The race is on for a top-eight place in the BaseballGB fantasy league. There are just two weeks of the regular season left and there’s been a change at the top…

Norwich have made the race for first very interesting after their 11-0 thumping of the RBIs, falling a steal shy of a clean sweep. Justin Upton, Ozuna and Aybar were the offensive stars, while Porcello, Cobb, Fiers and Jansen were all in great form on the mound. The RBIs had a multi-homer week from Posey and four players swiped bases.

The Chasers are in very good form, defeating Batteries Essential 9-3. Ortiz, Pence and Simmons each had multi-homer weeks and Kipnis stole a pair. Hudson made the difference in wins and teamed with Ross and Lester to claim ERA and WHIP. Walker and Stanton each drove in six runs for Batteries Essential, Peavy struck out eight and Storen had the lone hold.

An offensive sweep helped the Bananas defeat the Slugs 8-1. In a monster week for the hitters, Plouffe, Ackley, Werth and Marte all had big weeks while Lynn and Lackey helped take ERA and WHIP. The Slugs took strikeouts thanks to Shoemaker (nine).

Jesmond batted their way to an 8-2 win against Beck ‘Nams, as Arenado (.545) joined Trout and Dickerson in posting a multi-homer week. Hawkins had two saves while Teheran and Tillman made the difference in ERA and WHIP. Kennedy and Warren took care of strikeouts and  holds for Beck’ Nams, while Beltre hit .526 for the week.

A team effort saw the Angels take four offensive and four pitching categories in the 8-3 win against the Riverkings. Mauer, Prado, Heyward and Crawford were the hitting stars, while Iwakuma, Duffy, Rondon and Papelbon were the top pitchers. The Riverkings salvaged ERA thanks to Gio Gonzalez and Ventura, while Baez hit three homers and Desmond and Revere stole two bases each.

Iron Men went home run crazy against the Butchers, belting 11 roundtrippers in a rare loss for Enfield. Peralta, Josh Hamilton and Abreu each hit a pair, while Smyly picked up the only win of the matchup. The butchers salvaged strikeouts, ERA and WHIP thanks to Price bit have been hit by the injury to Garrett Richards.

In battle of the basement, the Sox ran out narrow 5-4 winners against Bits & Bytes in a matchup which saw average settled on a tiebreak. The Sox didn’t win a single pitching category, as the hitters carried the load. Rizzo and Gordon hit two homers each, Longoria drove in six and Rollins swiped a pair of bases. Bits & Bytes took four pitching categories thanks to Kershaw and Hughes.

Finally, the Knights and my Isotopes finished in a 5-5 tie. V-Mart (six runs, two homers, 11 RBIs) was the offensive star for Northfleet, while Feliz and Minor took care of saves, ERA and WHIP. Duda (five homers, 11 RBIs) carried my offense, Soriano had two wins out of the pen and Archer, Leake and Zimmermann each had double-digit strikeouts.

The penultimate regular season matchups are as follows:

Norwich (1st) v Northfleet (11th)

Butchers (2nd) v Riverkings (12th)

Chasers (3rd) v Jesmond (8th)

Isotopes (4th) v Iron Men (10th)

Batteries Essential (5th) v RBIs (113th)

Beck ‘Nams (6th) v Sox (15th)

Bananas (7th) v Bits & Bytes (16th)

Slugs (9th) v Angels (14th)

With just a few weeks left until the playoffs begin, which teams are picking up the pace and who is struggling to stay the course?

We begin with the biggest winners of the week, as the Slugs hammered the Sox 11-1. Admittedly this was helped with a sweep of the pitching categories as the Sox failed to meet the 20-inning minimum requirement, but the Slugs were still on course for a healthy win regardless. Donaldson, Carpenter and JD Martinez were the top hitters while Gordon swiped five bases. McHugh won both his starts, Arrieta struck out 13 and Betances had a win and a hold. Morneau and Altuve salvaged average for the Sox.

It was a great week for Norwich, who shot up the standings with their 9-2 score against the Chasers. Fiers, Britton and Cobb helped the pitchers take every category bar holds, while Justin Upton, Seager and Freeman had big weeks with the bat. Joe Smith picked up four holds for the Chasers, while Ortiz and Miguel Cabrera helped take average.

I have to tip my cap to the RBIs, who picked up a well-deserved 9-2 win against my Isotopes. LaRoche, Cano and Blackmon led the offense to five out of six categories, falling one RBI short of a sweep. Young and a pair of wins and led the staff in ERA and strikeouts while Will Smith took care of holds. Puig and Utley forced a tie in RBIs, Archer struck out 12 and Soriano had three saves.

The Riverkings got the better of the Bananas 7-4. Both teams will have better weeks with the bats, but Cespedes, Desmond and Santana helped take four offensive categories while Sale made the difference in ERA and WHIP. The Bananas had RBIs and steals from Escobar and Marte while Reed and K-Rod had two saves each and Latos struck out 12.

