KJNL Week 8 Recap

By Staff Writer: Brad Atkinson

The East put up a respectable 5-3 week this week, ending the dominance that the West has had over them the last two weeks. The top teams in each league (White Sox and Astros) keep on keeping on while all of their closest division rivals lose this week . . . those leads are really expanding. Finally, under new management and employing a little bit of the streaming pitchers strategy the Braves get their first win over the Dodgers . . . welcome to the league!! Now for individual re-caps.

Boston Red Sox over Minnesota Twins (9-3-0)
Two great batting weeks by the Twins and Red Sox and they split the batting side 3-3, but the Twins pitchers flop and they get swept on that side of the game. It wasn’t all the Twins fault though . . . the Red Sox were pretty good on that side of the ledger too.
MVP: Ordonez and Gonzalez had huge weeks, but the MVP is Scott Linbrink – 3.2 IP, 5 K, 2W, 1 Hld, 0.00 Whip.
Goat: No one truly awful, though Kason Gabbard was pretty bad in his one start.

Detroit Tigers over Seattle Mariners (7-4-1)
The “Cellar Dwellers” revenge . . . the bottom end of the AL East took on the contending Mariners and came out on top because of a great pitching performance and a 5-0-1 record on that side of the game. Put up a record like that and you only have to win one batting category and 38 runs and a .290 average are hard to beat. The Mariners continue to be good, but inconsistently so, especially on the pitching side of the ball.
MVP: Matsui and Cano – 0 HR, but . . . .420/1.070, 15 R, 10 RBI combined.
Goat: Teahen, Maine and Penny . . . 0/16 batting and 4 starts with 0 W and a 6.25 ERA.

Chicago White Sox over Cleveland Indians (9-2-1)
The current best team in the AL keeps streaking (6 in a row), while the former best team in the AL keeps sliding (3 in a row), though both are still first place teams. The Indians simply had an awful week on both sides of the game. The White Sox had a bad pitching week, but going 6-0 on the batting side makes it easy to win.
MVP: Takashi Saito – 4.1 IP, 8 K, 2 W, 2 Sv, 0.00 ERA, 0.46 Whip
Goat: Boof Bonser and Justin Upton – 2 Starts, 0W, 10.61 ERA and 0/20 swinging the bat.

Kansas City Royals over Toronto Blue Jays (8-4-0)
The battle of the bottom rungs goes to the West and the Royals putting up an impressive .330 BA for the week and having a pitching week that would have them contending with the top teams in the league. The Blue Jays pitched well too, they were just a bit short on amassing stats, almost like they had a few players sitting out or something.
MVP: Jason Bay - .480/1.496, 5 R, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 1 SB
Goat: No one really bad, but why Fred Lewis gets 6 starts in a week is beyond me.

St. Louis Cardinals over Colorado Rockies (8-4-0)
The Rockies suffer their first out of division loss to the first place Cardinals. The Rockies had an obviously off week hitting while the Cardinals excelled at everything except SB. The two teams split the pitching categories. It looked like the Rockies totals over all were down leading to this defeat.
MVP: Aaron Rowand - .364/1.059, 3 R, 2 HR, 9 RBI
Goat: Rockies SP – only 4 starts all week . . . very odd.

Atlanta Braves over Los Angeles Dodgers (6-5-1)
In the closest game of the week, by score anyhow, the Braves get their first win of the year, finally. The Braves were dominant on the pitching side while the Dodgers won on the batting side, though I wouldn’t call their performance dominating. The difference in this game was the fact that the Braves won on runs while the Dodgers could only manage a tie in holds.
MVP: Randy Winn - .318/1.019, 9 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 SB
Goat: Victor Martinez and Casey Blake - .152/.300, 2 R, 1 RBI combined.

Chicago Cubs over Arizona Diamondbacks (10-0-2)
Blowout!! Tied in runs and holds, otherwise it was all Cubs, and they needed it to climb back into the races. Their totals were impressive because the D’backs weren’t exactly off their game this week on the batting side, though their pitching left a lot to be desired. Not winning a single category is a tough thing.
MVP: Bengie Molina - .652/1.697, 5 R, 1 HR, 9 RBI
Goat: Diamondbacks owner leaving to DL players and a non-pitching pitcher in the lineup all week.

