Monthly Archives: May 2017

BaseballGB Fantasy League 2017: Week Eight

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There were a couple of big winners in week eight of the BaseballGB Fantasy League while the rest of the matchups were very close indeed.

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Batteries Essential 26 8 22 7 .243 .741 2 3 48 2 3.60 1.33 9
Newcastle Knights 26 8 20 1 .240 .724 0 2 43 2 5.79 1.71 0

Batteries Essential were the big winners of the week, shutting out the Knights 9-0. Blackmon was the star, hitting three homers, knocking in 12, stealing a base and hitting .400 on the nose. Hendricks had a win, Norris helped take ERA and WHIP while Glover and Clippard took care of saves and holds. Conforto, Bautista and Stanton each hit two homers for the Knights.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Beckenham A&E Dept 20 10 25 4 .282 .865 4 7 69 0 3.77 1.11 9
Mighty Slugs 29 7 20 2 .252 .735 4 2 61 1 4.15 1.49 2

Beckenham picked up a big win, defeating the Slugs 9-2. Rizzo had a four-homer week and knocked in six while Bruce hit .400 and Nunez stole two bases. Greinke struck out 18 while Scherzer helped take ERA and WHIP and Rodney had three saves. Dickerson scored seven runs for the Slugs while Ottavino had the lone hold.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Norwich No II 25 6 21 3 .238 .694 4 4 41 3 4.50 1.48 5
The Cheddar Chasers 34 10 30 7 .299 .892 2 0 34 0 5.18 1.39 7

Norwich suffered a rare defeat as they lost to the Chasers 7-5. An offensive sweep was powered by Duvall, who hit four homers and knocked in 11 while Lindor batted .368 and Dozier, Upton and Benintendi each stole two bases. Robbie Ray made the difference in WHIP. Duffy picked up nine strikeouts for Norwich, while Hand had two saves and a hold and Velasquez helped take ERA.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Richie’s RBI’s 25 8 21 6 .236 .718 4 1 41 0 2.47 1.12 7
The Bath Bombers 16 3 16 4 .269 .724 2 2 52 2 4.69 1.19 5

The RBIs closed the gap on Bath by defeating the Bombers 7-5. Lamb scored five runs, knocked in seven and belted three homers while Villar swiped three bases. Severino picked up a win and helped take ERA and WHIP. Kipnis, Brantley and Solarte helped take average and OPS for Bath, while Strasburg struck out 15, Robertson had two saves and Rosenthal notched a hold.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Orpington Isotopes 27 7 26 2 .254 .802 5 2 65 0 3.31 1.14 7
Durham Riverkings 16 5 20 0 .304 .797 2 3 33 1 2.77 0.95 5

The Isotopes did just enough to get past the Riverkings 7-5. Khris Davis was the star man, scoring and driving in six with two homers. Five different pitchers picked p wins, including Cueto, who struck out 16. Baez and Inciarte helped Durham take average while Betances had three saves and Ervin Santana helped take ERA and WHIP.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Iron Men 39 14 36 2 .343 1.000 1 5 43 3 3.31 1.13 7
Weston-Super-Sox 25 5 21 6 .207 .605 4 1 28 4 1.55 0.93 5

Another matchup, another 7-5 score. This time Iron Men got the better of the injury-ravaged Sox, who must have set a BaseballGB record for most players on the DL in a week and did well to keep it close. Iron Men put on a power display as Rendon hit four homers, knocked in nine and hit .429 while Bogaerts scored eight runs. Kershaw struck out 16 while Johnson had two saves. Betts and Dee Gordon stole two bases each for the Sox, while Harvey won twice, Maurer and Madson had two holds each and Musgrove helped take ERA and WHIP.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Cheshunt Maltsters 30 9 31 2 .281 .806 4 5 45 1 3.24 1.22 6
Jesmond Dennings 21 4 13 2 .256 .682 6 0 47 2 2.29 1.04 5

Finally, the Maltsters edged past Jesmond 6-5. Jose Abreu scored seven runs, homered twice and hit .452 while Santana knocked in seven as the offense fell a steal shy of a sweep. Osuna had three saves. McCullers won twice and teamed with de Grom and Triggs to take ERA and WHIP while Miller had a hold.

