Small margins leave Great Britain 0-3 at the Euros

euro2016logoGreat Britain’s hopes of making it through to the second stage of the 2016 European Championships were dashed on Sunday due to a narrow 3-2 defeat against Germany.

I noted in my preview that the schedule had given Great Britain the three best teams in the pool for their first three games. Winning one out of the three would have still given them a good shot heading into Games Four and Five against Sweden and Russia respectively.

Now, Liam Carroll’s team will instead aim to get two wins to finish fourth in Pool A and set up a 7th/8th-placed showdown on Wednesday, most likely against Belgium.

Two tough defeats

It’s the nature of tournament play that small details can make a big difference.

It was expected that the Netherlands would simply be too strong in the opening game, and so it proved with an 11-1, seven-inning defeat, but the losses against the Czech Republic (4-1) and Germany (3-2) were all the more frustrating due to how well Great Britain competed in those games.

Sunday’s game against Germany – based on the excellent online radio coverage by Tim Collins on meinsportradio.de – was a real kick in the gut, especially after the Czech loss made it a must-win match.

You sometimes get moments in games when you see a good opportunity go begging and worry that it might come back to haunt you. That’s exactly how I felt in the middle of the fifth inning of this one. GB had a 2-1 lead heading into the top of the fifth and loaded the bases with one out. A clean base-hit to the outfield, likely scoring two runs, would have given the team a small but important cushion and really grabbed hold of the advantage.

Unfortunately, Chris Berset, making his tournament debut after jetting in from his Triple-A team, saw his potential hit end up in the German second-baseman’s glove and then Brett Rosen grounded-out back to the pitcher to end the inning. Germany then came to bat in the bottom half of the inning and scored a run to level things at 2-2.

Although Great Britain were still firmly in the game at that point, it felt like a golden opportunity missed. Credit should go to the German pitcher Maurice Wilhelm for coming out of the bullpen and getting his team out of an almighty jam, but on such moments do tight games turn and on this occasion it turned the wrong way for British fans.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the German shortstop Schuz bunted his way on, was sacrificed to second, moved to third on a fielder’s choice before being singled home by first baseman Boldt. It was a dose of ‘Deutsch kleiner ball’ and, try as they did to rally, it proved fatal to Britain’s chances.

How things could go from here

It should be a very competitive game against Sweden on Monday (13.30 start BST). They are 1-2 (their win coming against Russia) and theoretically still have a chance of progressing; however a German win against Russia on Monday would mean they would finish ahead of Sweden even if they both ended up on 3-2 records (as Germany’s 4-0 win over Sweden would be the tie-breaker).

Similarly, if Great Britain beat Russia in Game Five then fourth place would hinge on the GB-Sweden result (either Sweden winning and securing it before the Game Five results, or GB winning and having the tie-breaker over Sweden even if they were able to beat the Netherlands in Game Five).

The fly in the ointment with all this is that whilst Russia are 0-3 underdogs, they put up a tremendous fight against the Netherlands on Sunday and only lost 3-1.  Pencilling in wins for Germany and GB would be asking for trouble.

Still a good result to be had

Let’s leave potential scenarios from other teams to one side and simply state the best-case scenario for Great Britain from here. Two pool wins would lead to a 7th/8th placed match and if they won that then they would come away with a 3-3 record. That would be a very good tournament based on where we are on the GB development curve, so let’s not be too disheartened with the 0-3 start, especially given how the team has performed.

Monday’s game against Sweden is another chance to get a win on the board. There are plenty of ABBA-related puns to plunder whichever way the result goes. Hopefully it’s Great Britain who will be the winner taking it all rather than the team sending out an S.O.S.

Can’t stand the standings

As you may have noticed, my opportunities for writing regularly about MLB have been more limited this season than usual for various reasons.

What hasn’t helped through it all has been the poor performances by my chosen team, the Oakland A’s. The MLB regular season is a long journey and when the team you support is on a road to nowhere in a given year, breaking down every few miles and dropping cherished bits (i.e. trading away players) along the way, sometimes you just want to fall asleep and hope that it’s all over when you wake up.

There have been some fantastic stories in MLB in 2016, with more to come as the play-off races head to a conclusion and the post-season begins, but if your morale is low then there’s always a chance to turn each good story into a reason to add to the gloom.

Take the Chicago Cubs. Their magic number for play-off qualification sits at seven heading into Sunday’s games and, after their unexpected post-season run last year, are favourites to make it to the World Series.

