Playoffs Week 3: Saturday's Roundup

Vote for Pedro for MVP. (No, seriously; don't do that.)

Studs: Mike Leake (FF) doubled and scored the game's only run. In his day job, he allowed only 2 hits and fanned 6 in a 6.2-inning win. Jordan Zimmermann (Rookies) doubled and struck out 8 while allowing 2 runs in an 8-inning win. Pedro Alvarez (RMH) stole a base and hit a 3-run homer and a solo homer. Russell Martin (RMH) hit a 3-run homer, doubled and scored twice. Adrian Gonzalez (DZ) homered, singled, drove in 5 and scored twice. Corey Dickerson (DZ) went 4 for 6 with a titanic 9th-inning homer to tie the game against Miami and later drove in the winning run. Martin Prado (PYB) doubled twice, singled, drove in 2 and scored. 

Duds: Tim Lincecum (RMH) gave up 6 runs in a 2.2-inning loss, but at least only 4 of them were earned. Justin Morneau (Tanana) went 0 for 6.

Semifinal matchups (top 2-week total advances)

Fresh Fish 161, Ryan's Rangers 134

Misfits 132, Tanana in the Tailpipe 120

Consolation matchups

Pitch You Blockhead 118, E-3 99

Danger Zaun 157, Arbitration Losers 147

Rocky Mountain High 165, Rookies 157

Playoffs Week 3: Friday's Roundup

Mike Minor flirted with a no-hitter, but it didn't flirt back.

Studs: Dan Haren (RMH) had an RBI single and struck out 6 while allowing 1 run in a 7-inning victory. Josh Harrison (AL) was a triple short of the cycle and drove in 5. Giancarlo Stanton (FF) went 3 for 4 with a double, 3 runs and 3 RBIs. Buster Posey (FF) had a solo homer and an RBI double, and he scored twice. Miguel Montero (E-3) hit a 2-run homer, doubled and scored twice. Jake Arrieta (AL) singled and struck out 5 while allowing 1 run in a 7-inning win. Justin Upton (Rookies) was a double short of the cycle and drove in a pair. Joe Panik (PYB) went 4 for 5 with a 3-run homer and scored twice — he also committed an error to stay modest. 

Duds: Jedd Gyorko (AL) made a pair of errors. Aramis Ramirez (Rookies) reached base in all 4 at-bats (a single and 3 walks) but finished at -1 because of an error. Lucas Duda (Misfits) had a sac fly and an error.  

Semifinal matchups (top 2-week total advances)

Ryan's Rangers 120, Fresh Fish 118

Misfits 116, Tanana in the Tailpipe 101

Consolation matchups

Pitch You Blockhead 87, E-3 73

Arbitration Losers 124, Danger Zaun 123

Rocky Mountain High 123, Rookies 116

Playoffs Week 3: Thursday's Roundup

Gerald Dempsey Posey? We'd go by Buster too.

Studs: Madison Bumgarner (Misfits) continued the league's proclivity toward striking out Cubs, whiffing 12 in a 7-inning win, allowing 3 runs and adding a single and an RBI. Clayton Kershaw (FF) vs. the Padres? Was there any doubt? Kershaw allowed 1 run and struck out 10 in an 8-inning win. Buster Posey (FF) homered, hit 2 doubles and scored twice.

Duds: Mark Trumbo (Tanana) went 0 for 2 and was caught stealing.

Transaction: E-3 activates OF Allen Craig from the DL and puts OF Grady Sizemore on the bench.

Semifinal matchups (top 2-week total advances)

Ryan's Rangers 93, Fresh Fish 89
Misfits 107, Tanana in the Tailpipe 75

Consolation matchups

Pitch You Blockhead 64, E-3 32
Danger Zaun 101, Arbitration Losers 89
Rookies 101, Rocky Mountain High 87

Playoffs Week 3: Wednesday's Roundup

He's not on an FBLG team, but Matt McBride's first career
grand slam was about the coolest thing we saw Wednesday.
Except for Jarrod Saltalamacchia's titanic tater.
But who wants to see his ugly mug here?

Studs: Lance Lynn (RMH) struck out 5 in 7 shutout innings. Really, guys? Lance Lynn is the only stud? That's terrible. Usually he's only a stud in the postgame buffet. (We kid, we kid.)

