPS was at the bottom of the league table.  They managed a respectable RBI total, and a few steals, but not much else.  In contrast, the Wolf Spiders were able to post the most RBI in the league.  They were second in steals and third in runs.  Their OPS was solid, and Nolan Jones had a great week in limited action with 2 home runs and a steal.  Trea Turner continued to improve as well, with a 1.346 OPS.  Thanks to a surplus of steals, the Wolf Spiders were able to sweep the hitting side and take a narrow 6-4 win.

Much like the Possums, the Legion put up a solid week and feel just short of the tie.  For Kyle, the win keeps pace with the Armadillos.  The team will need to find more consistency, because most other teams would have beaten him this week after the numerous pitching meltdowns.

HP PhoeGnomes (4-4-1) vs. CM Skyline Sluggers (2-7)

The PhoeGnomes were able to move above 0.500 for the first time in several weeks with a nice win against the Sluggers.  Heather put up excellent pitching numbers, and these were the keys to victory.  The team led the league in IP and was second in strikeouts, saves, ERA, and WHIP.  No one pitcher was above the rest, but four had starts of at least 6.0 IP and giving up 1 earned run or fewer.  Jordan Romano also added three important saves, and took a 4-1 lead.

On offense, neither team did well.  Both squads were at the bottom of the league in most categories.  However, Heather was able to record a good steals total, and score some runs.  For example, Bobby Witt Jr. and Jose Altuve each had tow steals.  However, the had a 0.625 and 0.566 OPS respectively.  This resulted in abysmal rate stats, but some fair counting numbers.  The Sluggers were much the same.  Besides Shohei Ohtani and Isaac Paredes were the only bright spots.  They combined for 5 home runs and Ohtani had 2 steals.  This wasn’t enough, and Heather won a comfortable victory.

The win is critical for Heather, who moves into the conversation of contenders along with the Possums and Wolf Spiders.

JK Hares (5-4) vs. KG Capital City Goofballs (4-5)

The week’s final match saw the Hares put up a feeble effort against the Goofballs.  After a decent start to the year, the Hares have fallen back to earth behind abominable hitting and inconsistent pitching.  The Goofballs weren’t great, but they did manage to dominate hitting and take the week.

Leading the way was Francisco Alvarez with 4 home runs.  However, 8 other Goofballs had at least one home run, and the team easily had the best total in the league with 17.  This led to good RBI and runs numbers, too, and clinched the best OPS in the league at 0.9159.  The Hares weren’t able to keep pace, and despite some good pitching, the Goofballs took the victory.

Next Week

Believe it or not the season is nearing the half-way point.  There are also some enormous match-ups to watch.  The most critical is the Possums versus Wolf Spiders.  They both have to hope that the Hares can some how muster enough offense to compete with the Armadillos.  The PhoeGnomes and Goofballs meet in another important battle of mid-tier teams.  Finally, the Legion face the Sluggers as both teams try to build momentum.