Week nine matchups:

Norwich (1st) v Isotopes (5th)

Bombers (2nd) v Sox (9th)

RBIs (3rd) v Chasers (7th)

Maltsters (4th) v Slugs (12th)

Batteries Essential (6th) v Riverkings (8th)

A&E Dept (10th) v Knights (13th)

Iron Men (11th) v Jesmond (14th)

MLB This Week: A Baseball Bonanza!

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Early MLB games are in bountiful supply this working week.

There are 22 day-games scheduled across Monday to Friday, starting with a whole bunch on Monday (Memorial Day in the States) and then plenty more as the week progresses.

All four games from the A’s-Indians series are starting before midnight UK time, albeit with the Tuesday and Wednesday games only just falling under the ‘early’ heading.

For the rest of the week it’s simply a case of dipping in and out of as many games as you like. David Price’s 2017 debut today stands out, as does a game from the 1st versus 1st series between the Astros and Twins, and a Cardinals-Cubs game at Wrigley Field on Friday.

All times are in BST.

Monday 29 May

18:05. Yankees at Orioles (Montgomery (2-3), Bundy (5-3)) *BT Sport3
19:10. Red Sox at White Sox (Price (0-0), Holmberg (0-0))
19:10. Astros at Twins (Peacock (2-0), Santana (7-2))
19:15. Dodgers at Cardinals (Hill (1-2), Leake (5-2))
20:10. Mariners at Rockies (Gaviglio (0-1), Chatwood (4-6))
21:05. D-backs at Pirates (Delgado (1-0), Williams (2-3))
21:05. Nationals at Giants (Roark (4-2), Moore (2-5)) *BT Sport/ESPN
21:10. Brewers at Mets (Garza (2-1), Gsellman (2-3))
21:10. Athletics at Indians (Mengden (0-0), Carrasco (4-2))
21:40. Cubs at Padres (Hendricks (4-2), Cosart (0-1))

Tuesday 30 May

23:10. Athletics at Indians (Gray (2-1), Bauer (4-4))

Wednesday 31 May

17:35. D-backs at Pirates (Godley (1-1), Kuhl (1-5)) *BT Sport/ESPN
17:37. Reds at Blue Jays (Adleman (3-2), Bolsinger (0-2))
18:10. Astros at Twins (Musgrove (4-4), Santiago (4-4))
18:10. Phillies at Marlins (Nola (2-2), Straily (3-3))
20:40. Cubs at Padres (Arrieta (5-4), Perdomo (0-2)) *BT Sport/ESPN
23:10. Athletics at Indians (Manaea (3-3), Clevinger (2-1))

Thursday 1 June

17:10. Athletics at Indians (Cotton (3-5), Kluber (3-2))
18:10. Brewers at Mets (Anderson (3-1), Wheeler (3-2))
18:45. Dodgers at Cardinals (McCarthy (5-1), TBD)
20:40. Rockies at Mariners (TBD, Gallardo (2-5))

Friday 1 June

19:20. Cardinals at Cubs (TBD, Lackey (4-5)) *BT Sport/ESPN

All of these games are available to watch or listen to live via an MLB.TV subscription. TV coverage of MLB in the UK comes courtesy of the BT Sport channels and these are highlighted above, as are any games that are available to view online for free via MLB.com. The above list of games just shows those starting before midnight UK time. The full schedule of MLB games can be found on MLB.com.

Thank You For the A’s: Ups and Downs

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As we come to the end of May, the AL West standings are a disappointing, if not surprising, sight for fans of the Oakland A’s.

This was a season entered into in a spirit of ‘let’s see what we get’ rather than any great expectations of success.

The division didn’t look formidable, despite the potential of the Houston Astros that has been realised quickly, so there was an outside chance of everything coming together and the A’s hanging in the race for a while before settling around a .500 record.

When you put to one side the 12 game deficit to the division-leading Astros, you could say this modest target is still within reach. The A’s trail the Rangers and Angels by two games and both of them are one game below .500.

However, we all know that as the season progresses, several of the players that are currently giving us a chance to win games and gain some ground will instead become trade chips to cash in.