Houston Astros over Cincinnati Reds (7-5-0)
Not the closest game in terms of actual score, but in terms of stats, this game was won by the slimmest of margins. Orlando Cabrera went 2/4 with a double Sunday night. One extra base via hit or BB would have given the Reds a 6-6 tie. A bit more would have had to happen for them to actually win, but the margins were tight to say the least.
MVP: Jorge Cantu – 11 AB, .455/1.571, 4 R, 2 HR, 6 RBI – timely insertion
Goat: Johjima and Brian Schneider – only 4 games caught - .143/.400, 1 R combined

Week 9 Preview

Red Sox (4-4) at Royals (3-5)
The Royals try to continue their winning ways while the Red Sox try to continue their turnaround. The Red Sox have gained a game on the Indians despite going 1-2 the last three weeks.

Tigers (2-6) at Twins (5-3)
The Tigers look to celebrate their second win of the year after beating the Twins rival Mariners last week. The Twins look to get back on track and stay competitive in the tough AL West.

Indians (5-3) at Mariners (5-3)
Two teams that took tough losses last week meet up to see who can best get back on the winning side of things. Unlike the Mariners, the Indians can maybe afford to lose this game, but that doesn’t mean that they want their losing streak to continue.

Blue Jays (1-7) at White Sox (7-1)
Two teams headed in opposite directions go head-to-head in this game . . . will the two 6 games streaks continue or will they both end here?

Cardinals (5-3) at Diamondbacks (2-6)
The first place team gets to finish off inter-division play in the NL with the last place D’backs. Arizona is looking to put up a better showing this week than last week and they will need it, the Cardinals do not occupy first place by luck alone.

Braves (1-6-1) at Astros (8-0)
The worst team in the league travels to the best team in the league this week, but the Braves are under new management and haven’t lost under him yet. Of course, the same can be said of the Astros with a larger sample size.

Cubs (3-4-1) at Dodgers (3-5)
Two teams struggling to get back into the races square off against one another. LA is trying to come back from losing two in a row while the Cubs want to start a winning streak.

Reds (4-4) at Rockies (5-3)
Both high flying teams came back to earth last week and now they get up, dust themselves off and go at one another. It’s too early to call this a battle for the wild card but this is the only game between these two teams and head-to-head record is the first tie-breaker.

Good luck to everyone this week!!

KJNL Week 7 Recap

By Staff Writer: Brad Atkinson

The West’s dominance over the East continues with only the Cincinnati Reds getting in the win column among all 8 Eastern division teams. That makes the West 15-1 since the start of interdivision play. If this keeps up league management could start getting petitions for realignment to North/South or Central/Coastal divisions. As an additional note: the undefeated stayed undefeated and the winless remained that way too. This second situation prompted league management to remove the ownership group of the Braves and start a search for a new leader. This shouldn’t take very long as the Braves have a strong roster and MiLB system that are currently underachieving. On to the individual recaps!

Chicago White Sox over Detroit Tigers (8-4-0)
The White Sox have quietly brought themselves to the best record in the AL and the second best record in the league. This week it was all about the bats as they take that side of the game 5-1 on route to an 8-4 win. The Tigers can’t seem to find their footing after getting their first win two weeks ago. Of course, no one in their division has had a win in two weeks.
MVP: Troy Glaus - .407/1.145, 4 R, 1 HR, 7 RBI
Goat: Paul Bako - .133/.369, 1 R

Seattle Mariners over Boston Red Sox (8-4-0)
The Red Sox bats really fall flat after their pitching staff compiled some good numbers. Meanwhile the Mariners finally put together a solid batting week after being a little shaky there in the last few games. A solid week will beat down a shaky week every time and going 0-6 on the batting side sunk the Red Sox to their third loss in a row.
MVP: Jimmy Rollins back from injury - .462/1.210, 6 R, 4 RBI, 4 SB
Goat: Brad Hawpe - .125/.250, 2 R

Kansas City Royals over Cleveland Indians (6-4-2)
How far the mighty have fallen . . . losing two in a row would have the once proud Indians in third at best in the other AL division, but the entire AL East has fallen on hard times so their 2 game lead is still intact. The Royals started to roll once they got out of their own division and haven’t lost yet. This could be a case of a decent team in a really tough division, but their win this week is more about Cleveland’s underperformance than KC’s dominance.
MVP: Francisco (K-Rod) Rodriguez – 3.2 IP, 5 K, 3 Sv, 1 ER
Goat: Jim Thome - .067/.367, 1 R, 1 RBI