Seeing the ‘lovable losers’ in such great shape is brilliant for baseball, but as an A’s fan I watch Addison Russell demonstrating why Oakland selected him in the first round of the 2012 amateur draft, see Jon Lester spinning seven score-less innings against the Astros on Friday, and even Chris Coghlan getting a couple of key hits on Monday against the Brewers, and can’t help but think of ‘what might have beens’.

To most people, the big story from Saturday – Rich Hill being taken out of the game after seven perfect innings – was a classic chance to second guess a manager, the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts in this case. To me, it was another case of seeing someone who was wearing the green and gold earlier this season performing outstandingly well for a team looking towards the play-offs. To save you looking it up, the A’s have just been mathematically eliminated from the AL West race with over three weeks of the regular season to go.

However, in a lost season when hope is in short supply, even a hardened pessimist can end up with a smile on their face. Whilst Hill looks like being a good rental for the Dodgers for the rest of this season before he becomes a free agent, Jharel Cotton – one of the players the A’s got back from LA in the Hill-Josh Reddick trade – made his Major League debut for Oakland in a day-game on Wednesday and was terrific.

Cotton earned a win against the Angels with 6.1 innings of work and the standing ovation he received as he walked from the mound – loud despite there being less than 12,000 in attendance – was enough to warm even the most cynical heart. The prospect reports show that he doesn’t project to be a front-line starter, but it’s always fun to watch a player achieve his dream of becoming a Big Leaguer and hopefully Cotton can develop into a steady back-of-the-rotation guy.

Watching the A’s take a 14-3 pounding from Seattle last night wasn’t quite so much fun and I can’t help but grimace every time I look at the AL West standings (although a 60-81 record with our roster is probably easier to take than the Angels’ marginally better 62-79 whilst wasting Mike Trout’s unmatched excellence yet again).

Yet baseball is for life, not just one season. You can’t enjoy the good days without going through the bad ones.

Just ask Cubs fans (although if you’re an A’s fan you’ll want to walk away if they start talking about Addison Russell).

Great Britain gear up for the 2016 European Championships

euro2016logoAn exciting month for British baseball gets underway on Friday.

Great Britain will begin their European Championship campaign at the impressive Hoffdorp, Netherlands, ballpark against the host nation. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. local time, 6 p.m. BST.

As in 2012, Great Britain’s involvement in the marquee World Baseball Classic later in the month could lead some to think that the Euros will be a mere warm-up exercise for the main event.

However, such thoughts are far from the minds of Head Coach Liam Carroll and his team. Their aim is to win a medal at the tournament and whilst this will be a tough task, such ambitious intent will surely bode well for both competing at the Euros and preparing for the WBC.

The format

This year’s European Championship consists of 12 teams split into two pools of six. Great Britain are in Pool A and their first objective is to do well enough in their five group games to finish in the top three in their pool and qualify for the next round. GB’s schedule is as follows:

Friday 9th, 19:00 (local time) – Netherlands (10)
Saturday 10th, 14:30 – Czech Republic (14)
Sunday 11th, 15:45 – Germany (20)
Monday 12th, 14:30 – Sweden (28)
Tuesday 13th, 11:00 – Russia (22)

Take one hour off to get the start time from the UK.

The numbers next to the teams are their current position in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings. These take into consideration performance of youth teams as well as the senior set-up, and like all such rankings should be taken with a pinch of salt, but we have to start by acknowledging that GB (30) are the lowest ranked nation in the pool. The team will be confident that they can prove that such a ranking is not representative of the talent they possess.

The task ahead

What can’t be denied is that Great Britain will have few opportunities to ease their way into the tournament. The first three games are against the reigning champions (the Netherlands, who have also won seven of the nine previous European Championships held in their country), the fourth-placed team from the 2014 event (Czech Republic) and the bronze medal winners (Germany).

The second game could be the most important. The Netherlands and Germany are good bets to take two of the top three places, but GB beat the Czech Republic 6-1 the last time they played in 2012 and if they could win their match-up this time around then a 1-2 record with Sweden and Russia to come would still give them a good chance of progressing. Great Britain beat Sweden 7-1 in the group stage two years ago and also got the better of Russia in their most recent meeting (a 6-2 win in 2012).

However, let’s not count out those games against the Netherlands and Germany. A big pressure opener against the host nation can sometimes be exactly the type of challenge that a team can rise to. Great Britain did exactly that in 2007 when they shocked Spain 12-8 in the tournament opener and ended up claiming a silver medal, equalling the team’s best ever performance at the event.

The roster

Details of the playing and coaching staff can be found on the BBF website.

Two years ago at the Euros Spencer Kreisberg pitched a superb eight innings in the aforementioned victory over Sweden. He’s back on the roster – as well as the WBC roster – fresh off helping the Southampton Mustangs capture their first British National Baseball League championship.