Frankly, being able to get some talent back for Jed Lowrie and Yonder Alonso in a mid-season trade looked almost fanciful after their 2016 seasons, so their potential departures do not hang heavy over the team as normally is the case. We can enjoy their performances in the short term, especially Alonso’s unexpected power surge, and then wish them well when they inevitably move on.

You always hope for more as a fan, though, and the past nine games are a good example of that.

The A’s had been swept over three games in Texas and then lost two of three in Seattle before heading home for a four-game series against the Boston Red Sox.

It was a tough series in prospect but the A’s rose to the challenge, with Sonny Gray pitching well in Game One, Mark Canha hitting a walk-off homer in Game Two and Chad Pinder hitting an unlikely monster home run (460 feet) in Game Three. Taking three from four against the Red Sox was a very good return, but losing the finale when a sweep was in the offing was a slight let-down.

After splitting an odd two-game inter-league series against the Miami Marlins, the A’s then travelled to New York and took the opener in the Bronx. Sean Manaea took the start after shoulder soreness hit the scheduled starter Kendall Graveman and the lefty got the better of Masahiro Tanaka in a fun pitching duel. Having won that game, dropping the next two was a shame and particularly in the manner that they did.

Game Two couldn’t have been going much better as Jharel Cotton, called up that day from the Minors to replace the injured Jesse Hahn, was pitching a no-hitter until Matt Holliday brought a conclusive end to that with a two-run home run with two outs in the sixth inning. That game went begging and then Sunday’s early game similary started well – an early two run lead thanks to Khris Davis’s 15th long-ball of the season – before going south. Aaron Judge hit a grand slam and the A’s committed two more errors in yet another sloppy display in the field.

Errors are a subjective scoring decision, so only provide a partial insight into fielding performance, but the figures are hard to ignore. The A’s have made 49 errors in 49 games, their total being 11 more than the next worst team, Tampa Bay. Getting beat is tough to take, but so much worse when you feel you’re beating yourself.

Still, there’s always hope that things may turn around. Oakland now head into a four-game series in Cleveland – the opener today a 21:10 Memorial Day start – before heading back home where an inter-league series against the Washington Nationals will await. The latter will provide a particularly tough test for the A’s, not least with Stephen Strasburg on schedule to pitch the opener.

Fingers crossed he used up some of his strike-outs in his 15K performance against the Padres on Saturday.

BaseballGB Fantasy League 2017: Week Seven

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It’s time to see how the past week has shaped the standings after week seven of the BaseballGB Fantasy League

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Richie’s RBI’s 35 11 39 5 .249 .773 4 0 39 4 4.27 1.51 9
Weston-Super-Sox 31 10 30 5 .251 .752 3 0 21 0 6.49 1.75 1

The RBIs were the week’s biggest winners, defeating the Sox 9-1. The pitchers were a save shy of a sweep, as Freeland won twice and helped take WHIP. Severino led the staff with seven strikeouts and helped take ERA while Rivero had two holds. Lamb scored seven, hit four homers and knocked in 10.

Anderson helped the Sox salvage average but what with numerous injuries to an already thin pitching staff, moves will need to be made to make sure the 20 inning minimum limit is reached next week.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Cheshunt Maltsters 38 10 37 3 .321 .928 2 5 44 3 4.22 1.27 8
Iron Men 18 3 18 4 .190 .597 2 2 23 1 2.32 1.10 3

The Maltsters picked up a nice 8-3 win against Iron Men. Castillo hit .438 and joined Abreu in launching three homers while Altuve and Bradley hit two each. Rodriguez struck out 13 while Nicasio had two holds and Melancon and Reed picked up a pair of saves. Bogaerts and Cain stole two bases each for Iron Men while Martinez helped take ERA and WHIP.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Batteries Essential 43 9 32 5 .311 .873 2 1 41 2 4.57 1.48 4
Mighty Slugs 34 15 41 3 .290 .936 5 2 69 4 5.20 1.25 8

The Slugs outslugged Batteries Essential 8-4. Dickerson hit five homers and knocked in nine while Trout hit three and drove in eight. Givens had two wins and a hold out of the pen while Archer struck out 18 and Berrios helped take WHIP. JD Martinez scored seven runs as part of a four-homer week, batting .389 while Hamilton stole four bases and Nolasco made the difference in ERA.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Beckenham A&E Dept 37 11 31 4 .262 .827 2 5 37 0 4.59 1.41 7
Jesmond Dennings 26 6 20 1 .253 .751 4 2 49 3 2.20 1.07 5