Minnesota Twins over Toronto Blue Jays (9-3-0)
BOOM go the Twins’ bats keeping the Blue Jays cowering in their AL East cellar. League records for HR and RBI’s are a good start to a dominating week. 60+ K and a .971 OPS are not a bad follow-up. The Blue Jays actually had one of their best weeks of the season they just ran into the best team of the week. Their bad luck continues.
MVP: No-brainer Alfonso Soriano - .516/1.758, 10 R, 7 HR, 14 RBI
Goat: Kurt Suzuki - .067/.133, 1 R

Cincinnati Reds over Los Angeles Dodgers (8-3-1)
Two tough teams going at it right here. The Dodgers lose because of lack of good contact and few RBI. The Reds had a solid week across the board with a record setting HR performance, if not for the Twins, 35+ R and RBI and a 5/6/3 pitching performance on the week. This win, the only Eastern division team in the league to do so, pulls them into a tie with the Cardinals for first in the NL East. Outside of RBI, BA and OPS, the Dodgers had a solid week too, but those three bad categories were too much to overcome.
MVP: Many choices, but going with Scott Downs – 4 IP, 3 K, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 Sv, 2 Hd
Goat: Randy Wolf – 2 GS, 10.1 IP, 2.03 WHIP, 10 ER, 7 K, 0 W

Arizona Diamondbacks over Atlanta Braves (7-4-1)
The Diamondbacks pitched as well as they could with no closers and go 5-1 on that side of the game giving them an insurmountable lead with the Braves struggling bats and no lineup changes. The D’backs are taking the Royals track of losing 5 in a row before winning the last two, unfortunately they still can’t gain ground on the division leaders because those teams are winning at the same pace. As for the Braves, at 0-6-1 hopefully new ownership will turn that team around.
MVP: Delmon Young - .393/.985, 4 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB
Goat: Mark Texiera - .136/.401, 3 R

Colorado Rockies over Chicago Cubs (7-4-1)
A great batting week by the Rockies overcomes a weak pitching performance (1-4-1) to give them the win this week. That’s 3 in a row and if they were in the other division they would have a one game lead rather than be trailing by 2 in the NL West. The Cubs continue to slide to their third loss in a row and they simply can’t find the consistency they need to succeed on a regular basis. Righting the ship is a must because the teams battling for playoff spots are starting to pull away.
MVP: for about the third week in a row, Lance Berkman - .481/1.511, 8 R, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 2 SB
Goat: Johnny Damon - .080/.195, 1 R, 1 RBI

Houston Astros over St. Louis Cardinals (9-2-1)
The battle of division leaders quickly turned into a look forward to the next week as the Cardinals fell behind early and never really caught up. Putting up zeroes in SB, Sv and Hd is never going to be a good thing and it’s that much worse when playing the only undefeated team in the league. The Astros had their normal, solid week: BA around .300, OPS around .800, around 35 R and RBI, 60+ K and 4/5/4 pitching performance. That was more than enough for the biggest blowout on the scoreboard this week.
MVP: Josh Hamilton - .450/1.500, 6 R, 3 HR, 10 RBI
Goat: Adam Wainwright – 2 GS, 11.2 IP, 1.89 WHIP, 10 ER, 5 K, 0 W

Week 8 Preview

Twins (5-2) at Red Sox (3-4)
The Red Sox try to end their losing streak while the Twins try to extend that wild card lead that they currently possess.

Mariners (5-2) at Tigers (1-6)
The Mariners get to play the dregs of the East while trying to keep up with the streaking teams in their own division. The Tigers simply want to get back into the win column any way they can.

White Sox (6-1) at Indians (5-2)
The NL had it last week so the AL has it this week – a battle of the division leaders. This game has a bit less excitement though as the division leaders are trending in different directions, Indians lost 2 in a row, White Sox winning 5 in a row.

Royals (2-5) at Blue Jays (1-6)
The Royals try and stay hot and run their winning streak to 3 games while the Blue Jays try to post another solid week and hope they don’t run into another juggernaut.

Rockies (5-2) at Cardinals (4-3)
Two losses in a row have dropped the Cardinals to a tie for first place and just one game over .500, they need to get things on track or they will be looking up at the Reds before long. The Rockies want to stay strong and move to 4 wins in row, getting a stranglehold on that wild card slot in the process.

