In the top 5, Johnny threw a wrench into everyone's plans with a HUGE 7-1 victory over Mark. John is now just 5 games out of the by week! Chirokas, who had a 6.5 game separation from Dan in third place, now holds a mere three game lead after Dan defeated Pflanz 5-4. Don't sleep on Dan, he hasn't lost in 8 weeks! If you remember, he was everyone's favorite going into this year, and he has quietly become the hottest team in the league right now, with just 4 weeks until the big dance. Keeves got a huge 8-1 win over Andy to keep the pace, but he remains 8 games out of the bye. Russ' 7-3 win over Brad puts him 13 games ahead of #2 in first place (yawn).
As for the race to 6th place, Greg just keeps on winning, with an 8-1 victory over Richie to put him into the 6 spot by 4.5 games. Greg is now 25-12 in the last 4 weeks, and is now wishing he hadn't sold off so much talent at the deadline, amazing that his team has been so good despite the recent moves.
Perka took a bad 8-2 loss to Bryan, this knocked him all the way back to 8th, and is just 2.5 up on Bryan in 9th. Don't look now, but Bart has strung together two big wins, and is just 7.5 games out of a playoff spot, could we be witnessing the first rookie to make the playoffs in league history?
Now let's look ahead to this week's games:
Perka faces an uphill battle, as he's 5 games out of the playoffs and has the toughest schedule to finish the season. This week he'll play Russ (1st place), next week he plays Mark (2nd place), and after a lighter matchup in week 21 against Andy, he finishes the season against Dan (3rd place), Even if Miggy wins a second triple crown, Eddie could be changing gears to football season a little earlier than the rest of us.
In one of the best matchups all week, Keeves will take on Dan in a battle for the bye week. As I mentioned, Keeves is a long shot for the bye, but 4 weeks is a long time, and the bloopers have won 4 weeks in a row against opponents not named Russ or Mark. Dan's chances are more realistic, as just 3 games separate him from grabbing his second bye week in three years.
Brad is trying desperately to stop this free fall, as he has lost 4 weeks in a row (a record of 10-28), and 6 of his last 8. He's only 4.5 back, but it's not going to get easier for him as he takes on Mark this week with his playoff hopes dwindling. Mark on the other hand, has to come out and make a statement after getting his ass handed to him by Johnny last week. John, Dan, and Keeves all smell blood in the water, Mark has to reassert himself at the #2 spot.
I am loving the Cinderella story that is Greg Thompson right now. 3 wins in a row, and now playing Bart, the #9 team in the league, while his closest 2 competitors are playing the top 2! It's all laid out for him! A self-proclaimed "seller" who is now the frontrunner for the last playoff spot! And don't forget I called him out earlier this season for being the only veteran manager to have never made it to round 2 of the playoffs! If you're not on the bandwagon I'll move over for you! Let's go Greg!...Oh what's that? He's playing me next week? then Mark?...oh...
John will play Andy, who has not fared well against the upper echelon teams lately. Throw in the fact that John is 25-12 in his last four, and Mark and Dan had better watch out, Johnny is making a bee line for his fourth straight bye week spot. Fourth straight! Pretty damn good track record.
In the most boring game on the slate this week, Pflanz and Richie will slap fight. Pflanz has a chance to make up some ground, but unless we see a shutout, nothing good to report on here.
Four weeks to go! Every at-bat counts!
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