The second place Braves regained first place with a 5-1 win over the third place Pirates in Week 15 of the Deep River Horseshoe League. The Mets failed to keep pace with the Braves in their 4-2 win over the Rangers, and the Angels came within a point of sweeping the shorthanded Marlins. The Orioles put a damper on the Tigers’ playoff hopes, while the Cardinals moved into the last playoff spot with a 5-1 win over the Rockies. The White Sox swept the Red Sox.

In Week 14, both the Braves and the Pirates had trouble scoring. This week, Braves’ Warren Bellows and Matt Valentin were still struggling with their game, but it was Mike Zanelli Jr. who picked up the team scoring. He ended the night as the top "A" division scorer with his 147 points, 43 ringers, and nine doubles. The Pirates’ scoring woes continued, as the team only scored 226 points, their lowest of the season. Skip Robinson and Anthony Malerba both had their lowest series of the season.

Despite the team struggles, Pirates’ Harvey Strausser's 94 point series was the third leading "C" score. After winning game one by one point, the Braves won the next four games by an average of 16 points, and the Pirates were able to win the last game. The Braves’ 5-1 win put them back in first place by 1/2 game, while the Pirates slipped to sixth.

In a match that pitted the the teams in seventh and eighth place against each other, it was expected that one could be moving up in the standings, and one would wait until next week to make a playoff run. In games one and four, it was Yankees’ Deb Scully and Diamondbacks’ Brian Walsh who decided the games, since Yankees’ Todd Nuhn and Diamondbacks’ Chip Goodrich had tied scores. They each won one game.

Yankees’ Damin Roberts’ 32 points led to a Yankees win in game two, and Diamondbacks’ Gary Stevens (Chester) bested Roberts in game three for the win. The teams split the match. The Diamondbacks remained in seventh place, while the Yankees slipped to ninth, 1/2 game behind the eighth place Cardinals.

The Orioles took a shellacking from the White Sox last week, but they continue to display a carefree not-to-worry attitude about the playoffs. However, it is a different story for Sheryl Serviss's Tigers, who will need to scratch and claw to make a playoff spot.

Orioles’ Ed Turner picked Week 15 to have his season best series of 124 points, 31 ringers, and three doubles, and his best game of 40 points and 11 ringers. He was the top "B" scorer. The Tigers were unable to answer and were plagued by open boxes (- 58 for the match). The Orioles won 5-1, and they stayed in fourth place. The Tigers slipped from ninth to 11th.

For the third time in five weeks, the Marlins were forced to use a blind score for Howie Fisher. Angels’ Tony Cutone and Ted Dubay were ready to take advantage of the situation. They won three of four games by an average of 21 points. The Marlins gave it their best in game three, but it ended in a tie, thanks to the Angels’ handicap points. Cutone’s 128 point series was a season best, and Dubay’s 111 point series was the second leading "B" score. With the 5.5-0.5 win, the Angels are now in third place.

For the second week in a row, Frank Rausch substituted for Mets’ Bob Cifaldi, and Leif Selander subbed for Bob Beckwith, as they took on Joe Heery's Rangers. Mets’ Keith Toohey's season best 31 points in game one set the tone, as the Mets went on to a 24 point win. Heery and Rausch had a close head-to-head match, with Rausch edging Heery 129-126. Rausch's 129 point series was the third highest for "A" players. The Mets won 4-2 but fell out of first into second place by 1/2 game behind the Braves.

Kris Toohey's Cardinals and Mike Didomizio's Rockies had trouble scoring last week. It was the Cardinals who were able to make a correction in Week 15, scoring at their season average of 268 points. They also got some help from the Rockies, who ended up with the lowest team score of the season. The Rockies gave it their best, despite some nagging injuries to Mike and Paul Stevens. Toohey's 132 point series was the second leading score for the "A" players, and Kris Casey had a season best series of 103 points, 24 ringers, and two doubles. The Cardinals won 5-1 and moved into eighth place - the last playoff spot.

The Dodgers played the Cubs, but the match centered around Dennis Allen of the Dodgers. He started with a 30 point game and went on to have three more games in the 30s on his way to a season high series of 126 points, 31 ringers, and eight doubles. With this score, he is now the league leader in all the statistical categories for "C" division. In the first four games, the Dodgers won three, and their lone loss came when they failed to take advantage of the nine points of handicap. Cubs’ Jeremy Davis was key to his team’s two wins. His 106 point series was the third highest for "C" players.

The White Sox swept the Red Sox and have the potential to make a playoff spot, if they can keep up their scoring pace. Peter Furmonavicius had a season best 36 point game and was disappointed he didn't reach 40. He already reached one of his goals last week by topping the century mark. He topped it again in Week 15 with a 108 point series and was the second leading "C" scorer. Furmonavicius is in the top three of all the league leading statistics for "C" division.

Here are the standings for the teams that are currently playoff eligible:

1. Braves (56.0-34.0)

2. Mets (55.5-34.5)

3. Angels (52.0-38.0)

4. Orioles (51.5-38.5)

5. Dodgers (50.5-39.5)

6. Pirates (48.5-41.5)

7. Diamondbacks (48.0-42.0)

8. Cardinals (48.0-42.0)