It was the late games that brought the noise for Michael Beller last night, who made a late surge with a Melvin Upton walk off homer, to jump past Tom Kessenich and take the Week 3 Period Tout Daily by RTSports.com game.
Both Beller and Kessenich had rostered Jake Arrieta, whose late win in San Francisco supported the top four finishers last night. But only one of those teams had Melvin Upton, taken by two percent of RTSports.com teams last night, whose final swing in the game’s final game was good for seven points and a slim victory on the night.
Upton didn’t do it alone for Beller. Big nights from Kris Bryant and Marcell Ozuna, both on two percent of squads, and Francisco Lindor, on 11 percent, carried him up the standings before the final blow.
Beller won despite rostering Matt Andriese, who won his game versus Detroit last night, but was the only starter on a Top 10 team not to score double-digit points.
Late in the evening Kessenich had to be feeling good. He had a three point lead on the second place team and both had Jake Arrieta, up 9-1 in the eighth inning, on his team. Alas.
The strength of TK’s team was Steven Matz, whose $7,300 price tag reflected concerns about his arm, which he promptly dispelled, pleasing the 39 percent of owners who’d taken a chance on him.
Kessenich’s team was rounded out by popular picks Chris Herrmann (ultra cheap at $1,900) and Aledmys Diaz (who leads the major leagues in OPS this year), and the rarer selection, Carlos Santana.
Top 10 pitchers for the week were Matt Andriese (improbably), Jake Arrieta, Steven Matz, Aaron Nola (picked by 51 percent of teams), Aaron Sanchez (why was he only $6,100?), Tanner Roark (another cheapie), and Gerrit Cole (who scored 10 points despite striking out zero hitters on the night).
All the action jumbled the Period 2 standings heading into the final week.
Patrick Davitt and Adam Ronis are tied for first, with Steve Gardner just five points behind. Other teams in the hunt are Michael Beller, Ron Shandler and Mike Gianella, with a bunch of teams right behind them. You can see the whole leaderboard right here.
The top three finishers after next week’s game will receive golden tickets to the finals, to be played August 26th to crown this year’s Tout Daily champion.
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