Astros (7-0) at Reds (4-3)
The Astros take on the team in first place in the NL East for the second week in a row, this time though it’s the only Eastern division team that has won a game in the last two weeks. The Reds have the players to beat the Astros, can they stop the winning streak at 7?

Dodgers (3-4) at Braves (0-6-1)
The Dodgers must overcome the stigma of being the only losing Western team and get the benefit of a currently ownerless Braves team. That should right their ship just fine and get them back to .500.

D’backs (2-5) at Cubs (2-4-1)
The D’backs are trying to find a way to surge back into the playoff races after a terrible start while the Cubs try and fix their recent losing ways. The only sure thing is that one team or the other will take a big step back into contention while the other will be on the border of elimination from consideration.

KJNL Week 6 Recap

By Staff Writer: Brad Atkinson

If this week told us anything it is that the West is best while the East is least. A clean sweep by those teams West of the Mississippi, or whatever river delineates the two halves of the country in our league. What does that mean for the division races? It means absolutely nothing changes. All teams are just as many games back as they were last week, although the two western divisions take an early leg up in the wild card races. With all of the Eastern teams losing the league also lost half of our undefeated teams last week. Only one is left standing, though it looked like both of the top dogs would go down as late as Saturday. Here is an individual game look at our Wild Western Week.

Chicago White Sox over Boston Red Sox (10-1-1)

A dominating scoreboard in favor of the White Sox, though it was more about sub-standard performance by the Red Sox than anything else. The numbers that the White Sox put up in 10 of 12 categories would have had them middle of the pack at best this week in most other games. The good news is that in this 1 win/1 loss format it’s easier to bounce back from a bad week than if every individual win counted.

MVP: Carlos Beltran - .381/1.226, 5 R, 1 HR, 8 RBI

Goat: Edgar Renteria – 0/18, 1R . . . close seconds, Luis Ayala and Granderson.

Kansas City Royals over Detroit Tigers (9-3-0)

The Tigers got their first win last week and were victimized by the Royals this week in the Royals first win. The Royals had a great week, .310/.899, sub-2 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. They might have beaten any team this week, just the Tigers bad luck to be against them. Both teams remain in last or tied for last, but maybe the Royals are starting an uptick . . . and the Tigers didn’t exactly have a terrible week either.

MVP: Jason Bay - .412/1.206, 5 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 SB and it’s about time!

Goat: Brian Burres – 2 GS, 11.1 IP, 2 K, 5.56 ERA, 1.76 WHIP.

Minnesota Twins over Cleveland Indians (8-2-2)

The Indians get an off week from their bats and their bullpen and go down to the Twins who put up stellar ratios and squeaked by well enough on the cumulative stats to get a big win. Unfortunately for the Twins and luckily for the Indians everyone else in their respective divisions did exactly as they did, so no ground was gained or lost.

MVP: Ryan Church - .333/1.201, 5 R, 3 HR, 4 RBI

Goat: no real goat here, just a teamwide, general badness. Saltalamacchia’s .100 BA stands out, but it was only 10 AB’s in 3 games.

Seattle Mariners over Toronto Blue Jays (8-4-0)

The Mariners luck out this week posting a .220/.596, 21 R, 2 HR, 20 RBI week with 30 K’s from the pitchers and somehow still win the matchup, which says a lot about how poorly the Blue Jays performed this week. If you just look at the score it seems that this game went exactly as the standings say it was supposed to, but when you look at the actual numbers generated, the bad performances stand out.

MVP: No players really standout as having a great week. Cristian Guzman comes closest.

Goat: Bill Hall - .048/.214, 2 R.

Los Angeles Dodgers over St. Louis Cardinals (9-1-2)

It could have been a really tough week when you bat .323 as a team and LOSE that category, but that was the only loss the third place Dodgers took this week in putting a beating on the first place Cardinals. The usually stellar Cardinal pitching staff went a little haywire this week and looking forward their bullpen could be in disarray. Isringhausen lost his will to close last week bumping Ryan Franklin into the closers role. So in one mental fit by an aging ballplayer the KJNL Cards lose their #1 closer and turn their #1 holds guy into a saves guy. Thus the massive decrease in holds this week occurs. The ERA balloon can be attributed to the starters coming back to earth this week. The Dodgers did well to take advantage.