Beckenham defeated Jesmond 7-5 thanks to an offensive sweep. Garcia hit .379, homered twice and knocked in nine while Nunez stole two bases. Allen had three saves. Jesmond took the remaining pitching categories as De Grom picked up a win with nine strikeouts while not allowing an earned run and Miller had three holds.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Norwich No II 43 14 42 1 .272 .874 3 1 41 2 1.93 1.10 6
The Bath Bombers 28 8 29 6 .297 .906 4 0 53 2 4.27 1.31 5

Norwich stay top after defeating the Bombers 6-5, but Bath put up a good fight. Bryant scored seven times and hit three homers while Reynolds led the team with six RBIs. Walker, Stroman and Duffy helped take ERA and WHIP while Kimbrel had the lone save. Miguel Cabrera hit .500 for Bath and Trea Turner swiped three bases. Strasburg won twice and struck out 14.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Orpington Isotopes 30 9 28 1 .295 .831 3 6 59 1 4.66 1.19 6
Newcastle Knights 37 11 35 0 .293 .919 4 1 39 1 6.86 1.60 5

The Isotopes squeezed past the Knights 6-5. The pitchers did most of the heavy lifting as Samardzija and Wood helped take ERA and WHIP, Estrada struck out 17 and Holland had three saves. Owings hit .385 and had the lone steal. The Knights had a three-homer week from Davis while Bautista, Conforto and Seager each scored seven runs. Four different starters picked up wins.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Durham Riverkings 33 10 26 2 .301 .827 1 3 31 0 5.82 1.53 5
The Cheddar Chasers 30 6 30 5 .223 .688 3 1 34 0 2.68 0.92 6

The Chasers edged past the Riverkings 6-5 as the pitchers won four categories. Ray picked up a win without allowing an earned run and Quinatana led the staff with seven strikeouts. Fowler, Duvall and Lucroy each knocked in six while Goldschmidt and Benintendi swiped two bases each. Murphy hit three homers for the Riverkings, Kemp hit a pair and scored seven runs and Baez batted .571. Betances had two saves.

Injuries start to bite

This week has seen a number of players hit the DL, notably Freddie Freeman. So far we have avoided any pitching forfeits as all teams have managed to meet the 20-inning minimum limit, but now might be a good time to check your rosters, make the most of DL spots and either scour the free agent pool for replacements or see if you can swing a trade with another team.

Week eight matchups:

Norwich (1st) v Chasers (6th)

Bombers (2nd) v RBIs (3rd)

Maltsters (4th) v Jesmond (13th)

Isotopes (5th) v Riverkings (7th)

Batteries Essential (8th) v Knights (9th)

Slugs (10th) v A&E Dept (14th)

Sox (11th) v Iron Men (12th)

MLB This Week: Catch up with the Brew Crew and more

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We’ve got early MLB games on three working days out of five this week.

Friday’s early contest is the opener of a double-header between the Tigers and White Sox, so it’s on the later end of the early scale for us at just gone 10 pm.

Wednesday and Thursday are the main days for early action and there are some good potential match-ups in the mix, including a chance to catch the surprisingly competitive (so far) Milwaukee Brewers taking on the Toronto Blue Jays. The game is Wednesday’s MLB.com Free Game, so anyone can watch online via MLB.com

Thursday’s free game is also an early contest, this one bringing us Pittsburgh at Atlanta.

All times are in BST.

Monday 22 May

No early games

Tuesday 23 May

No early games

Wednesday 24 May

17:35    Twins at Orioles (Berrios (2-0), Tillman (1-0)) *BT Sport/ESPN
18:10    Blue Jays at Brewers (Stroman (4-2), Garza (2-0)) *MLB.com Free Game
20:35    Marlins at Athletics (Volquez (0-6), Gray (1-1))
20:40    White Sox at D-backs (Quintana (2-5), TBD) *BT Sport/ESPN
23:10    Reds at Indians (Bonilla (0-2), Bauer (4-4))

Thursday 25 May

17:10    Pirates at Braves (Nova (4-3), Colon (2-4)) *MLB.com Free Game
18:05    Rockies at Phillies (Anderson (3-4), Velasquez (2-4))
18:05    Royals at Yankees (TBD, Tanaka (5-3))
18:10    Angels at Rays (Meyer (2-2), Andriese (4-1))
19:20    Giants at Cubs (Samardzija (1-5), Butler (1-0)) *BT Sport/ESPN
21:05    Mariners at Nationals (Miranda (3-2), Gonzalez (3-1))
23:10    Reds at Indians (TBD, Clevinger (2-1))

Friday 26 May

22:10    Tigers at White Sox (TBD, TBD).

