Offense dropped a bit in full week 18 of the season to 8.95 runs per game after a four-week run over 9.0 runs per game. Through the same number of weeks last year, scoring remains down, 8.91 runs per game this season versus 9.31 runs per game the previous year. All comparisons are through 18 weeks. Most of the difference is due to fewer home runs, 2.52 per game last season, 2.30 this year. The rest is due to a 0.2 per game drop in other hits. Walks are the same, and strikeouts are up 0.5 per game.