RBRL Playoff Match-ups are Set in Wild Final Week

The AL Angels (12-4) and NL Phillies (14-3) took home the favored playoff seeds in a very busy final week of the regular season.

The Angels solidified their hold of first place after a middling run of late, by shutting out their last two opponents (five shutouts on the season) including the Phils in the match-up of the year. In the Phils win the pitching and catching of Dan Sletterink and Joe Bradley was formidable with Adam Joos and Graham Boudette equally effective off of the hill.

Save for the White Sox the entire AL ended up hot.

The A’s shut out the Phils in an instant classic which was arguably the best game in the league all season. Matt Coughlin outdueled Dan Baker over seven innings in the 2-0 win.  Highlights included a two run single by Nick DiNapoli and two A’s double plays getting out of jams. The first with the bases loaded was a rare 6-2-3 twin killing with Matt Weber on the front end.

The Royals took two games on the week and was one out from a third one in the season finale. Matt Starble took Player of the Week honors with two pitching wins and veterans Ryan Fargo, Ryan Menzie and Spencer Hilliard all had solid weeks. 

The Mariners the hottest team in the league having won four games over 7 days and have a daunting pitching lineup on a team that has fun whether they win or lose , but clearly are having more fun these days!

In the NL the Astros and Padres are on the upswing, the Phils lost two games after clinching the #1 position, and the young Marlins and Pirates are searching for consistency.

The Astros (DiLoreto, White, Gibbs, Sannella) and Padres (Anderson, Walsh, Talbot, Thabet) like to use all arms in small stints each game, and in this copycat league others are taking note. The Phils have been getting big pitching all year from Rainone, Ucci, O’Sullivan  and Baker now add Justin McKiel to the list. His four inning debut versus the Angels yielded just two Angel runs while his knuckler befuddled the Angels striking out four.

Playoff Matchups (up to date results at press time)

Marlins 8  Pirates 7 (play-in game)

Astros 5  Padres 1 (Astros advance to League Final)

Phillies 3  Marlins 2  (Phils advance to League Final)

Royals 7   Athletics 4 (play-in game)

Mariners 5 White Sox 0  (Mariners advance to League Final)

Angels 10  Royals 5  (Angels advance to League Finals)

Olde Redding Butcher Shoppe Player of the Week    Matt Starble (Royals)

Matt finished off the final week of his RBRL regular season career with two pitching wins while going 6 for 11 at the plate with 5 rbi's including the winning hit in the Padres win. It hasnt been lost on Royals observers that Matt picking up his game has coincided with the teams strong finish.

Honorable Mention:   Matt Coughlin (Athletics)    Harrison Fiscus (Padres)

Dynamik Sports Rookie of the Week   Ben Cavazzoni  (Padres)

Ben Cavazzoni had a spectacular week at the plate batting 7 for 9 with 6 RBI’s and played strong defense at third base over the last three games.   On Tuesday against the White Sox Ben went 2  for 3 and  against the Astros Ben was 3 for 3.  In a final game of the week, Ben still had a hot bat going 2 for 3 against the Marlins.  Over this period he also drove in 6 runs leading the team for the week in RBI’s.  Ben also  demonstrated his versatility pitching four scoreless innings

Honorable Mention:   Matt McLaughlin (Pirates)   Enzo Galletta (Angels)