All of these games are available to watch or listen to live via an MLB.TV subscription. TV coverage of MLB in the UK comes courtesy of the BT Sport channels and these are highlighted above, as are any games that are available to view online for free via MLB.com. The above list of games just shows those starting before midnight UK time. The full schedule of MLB games can be found on MLB.com.

BaseballGB Fantasy League 2017: Week Six

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There were plenty of offensive sweeps in week six of the BaseballGB Fantasy League. Read on to find out which teams were hot at the plate and who’s in a slump.

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Newcastle Knights 37 11 33 2 .311 .947 4 5 61 1 2.83 1.20 10
The Cheddar Chasers 17 7 28 3 .267 .787 3 1 50 1 5.12 1.45 1

The Knights were the biggest winners this week, defeating the Chasers 10-1. Conforto scored eight runs and hit a Ted Williams-esque .409 while Bautista homered three times and drove in eight. Cahill had a win and 14 strikeouts and Lackey helped take ERA and WHIP. Bush had three saves. The Chasers had the edge in steals thanks to Gyorko, Goldschmidt and Lindor. Goldy and Upton had three homers each.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Beckenham A&E Dept 26 6 20 3 .242 .732 1 4 55 0 4.12 1.33 2
Iron Men 30 7 26 7 .287 .859 3 6 28 2 3.82 1.42 10

Iron Men also hit double digits, defeating the A&E Dept 10-2. Cain hit .458 but was outdone by Walker, who powered an offensive sweep with a .462 average, six runs, two homers and 10 RBIs. Martinez won twice and Oh had three saves. Scherzer struck out 19 for Beckenham while Greinke helped take WHIP. Posey had a four-homer week.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Durham Riverkings 21 4 17 2 .229 .607 4 0 47 1 4.98 1.57 2
The Bath Bombers 22 4 25 1 .222 .630 4 0 56 3 4.08 1.10 7

Bath keep on rolling with a 7-2 win against the Riverkings. There wasn’t much offense but Thames scored six runs and Perez drove in six. Carrasco helped take ERA and WHIP, Strasburg struck out nine and Rosenthal had two holds. Shaw helped the Riverkings take average and steals while Morton won twice.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Orpington Isotopes 20 4 20 1 .254 .685 6 8 77 1 2.38 1.07 5
Mighty Slugs 25 10 28 3 .274 .885 4 1 41 2 4.97 1.42 7

The Slugs used an offensive sweep to down the Isotopes 7-5. Cano hit .750 for the week, Dickerson hit .483 and scored seven runs while Altherr hit four homers and knocked in eight. Colome and Ottavino had a hold each. Wood was the pick of the Isotopes, winning twice, striking out 21, not allowing an earned run and helping to take WHIP.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Cheshunt Maltsters 23 5 13 1 .200 .651 3 2 42 3 4.40 1.18 6
Weston-Super-Sox 23 10 28 4 .247 .800 2 1 26 1 5.70 1.48 5

The Maltsters edged past the Sox 6-5 thanks to a pitching sweep. Sale had a win and 12 strikeouts while Vargas helped take ERA and WHIP. Santana scored five runs. Betts had a monster week for the Sox, hitting three homers, scoring eight times, driving in 11 and hitting .375.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Batteries Essential 35 4 27 5 .327 .863 4 2 42 1 3.07 1.11 4
Jesmond Dennings 31 8 34 7 .310 .893 4 2 57 1 3.99 1.21 5