And when GB shut-out Croatia in 2014 it was Jake Esch who starred with a seven-inning pitching masterclass (10K’s, 0 hits or walks allowed). Just two weeks ago, Jake made his Major League debut for the Miami Marlins.

It will be exciting to see which players stamp their names in the online GB Baseball history books this time around.

How you can follow the event

It’s been announced that some of the games will be broadcast live (and in English) on the German online sports radio station http://meinsportradio.de. The first batch of games selected include Great Britain’s games against the Netherlands and Germany.

The official CEB tournament website will have a live play-by-play service running for all games (an old school MLB Gameday is the best way to describe it), whilst no doubt we will be able to keep up with reports via the GB Baseball Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/GB_Baseball.

Around the horn

First – The team will be displaying a new Lion logo and some very fetching uniforms. An online shop will be open soon so that you can support the GB cause in more ways than one. Much as I love my old GB cap (as evidenced by my Twitter pic), I’m definitely going to have to upgrade to the new version.

Second – If you want some background to the GB set-up, you can listen to an excellent in-depth interview with Liam Carroll on the Bat Flips and Nerds podcast:

Third – We shouldn’t overlook that it’s not just the national team representing Great Britain at the Euros. Veteran National Baseball League umpire Petter Nordwall is on the tournament umpiring crew.

Home – As well as the upcoming Team GB online shop, you can support the set-up directly be contributing to and/or publicising the GB Baseball Go Fund Me campaign.

BaseballGB Fantasy League 2016 Week 21

The end of the regular season in the BaseballGB Fantasy League is fast approaching. Which team managed to book their place in the championship bracket in the penultimate matchups before the playoffs begin?

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Orpington Isotopes 33 11 27 5 .304 .952 5 7 52 1 2.60 1.13 11
Iron Men 23 9 24 2 .258 .698 1 1 35 2 5.23 1.26 1

My Isotopes were the biggest winners of the week, defeating Iron Men 11-1. Trout (.556) scored eight runs and joined Frazier in posting a three-homer week while Beltran drove in eight. On the mound, Teheran won twice and struck out 15, helping take ERA and WHIP in the process. Thornburg had three saves. Grilli and Feliz helped Iron Men salvage holds while Pujols had a four-homer week.

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Jesmond Dennings 30 15 37 5 .265 .865 2 2 35 0 2.61 1.16 10
Weston-Super-Sox 29 4 29 2 .244 .690 1 2 25 1 4.91 1.52 1

Jesmond also reached double digits, defeating the Sox 10-1. Dozier was the star of the offensive sweep, hitting five homers, driving in nine, scoring six, stealing two bases and batting .367. Justin Upton belted three homers. Martinez struck out 19 and had a win, as did Hendricks, who helped take ERA and WHIP. Chapman and Barraclough helped the Sox take holds and tie for saves, while Le Mahieu scored seven runs.

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Mighty Slugs 42 12 42 1 .313 .977 2 3 60 1 2.57 1.11 9
Cheshunt Maltsters 33 6 22 8 .259 .734 2 1 47 5 4.53 1.42 2

The Slugs ran out 9-2 winners against the Maltsters as Adrian Beltre (11 runs), Hanley Ramirez (10 RBIs) and Gattis each hit three homers. Freeman and Inciarte helped take average while the Slugs nabbed Moncada from the free agent pool. Oh had two saves, MadBum struck out 10 and Rodriguez helped take ERA and WHIP. Segura and Goldschmidt helped the Maltsters take steals while Gregerson and Clippard racked up the holds.

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Batteries Essential 25 8 22 5 .267 .797 3 3 43 1 3.64 1.19 9
The Bath Bombers 24 7 26 5 .230 .688 1 0 17 2 6.18 1.70 2

Another matchup, another 9-2. This time it was Batteries Essential who picked up the win against the Bombers. Cruz hit three homers for Batteries Essential while Pollock hit .400, scored five runs and stole two bases. Familia had three saves but Gausman was the star pitcher win a win, eight strikeouts and managing to avoid allowing any earned runs. Bregman and Harris helped the Bombers take RBIs and Holds, while they also made a move, picking up Dodger rookie pitcher Jose De Leon.