Duds: Kolten Wong (DZ) continued his blah start with his new FBLG squad, coming off the bench just in time to make an error. Jeff Samardzija (PYB) pitched like a blockhead, allowed 7 earned runs in 3.2 innings and striking out 3. At home. Against the Mets. That's rough. Adeiny Hechavarria (RR) was 0 for 4 with an error.

Transaction: Rookies sign SP Jimmy Nelson (bonus move for having player stolen) and activate him as emergency pitcher for the week, with Kyle Lohse scheduled not to pitch and no bench pitchers available.

Note: As indicated yesterday, Tuesday's Giants-Cubs game is scheduled to be completed today. Points from the game will go in Tuesday's slot, which has been vacated for the time being.

Semifinal matchups (top 2-week total advances)

Ryan's Rangers 58, Fresh Fish 56
Misfits 76, Tanana in the Tailpipe 64

Consolation matchups

Pitch You Blockhead 55, E-3 32
Danger Zaun 97, Arbitration Losers 57
Rookies 82, Rocky Mountain High 69

Playoffs Week 3: Tuesday's Roundup

Welcome to the Studs category, Carl!
That $20 million is basically paying for itself.

Studs: Mike Fiers (DZ) struck out 6 and allowed just 2 hits and a run in a 7-inning win, adding a single at the plate. He set down the last 17 batters he faced. Carl Crawford (RMH) had 2 singles, a homer, 3 runs, 3 RBIs and a steal. Ian Desmond (DZ) had 3 singles, 4 RBIs and a steal. Justin Upton (Rookies) homered and drove in 5 runs, as the many Braves-Rookies had a huge day; Henry's five Braves hitters combined for 31 points.

Duds: Chase Anderson (RR) finally struggled, allowing 6 runs and striking out 2 in 2 innings. Jordy Mercer (Misfits) singled and made an error.

Transaction: E-3 activated Andrew McCutchen from the DL and moved Drew Stubbs to the bench. Stubbs then proceeded to outscore E-3's active offense Tuesday. Oh, timing, you are so cruel.

Semifinal matchups (top 2-week total advances)

Fresh Fish 43, Ryan's Rangers 41
Misfits 45, Tanana in the Tailpipe 33 

Consolation matchups

Pitch You Blockhead 42, E-3 18
Danger Zaun 79, Arbitration Losers 25
Rookies 71, Rocky Mountain High 51

Playoffs Week 3: Monday's Roundup

Starling Marte says: "I've got news for you, Mr. Danger Zaun, you haven't heard the last of me.
You may think I'm (crap) now, but someday you're gonna be sorry you traded me."

Studs: Starling Marte (RMH) responded to his FBLG trade the way you'd imagine: by hitting 2 solo homers and a double. Jay Bruce (PYB) doubled, homered and drove in 4.

Duds: Josh Harrison (AL) had a single and an error.

Semifinal matchups (top 2-week total advances)

Fresh Fish 21, Ryan's Rangers 18
Tanana in the Tailpipe 13, Misfits 12

Consolation matchups

Pitch You Blockhead 17, E-3 5
Danger Zaun 20, Arbitration Losers 9
Rookies 31, Rocky Mountain High 18

Week 21 (Playoffs, Week 3) Transactions and Lineups

Players acquired

E-3 sign SP Edinson Volquez (August move #3).

Fresh Fish sign SP Jarred Cosart (August move #1).

Rookies sign 2B Kris Negron (August move #2) and 1B Ike Davis (August move #3).

Pitch You Blockhead sign OF Seth Smith (August move #2).

Tanana in the Tailpipe sign SP Kevin Correia (August move #3).

Danger Zaun sign SP Mike Fiers, retroactive to Sunday (August move #1).

Players released

OF Domonic Brown

OF/2B Emilio Bonifacio

OF Tommy Medica

2B D.J. LeMahieu

Trade

Danger Zaun send OF Starling Marte to Rocky Mountain High for 2B Kolten Wong.

Lineup changes

E-3: Bench SP Joe Kelly and SP Jason Hammel; activate SP Edinson Volquez and SP A.J. Burnett.

Fresh Fish: Bench SP Tom Koehler; place SP Hyun-jin Ryu on the DL; activate SP Jarred Cosart and SP Mike Leake.

Rookies: Bench 1B Jordan Pacheco and 2B Tommy La Stella; activate 1B Ike Davis and 2B Kris Negron.

