After the last out of Sunday Night Baseball was recorded last night at approximately 5:23 am or something, John Lackey was officially credited with a very mediocre win. This win is only significant because it gave Limp Noodles a 4 pt victory over the Honey Nut Ichiros (get a better team name already), 256-251. Normally, this pillow fight would go unnoticed... yawn. However, I'm leading this column with this item because it meant that both Drew and Mike would have identical 5-8 records on the year. This would also be a non-story, if not for the fact that they are 2 of 7 (SEVEN!!) teams with a 5-8 record. That's absurd and unheard of. More than half the teams in this league, after 13 match-ups, have the same (crappy) record.
Now, where it gets interesting is in that those teams currently occupy spots 5 to 11. That means that two of them (Jon A. and Ralph) are currently IN THE PLAYOFFS. The tiebreaker, as you know, is points scored. There's a 300 point gap between 5th place and 11th place, which means that not all 5-8 records were created equal.
Things are pretty tight at the top as well, where Doug currently leads the way at 11-2 after obliterating Bill. Another 450 point performance from Doug has him 300 points clear of 2nd place in the Total Points department. I'm 2nd, Kevin is 3rd, and Ryan comes in at 4th. It will be a tight race to the finish to see who can secure the Regular Season title and the two coveted bye-week spots.
Let's give out some awards.
Hitter of the Week - Jose Abreu (Gas House Gorillas): 37 pts
The Cuban import continued his trailblazing run of conquest, as he homered 4 more times (vs. only 2 strikeouts). Dude is a star. It's not helping Pearse tho, who is glued to the basement with a 2-11 record.
Honorable Mention - Ryan Braun (The Duda Abides): 31 pts
I'm mentioning Braun because he is the only guy I could find that had a non-zero in every single category. This past week Braun scored a run, hit singles, doubles, a triple, a home run, drove in runners, stole a base, got caught stealing, got hit by a pitch, walked and struck out. From now on, we're calling that a Braunie.
Goat of the Week, Hitting Edition - Xander Bogaerts (Honey Nut Ichiros): -2.50 pts
If you're looking for a reason why Mike lost this week, look no further than the X-man. 1/18, a single, no walks, 7 strikeouts. Ugh. Painful.
Pitcher of the Week - Clayton Kershaw (AbsolutDomination): 60 pts
It's been a while since somebody put up 60 in one week. Kershaw got there thanks to two dominant starts, striking out 21 in 15 innings, versus only 2 walks and no runs allowed. High degree of difficulty too, facing a red-hot Royals team in KC and the always dangerous Cards at home.
Pitching Performance of the Week - Tim Lincecum (Formerly of AntarcticanAmericans): 41.50 pts
As you already know, Lincecum threw his 2nd career no hitter, and his 2nd career no-hitter against the Padres. The final line: 9 IP, 1 W, 1 QS, 1 BB, 0 H, 0 ER, 6 K's, 1 NH. Very economical from Lincecum, who finished the game with 107 pitchers. Then Doug cut him. Sad.
Goat of the Week, Pitching Edition - Stephen Strasburg (Wain's World): -6.17 pts
Strasburg has not looked like himself recently. 3 really good starts have been followed by 3 mediocre ones, with the latest occurrence being a loss to the Brew Crew in Milwaukee. 7 ER in 4 and 2/3rds, while only striking out 2. He'll look to turn it around against Colorado at home tomorrow.
And now on to what's on tap for this week...
Week 14 Preview
#1 Doug vs. #8 Bill: Look for the Antarctican Express to keep on rolling this week.
#2 Luis vs. #9 Jon S: Ditto here, although I have been less dominant in recent weeks.
#3 Kevin D. vs. #6 Ralph: Another lopsided matchup on paper. We'll see what happens.
#4 Ryan vs. #11 Drewseph: Seriously, are any of these 5-8 teams playing each other?
#5 Jon A. vs #10 Mike: There we go! And of course it'd be this old rivalry. Playoff spot vs Basement dweller with the same record. Gotta love it.
#7 Kyle vs. #12 Pearse: Pillowfight of the week!!!
Have a wonderful week and come back next Monday for another recap!
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