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Beckenham A&E Dept 23 6 20 9 .236 .726 2 2 21 0 1.66 1.34 4
The Cheddar Chasers 34 5 19 2 .270 .755 5 4 50 2 3.47 1.14 8

The Chasers are in possession of the final championship place heading into the final week after an 8-4 win against the A&E Dept. The pitchers won five categories as Kluber struck out 11, Lester helped take ERA and WHIP with his near no-no and Jansen and Dyson had two saves each. Bogaerts scored seven runs while Melky Cabrera and Reddick helped take average and OPS. Carter homered twice and knocked in six for Beckenham while Hamilton stole five more bases. The pitchers didn’t see much work but K-Rod had two wins, two saves and helped take ERA and WHIP.

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Norwich No II 24 7 34 3 .277 .800 3 3 57 1 3.33 1.22 7
Richie’s RBI’s 21 7 23 4 .261 .724 3 4 57 0 4.97 1.25 2

Norwich got the better of the RBIs 7-2 in a matchup which was a lot closer than the score suggests. Odor had a monster week, with six runs, five homers, 15 RBIs and a .444 average while Blanaton had the lone hold and Carrasco helped take ERA and WHIP. Machado and JD Martinez each hit two homers for the RBIs while Dahl swiped two bases. Pineda struck out 12 while Melancon and Johnson had two saves each.

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Newcastle Knights 39 10 41 1 .315 .950 3 3 42 1 5.12 1.58 4
NorthEast Riverkings 29 16 42 3 .281 .882 3 4 55 0 3.96 1.38 7

Finally, the Riverkings defeated the Knights 7-4 in a matchup packed with power. Abreu hit four homers and drove in 13 while Yelich hit three homers, knocked in nine and stole two bases. Darvish struck out 13, Moore helped take ERA and WHIP and Giles had three saves. Desmond and Cron (who hit four homers) each scored seven runs for the Knights while Kinsler batted .458. Soria had the lone hold.

One more playoff place booked

The Slugs join the Isotopes, Knights and Norwich in the playoffs, which means that four places are still up for grabs in the final week of the regular season. The Chasers are above the Sox on a tiebreak while the RBIs, Batteries Essential and Jesmond will be hoping for big wins in the final week to give them a chance of making it.

The crucial week 22 matchups are as follows:

Isotopes (1st) v Norwich (2nd)

Knights (3rd) v Chasers (8th)

Slugs (4th) v Iron Men (5th)

Riverkings (6th) v Batteries Essential (11th)

Maltsters (7th) v A&E Dept. (13th)

Sox (9th) v Bombers (14th)

RBIs (10th) v Jesmond (12th)

MLB This Week: One Monday you can like

CovMLBUK2014Monday is a public holiday in the States so we have an absolute feast of early baseball to enjoy as we start the working week.

There are plenty of interesting pitching match-ups included, not least Cole Hamels vs Felix Hernandez, plus Justin Verlander and Chris Sale who faced each other last Wednesday.

However, in an already exciting month for Great Britain baseball (with the Euros and World Baseball Classic qualifier coming up) we can’t look past the Team GB player Jake Esch making his second MLB start for the Marlins after making his Big League debut last Wednesday (Note: updated to correct my original comment that said he had pitched out of the bullpen in his debut).

After a break from early action on Tuesday, Wednesday offers us four pre-midnight starts including a Noah Syndergaard start against the Reds and Jose Quintana starting for the White Sox against the Tigers.

There’s just one early game on Thursday – and only seven MLB games in total – but it should be a good one between two teams eyeing up a play-off spot.

All times are in BST.

Monday 5 September

18.00. Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee (Hendricks – Davies) *BT Sport/ESPN
18.05. Toronto at NY Yankees (Dickey – Tanaka)
18.10. NY Mets at Cincinnati (Colon – Stephenson)
18.10. Philadelphia at Miami (Eickhoff – Esch)
18.10. Baltimore at Tampa Bay (Jimenez – Andriese)
19.10. Kansas City at Minnesota (Kennedy – Dean)
21.00. St. Louis at Pittsburgh (Wainwright – Kuhl) *BT Sport/ESPN
21.05. LA Angels at Oakland (Weaver – Detwiler)
21.05. Atlanta at Washington (Weber – Scherzer) *MLB.com Free Game
21.10. Detroit at Chicago WS (Verlander – Sale)
21.10. Texas at Seattle (Hamels – Hernandez)
21.10. San Francisco at Colorado (Moore – Bettis)
21.40. Boston at San Diego (Pomeranz – Jackson)

Tuesday 6 September

No early games

Wednesday 7 September

17.35. NY Mets at Cincinnati (Syndergaard – Bailey) *BT Sport2
18.10. Baltimore at Tampa Bay (Bundy – Smyly) *BT Sport/ESPN
19.10. Detroit at Chicago WS (Sanchez – Quintana)
20.35. LA Angels at Oakland (Meyer – Triggs) *MLB.com Free Game

