AZ SnakePit Fantasy Baseball, Week 15

This past week was unfortunately shortened due to the All-Star Game. It was too bad, as we had a bunch of good match-ups. The trends are pointing to completely forgetting about one set of stats and just concentrate on sweeping the other.

PhoenixFly (68-60-12) vs. Alabama Slammers (83-44-13)
1st place AS swept every hitting category thanks to a combination of Derrek Lee (3 runs, 1 Hr and 5 rbi) and Kevin Kouzmanoff (2 runs, 1 Hr and 5 rbi). The shortened week surely didn't effect PF's pitching as he went 3-0-2 while winning Wins, ERA and barely winning the K category. Adam Wainwright, Ryan Franklin, and Tommy Hunter all scored Wins with Jason Vargas getting 9 K's. Strasburg was superb for AS with 7K's and a Win for AS.
Final Score: 5-3-2 in favor of Alabama Slammers

Dante's Revenge (61-74-5) vs. Gang of Nine (56-70-14)
A matchup to break out of the bottom half brought DR to get 4 points from hitting with Ryan Howard (4 R, 4Hr, 8rbi) carrying the barrage. GoN managed to split SB but overall not a good hitting week out of his lineup. GoN however was able to get 3 points from Wins, WHIP, and ERA thanks to solid performances all around namely Brett Myers (1 W, 4 K's, 2.35 ERA). Not much fight from Dante as Hisanori Takahashi allowed six runs and seven hits in 2 2-3 innings en route to destroying DR chances of winning pitching.
Final Score: 4-3-3 in favor of Dante's Revenge.

Spaghetti Monsters (67-61-12) vs. The Cardboard Boxes (58-72-10)
A couple of teams fighting for the last couple of playoff spots matched SM and TCB together. Hitting went VERY close with TCB winning HR, RBI, and AVG while losing R by only 1. Ike Davis (2R, 2HR, 5RBI) and Yadier Molina (3R, 1HR, 5RBI) carried the load for TCB while Nelson Cruz (3R, 1HR, 6RBI) supported the losing cause of SM. Pitching went the exact opposite with SM winning W, SV, and K while narrowly missing out on WHIP by .01. Paul Maholm pitched a three-hit shutout for SM and Jered Weaver (1W, 2.57ERA, 5K) supported SM very nicely. TCB was backed by Travis Wood (6K, 1.50ERA, 1.17WHIP) did all he could to secure some wins.
Final Score: 5-5 split

Scratch My Ichiro (77-56-7) vs. Missoula Osprey (82-51-7)
Probably the match-up of the week with two potential playoff teams in SMI and MO. SMI won R, H, RBI, and AVG with a great all-around hitting clinic from Ricky Weeks (5R, 2HR, 4RBI, and .412 AVG) and Carlos Pena (3R, 2HR, 6RBI and .462 AVG). Jimmy Rollins (3SB) single-handedly won that category for MO. MO did come back with 4 wins in pitching while giving SV to SMI. Fransisco Liriano (1W, 8Ks, 2.35ERA, and 1.04 WHIP) did the job for MO while futility prevailed with SMI's starters. Dan Haren (8K's, 10.50ERA) and Tim Hudson (2K, 8.10) hopefully can bounce back from those awful performances.
Final Score: 5-5 split.

Tempe Prangers (76-58-6) vs. Gotham City Knights (75-53-12)
GCK tries to bounce back from his first series loss of the season against TP who came off an 8-1 destroying last week. GCK took a solid 4 win week (R, HR, RBI, AVG) with essentially every player getting at least 2 RBI. Adrian Gonzalez, Drew Stubbs and Mike Napoli all had 2 HR weeks for GCK while TP was lead with Bengie Molina's cycle. On the pitching front, TP took W and K while GCK took WHIP and ERA and they both shared SV with 1 a piece. Barry Zito (1W, 10K) and his complete game shutout led GCK while Edinson Volquez (1W, 9K) came back off the DL for a very pleasing performance.
Final Score: 6-3-1 in favor of Gotham City Knights

The Septimoes (67-63-10) vs. Wimboes Barmy Army (46-79-15)
Both squads were looking for a chance to jump up the standings but neither took advantage. A split in hitting left WBA (HR, AVG) and TS (R, RBI) and both had 5 SB for the tie. Justin Upton (2R, 1HR, 4RBI, 2SB) had a great all-around perfomance for WBA while TS had Franklin Gutierrez (3R, 3SB) to thank for his 2 points. Pitching was very close with TS taking 3 points with SV, ERA, and WHIP while losing W and K by one each. That's Heartbreak Hotel right there. TS had 2 SV's a piece from Leo Nunez and Brian Fuentes while Ricky Romero (1W, 5K, 0.00ERA) helped the staff. Jair Jurrens (1W, 1.35ERA) and Chris Carpenter (1W, 6K, 1.17ERA) led WBA to points.
Final Score: 5-4-1 in favor of The Septimoes

Yiddish Pimp Slap (69-93-8) vs. Chazwozzles (39-83-18)
YPS looked to build on his performance from last week while CH looked to stop the bleeding. YPS took 4 points from hitting (R, HR, RBI, AVG) with the help of Prince Fielder (3R, 2HR, 5RBI) and Marlon Byrd (6R, 1HR, .400AVG) while Jason Bartlett (4R, 1SB, .385AVG) helped CH salvage the point for CH. Things didn't get better for CH as YPS swept every category in the pitching department. Newly acquired Carl Pavano (1W, 6K, 2.00ERA) and Brandon Marrow(1W, 8K, 2.57ERA) helped seal the deal for YPS while Tom Gorzelanny (1W, 5K, 2.70ERA) did his best but didn't recieve any support from anyone else.
Final Score: 9-1 in favor of Yiddish Pimp Slap

Finally, the last one...

Dharma Initiative (61-70-9) vs. Sprankton (52-80-8)
Some newly acquired players have DI looking up toward a better future while SP hopes his players start playing up to their potential. DI took 4 points in hitting (R,HR,RBI,AVG) while losing SB by 1. Great week by all of DI's players as they all had at least 1 run and 1 rbi with Corey Hart(3R, 1HR, 5RBI) leading the way. SP was led by former waiver Raul Ibanez (2R, 2RBI, 1SB, .444AVG) and Kurt Suzuki (3R, 1SB, .375AVG). Sean Marshall(1W, 5K, 0.00ERA, 0.38WHIP) and Kevin Correia (1W, 9K) helped SP to salvage the series by winning W, K, and WHIP. Josh Johnson (1W, 7K, 0.00) acted like the ace he is and Greinke (3K, 3.00ERA) showed potential of that magical 2009 season.
Final Score: 6-4 in favor of Dharma Initiative

Fantasy Players of the Week:
Ryan Howard hit 4 HR with 8(!) RBI in the shortened week to lead all batters.
Paul Maholm pitched a complete game 3-hitter to lead Pittsburgh and all pitchers.