Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Tuesday's report

The Misfits threw everything they had at trying to rally back into their semifinal series with the Arbitration Losers, sitting their ace Adam Wainwright to get dual starts from J.A. Happ. When Happ threw a shutout, the move looked to work, as the Misfits scored 70 points. But the Losers countered with a 61-point Monday. After Ryan Dempster delivered a -3 outing Tuesday, the Misfits and Losers find themselves tied at 84-84... not where the Misfits had hoped to be.

The other semifinal remains tight. Both the Pickle Bugs and Gladstone Goatwhisperers are off to a quiet start, with the Bugs leading 47-42. The Goatwhisperers are battling injuries. Adam LaRoche, Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce are all nursing injuries, costing them starts. But the GGs can be thankful that the Bugs didn't start Wandy Rodriguez or Anibal Sanchez this week. Both pitchers delivered shutout outings.

Meanwhile, another stellar outing from Edwin Jackson has powered Upton No Good into the overall lead as August comes to close. While just a few days ago, the top five teams were separated by 15 points. Now, UNG leads the fifth-place Misfits by 102 points. The second-place Losers are 35 points off UNG's overall pace.


OVERALL STANDINGS

1. Upton No Good (Bill-Rich) 3860
    A big 13-point game from 2B Walker
2. Arbitration Losers (Tim) 3825
    D-backs hitters making big contributions
3. Pickle Bugs (Jon) 3787
   If Bugs are lucky, one of their starting pitchers won't pitch this week
4. Gladstone Goatwhisperers (Arik) 3771
    Injuries may undermine late-season push
5. Misfits (Reid) 3752
    Looking for silver lining? A home run from Howard
6. VC Appraisers (Kevin-Dave) 3513
    Stewart on DL, Reyes also on shelf, and Theriot is beat up
7. Triple-A's (Ken) 3461
    Soto is ailing again
8. Pitch You Blockhead (Scott) 3460
   Running thin of healthy shortstops
9. Chico's Chuggers (Shawn) 3369
    Despite Uggla's ailings, Chuggers escape cellar
10. Fresh Fish (Rick) 3366
    Back in the cellar, again

Head-to-head scores

Semifinals

Misfits 84, Arbitration Losers 84 (Losers lead aggregate +54)
Pickle Bugs 47, Gladstone Goatwhisperers 42 (Goatwhisperers lead aggregate +11)

Consolation

Upton No Good 94, Pitch You Blockhead 30
VC Appraisers 47, Triple-A's 33
Chico's Chuggers 56, Fresh Fish 41

Week 22 roster moves

PLAYERS ACQUIRED

2B Freddy Sanchez by Fresh Fish (Aug. #1)

SP Jonathan Niese by Gladstone Goatwhisperers (Aug. #3)
C Josh Thole by Upton No Good (Aug. #2)
SP Mike Minor by Upton No Good (Aug. #3)
SP J.A. Happ, by Misfits (Aug. #3)

PLAYERS RELEASED

C Chris Snyder, by Upton No Good
OF Mike Stanton, by Arbitration Losers
OF Dexter Fowler, by Pickle Bugs (stolen)

WEEK 22 ACTIVE ROSTER CHANGES

UPTON NO GOOD: Released C Chris Snyder; benched SP Jason Hammel and SP Yovani Gallardo; activated C Josh Thole, SP Jhoulys Chacin and SP SP Mike Minor
PICKLE BUGS: No changes
VC APPRAISERS: Benched SS Jose Reyes; activated SS Ryan Theriot
FRESH FISH: Benched 2B Clint Barmes and 3B Pedro Alvarez; activated 2B Freddy Sanchez and 3B Pablo Sandoval
GLADSTONE GOATWHISPERERS: Placed IF Cristian Guzman on disabled list; benched SP Tim Lincecum; activated SP Jonathan Niese
ARBITRATION LOSERS: Benched 2B Juan Uribe; moved OF Omar Infante to 2B; activated OF Dexter Fowler
TRIPLE-A'S: No changes
MISFITS: Benched OF Ryan Ludwick, SP Adam Wainwright, SP Daniel Hudson; activated OF Tyler Colvin, SP J.A. Happ, SP Hiroki Kuroda
PITCH YOU BLOCKHEAD: Placed IF Jerry Hairston on disabled list; benched C Buster Posey; activated C Ryan Doumit
CHICO'S CHUGGERS: Benched SP Edinson Volquez; activated SP Dan Haren

Monday, August 30, 2010

Sunday's report

The first game of the semifinal series produced wins for the Gladstone Goatwhisperers and the Arbitration Losers.

The Goatwhisperers got a 19-point win from Cole Hamels, while the Pickle Bugs got a 2-point outing from Ted Lilly. The 17-point difference from those two pitchers were enough to give the GGs a 205-189 victory.

The Bugs came up empty on Sunday, scoring only 7 points. The bad Sunday leaves the Bugs in 16-point deficit, heading into Week 22.

The hole for the Misfits is much greater. Adam Wainwright did not provide the big start that they had hoped, leading to a 201-147 victory for the Losers, a 54-point advantage. That's a ton of ground to recover heading into Week 22.

Upton No Good is wishing they could have scored a few more points in Week 20. After a dismal Week 20, they bounced back with a huge Week 21, giving them a head-to-head win and surging them back into the overall lead.

UNG leads with 3,766 points -- 25 points ahead of the Losers. The Bugs are 26 back. The Goatwhisperers trail by 37 and the Misfits are 98 points back and in risk of losing contact with the other four teams.

OVERALL STANDINGS

1. Upton No Good (Bill-Rich) 3766
    CarGo (41) and HanRam (34) power a big week for UNG
2. Arbitration Losers (Tim) 3741
    Torres has torrid week (34 points)
3. Pickle Bugs (Jon) 3740
    Billingsley and Lilly combine for 2 points over weekend
4. Gladstone Goatwhisperers (Arik) 3729
    Big weekend for LaRoche
5. Misfits (Reid) 3668
    Howard came off DL, but his bat remains disabled
6. VC Appraisers (Kevin-Dave) 3466
    Reyes and Stewart miss 3 games each over weekend
7. Pitch You Blockhead (Scott) 3430
    Hairston goes on the DL, while Harang is about to come off
8. Triple-A's (Ken) 3428
    Stephen Drew tallies three 10-point days last week
9. Fresh Fish (Rick) 3325
   Zito's two outings total -8 points
10. Chico's Chuggers (Shawn) 3313
    Volquez heads to the pen as CC sits in cellar

Head-to-head scores

Semifinals

Arbitration Losers 201, Misfits 147
Gladstone Goatwhisperers 205, Pickle Bugs 189

Consolation round robin

Upton No Good 244, Chico's Chuggers 172
Triple-A's 206, Pitch You Blockhead 189
VC Appraisers 175, Fresh Fish 145