LAD 9, SF 2

I haven't seen much of this Giants team, so I could be talking through my hat here -- nothing new there -- but is it just me, or did SF seem kind of...confused at the Dodgers' temerity? Like, "Oh, you're going ahead with a hitting attack, huh"? 

Probably just me. These teams see each other more than I see family members during the season; this lineup and its experience can't be a surprise. 

Couple surprises in the points, though!

Bellinger 2
Betts 1
Seager 1
Smith 4
Ginger Elf 0
Imported Elf 2

Crawford 2
Posey 4
Belt Bryant Duggar Flores Longoria Yastrzemski LLP 0

New, crowded look for the money this morning:

16 Shotwell 2 and Bingham 1
15 Richardson and Winklepleck
14 Fell 1

13 Yuhan 2
12 Bauer 2, Shotwell 1

Everyone else after the jump, plus storytime!

11* Arbour 1, Bauer 1, Wonsetler 2
10 Johnson 2, Cayenne 2, Grove, Crase

9 Cameron 2
8 Johnson 1, Yuhan 2, Cayenne 1, Arbour 2
7 Stempel, Quinn

6 SDB 2, Tormey, Wonsetler 1
5 Fell 2, Bingham 2, SDB 1, Cameron 1

0 Labor-Day Dinner Club (#iykyk)

* these slates are identical to one another

Arozarena and Crawford currently powering the top slates, along with a handful of solo picks; Lowe, JT, and some subdued ATL/SF infield bats working against the second division, and only one of those has a chance to redeem himself today with the NL off until Monday.

I may skip today's games or just listen to the radio broadcasts, which are less likely to make me dumber/furious; action starts at 4 ET on MLB Network, Rays at Sox. The primetime game, Astros at White Sox, starts at 8 on FS1, the Hose looking to stave off a sweep.

And now that Bellinger's on the board, here's the story I promised a couple days ago. The Grove slate -- Bellinger/Betts/Cruz -- is actually a holdover slate from 2020; Grove isn't playing this year, but every time I tried to clear that slate in the spreadsheet to reset the board last week, it kept fouling up the formulae downstream. I didn't have time to keep battling the thing, so I was like, "Well, one dude changed teams, but everyone's still eligible, so: fuggit," threw a sawbuck on it, and here we are. The slate still counts toward the payout totals, but it's also kind of a weather satellite. Cruz is always an interesting BPP pick, as he's reliably good for a handful of points but also tends to find himself on teams that get bounced in the first round. He's got a better shot this year, I'd say, but I guess we'll see...

So that's that story! Good luck with your slates' stories; see you this evening.