With the first half of the season almost over, which teams are riding high in the BaseballGB Fantasy League – and who would come out on top in the battle of the top two?
| Team | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS | W | SV | K | HLD | ERA | WHIP | Score |
| Cheshunt Maltsters | 38 | 10 | 45 | 9 | .341 | .992 | 7 | 5 | 79 | 0 | 2.04 | 0.91 | 10 |
| Richie’s RBI’s | 38 | 8 | 28 | 3 | .270 | .846 | 2 | 1 | 49 | 1 | 4.31 | 1.29 | 1 |
The Maltsters held onto top spot in some style, defeating the RBIs 10-1 in the battle of the top two. It was a team effort as Altuve stole four bases, McCutchen hit .533, Jose Ramirez hit three homers and Santana and Abreu each knocked in eight.
Sale, who struck out 20 and Pomeranz each won twice and helped take ERA and WHIP while Reed had three saves. Carpenter scored seven runs for the RBIS while Barnes had the lone hold.
| Team | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS | W | SV | K | HLD | ERA | WHIP | Score |
| Mighty Slugs | 24 | 11 | 34 | 1 | .249 | .764 | 5 | 1 | 63 | 1 | 4.37 | 1.09 | 10 |
| Newcastle Knights | 17 | 6 | 19 | 0 | .233 | .715 | 4 | 2 | 34 | 1 | 6.04 | 1.68 | 1 |
The Slugs used an offensive sweep to defeat the Knights 10-1. Cano was the star hitter, launching four homers, driving in nine and batting .350 while Souza Jr scored five runs. Paxton and Nelson each had a win, double-digit strikeouts and helped take ERA and WHIP. Bush and Ramos salvaged saves for the Knights.
| Team | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS | W | SV | K | HLD | ERA | WHIP | Score |
| Beckenham A&E Dept | 27 | 11 | 29 | 1 | .264 | .860 | 6 | 6 | 63 | 1 | 2.39 | 1.01 | 8 |
| The Bath Bombers | 28 | 8 | 27 | 10 | .243 | .757 | 6 | 2 | 60 | 2 | 4.62 | 1.40 | 3 |
The A&E Dept closed the gap on the Bombers with this 8-3 win. Orlando Arcia hit three homers – as did Frazier – and hit .524 for the week while Pederson drove in six. Scherzer won twice, struck out 18 and helped take ERA and WHIP. Rodney and Greinke also won twice while Iglesias had three saves.
Trea Turner swiped seven bases for the Bombers before his injury while Justin Turner scored five runs. Rosenthal collected a pair of holds.
| Team | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS | W | SV | K | HLD | ERA | WHIP | Score |
| Batteries Essential | 34 | 17 | 33 | 5 | .293 | .963 | 2 | 1 | 61 | 3 | 2.44 | 0.86 | 8 |
| The Cheddar Chasers | 24 | 8 | 37 | 3 | .245 | .776 | 4 | 2 | 61 | 1 | 3.42 | 1.22 | 3 |
Another matchup, another 8-3 as Batteries Essential defeated the Chasers. In what I’m pretty sure must be a BaseballGB record, Maikel Franco was the only Batteries Essential hitter not to homer.
Andrus belted four homers, scored seven times, stole two bases and joined JD Martinez in hitting .400. Gonzalez, Gray, Bauer and Volquez each put up stingy ERA and WHIP numbers while Givens had two holds. Duvall drove in 10 for the Cahsers while Gyorko knocked in eight. Gausman won twice and Wilson had two saves.
| Team | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS | W | SV | K | HLD | ERA | WHIP | Score |
| Orpington Isotopes | 32 | 11 | 26 | 4 | .294 | .911 | 5 | 1 | 46 | 1 | 3.64 | 1.31 | 4 |
| Weston-Super-Sox | 36 | 11 | 35 | 3 | .300 | .898 | 3 | 2 | 42 | 2 | 2.87 | 0.82 | 7 |
The Sox picked up a 7-4 win against the Isotopes thanks to Mookie’s monster Sunday. Betts scored 10 runs and knocked in 11 this week, batting .483. Hill helped take ERA and WHIP while Maurer had two saves. Khris Davis had a steal and helped the Isotopes take OPS while Samardzija won twice while striking out 10.
| Team | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS | W | SV | K | HLD | ERA | WHIP | Score |
| Iron Men | 31 | 6 | 25 | 4 | .251 | .733 | 2 | 4 | 36 | 2 | 4.33 | 1.48 | 4 |
| Norwich No II | 30 | 6 | 30 | 3 | .244 | .675 | 5 | 4 | 58 | 5 | 1.74 | 0.97 | 6 |
Norwich climb up to second with a 6-4 win against Iron Men. The pitchers did most of the heavy lifting, falling a save shy of a sweep. Nola led the staff with nine strikeouts and was one of six pitchers with a win. Two others, Stroman and Matz, did not allow earned runs and helped take WHIP.
Edwards Jr and Hand had two holds each. Gardner knocked in seven runs. Encarnacion scored six runs while Sano homered twice and knocked in six. Rendon also launched a pair of homers and hit .360. Johnson had two saves.
| Team | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS | W | SV | K | HLD | ERA | WHIP | Score |
| Jesmond Dennings | 23 | 6 | 26 | 4 | .286 | .815 | 1 | 3 | 31 | 1 | 2.86 | 1.23 | 6 |
| Durham Riverkings | 26 | 7 | 25 | 4 | .217 | .668 | 2 | 2 | 32 | 1 | 4.58 | 1.66 | 4 |
Finally, Jesmond defeated the Riverkings 10-4. Correa knocked in 10 and hit .500 but was outdone by Votto, who hit .524 and helped take OPS. De Grom helped take ERA and WHIP and three relievers had a save as the staff just made it over the 20-inning minimum. Shaw scored five runs and homered twice for the Riverkings, while Murphy also touched home five times and Healy went deep twice. Arrieta picked up a win and struck out 10.
The week 14 matchups are as follows:
Maltsters (1st) v Bombers (4th)
Norwich (2nd) v Jesmond (12th)
RBIs (3rd) v Iron Men (1th)
Isotopes (5th) v Batteries Essential (8th)
A&E Dept (6th) v Chasers (7th)
Slugs (9th) v Riverkings (10th)
Sox (13th) v Knights (14th)
