Championship Tournament
AZ Snakepit 7, The Loose Seals 3
Snakepit pulled off a shock victory, beating the #3 seeds, thanks to a solid performance from their batters, who won every hitting category. Neither team set the plate on fire, with runs and RBIs of 44 combined, but two homers each for Nomar and new addition Durham helped AZ to the sweep. Pitching leaned to Seals, but while Vazquez had a massive 21 K's, and Harang 14, they managed only one win and no saves, effectively handing victory to AZ.
Man of the Match: Sizemore (AZ): 8 R, 5 RBI, 3 SB, .296
GregSchulteOverdrive 4, BBTNG 5
BBTNG pipped Greg, despite winning only SB in batting; for Greg, Frank Thomas had 5 HR and 15 RBI, and the team overall hit .328 for the week. However, in pitching, it proved a totally different story, with BBTNG storming back to take everything but saves: and their tie there, thanks to Lidge's two, proved decisive in giving them victory. They took ERA by 0.16 and WHIP by 0.06, but that was enough. Weaver had two victories and 13 K's for them, while Sabathia had 15 K's and Greg's only win.
Man of the Match: Bush (BBTNG): 2 W, 15 K, 1.65 ERA
Consolation Tournament
Uk Dbacks 5, BigLebowski 5
With the game finishing level, this one went to the official tie-break system, using team ERA. Big therefore moved forward, their figure of 2.13 beating UK's 3.08 This was back and forth: UK had a narrow edge in hitting, but Big came back on the mound, posting a WHIP for the week of below 1.00: Willis had a win and 16 K's, while Ryan had three saves in a losing effort for UK, and Howard also hit four HR. But Big's pitching was more consistent, and brought them the victory.
Man of the Match: Arroyo (UK): 2 W, 14 K, 0.53 WHIP
7-2 Offsuiters 3, ?Chalino Sanchez! 6
7-2 were unable to continue their good second-half run, going down to Chalino, who posted a well-balanced performance to take both hitting and pitching. Seven different players hit homers for them, and they batted .309, but also had an ERA of just 1.96: James picked up two wins for Chalino. For 7-2, Cabrera and Morneau combined for fifteen runs, but the team only scored four HR. Fuentes and Putz picked up two saves apiece, and they did muster 40 K's in total.
Man of the Match: Posada (Chalino): 5 R, 3 HR, 9 RBI, .421
Week 25 Fixtures
Championship Tournament
JByrnesIsMyHomie (seeded #1) vs. BBTNG (#4)
AZ SnakePit (#6) vs. The Fighting Amish (#2)
5th/6th Place: GregSchulteOverdrive (#5) vs. The Loose Seals (#3)
Consolation Tournament
DFA'ders (#7) vs. BigLebowski (#11)
?Chalino Sanchez! (#12) vs. Random Fandom (#8)
11th/12th Place: Uk Dbacks (#10) vs. 7-2 Offsuiters (#9)
Byrnes take on BBTNG in the first semi-final: when the two teams met back in week 11, the result was a 4-4 tie, and this could easily be as close. Byrnes has three 100-RBI guys, and a 16-win man in Verlander, but early returns saw Smoltz getting shelled today, so first blood appears to have gone to BBTNG. They'll be leaning heavily on Pujols, and the HR battle should be especially interesting: in that category, Byrnes and BBTNG have records of 16-5-2 and 15-5-3 respectively, so are clearly strong.
Snakepit will be looking to cause another upset againt second seeds Amish. Though Ortiz is now back, AZ have shown confidence in the team that upset Seals and kept the same lineup. Their ace, Halladay, will be a key part of their hopes, and they also have three men with 20+ stolen bases. However, Amish are very strong in that area, losing only once all season, behind Pierre's 51 bags. The two sides met each other twice during the regular season, and split those games, with the score 6-4 both occasions.
In other action, Greg face Seals to decide who finishes fifth and sixth. And in the consolation tournament, Big and Chalino, who both beat higher-ranked opponents in the first round, face DFA and Random, seeking spots in the consolation final. Finally, UK and 7-2 meet up in a contest for 11th place.