MVP: Jermaine Dye - .350/1.240, 6 R, 3 HR, 5 RBI

Goat: Cardinal SP except for Maddux and Wainwright – 8 GS, 1 W 32 ER in 44.2 IP.

Arizona Diamondbacks over Cincinnati Reds (7-5-0)

The closest game of the week by score, though none of the individual categories were all that close. The Diamondbacks jump out in their first non-division matchup to take a 7-5 win over the Reds for their first win of the year. The D’backs actual totals ran hot and cold and having not paid great attention during the entire week it’s hard to say whether the Diamondbacks won this game or the Reds lost it . . . but I would be willing to bet that a little Arizona over-performance with a little Reds underperformance lead to the final score we see above. Congrats D’Backs, with this win there is only one team without a win left.

MVP: Carl Crawford - .304/.792, 4 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 4 SB.

Goat: Todd Jones – 3 IP, 4 ER, 1 K, 0 SV

Colorado Rockies over Atlanta Braves (10-1-1)

The Rockies explode with a huge week over the stumbling Atlanta Braves who fail to put up even mediocre batting numbers this week. The Rockies continue to make a case for being the second best team in the league, their only two losses are to the still unbeaten Astros and their other opponents are usually on the bad end of blowouts. Of course, with the records coming in, this blowout was expected.

MVP: For yet another week, Berkman - .682/1.877, 10 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 SB . . . Mike Lowell and Dice-K were both worthy too.

Goat: Miguel Cabrera - .182/.462, 1 R

Houston Astros over Chicago Cubs (7-3-2)

The Astros win on both sides of the ball this week, 3-2-1 with the bat and 4-1-1 with the arms to stay undefeated. Though the score ended up a little lopsided it was a lot closer than 7-3-2 shows. The two teams were tied in RBI and Saves and the winning margins for the Astros were very slim in SB (1), BA (.007), OPS (.002) and ERA (0.03). The Cubs definitely brought their “A” game and just fell a tiny bit short.

MVP: Hunter Pence - .389/.944, 3 R, 5 RBI, 3 SB – contributing to the categories that were slimly won.

Goat: Buerhle and Villanueva – 10.2 IP, 2.25 WHIP, 14 ER and 10 K combined.

Week 7 Preview

Red Sox (3-3) at Mariners (4-2)
Two teams on opposite tracks, Mariners winning two in a row and Red Sox losing two, though if they had met last week it would have been a dead heat. The Red Sox need a win or they could suddenly be 2 games out of the wild card and 3 games out of the division!

Tigers (1-5) at White Sox (5-1)
The cellar dweller challenges the division leader. It seems like a blowout on paper, but the Tigers have been playing better baseball lately. Of course the White Sox have won four in a row themselves, so this one bears watching.

Indians (5-1) at Royals (1-5)
Another case like the one above except that last week the Royals got their first win and the Indians their first loss. Will the trends end here or continue for another week. The Indians are set up with several 2-start pitchers this week, so the Royals will have their hands full.

Blue Jays (1-5) at Twins (4-2)
The Twins try and take another step towards the top of their division by keeping the Blue Jays on their losing streak. In such a tough division they will need the win because it is almost guaranteed that one of the other two teams at the top will win as well.

Cardinals (4-2) at Astros (6-0)
The division leaders in the National League go head-to-head this week with the Cardinals steaming over a blowout loss to the Dodgers and the Astros celebrating a narrow win over the Cubs. With all of the 2-start pitchers lined up in the matchup each team may end up with 100 IP this week. It should be fun.

Reds (3-3) at Dodgers (3-3)
Two .500 teams will go after each other this week. The Reds want to try and keep their division hopes strong while the Dodgers need a win to keep the two teams in front in the NL West from running off and hiding with their leads.

Braves (0-5-1) at Diamondbacks (1-5-0)
The dregs of the NL clash here with the D’backs getting their first win last week and the Braves dropping 5 in a row so far. Are the Diamondbacks turning a corner or will we have the last winless team in the league finally get one?

Cubs (2-3-1) at Rockies (4-2)
The Cubs hard luck continues. After a heartbreaking loss to the Astros last week they have to take on some of the hottest bats in the league in the Rockies. The Rockies are looking to keep the winning going and creep back up on the Astros, if the ‘Stros give them a chance to.