Rocky Mountain High: Bench OF Brandon Barnes; activate OF Starling Marte and 2B Brandon Phillips (from DL).

Pitch You Blockhead: Bench SP Jesse Hahn and OF Marcell Ozuna; activate SP Ryan Vogelsong and OF Seth Smith.

Tanana in the Tailpipe: Bench SP Jon Niese and SP Odrisamer Despaigne; activate SP Tyson Ross and SP Kevin Correia.

Ryan's Rangers: none.

Misfits: Bench SP Alex Wood; activate SP Aaron Harang.

Arbitration Losers: Bench SP Tim Hudson, SS Jean Segura and OF David Peralta; place SP Jacob deGrom on DL; move Josh Harrison from 2B to SS; activate OF Michael Cuddyer (from DL), SP Gerrit Cole (from DL) and 2B Jedd Gyorko.

Danger Zaun: Bench 2B Aaron Hill and SP Henderson Alvarez; activate 2B Kolten Wong and SP Mike Fiers.

Playoffs Week 2: The Check Swing

Playoff matchups

(7) Fresh Fish 199, (2) E-3 149
Rick's under-seeded squad cruised to the upset of Adam's No. 2 seeds to advance to the semifinals.

(6) Misfits 155 (332), (3) Pitch You Blockhead 161 (309)
Scott's bunch rebounded to win the second of the 2-week matchup but couldn't erase a 30-point deficit as Reid advances to the semis.

(5) Tanana in the Tailpipe 203 (377), (4) Arbitration Losers 142 (289)

Matt's squad rained down thunder on Tim's defending champions, meaning the 1, 5, 6 and 7 seeds will be facing off for the title. It's been a strange year, gang.

Semifinals

Winner will be best 2-week cumulative score.

(1) Ryan's Rangers vs. (7) Fresh Fish

(5) Tanana in the Tailpipe vs. (6) Misfits

Consolation round robin

The remaining 6 teams play a 5-week round robin starting today. The teams with the 2 best records will face off in the consolation championship during the final week of the season. Tiebreakers will be settled by total points scored during consolation play only.

This week's matchups:

Pitch You Blockhead vs. E-3

Arbitration Losers vs. Danger Zaun

Rookies vs. Rocky Mountain High

Overall standings

1. Danger Zaun (3,457 points, last week 1): Who needs the playoffs? The Rich-Brian crew are leading what's become a 2-team race for the top overall score. Four great starts from a beat-up rotation (5 starting pitchers currently on the DL) and a huge week from Corey Dickerson led the Zaunies.

Rick will be counting on some Marlins in the playoffs.
At least this is one of them.

2. Fresh Fish (3,447 points, last week 2): But  even with that, DZ can't shake the Fish, who got big weeks from most of the offense and a nice double-start from Tom Koehler to push 200 points for the week. Giancarlo Stanton, Mike Morse and Jhonny Peralta led the offensive output.

T3. Ryan's Rangers (3,324 points, last week 3): A steady week - no one was horrible, no one scored 20 - as the Rangers sat idly waiting for the semifinals. Matt Adams, Carlos Gomez and Nolan Arenado led the offense, which will need a boost to get past the Fresh Fish in the semis.

T3. Tanana in the Tailpipe (3,324 points, last week 5): At this point, it looks like about anyone Matt picks up will pitch great. 30 points out of Jon Niese? OK, whatever. Christian Yelich and Matt Carpenter had big weeks at the plate as Tanana gears up for the Misfits in the semis.

5. E-3 (3,310 points, last week 4): It wasn't that long ago that these guys had the best record and the top overall score. Now they've been bounced from the playoffs and are 240 points out of the lead. Yovani Gallardo had a big week, and Dee Gordon and Drew Stubbs led the offense, but the injuries came at the wrong time for Adam's squad.

6. Arbitration Losers (3,253 points, last week 6): Two mediocre weeks in a row leaves Tim in the consolation round. Freddie Freeman and Josh Harrison hit well, Jake Arrieta kept pitching well, but the rest of the team was pretty meager. Michael Cuddyer and Gerrit Cole come off the DL this week... just a little too late for the playoff run.

7. Pitch You Blockhead (3,232 points, last week 7): The backups (Joe Panik and Yangervis Solarte) for the injured middle infielders did well last week, and everyone was solid, but Scott couldn't overcome a big deficit to Reid's guys. Ben Revere and Adam LaRoche led the offense..