Thursday 8 September

17.10. Houston at Cleveland (Musgrove – Bauer) *BT Sport/ESPN

Friday 9 September

No early games

All of these games are available to watch or listen to live via an MLB.TV subscription. TV coverage of MLB 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 onMLB.com

BaseballGB Fantasy League 2016 Week 20

It was a big week for upsets in the BaseballGB Fantasy League as a number of teams towards the top were handed defeats. Two more teams have claimed playoff places too…

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Beckenham A&E Dept 24 6 18 5 .245 .703 6 3 46 1 3.99 1.42 1
NorthEast Riverkings 26 10 28 1 .256 .779 7 6 67 1 1.40 0.95 10

The Riverkings boosted their playoff hopes with a 1-1 win over the A&E Dept. Carpenter scored six runs and joined Abreu (six RBIs and Espinosa (.360) and Piscotty in hitting two homers. Rodon won twice and helped take ERA and WHIP while Archer struck out 16. Watson had three saves. Andrus stole two bases for Beckenham while McGee had a hold.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Jesmond Dennings 34 10 35 8 .267 .850 1 1 27 0 5.40 1.28 2
The Bath Bombers 55 20 47 4 .362 1.167 3 0 32 4 2.83 1.11 10

The Bombers shot up the standings after their 10-2 win against Jesmond. The Bombers lived up to their name as Polanco hit three and drove in nine while Bryant homered four times but was outdone by Gary Sanchez, who hit five homers, drove in nine and hit .522 for the week. Syndergaard had a win, co-oled the staff with seven strikeouts and helped take ERA and WHIP. Jesmond had three steals from Perez who was one of four players with a multi-home week. Osuna had the lone save.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Mighty Slugs 25 10 31 1 .269 .833 3 4 49 2 4.10 1.32 2
The Cheddar Chasers 35 8 31 3 .341 .961 5 6 52 1 1.81 1.17 9

The Chasers picked up a big win against the Slugs, coming out on top 9-2. Donaldson’s monster Sunday made the difference in runs and forced a tie in RBIs while Pedroia batted .600 with a pair of steals. Lester had a win, 14 strikeouts and helped take ERA and WHIP while Jansen had four saves. Freeman had a three-homer week for the Slugs while Jones and Dull had a hold each.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Iron Men 25 7 22 2 .260 .729 2 4 34 1 2.97 0.99 2
Richie’s RBI’s 42 11 25 3 .262 .768 3 6 34 0 2.41 1.17 9

The RBIs took a big leap towards the playoff places after a 9-2 win against Iron Men. Castro and Machado sparked an offensive sweep while Hill and Arrieta each had a win and helped take ERA. Johnson had three saves. Scherzer and Verlander helped take WHIP for Iron men while Feliz had the lone hold, while the hitters were close in a number of categories.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Norwich No II 24 4 22 3 .224 .630 2 3 59 0 5.21 1.39 2
Weston-Super-Sox 25 5 30 1 .232 .671 4 3 35 1 3.86 1.39 8

The Sox ran out 8-2 winners against Norwich. Kemp led the team with five runs and seven RBIs while  Miggy and Kyle Seaher each hit over .400 for the week. Vogelsong had a win and helped take ERA. Carrasco struck out 17 for Norwich while Braun was one of three players with a steal.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Newcastle Knights 21 9 29 4 .273 .761 4 1 57 2 3.81 1.15 4
Batteries Essential 29 10 30 2 .281 .823 3 1 33 3 2.36 1.17 7

Batteries Essential hit their way to a 7-4 win against the Knights. Russell and Tomas each had two homers and made the difference in RBIs while the returning AJ Pollock batted .600. Logan had two holds while Gausman won twice without allowing an earned run. Betts swiped two bases for the Knights while Price won twice, struck out 15 and helped take WHIP.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Orpington Isotopes 27 11 38 6 .289 .844 0 2 39 1 5.52 1.41 6
Cheshunt Maltsters 38 10 31 2 .294 .858 2 0 41 0 4.01 1.57 6

Finally, my Isotopes and the Maltsters finished in a 6-6 tie. Gonzalez homered four times and drove in 13 while Marte swiped three bases. Sales made the difference in WHIP while Britton, Thornburg and Reed took care of saves and holds. Goldschmidt led the Maltsters with eight runs and a .375 average while Gray had 10 strikeouts and Samardzija picked up a win without allowing an earned run.

Two more teams clinch playoff places:

Despite suffering losses this week, results elsewhere meant that the Knights and Norwich have secured a playoff place. That leaves five more places still up for grabs with plenty of teams in with a shout with just two weeks of regular season matchups remaining. Here’s to some good battles between now and the end of the season.

