Results
AZ SnakePit 4, 4 K's 4 Gonzo 6 SnakePit hit well, Stairs and Berkman smacking three homers each, but Gonzo swept pitching, and five SBs for McLouth provided a crucial point for them. They had Toronto to thank too, as Burnett had a win and 10 K's, while Accardo posted a W and two saves.
dbacktom 2, The Fighting Amish 7 tom backed into the playoffs, securing the sixth seed, but not with the most encouraging of performances. SV and AVG were their only two victories, despite a W and 13 K's for Lackey. For Amish, Gordon has 3 HR, Crawford scored and drove in seven, and their staff had an overall ERA of 2.18.
Crazy VIII's 8, Kapsaicin Kids 1 Similarly, Kids went down hard, but still see post-season baseball, finishing fifth. Reyes 3 SB gave them a sole point, though Rivera's saves got a split there. Otherwise, it was all VIII, Peavy and Verlander combining for four wins and 36 K's. They also hit .321, and A-Rod had two homers.
Bob Melvin Sucks, 6, warlords 3 A low-scoring game, no-one had more than five runs or six RBI. Tejada (warlords) had three homers, but Bob came within one swiped bag of sweeping hitting, with a solid team performance that was just good enough. war were better on the mound, where Smoltz had 11 K's, but Baker (Bob) had the only W.
BBTNG 4, Shenanigans 5 A close game went to Shen after wins ended tied at one. Iwamura's nine runs helped them to a clear lead at the plate, but BBTNG got saves from three pitchers to make his close. Zito (Shen) led the strikeouts with 12, and the team hit .313, with Granderson batting .538 and driving in seven.
Tucson Myth 5, The Don Quixotes 5 Honors ended even here, in a game with nothing at stake - this may have been reflected in ERA's of 5.21 and 6.39, and six homers combined. Atkins (Myth) had two, while team-mate Contreras had two wins. Gregg (Don) got two saves and 11 K's, while his colleague Hill, K'd 14.
7-2 Offsuiters 5, Douchebaggery 4 The closeness of this game condemned both teams to the consolation tournament, neither able to catch the leaders. 7-2 started brightly, Markakis having a three HR, nine RBI week. But Douche hit back, despite an ERA just under six, with Lowe getting a W and nine K's. Pettitte (7-2) fanned 13.
CoJack Forever 5, Chupacabras 4 CoJack did just enough to make it into the consolation bracket, with Uggla's three homers very helpful. Arroyo had 13 K's for Chupa, though it wasn't enough, though a sub-3.00 ERA did get the point there. Similarly, Upton's 10 RBI for CoJack was insufficient, and neither time managed a save.
Baked 5, Desert Dingleberries 4 Both teams were homer-happy, hitting ten: Peña had four, and ten RBI, for Desert. They also got three saves from Hoffman, but Cabrera's 15 K's almost matched Desert's entire total. Hart drove in nine for Baked, who batted .314, with Jackson, Saltalamacchia and Kinsler each at .400 or better.
GregSchulteOverdrive 5, Webby17 5 Webby may have finished dead-last, but go down fighting, holding Greg to a tie. They got a 3 HR, 13 RBI week from Anderson and four saves by Dempster. However, Fogg led the pitchers here with a W and 7 K's for Greg, and Polanco's six runs led all hitters. Both sides had a WHIP of 1.20 or less.
Standings
*1. Crazy VIII's 130-72-18 - *2. 4 K's 4 Gonzo 123-80-17 7.5 *3. The Fighting Amish 117-83-20 12 *4. Bob Melvin Sucks 109-88-23 18.5 *5. Kapsaicin Kids 111-91-18 19 *6. dbacktom 107-93-20 22 7. Shenanigans 102-98-20 27 8. 7-2 Offsuiters 103-101-16 28 9. Douchebaggery 103-101-16 28 10. GregSchulteOverdrive 102-102-16 29 11. Desert Dingleberries 104-106-10 30 12. CoJack Forever 100-104-16 31 13. BBTNG 100-104-16 31 14. Chupacabras 94-104-22 34 15. warlords 95-105-20 34 16. The Don Quixotes 94-108-18 36 17. Baked 87-114-19 42.5 18. Tucson Myth 87-119-14 45 19. AZ SnakePit 83-123-14 49 20. Webby17 72-127-21 56.5
This week's games
dbacktom (#6 seed) vs. The Fighting Amish (#3)
Bob Melvin Sucks (#4) vs. Kapsaicin Kids (#5)
CoJack Forever (#12) vs. Douchebaggery (#9)
GregSchulteOverdrive (#10) vs. Desert Dingleberries (#11)
Bob Melvin Sucks vs. Kapsaicin Kids is the ESPN Game of the Week, as we start our playoff coverage. Only one-half of a game separated these two teams during the regular season, so a tight battle is expected. Melvin's strength was in Runs, where they were 18-4 during the regular season, with four players (Lee, Utley, Cuddyer and Cameron) having scored over 75 each. Generally, they are a hitting team - the only pitching category where they have a positive record is Saves, at 9-8-5. Kids, on the other hand, have an ERA more than half a run better, with Escobar their Cy Young nominee. On regular season form, Kids will take K, SV, ERA, WHIP and SB, with Bob favorites in HR, RBI, and the other three categories too close to call.
I forgot to mention the consolation tournament, which sees those who occupied places 7-12 also play off against each other. The format is the same as the championship one, with the top two teams in that group getting to skip the first round.