Jesmond squeezed past Batteries Essential 5-4. Correa homered twice and knocked in 10 while Molina also had a multi-homer week and stole two bases. Jacob de Grom struck out 18. Andrus and Blackmon scored five runs each for Batteries Essential while Grandal hit .591. Fulmer, Maeda and Kendrick helped take ERA and WHIP.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Norwich No II 33 9 25 4 .285 .857 2 3 50 4 3.20 1.40 5
Richie’s RBI’s 34 11 33 4 .336 .995 2 0 42 1 6.29 1.73 5

Finally, Norwich and the RBIs finished all square. Stroman had 10 strikeouts and helped take ERA while Duffy made the difference in WHIP for Norwich. Three different relievers had a save while Devenski and Hand had two holds each. Harper hit three homers, knocked in seven and hit .417 while Broxton hit .400, hit two homers, scored eight and swiped a pair of bases.

The week seven matchups are as follows:

Bombers (1st) v Norwich (2nd)

RBIs (3rd) v Sox (7th)

Isotopes (4th) v Knights (10th)

Maltsters (5th) v Iron Men (11th)

Batteries Essential (6th) v Slugs (12th)

Chasers (8th) v Riverkings (9th)

Jesmond (13th) v A&E Dept (14th)

 

MLB This Week: Early games every day

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We’ve got early MLB games every day this working week, so there is plenty to enjoy either alongside or in place of the final week of the Premier League 2016/17 season.  BT Sport/ESPN will be showing a number of the games too.

The first two games of the Rays-Indians only slip under the pre-midnight line by a little short of an hour, but the series finale is a true early start in what should be a competitive series.

Wednesday is the day that stands out due to the potential match-up between Clayton Kershaw and Johnny Cueto and the latest installment in the saga that is Matt Harvey’s Mets career.

Don’t overlook Lance McCullers’ start for the Astros though, which is being shown on BT Sport/ESPN before the Dodgers-Giants game (the latter will likely be joined ‘in-progres’ as a result). Houston are flying at the moment and whilst Dallas Keuchel is rightly getting the attention as the staff ace, McCullers has been an impressive contributor too.

On Thursday the games span the British evening and there are couple of inter-league games among them. The Reds-Cubs clash should also be worth a watch, with Cincinnati having started out the season much better than many predicted.

Finally, we have a Cubs home game on Friday with the Brewers heading to Wrigley Field.

All games are listed in BST.

Monday 15 May

23:10    Rays at Indians (Archer , Carrasco )

Tuesday 16 May

21:07    Braves at Blue Jays (Garcia , Estrada ) *BT Sport/ESPN
23:10    Rays at Indians (Odorizzi , Salazar )

Wednesday 17 May

17:10    Astros at Marlins (McCullers , Urena) *BT Sport/ESPN
17:10    Rays at Indians (Cobb, Tomlin)
20:40    Mets at D-backs (Harvey, Corbin )
20:45    Dodgers at Giants (Kershaw , Cueto) *BT Sport/ESPN

Thursday 18 May

17:35    Nationals at Pirates (Roark, Glasnow )
18:10    Orioles at Tigers (Bundy, Zimmermann) *MLB.TV Free Game
18:10    Rockies at Twins (Chatwood, Berrios)
19:05    Phillies at Rangers (Eflin, Cashner) *BT Sport/ESPN
19:20    Reds at Cubs (Bonilla, Butler)
20:40    Brewers at Padres (Davies, Cahill)

Friday 19 May

19:20    Brewers at Cubs (Peralta, Lester) *BT Sport/ESPN

All of these games are available to watch or listen to live via an MLB.TV subscription. TV coverage of MLB in the UK comes courtesy of the BT Sport channels and these are highlighted above, as are any games that are available to view online for free via MLB.com. The above list of games just shows those starting before midnight UK time. The full schedule of MLB games can be found on MLB.com.

BaseballGB Fantasy League 2017: Week Five

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Injuries, suspensions and power-hitting rookies. Who had a good week five in the BaseballGB Fantasy League?

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Norwich No II 37 12 37 2 .282 .879 3 5 47 1 4.58 1.36 10
Weston-Super-Sox 20 4 21 7 .240 .657 0 0 24 2 6.75 1.57 2

Norwich were the biggest winners of the week, staying top with a 10-2 score against the Sox. Bellinger was the star performer, scoring eight times, hitting three homers, driving in 12 and batting .429. Velasquez had a win and 12 strikeouts while Kimbrel and Diaz had two saves each.