Week 21 matchups:

Isotopes (1st) v Iron Men (5th)

Knights (2nd) v Riverkings (8th)

Norwich (3rd) v RBIs (9th)

Slugs (4th) v Maltsters (6th)

Sox (7th) v Jesmond (14th)

Chasers (10th) v A&E Dept (11th)

Bombers (12th) v Batteries Essential (13th)

MLB This Week: Distractions from the football transfer deadline

CovMLBUK2014There’s early baseball to enjoy on three games out of five this working week as we head into the final month of the MLB regular season.

The football transfer window closes at 23.30 on Wednesday and will bring the usual chaos of mad rumours about players whilst the media and fans alike conveniently forget how few players that move on deadline day end up being worth the attention. MLB provides the perfect distraction to it all with some excellent pitchers scheduled to be on show, most notably in the Sale-Verlander duel in Detroit.

There are only four games in total on Thursday and the early one of the bunch is between the Padres and Braves.

Friday brings us a game from Wrigley with the San Francisco Giants visiting Chicago for a weekend series against the Cubs.

All times are in BST.

Monday 29 August

No early games

Tuesday 30 August

No early games

Wednesday 31 August

18.10. Chicago WS at Detroit (Sale – Verlander)
18.35. Tampa Bay at Boston (Smyly – Wright)
19.05. Seattle at Texas (Fernandez – Perez) *BT Sport/ESPN
19.10. Oakland at Houston (Detwiler – Fiers)
20.10. LA Dodgers at Colorado (Stripling – Hoffman)
20.45. Arizona at San Francisco (Ray – Moore)

Thursday 1 September

17.10. San Diego at Atlanta (Clemens – Foltynewicz)

Friday 2 September

19.20. San Francisco at Chicago Cubs (Cain – 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 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 onMLB.com

BaseballGB Fantasy League 2016 Week 19

Week 19 in the BaseballGB Fantasy League saw one team secure a playoff place and quite a few upsets. Just three weeks of the regular season left…

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Orpington Isotopes 32 7 32 3 .272 .778 3 1 62 1 2.76 1.16 9
The Cheddar Chasers 29 1 18 2 .279 .711 2 1 43 2 3.55 1.42 2

My Isotopes stay top after defeating the Chasers 9-2, clinching a playoff spot in the process. Trumbo hit three homers, Gonzalez knocked in six and Zobrist scored seven runs. Bauer struck out 13 while Leake had a win without allowing an earned run. For the Chasers, Alex Gordon and Cain each hit well over .400 while Benoit had two holds.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Newcastle Knights 32 8 36 3 .256 .739 4 5 38 4 6.00 1.60 2
The Bath Bombers 48 11 47 3 .338 .968 5 0 47 2 2.45 1.15 9

The Bombers caused an upset, defeating the Knights 9-2 in matchup which showcased the joys of the head-to-head format (although Chris may not agree with me on this one!). Bryant had a monster week with nine runs, three homers, 11 RBIs and a .483 average. The pitching staff was boosted by a pair of wins and 14 strikeouts for Syndergaard while Green struck out 16 and helped take ERA and WHIP. Robertson and Wilhelmsen took care of saves and holds for the Knights while Arenado drove in 11 runs.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Iron Men 31 10 29 4 .227 .668 2 5 39 3 4.67 1.23 3
Weston-Super-Sox 33 15 33 0 .311 .930 2 3 51 2 3.55 1.18 8

The Sox picked up an 8-3 win against Iron Men in a matchup with plenty of power. Five players had multi-homer weeks for the Sox as Miller and Ozuna hit three each and LeMahieu hit a pair, scored nine runs, drove in six and hit .583. Not too shabby. Santana had a win and 16 strikeouts, helping take ERA and WHIP too. Dee Gordon swiped two bases for Iron Men while Diaz had three saves and Feliz had two holds.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Cheshunt Maltsters 41 12 30 7 .350 1.065 0 0 45 6 5.08 1.08 7
Richie’s RBI’s 28 12 34 0 .294 .864 2 7 30 0 4.45 1.45 4

The Maltsters and RBIs had a real slugfest and it was Cheshunt that came out on top 7-4. Segura hit .481 with five runs, steals and RBIs while Goldschmidt scored 10 times. Gyorko hit three homers while Martin belted four. Velasquez struck out 17 while Samardzija took care of WHIP. The RBIs, who posted fantastic offensive numbers that would have won most other matchups, saw JD Martinez hit three homers and drive in six while Happ had a win and Rodney collected four saves.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Mighty Slugs 35 12 41 6 .306 .941 4 4 49 1 6.39 1.60 6
NorthEast Riverkings 28 9 19 4 .244 .774 4 4 64 3 3.49 1.25 4