Good luck to everyone this week and thanks for reading!

KJNL Week 5 Recap

By Staff Writer: Brad Atkinson

Cleveland Indians over Boston Red Sox: 6-5-1

An exceedingly close matchup between the top two teams in the division where one more win by the Sox would have given them a tie and 0.011 more slugging would have given them the win. The Indians find a way to stay undefeated despite an off week in the run producing area.

MVP: Rafael Furcal - .393/1.023, 11R, 1 HR, 4 RBI and 2 SB.

Goat: Red Sox SP with the exception of Lester and Haren – 12 starts, only 2 W.

Detroit Tigers over Toronto Blue Jays: 7-5-0

The Tigers get that first win they have been striving for by having a great batting week and going 6-0 over there then taking advantage of the Blue Jays getting a zero in the holds category to take a small win. It still goes on the win side though, just like an 11-1 blowout. There is now a tie in the cellar of the AL East.

MVP: Matt Kemp - .407/.989, 7 R, 11 RBI and 6 SB.

Goat: Jeff Francouer - .190/.499, 2 R, 1 RBI.

Chicago White Sox over Minnesota Twins: 7-5-0

The battle for first place in the AL West goes to the White Sox in a squeaker. They rode a hot pitching staff, especially in the RP categories, to go 5-1 on that side of the ledger and then used their speed and average on the batting side to seal the deal. The real MLB Cubs had a bad week so the Twins two man RP staff goes into the toilet costing them this game.

MVP: Tigers RP – 10.2 IP, 1 ER, 14 K, 3 Sv, 5 Hld.

Goat: Kerry Wood and Jason Marquis – 12.1 IP, 13 ER, 7 K, 2.15 WHIP, 0 W/Sv/Hld

Seattle Mariners over Kansas City Royals: 10-1-1

The Mariners get back to their winning ways and trounce the Royals allowing them a win in Saves (the Mariners had 0) and a tie in RBI at 29. This win moves the Mariners into a tie for second place in the AL West only one game back of the leaders while placing the Royals firmly in the cellar of a very strong division.

MVP: Chase Utley - .316/1.199, 4 R, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 1 SB

Goat: Pudge Rodriguez - .188/.438, 1 SB; Ian Snell was a close second.

St. Louis Cardinals over Atlanta Braves: 6-4-2

The Cards remain in first after a tight game with the last place Braves. The Braves had solid pitching ratio stats, but only had 5 starts and 4.1 RP innings pitched, you aren’t going to win the accumulation categories like that. But overall it was the Cards slugging that put them ahead. They went 4-1-1 on the batting side of the score losing in SB and tying in runs.

MVP: Placido Polanco with a surprise power burst - .444/1.259, 6 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI

Goat: Braves GM, switching out injured players and putting probable starters in the lineup could have won them this game.

Cincinnati Reds over Chicago Cubs: 7-5-0

The Reds continue to pitch strongly and squeak by with their bats well enough to take over second place from the Cubs in the NL East. This division is becoming a truly tight three-team race and I am sure the Cubs are mad to see this one get away, but when a team puts up a sub 2 ERA and a sub 1 WHIP for the week, it’s hard to do anything about it.

MVP: Greg Smith and Roy Halladay - 30 IP, 5 ER, 20 W+H, 28 K, 1 W

Goat: No one stands out as pitifully bad and Aaron Cook had 2 wins this week, not bad.

Colorado Rockies over Los Angeles Dodgers: 7-5-0

This was yet another close matchup in this battle for second place in the NL West. 4 wins on the batting side and 3 more on the pitching side gave the Rockies the win. This close one is different than our other close games this week in that it was closer to a blowout than a tie. 1 HR and 0.02 better WHIP and the Rockies take this one 8-3-1. The Dodgers had no categories that they lost even come close.

MVP: Lance Berkman - .333/1.074, 7 R, 2 HR, 8 RBI

Goat: Johnny Peralta and Jermaine Dye – combined to go 2 for 37 though they did have 1 HR and 1 SB together.