The Butchers stay top after a very tight 7-5 win against the Knights. Morse batted .643 for the week, Yelich hit .464 and made the difference in runs and steals while Calhoun homered twice. Kimbrel and Holland each had three saves while Clippard had a busy week, collecting four holds. Harper and Gyorko helped the Knights win RBIs, while Gallardo won both his starts, making a big difference in ERA and WHIP, and Minor struck out 14.

Beck ‘Nams squeezed through 6-5 against Bits & Bytes, with Reyes and Aoki the most influential hitters. The red-hot Kluber had 10 strikeouts, as did Shelby Miller, while Andrew Miller took care of holds. Kendrick helped the RBIs take homers and OPS, while Cishek had two saves and Felix, Kershaw and Hughes won ERA and WHIP for the umpteenth week in a row.

Another matchup, another 6-5. This time it was Jesmond getting the better of Batteries Essential. Perkins and O’Day took care of saves and holds respectively, while Fister’s stingy week was a big factor in claiming ERA and WHIP. Dickerson had a big week, homering three times, scoring six runs and knocking in 11. Billy Hamilton, Stanton and Starlin Castro helped Batteries Essential claim steals, average and OPS, while Koeher led the staff with two wins and 12 strikeouts.

As you can see, 6-5 was a very popular score this week, showing just how competitive this league is. Iron Men’s pitchers took five categories thanks to Smyly, Wheeler, Gausman and Strasburg and the relief duo of Fien and Rodney. Adam Jones led the team with five RBIs. Chris Carter (four homers, nine RBIs) had a monster week for the Angels, while Morales also hit well. Rondon took care of saves in a very good week for the pitching staff, who were perhaps unlucky not to have claimed more categories, particularly with a very good team ERA and WHIP.

The week 20 matchups

Butchers (1st) v Iron Men (11th)

Chasers (2nd) v Batteries Essential (4th)

Norwich (3rd) v RBIs (13th)

Beck ‘Nams (5th) v Jesmond (8th)

Isotopes (6th) v Knights (10th)

Slugs (7th) v Banans (9th)

Riverkings (12th) v Angels (15th)

Sox (14th) v Bits & Bytes (16th)

Finally, if you haven’t yet done so, here’s a chance to help one of your fellow managers. You can vote for Stu’s son to win some ice hockey equipment by casting your vote here.

With about a month to go until the playoffs, the race for a shot at the BaseballGB title is heating up, including a change at the top.

Beck ‘Nams were the biggest winners of the week, handing the Slugs a 10-1 defeat. JJ’s team fell a steal shy of an offensive sweep thanks to great weeks from Reyes, Butler (who’s found his power stroke), Beltre, Kemp and Aoki. The pitchers were one category away from a sweep, with Kluber (two wins, 17 strikeouts, 0.68 ERA and a .098 WHIP) the clear star of the show. The Slugs took saves thanks to Uehara while Donaldson and Gomez had three steals each.

The Butchers are back on top after their 9-1 score against the RBIs. Trumbo drove in nine runs, Salvador Perez and Wong had multi-homer weeks and Aramis Ramirez hit .400 for the week. The pitchers were a hold shy of a sweep, as the young quartet of Stroman, Odorizzi, Riochards and Paxton all had great weeks. The RBIs salvaged runs thanks to La Roche (seven runs, three homers) and Will Smith had three holds.

Jesmond ran out 8-3 winners against Bits & Bytes, claimaing an offensive sweep thanks to Harrison, Pujols, Dickerson and Arenado while Bailey, Gee and Tillman took ERA and WHIP. As normal, Bits & Bytes had strong pitching from Kershaw and King Felix, while Hughes had two wins and 16 strikeouts.

Batteries Essential got the better of Norwich 7-4, taking five offensive categories thanks to Brantley, Sandoval and Stanton. Alex Wood (17 strikeouts) is proving a worthy addition after arriving via trade, striking out 17 and teaming with Willly Peralta to take ERA. Norwich hit pretty well and will consider themselves unfortunate not to claim a single category, especially after Polanco’s eight RBI week. Jansen had a win and a save while Fiers and Santana helped take WHIP.

The Riverkings hardly had a vintage week of pitching but it was good enough to defeat a decimated Sox team. Ventura picked up the lone win, while Gio Gonzalez had 14 strikeouts. Offensively, Javier Baez arrived with a bang, belting two homers. The Sox saw Alex Gordon hit three homers and score six times, while Altuve had three steals. With just three pitchers taking the mound, the Sox were able to make it over the 20 inning minimum limit. We’ve done well so far to avoid any pitching forfeits, but i fear we may see one next week if the Sox don’t use the DL and add reinforcements.

My Isotopes hit their way to a 6-4 win against Matt’s Chasers (sorry boss!) as Utley, Norris and Frazier were the key contributors. Leake, Colon and Archer helped take strikeouts. The Chasers pitched very well, with Ryu, Lester and Scherzer taking ERA and WHIP, while Nathan and Benoit had two saves each.