An offensive sweep saw the Slugs defeat the Riverkings 6-4. Beltre hit three homers while Harper led the team with 6 runs, 10 RBIs, a .407 average and a pair of steals. King Felix won twice for the Riverkings, striking out 16 and teaming with Darvish and Archer to help take ERA and WHIP. Watson had two saves and Neris collected a trio of holds.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Norwich No II 30 6 27 1 .294 .801 5 3 54 1 4.44 1.09 5
Jesmond Dennings 35 11 30 8 .265 .827 1 3 19 0 2.59 1.11 6

Jesmond just got the better of Norwich 6-5. The offense won five categories as Votto scored and knocked in six while Longoria and Justin Upton had a pair of homers and six RBIs each. The pitching staff didn’t see much action, but Carlos Martinez helped take ERA. Norwich took average thanks to Castillo’s .524 while Phelps had two wins and 17 strikeouts, joining Duffy and Maeda in posting stingy WHIP numbers.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Beckenham A&E Dept 29 9 31 7 .288 .885 4 3 42 0 3.58 1.27 6
Batteries Essential 36 15 37 1 .325 1.033 1 2 18 0 6.97 1.74 5

Finally, the A&E Dept picked up a narrow 6-5 win against Batteries Essential as the pitching staff won five categories. Kennedy was the star man, winning twice and leading the staff with 11 strikeouts, also helping to take ERA and WHIP. Cingrani had two saves. Offensively, Billy Hamilton had just the two steals this week, matched by Nunez and Andrus. Tomas led Batteries Essential with seven runs, four homers and nine RBIs while Span batted .464 for the, er, span of the matchup.

Just three weeks of the regular season left

With just 9 games separating the team in the last playoff place of 8th and 13th, there is still plenty to play for. Make sure you set your lineups, hit the 20 inning minimum limit and scour the waiver wire and free agent pool for useful additions.

The week 20 matchups are as follows

Isotopes (1st) v Maltsters (6th)

Knights (2nd) v Batteries Essential (13th)

Norwich (3rd) v Sox (7th)

Slugs (4th) v Chasers (11th)

Iron Men (5th) v RBIs (9th)

Riverkings (8th) v A&E Dept (10th)

Jesmond (12th) v Bombers (14th)

 

MLB This Week: 7-Up

CovMLBUK2014There are seven MLB games scheduled for an early start this working week.

The week starts with the Dodgers and Reds finishing off their weekend series at Great American Ballpark. Homer Bailey is set to start for the home team as he continues his comeback after missing most of the season due to elbow surgery.

The early games on Wednesday include the Astros taking on Gerrit Cole and the Pirates at PNC Park, Masahiro Tanaka pitching for the Yankees against the Mariners (it originally looked like being an all-Japanese pitching match-up with Hiashi Iwakuma, but it now looks as though Wade LeBlanc will start for Seattle) and Kyle Hendricks looking to continue his impressive season with the Cubs in their game against the Padres.

On Thursday, the game between the Tigers and Twins is an interesting pitching match-up. Michael Fulmer and Jose Berrios were two of the most highly-anticipated pitching prospects heading into this season and they’ve had contasting fortunes in the Majors so far. Whilst Berrios has had a tricky rookie season, Fulmer has been outstanding.

All times are in BST.

Monday 22 August

17.35. LA Dodgers at Cincinnati (Kazmir – Bailey)

Tuesday 23 August

No early games

Wednesday 24 August

17.35. Houston at Pittsburgh (McHugh – Cole)
19.10. Colorado at Milwaukee (Anderson – Davies) *MLB.com Free Game
20.35. Cleveland at Oakland (Bauer – Graveman)
20.40. NY Yankees at Seattle (Tanaka – LeBlanc) *BT Sport1
20.40. Chicago Cubs at San Diego (Hendricks – Clemens)

Thursday 25 August

18.10. Detroit at Minnesota (Fulmer – Berrios)
18.10. Boston at Tampa Bay (Pomeranz – Odorizzi)

Friday 26 August

No early games

All of these games are available to watch or listen to live via an MLB.TV subscription. TV coverage of MLB 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 onMLB.com

BaseballGB Fantasy League 2016 Week 18

There were some monster offensive weeks in the BaseballGB Fantasy League. Find out which teams looked at their ERAs and winced and which team has taken over at the top.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Mighty Slugs 40 13 45 10 .390 1.164 4 2 73 3 3.09 1.09 12
Batteries Essential 26 12 29 5 .274 .896 3 0 44 0 5.83 1.45 0