Houston Astros over Arizona Diamondbacks: 8-3-1

The Astros had a Dave Kingman/Joe Carter type week. They only batted .231/.696, but they drove in 44 runs, hit 9 HR and scored 30 Runs. When a team can combine that with a 4 W, 4 Sv, 5 Hld, 40+ K week, it’s liable to be a good one unless you run into an equally hot team. The now 0-5 Diamondbacks do not qualify. Houston remains undefeated and 2 games out in front of the rest of the division while Arizona remains in the cellar two games behind everyone else.

MVP: Hunter Pence doing his best Dave Kingman - .261/.913, 4 R, 3 HR, 8 RBI

Goat: D’backs pitching staff with three no shows for the week and James Shields who wishes he hadn’t pitched.

Quick Week 6 Preview:

Interdivisional matchups start this week. I thought we had one more week of playing within our divisions, but it looks like we all get to venture outward now and see how the rest of the league stacks up.

White Sox (4-1-0) at Red Sox (3-2-0)
A battle is played here for playoff positioning, even though it is still early. The White Sox need the win to stay on top of the competition as the Mariners and Twins breathe down their necks. Meanwhile the Red Sox have a stranglehold on second in their division, but aren’t satisfied with looking up at Cleveland.

Royals (0-5-0) at Tigers (1-4-0)
The Royals look to win their first while the Tigers try and put back-to-back wins together. With a little luck this could be the beginnings of a run up the standings for either of these teams.

Twins (3-2-0) at Indians (5-0-0)
The Twins have a hard row to hoe this week catching the undefeated Indians with many of their stellar SP set for 2 start weeks. They have to play hard and get in there and scrap though, their division and the wild card standings in the AL are unforgiving right now.

Mariners (3-2-0) at Blue Jays (1-4-0)
The Mariners are grinning widely after last week’s blowout of the Royals and look forward to stomping the lowly Blue Jays while their division rivals have to play the top two teams from the East. The Mariners are envisioning themselves in first place at the end of the week, now they just need to execute the plan.

Dodgers (2-3-0) at Cardinals (4-1-0)
The third place Dodgers catch the first place Cardinals in their first game outside of the division. It could be a close matchup though. The Dodgers need to stay in contention and not let the playoff teams in the NL try to run off and hide with their leads.

Diamondbacks (0-5-0) and Reds (3-2-0)
The Reds are licking their chops at the chance to take on the 0-5 D’Backs, they only regret that the division leading Cardinals also picked up and apparently easy matchup as well. Look for the NL East race to stay tight this week.

Rockies (3-2-0) at Braves (0-4-1)
The Rockies look to show that they may very well be the second best team in the NL despite their record. Their only losses are to the undefeated division rival Astros and both of those were nailbiters. They run into the hapless Braves and unless this is the week that their GM starts paying attention I see no obstacles for the Rockies.

Astros (5-0-0) at Cubs (2-2-1)
The Cubs were looking for a nice, easy game to spring them back into the top two spots in their division after a heartbreaking loss to the Reds last week. Instead they run into the undefeated Astros with Burnett, Bannister and Oswalt all poised for 2 start weeks. Good Luck Cubbies, you are gonna need it.

On that note, good luck to everyone this week.

Questions and Comments are always welcomed.

Troubles for Braves Early

By Staff Writer Matt Sanders
The Atlanta Braves, who entered 2008 as a World Series contender, are staring a 0-3-1 record in the face. General Maneger Tyler Boxburger, who stockpiled draft picks in the inagural 2008 Minor League Draft and made several off-season moves has been relativly quiet since the season started, evident in his unavilibility for comment.
The Braves, who have several All-Stars in their line-up such as Mark Teixara, Miguel Cabrera, Torii Hunter, and Vladimeir Guerrero, are sitting in the bottem half of the league in every single offensive catagory.
DH Gary Sheffield has missed some of the season, OF Andruw Jones isn't helping much either, and only two of the nine superstars in Atlanta's line-up are hitting above .300.
Atlanta's pitching isn't producing either. Similar to the line-up, the pitching staff is full of great players 1-5. Tim Hudson, Chuck James, Joe Blanton, Rich Harden, and young sensations Johnny Cuento and Chad Billingsly fill out the rotation, but again, the pitching isn't getting it done. Bobby Jenks and B.J. Ryan look like a dominate bullpen on paper, but they only have nine saves total.
The point is, Atlanta is in trouble. After several pre-season gloats, Boxburger has disapeared, and his team is taking a direct impact. The Minor League system, possibly the best in baseball, isn't going to bail the Braves out now.