The race for the top eight in the BaseballGB fantasy league is really heating up. Which teams are making good progress, and which teams are battling through the dog days of August before the mouth-watering matchups in week 19?

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Beck ‘Nams (GB)	38	2	20	6	0.33	0.84	5	4	39	0	2.1	0.8	9
YD33’s	25	5	25	3	0.25	0.71	0	1	15	0	8.6	1.95	2

Beck ‘Nams were this week’s biggest winners, comfortably beating YD33s 9-2. It was a productive week for the outfield, as Cruz, Ellsbury and Pagan all chipped in with the bat, while Buchholz, Maholm and Halladay all had stellar starts. Headley, who homered three times, helped YYD33s salvage homers and RBIS.

BD Yankees	24	9	28	4	0.29	0.86	2	1	20	2	4.8	1.23	3
daebhid2	32	10	26	5	0.28	0.8	2	0	14	1	4.3	1.39	9

 

In a basement battle, daebhid2 picked up a rare win against the Yankees, who failed to meet the 20 inning minimum innijng limit. Gordon and Craig provided most of the offense, while Teixeira and Seager each homered twice.

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
SWAT*	30	8	37	5	0.32	0.91	4	4	49	0	4.5	1.16	8
NE Riverkings	33	12	31	1	0.26	0.81	2	4	39	2	5.4	1.58	3

 

The Riverkings suffered a rare loss, going down 8-3 against SWAT. The victors have added ca number of young players, notably Harvey, Machado and Straily, but it was the more experienced players who made the difference, as Pedroia, Beltran and Doumit had nice weeks offensively. Kershaw and another rookie, Fiers, both pitched very well. The Riverkings had a four-homer week from Butler, while Markakis hit three and Jackson and Heyward each went deep twice.

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
The Cheddar Chasers	18	6	23	4	0.23	0.67	1	3	18	2	2.4	0.94	4
Chatham Anglers	24	9	42	3	0.29	0.82	3	1	33	2	6.6	1.58	7

 

Posey, Miguel Cabrera and Ruggiano powered and offensive sweep as the Anglers defeated the Chasers 7-4, with Gio Gonzalez helping take wins and strikeouts. The Chasers had speed from Stubbs, saves from Betancourt and Shields helped take ERA and WHIP.

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Iron Men	32	8	39	5	0.27	0.79	6	1	40	1	2.8	1.11	7
Pontypridd Pirates	27	10	33	5	0.31	0.9	2	2	35	0	5.7	1.3	4

 

Another 7-4 score saw Iron Men defeat the Pirates. The pitching staff collected six wins, including two from Gallardo and a shutout from Hamels while Howard, Chris Johnson and Rajai Davis took care of runs and RBIs. Hamilton and Morneau each homered three times for the Pirates, while a big week from Avila helped take average and OPS. Sale had two wins and 18 strikeouts.

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Bonestalkers	23	4	21	9	0.26	0.7	2	2	18	2	3.8	1.21	5
Weston-Super-Sox	30	6	26	5	0.24	0.7	3	1	49	2	5.1	1.33	6

 

The Sox edged past Bonestalkers 6-5 as Jennings and Jaso had big weeks with the bat. Westbrook picked up two wins and AJ Burnett struck out 10. Bonestalkers had speed from Altuve, Soriano and Aybar, while Jansen had two saves and Quintana helped take ERA and WHIP.

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
The Wright Stuff	19	7	24	5	0.2	0.59	3	1	37	3	4.6	1.33	5
Boyd’s Base On Balls	18	6	18	1	0.21	0.72	3	2	51	0	2	1.07	6

 

Another very close matchup saw Base On Balls edge past the Stuff 6-5. It was hardly a vintage week for either team with the bat, but Morse helped the injury-ravaged Base On Balls take average and OPS. Chris Perez had two saves while Verlander struck out 22 and Lester had 16 Ks. Trout, Aramis Ramirez and Uggla helped the Stuff take four offensive categories, while David Hernandez and Romo took care of holds.

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Ridge Bolts	23	5	20	1	0.25	0.7	1	3	21	2	4.3	1.05	5
Richie’s RBI’s	29	4	27	5	0.26	0.69	1	6	34	0	4.7	1.17	6

 

Another matchup, another 6-5 final. This time the RBIs got the better of the Bolts, mainly thanks to Zimmerman and Aoki with the bat. Weaver had another great week, picking up the team’s lone win and striking out 14, while Rodney had four saves and Rafael Soriano had two. Samardzija and Moore helped the Bolts take ERA and WHIP, while Cody Ross and Stanton each homered twice.

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Orpington Isotopes	33	5	28	1	0.26	0.75	2	4	34	2	3.5	1.2	6
Pretzel Vendors	21	4	12	5	0.28	0.76	3	0	43	3	5	1.34	6

 

My Isotopes and the Vendors could not be separated, as this matchup finished all square. Kemp and Rios helped the Vendors take steals, average and OPS, while Clayton Richard was the pick of the starters and Joel Peralta had two holds. Ludwick, Frazier and Marte provided most of my offense, while the now-injured Street had three saves and Price helped take ERA and WHIP.

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
stevenston angels	34	11	36	2	0.28	0.89	2	0	45	0	4.5	1.42	5
tavira expats	31	8	28	3	0.28	0.85	3	0	48	0	4.4	1.53	5

 

The Angels and Expats also finished even, this time 5-5. Adrian Gonzalez drove home 14 runs for the Angels in a big offensive week, while Morales hit three homers and Pierzynski joined Gonzalez in going deep twice. Cueto helped take WHIP. Wieters, Jeter and BJ Upton were the pick of the Expat hitters, while Darvish had a win and 17 strikeouts, albeit with a high ERA and WHIP.

 

The week 19 matchups are full of teams very close to each other in the standings:

Riverkings (1st) v Stuff (3rd)
Sox (2nd) v SWAT (5th)
Isotopes (4th) v Pirates (11th)
Chasers (6th) v RBIs (7th)
Iron Men (8th) v Base On Balls (9th)
Anglers (10th) v Angels (15th)
Vendors (11th) v Bolts (14th)
Beck ‘Nams (12th) v Expats (19th)
Yankees (16th) v YD33s (17th)
Bonestalkers (18th) v daebhid2 (20th)