Winning with power

I'm in the midst of a tough battle against the No. 1-ranked squad in my baseball league, and I'm just trying not to get struck by USSR Lightning.

My all-time classic comeback victory on Sunday left me with the reward of facing Lightning, a team which employs devastating home run hitters (Giambi, Dye, Thome, Uggla) with lights-out starting pitchers (Lincecum, Hamels, Lee).

The score is 6-4 in my favor, with WHIP, ERA, Saves, OPS, HRs and RBIs in my favor. He leads in Runs, SBs, Ws, and Ks. I didn't start Aaron Harang last night simply for the fact that my relievers have allowed only two hits in 7 1/3 innings of work this week. Since I employ only three starters and am not willing to sacrifice my relievers for any other scrub starters, it doesn't make sense to try to compete with Lightning in Ks and Ws. He has seven starters, including a couple who start twice this week, so I feel like I'd be a dog chasing its tail by trying to compete in those areas. I'll take the chance that my relievers won't blow up often enough to let Lightning gain an advantage in either pitching average.

I have the lead in three of five pitching categories, leaving my offense to take control of the scoreboard. I'm dependent on my team winning in at least two of HRs, RBIs and OPS, but likely all three considering Lightning has Runs won and holds a one steal advantage in SBs. My team is built around RBIs and OPS (Ryan Howard, Mark Teixeira, David Wright), so if I'm going to win, it's going to be my offense that carries me; hence, Sunday afternoon, when my guys belted eight homers and 12 RBIs. I'm willing to live-and-die with my power hitters.