8. Misfits (3,192 points, last week 8): Jon Jay led all scorers on this team this week. That is a ridiculous thing to think about, but it was enough to keep Reid alive in the playoffs. Now this dangerous squad has what should be a fun matchup with Matt.

9. Rocky Mountain High (3,107 points, last week T9): Mat Latos pitched well, as did Dan Haren (in one start, at least), and Yasiel Puig and Carl Crawford led the offense as Jon's guys awaited the consolation playoffs.

10. Rookies (3,077 points, last week T9): Injuries and ineffectiveness doomed the Braves who, aside from Justin Upton's big week, largely stunk it up. Doug Fister continues to pitch like an ace, and a hot week or 2 from the Braves could make this team dangerous in the postseason.

Playoffs Week 2: Sunday's Roundup

On what might be the biggest day of Studs and Duds ever,
these two guys combined for 26 points.

Studs: A doubleheader at Coors Field? That produced a few studs. Corey Dickerson (DZ) had a homer, 2 doubles and 5 RBIs in the 2 games. Billy Hamilton (DZ) had 3 doubles, 2 singles, a steal and 4 runs. Jay Bruce (PYB) had a homer, 2 singles and 4 RBIs. Drew Stubbs (E-3) had a double, 3-run homer, steal and 4 RBIs. Oh, and Michael Cuddyer (AL bench) hit for the cycle in game 2. Elsewhere, Jonathan Lucroy (PYB) had a homer, a double (his 40th) and 5 RBIs. Jake Arrieta (AL) struck out 9 and allowed no runs in a 7-inning no-decision. Wily Peralta (RR) struck out 5 in 6 shutout innings. Tom Koehler (FF) struck out 7 and allowed 2 runs in 6 innings. Giancarlo Stanton (FF) homered and drove in 4. Christian Yelich (Tanana) had a single, 2 doubles, 2 runs and a steal. Matt Carpenter (Tanana) had a double, a homer and 3 RBIs.

Duds: It was a brutal, brutal day for closers. Aroldis Chapman (DZ) walked all 4 batters he faced and all scored, leading to a -4 score without even taking the loss. Trevor Rosenthal (PYB) walked 3 and struck out 1, allowing 2 runs and somehow earning a hold. Rafael Soriano (AL) allowed 3 runs in 0.1 innings, blowing the save. Huston Street (RR) allowed 4 hits and 2 runs, taking the loss without getting an out. Elsewhere, Adrian Gonzalez (DZ) had a single and an error. Anthony Rizzo was 0 for 4 with an error. B.J. Upton (Rookies) was 0 for 3 with an error. Joe Kelly (E-3) allowed 7 earned runs and took the loss, striking out 3 in 3 innings. Odrisamer Despaigne (Tanana) allowed 5 earned and struck out 1 in a 4-inning loss.

Transaction: Danger Zaun place SP Charlie Morton on DL and sign SP Mike Fiers.

First-round matchups

Fresh Fish 199, E-3 149 (Fresh Fish advance)

Misfits 155 (332), Pitch You Blockhead 161 (309) (Misfits advance)

Tanana in the Tailpipe 203 (377), Arbitration Losers 142 (289) (Tanana advance)

Just collecting points

Ryan's Rangers 162

Rookies 147

Rocky Mountain High 177
Danger Zaun 184

Playoffs Week 2: Saturday's Roundup

Dud status AND an injury that made him leave the game.
Heckuva day for David Wright.

Studs: Henderson Alvarez (DZ) struck out 6 and allowed 1 run in a 7-inning win. Mike Morse (FF) had 2 doubles, a triple, a run and an RBI.

Duds: David Wright (E-3) scored a run but committed an error. Also, it's worth noting that we missed a very obvious dud from Friday's games: Jason Hammel (E-3)  allowed 5 runs (all on 3 homers) and struck out 3 in a 3-inning loss.

Note: The Reds-Rockies game was postponed because of a busted water main in Denver. The teams will play a doubleheader today.

First-round matchups

Fresh Fish 165, E-3 128 (winner advances)

Misfits 140 (317), Pitch You Blockhead 125 (273) (top 2-week total advances)

Tanana in the Tailpipe 160 (334), Arbitration Losers 119 (262) (top 2-week total advances)

Just collecting points

Ryan's Rangers 131

Rookies 127

Rocky Mountain High 147
Danger Zaun 159