Playoff matchups
(1) Ryan's Rangers 146, (8) Rookies 109
Bill's top-seeded bunch quickly dispatched his brother-in-law's team, advancing the Rangers into the semifinals. This matchup technically goes another week, but the Rangers have already won. The Rookies join Danger Zaun and Rocky Mountain High in the consolation bracket, which will start next week. The Rangers were the only favorite to win this week.
(7) Fresh Fish 181, (2) E-3 155
The struggles continue for the Adam's one-time league-leaders. At least Rick only gets one week with a double Kershaw start, right? If Adam wins this week's matchup, E-3 advances. Otherwise, Rick's upstarts are on to the semifinals.
(6) Misfits 177, (3) Pitch You Blockhead 148
Reid's bunch look to be in great shape, taking a 29-point lead into the second week of this 2-week cumulative matchup. And he's already dodged double starts by Scott's aces Zach Greinke and Jeff Samardzija.
(5) Tanana in the Tailpipe 174, (4) Arbitration Losers 147
Tim's injured pitching staff gave him nothing as Matt takes a 27-point lead into week two of this one. Both of these matchups are still up in the air, but the leaders have to be happy to be sitting where they are.
Overall standings
1. Danger Zaun (3,273 points, last week 1): The embattled pitching staff is finally making some noise, and big weeks from Adrian Gonzalez, Devin Mesoraco and Corey Dickerson led the playoff-less leaders to the best overall week and a slight increase in overall lead ahead of the Fish.
2. Fresh Fish (3,248 points, last week 2): A solid week from the Stanton-Byrd-Kemp outfield and more stellar pitching - not to mention some long-awaited Jhonny Peralta power - has this team halfway to taking down the playoff's No. 2 seed. Some health concerns at second base are about the only worry.
3. Ryan's Rangers (3,162 points, last week 3): A fairly lackluster week was enough to get the top seeds into the semifinals and keep them just ahead of E-3 in the standings. Nolan Arenado, Carlos Gomez and Wily Peralta led the way to the victory.
4. E-3 (3,161 points, last week 4): Johnny Cueto's awesome double start notwithstanding, Adam's rotation continues to underwhelm. Ryan Howard bounced back nicely, but the offense really misses Andrew McCutchen. With Cueto only going once this week and needing a win to advance to the semifinals, the rest of the pitching staff really needs to step up.
5. Tanana in the Tailpipe (3,121 points, last week 6): Huge contributions from Chase Utley, Justin Morneau and the rest of the infield led Matt's guys past Tim's in the first week of a 2-week matchup, and also catapulted the Fightin' Franks up a spot in the standings.
6. Arbitration Losers (3,111 points, last week 5): Tim's poor pitching staff crumbled in the loss to Matt. Missing aces Cliff Lee and Gerrit Cole and with Jake Arrieta struggling in Coors Field, the Losers managed just 18 points in 6 starts, including a pair of minus-4s. And now young gun Jacob deGrom is hurting. Big weeks from Pablo Sandoval, David Peralta and Denard Span kept these guys close, at least.
7. Pitch You Blockhead (3,071 points, last week 7): The surprising No. 3 seeds are in trouble after dropping the first half of their matchup with the Misfits. Middle infielders Neil Walker and Hanley Ramirez are hurting and the team's aces combined for just 32 points in 4 starts last week, meaning the back of the rotation will have to come up big this week. Adam LaRoche and Jay Bruce did their parts, at least.
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| This youngster is living up to his hype and jumpstarting the Misfits. |
8. Misfits (3,037 points, last week 8): We warned you last week that this was a dangerous team in the postseason. Daniel Murphy and Gregory Polanco had monster weeks and Alex Wood's huge Sunday night start boosted Reid's guys to a nice cushion heading into week 2 of the playoffs. If only John Lackey had gotten the memo that this was the postseason.
T9. Rookies (2,930 points, last week 9): Henry's guys laid an egg in a first-round loss to the Rangers. The Braves offense was mostly trash last week, and that's a death knell to the Rookies. Doug Fister continues to pitch well and Aramis Ramirez is cranking out hits, but these guys are in the consolation bracket.
T9. Rocky Mountain High (2,930 points, last week 10): Jon's outside-looking-in squad posted a decent week to climb back into a tie for ninth. Other than Tim Lincecum's implosion Sunday, the pitching staff was strong and Kolten Wong had a nice week at the plate. But now Carlos Gonzalez joins Troy Tulowitzki on the DL and Pedro Alvarez is benched and the offense looks weak.
