As the race for the playoffs heats up, which teams are closing the gap and which sides are showing signs of fading?
|
Team |
R |
HR |
RBI |
SB |
AVG |
OPS |
W |
SV |
K |
HLD |
ERA |
WHIP |
Score |
| Mighty Slugs |
28 |
5 |
27 |
10 |
.260 |
.758 |
4 |
4 |
43 |
2 |
3.97 |
1.27 |
10 |
| Bits & Bytes |
19 |
5 |
19 |
0 |
.243 |
.681 |
1 |
2 |
32 |
2 |
4.45 |
1.42 |
0 |
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.
|
Team |
R |
HR |
RBI |
SB |
AVG |
OPS |
W |
SV |
K |
HLD |
ERA |
WHIP |
Score |
| NE Riverkings |
26 |
3 |
20 |
4 |
.242 |
.674 |
3 |
4 |
37 |
0 |
4.47 |
1.56 |
1 |
| Beck ‘Nams (GB) |
28 |
7 |
28 |
4 |
.345 |
.915 |
4 |
0 |
61 |
2 |
3.30 |
1.10 |
10 |
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.
|
Team |
R |
HR |
RBI |
SB |
AVG |
OPS |
W |
SV |
K |
HLD |
ERA |
WHIP |
Score |
| Northfleet Knights |
25 |
6 |
33 |
2 |
.297 |
.795 |
1 |
2 |
26 |
0 |
5.14 |
1.57 |
3 |
| London Bananas |
27 |
6 |
26 |
8 |
.241 |
.667 |
3 |
7 |
58 |
0 |
4.31 |
1.31 |
7 |
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.
|
Team |
R |
HR |
RBI |
SB |
AVG |
OPS |
W |
SV |
K |
HLD |
ERA |
WHIP |
Score |
| Iron Men |
27 |
10 |
33 |
0 |
.273 |
.839 |
1 |
2 |
38 |
3 |
3.41 |
1.19 |
7 |
| Weston-Super-Sox |
22 |
3 |
20 |
5 |
.275 |
.749 |
1 |
3 |
32 |
0 |
4.22 |
1.16 |
4 |
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.
|
Team |
R |
HR |
RBI |
SB |
AVG |
OPS |
W |
SV |
K |
HLD |
ERA |
WHIP |
Score |
| Orpington Isotopes |
25 |
7 |
26 |
2 |
.267 |
.749 |
8 |
1 |
66 |
2 |
2.51 |
1.09 |
7 |
| Batteries Essential |
28 |
6 |
24 |
4 |
.270 |
.737 |
1 |
5 |
42 |
1 |
2.62 |
0.98 |
5 |
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.
|
Team |
R |
HR |
RBI |
SB |
AVG |
OPS |
W |
SV |
K |
HLD |
ERA |
WHIP |
Score |
| The Cheddar Chasers |
28 |
7 |
31 |
3 |
.250 |
.743 |
2 |
2 |
36 |
2 |
2.28 |
1.20 |
7 |
| Enfield Butchers |
18 |
3 |
23 |
2 |
.234 |
.637 |
3 |
6 |
53 |
3 |
3.34 |
1.11 |
5 |
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.
|
Team |
R |
HR |
RBI |
SB |
AVG |
OPS |
W |
SV |
K |
HLD |
ERA |
WHIP |
Score |
| Richie’s RBI’s |
29 |
7 |
21 |
4 |
.239 |
.711 |
2 |
0 |
33 |
2 |
8.39 |
1.59 |
5 |
| Angels of Ash Vale |
30 |
5 |
31 |
3 |
.264 |
.772 |
1 |
3 |
26 |
0 |
3.15 |
1.25 |
7 |
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.
|
Team |
R |
HR |
RBI |
SB |
AVG |
OPS |
W |
SV |
K |
HLD |
ERA |
WHIP |
Score |
| Norwich No II |
24 |
3 |
21 |
5 |
.251 |
.669 |
4 |
7 |
56 |
3 |
1.10 |
0.82 |
6 |
| Jesmond Dennings |
38 |
5 |
24 |
3 |
.283 |
.802 |
1 |
2 |
38 |
4 |
1.74 |
0.87 |
6 |
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)