The Sox salvaged steals thanks to five from Dee Gordon while Dayton and Madson had a hold each.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Mighty Slugs 25 9 34 0 .262* .841 2 3 45 3 4.17 1.41 3
The Cheddar Chasers 27 12 30 4 .262* .868 1 4 51 3 3.58 1.23 8

The Chasers ran out 8-3 winners against the Slugs in a power-filled matchup. Goldschmidt hit three homers while Benintendi scored six runs and was one of four Chaser batters to hit a pair of longballs. Cole struck out 15 and helped take ERA and WHIP while Feliz had two saves. Suarez drove in nine for the Slugs while Zimmerman hit .500 to take average on a ti-break. Cobb and Garrett picked up wins.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Batteries Essential 40 8 32 11 .291 .880 3 0 53 3 3.21 1.72 8
Iron Men 31 5 26 3 .272 .824 3 5 30 1 1.39 1.02 3

Iron Men find themselves at the foot of the standings after an 8-3 reverse against Batteries Essential. Billy Hamilton had a monster week for the victors, scoring 11 runs, homering, knocking in eight and stealing nine bases in an offensive sweep. Daniel Norris struck out 12 and three relievers had a hold each. Giles had two saves and Martinez helped take ERA and WHIP for Iron Men, who need to make the most of those DL spots.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Durham Riverkings 37 15 41 3 .305 .922 4 1 41 3 3.86 1.13 8
Richie’s RBI’s 39 13 34 7 .272 .878 2 2 50 1 4.89 1.27 4

The Riverkings got the better of the RBIs 8-4 as the teams put on a home run derby. Machado hit four homers while Healy and Baez had three each and Inciarte helped take average and OPS. Leake picked up a win and made the difference in ERA and WHIP while Betances had two holds. Carpenter scored eight runs for the RBIs while Villar and Segura had two steals each. Porcello struck out 13 and Chapman collected two saves.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Beckenham A&E Dept 27 4 19 1 .224 .689 2 7 50 0 1.69 0.96 4
Cheshunt Maltsters 28 11 24 5 .211 .732 3 5 66 2 3.35 1.14 8

The Maltsters got the better of the A&E Dept 8-4 as Ozuna and Abreu had three-homer weeks and Altuve scored six, knocked in six and stole two bases. Sale won twice while striking out 21 and Reed had two holds. Posey helped Beckenham take average while Allen had three saves and Roark helped take ERA and WHIP.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Newcastle Knights 24 7 28 2 .237 .704 3 0 38 0 2.29 1.32 7
The Bath Bombers 22 3 17 2 .194 .567 4 0 45 2 3.95 1.33 3

The Knights picked up a 7-3 win against the Bombers in a matchup which was more about the pitching than the offense. Urias and Verlander helpd the Knights take ERA and WHIP while Stanton had a three-homer week and knocked in nine while Conforto scored seven times and made the difference in average and OPS. Bundy won twice for the Bombers while Wacha struck out 11 and Bowman and Shaw each had a hold.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Orpington Isotopes 22 7 38 2 .276 .754 4 3 72 1 4.70 1.21 5
Jesmond Dennings 38 4 19 3 .287 .791 3 3 39 2 3.75 1.28 6

Jesmond are back to winning ways after defeating the Isotopes 6-5. Votto scored nine runs and hit .389 for the week while Miller had two holds and McCullers helped take ERA. Ramirez and Pedroia, who knocked in seven, had multi-homer weeks for my side, but a miserable Sunday with the bats proved costly in average and OPS. Cueto had a win and 16 strikeouts while Samardzija helped take WHIP.

The week six matchups are as follows:

Norwich (1st) v RBIs (5th)

Bombers (2nd) v Riverkings (7th)

Isotopes (3rd) v Slugs (11th)

Chasers (4th) v Knights (12th)

Maltsters (6th) v Knights (9th)

Batteries Essential (8th) v Jesmond Dennings (13th)

A&E Dept (10th) v Iron Men (14th)

MLB This Week: Inter-league games and more

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After a relatively low week for early games, this working week brings us MLB day-games on three days out of five.

None have been chosen to be an MLB.com Free Game, but a couple are being shown on BT Sport/ESPN alongside a few night games (early hours for us) as usual.