The Knights are making a run for a playoff place after their 6-4 win against the Angels. Hardy, Gomes and Pedroia helped the hitters take five out of six, while McGowan picked up the lone hold. Wainwright and Duffy helped the Angels’ staff take four categories and Chris Carter had  a three-homer week.

Finally, the Bananas squeezed past Iron Men 5-4. Lucroy, Span and Ellsbury were the key hitters, while Howard drove in nine. Hammel helped take wins and ERA. Iron Men had power from Mesoraco and Adrian Gonzalez, while Samardzija made the difference in strikeouts and WHIP.

The week 19 matchups are as follows

Butchers (1st) v Knights (9th)

Chasers (2nd) v Norwich (5th)

Isotopes (3rd) v RBIs (14th)

Batteries Essential (4th) v Jesmond (8th)

Beck ‘Nams (6th) v Bits & Bytes (16th)

Bananas (7th) v Riverkings (12th)

Slugs (10th) v Sox (13th)

Iron Men (11th) v Angels (15th)

As the race for the playoffs heats up, which teams are closing the gap and which sides are showing signs of fading?

The Slugs were the biggest winners of the week, shutting out Bits & Bytes 10-0. Despite the best efforts of JD Martinez and Byrd, the Slugs fell a homer shy of an offensive sweep while Gordon swiped five bases. On the mound, deGrom and Arrieta helped the staff take five out of six categories. Bits & Bytes had two homers from Holliday and Ziegler had two holds.

Beck ‘Nams also hit double digits, defeating the Riverkings 10-1. Kemp was the star by far, batting .409, belting fiver homers, scoring six times, knocking in nine and swiping a base. Darvish struck out 16 and Kluber pitched a gem, helping take wins, ERA and WHIP. Robertson had three saves for the Riverkings, while Revere swiped two bases.

The Bananas defeated the Knights 7-3, as the pitchers took five categories. Hamels was the star performer with a win and 14 strikeouts while not allowing an earned run, while new Cardinal Lackey chipped in with a win and Reed had three saves. Span had five steals and six runs, while Ackley and Markakis each went deep twice. V-Mart had two homers and drove in eight for the Knights, teaming with Pedroia and Zobrist to take average and OPS.

Iron Men slugged their way to a  7-4 win against the Sox, as Mesoraco, Adam Jones, Josh Hamilton and Reddick all hit a pair of homers. Strasburg struck out 14 and posted a sub-1.00 ERA while Fien had two holds. The Sox salvaged steals (Rollins) and average (Rizzo and Ruiz) while Street had three saves and MadBum and Greinke took WHIP by a hair.

My Isotopes just got the better of Batteries Essential 7-5 in a very tight matchup. Mike Leake had two wins and 13 strikeouts, while Zimmerman struck out 14 as the staff notched eight wins. Howell and Romo each had a hold. Duda hit two homers and Utley drove in six, despite hitting .050 for the week. Brantley helped Batteries Essential take average, while Billy Hamilton was the difference in runs and steals. Garza, Peavey, Chen and Koehler posted great WHIP numbers while Rosenthal and Petricka had two saves each.

The Chasers are top – just – after a 7-5 win against fellow title challengers the Butchers. Matt’s hitters picked a good time for an offensive sweep, with Pence, Miggy, Ortiz and Rajai Davis all contributing. Ross and Ryu helped take ERA. The Butchers had some great pitching from Hahn while Holland had four saves and Wade Davis had two holds.

Another 7-5 score saw the Angels get the better of the RBIs. Alexei Ramirez and Carter helped the Angels take four offensive categories while Iwakuma and the now-injured Lee took WHIP and Rondon had two saves. The RBIs had a mionster week from Gardner, who hit .478, belted five homers, scored eight times and drove in seven. He also swiped a bag. De La Rosa struck out 13.

Finally, Norwich and Jesmond couldn’t be separated, finishing 6-6. Cobb, Porcello and Santana helped Norwich’s pitchers take five categories in a matchup which featured excellent pitching from both sides. Chapman and Britton had three saves each and Polanco stole two bases. Josh Harrison had a monster week for Jesmond, belting four homers and scoring 10 runs. Trout and Andrus helped take average and OPS and Broxton had three holds.

Trade deadline

While there was plenty of trade activity between MLB clubs, we’ll see how it impacts on our league. Lester, Lackey and Price should benefit from playing on stronger teams, while maybe a move to Fenway will help Allen Craig. Drew Smyly and Austin Jackson may see their numbers affected by moving to weaker teams and, in Jackson’s case, a pitcher-friendly ballpark.

The Week 18 matchups

Chasers (1st) v Isotopes (3rd)

Butchers (2nd) v RBIs (12th)

Norwich (4th) v Batteries Essential (5th)

Beck ‘Nams (6th) v Slugs (8th)

Bananas (7th) v Iron Men (11th)

Jesmond (9th) v Bits & Bytes (16th)

Knights (10th) v Angels (15th)

Riverkings (13th) v Sox (14th)