What a week for the Slugs, who completed a clean sweep against Batteries Essential. In a monster week for the offense, Freeman hit four homers, Jose Ramirez scored nine and Hanley Ramirez drove in nine,. If that wasn’t enough, Beltre hit a cool .519. Lackey was the star pitcher, collecting a win, 11 strikeouts and posting ERA and WHIP stats of 0.61. Jones had three holds and Oh two saves. The result was tough on Batteries Essential, who actually hit pretty well.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Norwich No II 35 11 41 3 .339 1.037 3 5 53 2 2.73 1.03 10
The Bath Bombers 24 11 42 0 .294 .846 1 0 19 1 6.75 1.61 1

Norwich also reached double figures, defeating the Bombers 10-1. Once again, Bath failed to reach the 20-inning minimum limit, but Norwich won all of the pitching categories anyway. Norwich had a big week from Braun for six runs, four homers and nine RBIs. Fulmer had a win, 15 strikeouts and helped take ERA and WHIP while Miller had two holds and Betances and Allen had two saves each. Khris Davis hit three homers for Bath while Rendon knocked in eight.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
The Cheddar Chasers 27 2 24 1 .293 .765 2 4 31 1 4.79 1.43 2
Richie’s RBI’s 36 13 37 1 .272 .828 3 7 39 0 2.64 1.20 9

The RBIs picked up a big win, defeating the Chasers 9-2. Four players had multi-homer weeks for the RBIs, including three for Moss. Suarez and Castro knocked in seven while Dahl scored seven runs. Happ had a win without allowing an earned run while Chatwood struck out 12. Madson had three saves. The Chasers took average and holds thanks to Pedroia Cain and Benoit.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Orpington Isotopes 37 10 29 5 .244 .771 3 6 54 1 5.37 1.34 9
NorthEast Riverkings 22 8 27 0 .222 .676 2 4 49 3 2.96 1.14 3

My Isotopes slugged their way to a 9-3 win against the Riverkings going top of the standings in the process. Lindor and Gonzalez each hit .375 while Trumbo homered three times and knocked in eight. Bauer won twice, Sale struck out 14 and Britton collected three saves. King Felix helped take ERA and WHIP while Neris had two holds.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Iron Men 31 10 35 3 .249 .752 4 4 44 2 1.94 1.10 9
Jesmond Dennings 24 7 34 7 .291 .797 1 3 40 0 3.48 1.16 3

A pitching sweep helped Iron Men defeat Jesmond 9-3. Iwakuma won twice and struck out 10 while Roark, Scherzer and Verlander helped take ERA and WHIP. Gomez, Diaz and Jeffress took care of saves and holds. Correa was the offensive star, hitting three homers, scoring six times and knocking in 12. Votto and Longoria helped Jesmond take average and OPS while Villar swiped three bases.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Cheshunt Maltsters 39 14 29 8 .346 1.078 2 0 28 3 6.04 1.76 6
Weston-Super-Sox 33 13 37 0 .328 1.003 2 2 29 2 4.97 1.26 5

The Maltsters edged past the Sox 6-5, taking five offensive categories. Blackmon was the star man by far, belting seven homers, scoring 13 runs and driving in nine, all while batting .563. Not bad, eh? Goldschmidt and Segura stole three bases each. Seager drove in 10 for the Sox, while reliever Barraclough led the team with eight strikeouts while Bundy and Hellickson helped take ERA and WHIP.

 

Team R HR RBI SB AVG OPS W SV K HLD ERA WHIP Score
Beckenham A&E Dept 38 6 23 12 .317 .891 1 1 46 2 6.52 1.82 6
Newcastle Knights 37 9 35 2 .254 .791 5 3 45 0 5.32 1.34 6

Finally, the newly-named Beckenham A&E Dept finished level with the Knights. Once again, Hamilton ran wild with eight steals while Revere scored seven runs and the incredible Altuve batted .480 for the week. Greinke struck out nine. Betts had a monster Sunday for the Knights, ending the week with three homers and 10 RBIs. Robertson had a win and two saves. It wasn’t a great week for either staff on the ERA front, but Hammel and Garcia made the difference for the Knights.

The week 19 matchups

Isotopes (1st) v Chasers (10th)

Knights (2nd) v Bombers (14th)

Norwich (3rd) v Jesmond (12th)

Iron Men (4th) v Sox (9th)

Slugs (5th) v Riverkings (7th)

Maltsters (6th) v RBIs (8th)

A&E Dept (11th) v Batteries Essential (13th)