The early action beings with a rare day-game on a Tuesday, as the Texas Rangers are in San Diego for an inter-league series against the Padres.

Wednesday’s games include two more inter-league games (Mariners-Phillies, Braves-Astros) plus a Giants-Mets game from Citi Field (pick a name out of a hat to guess who’ll be starting for the home team in that one), the Cubs playing at Coors Field against the Rockies and an AL West clash between the Angels and A’s. That would be Sean Manaea’s turn in the rotation for the A’s, but he is currently on the Disabled List and it’s not guaranteed he’ll be ready to start by that point.

The two games on Thursday include an inter-league game between the Red Sox and Brewers, with Eduardo Rodriguez looking to continue to impress for Boston. The other game is a Royals-Rays contest from Tropicana Field.

All times are in BST.

Monday 8 May

No early games

Tuesday 9 May

20:40. Rangers at Padres (Griffin, Perdomo)

Wednesday 10 May

18:05. Mariners at Phillies (Miranda, Eflin)
18:10. Giants at Mets (Cain, Montero) *BT Sport/ESPN
19:10. Braves at Astros (Garcia, Musgrove)
20:10. Cubs at Rockies (Hendriks, Marquez)
20:35. Angels at Athletics (Chavez, TBD)

Thursday 11 May

18:10. Red Sox at Brewers (Rodriguez, Nelson) *BT Sport/ESPN
18:10. Royals at Rays (Vargas, Odorizzi)

Friday 12 May

No early games.

All of these games are available to watch or listen to live via an MLB.TV subscription. TV coverage of MLB in the UK comes courtesy of the BT Sport channels and these are highlighted above, as are any games that are available to view online for free via MLB.com. The above list of games just shows those starting before midnight UK time. The full schedule of MLB games can be found on MLB.com.

Thank you for the A’s: When You Don’t Want To See The Score

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“More fun when you win” was the title of my last Oakland A’s column.

I should have known I was tempting fate with that.

I wrote that at the apex of a five-game winning streak and it was immediately followed by a five-game losing streak.

The A’s have lost 9 of their last 11 games heading into their Saturday night game against the Detroit Tigers.

And that’s the opposite of fun.

The MLB season can be a grind for fans as much as it is for the players when things are not going well. The A’s have been playing in the early hours, UK time, most days over the past two weeks and I always feel this adds to the disappointment. If you’re watching live you can at least come to terms with another loss as it happens. When checking the score is the first thing you do in the morning, well, it starts getting a bit demoralising when your day starts with yet another L.

This past week I reverted into self-protection mode, preparing myself for another loss as MLB At Bat updated rather than see hopes of an upturn dashed.

Losing the first two games of our series against the Minnesota Twins was especially disappointing, setting up a day-game on Thursday with the potential of the A’s being swept. That’s never a good sign, but particularly against a team that’s unlikely to be in the play-off hunt later in the season.

The game started at 18.10 and I got home from work at just before 19.00 so it was with some trepidation that I logged onto MLB.TV. Thankfully the A’s were 4-2 up at that point and went onto win 8-5, with Jharel Cotton’s change-up in mind-boggling form and Ryon Healy poking his fourth home run of 2017 into the seats.

Hopes that this win might set up a morale-boosting six-game homestand started badly last night as Michael Fulmer shut the A’s down and Andrew Triggs took the loss. That still leaves two games left to win the series though and then a chance to avenge the Angels’ recent three-game sweep of us at the start of next week.

Wins on the field feel all the more important, whilst all the harder to obtain, with A’s players dropping like flies.

The baseball gods decided that if you were a left-handed pitcher for the A’s called Sean then you needed a stint on the Disabled List. Manaea and Doolittle are the latest two A’s on the shelf, joined by catcher Josh Phegley after another concussion, but we did at least have Sonny days back again as Sonny Gray finally made his season debut on Tuesday night. He gave up three home runs in a loss, but looked sharp otherwise in what was a very encouraging performance.

The ‘Sonny with Strike-outs’ sign will be out on full view at the Coliseum on Sunday when he starts the day-game series finale. Hopefully Jesse Hahn can help the A’s win tonight so that Gray has the opportunity to pitch us to a series win rather than doing a salvage job.