by Todd Lammi
Chase Utley delivered two solo home runs, including the game winning home run in the 11th inning to give the Philadelphia Phillies a 5-4 win over the New York Mets. Utley now has 15 home runs on the season with 41 RBI. Ryan Madson picked up his third save of the season, in place of the injured Brad Lidge. David Wright went 3-for-5 for the Mets with two stolen bases. Wright is now batting .354 with 16 stolen bases on the season. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Wendesday…
Hitters:
Mark Teixeira went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and delivered his 19th home run of the season. Teixeira is up to .296 on the season with 52 RBI, including 12 in his last 10 games.
Jose Lopez belted two home runs and collected three RBI, to give him 35 runs batted in on the season. Lopez has homered three times in his last four games, giving him eight home runs on the year.
Colby Rasmus went 2-for-5 with three RBI and slugged his 7th home run of the season. Rasmus has a nine game hitting streak that has raised his batting average 40 points during that time. Teammate Rick Ankiel went 3- for-5 with three runs scored and his fourth home run of the year. Ankiel has now driven in six runs in his last six games.
Alberto Callaspo went 4-for-4 and drove in four runs on a grand slam, giving him three home runs on the year. The home run ended an RBI drought for Callaspo going back to May 16th.
Willy Aybar went 2-for-3 with three RBI, including his fifth home run of the season. Aybar has homered twice with six RBI over his last three starts.
Bengie Molina went 2-for-5 with three RBI and hit his ninth home run of the season. It might be tough for Molina to get his batting average above .260 the rest of the season unless he turns his strikeout rate around. Molina’s strikeout total is currently on pace to double from 2008.
Catcher Chris Ianetta returned from the disabled list and went 0-for-2 for the Colorado Rockies. He should be safe to activate for your fantasy baseball lineup next week.
Pitchers:
Justin Verlander earned his seventh win of the season, tossing a complete game with one run allowed while striking out seven. Verlander, who has not lost a start in almost two months, currently leads the major leagues with 106 strikeouts.
Gil Meche hurled seven scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts to pick up his third win of the year. For Meche, it was his first victory in his last seven starts. He has now allowed three runs in his last 20 innings of work.
Felix Hernandez allowed one run in seven innings with five strikeouts to up his record to 6-3 on the season. Hernandez has allowed three runs in his last 28 2/3 innings.
Carlos Zambrano allowed one run in eight innings with three strikeouts in a no decision. Zambrano has allowed two earned runs in his last 21 innings. His counterpart Wandy Rodriguez allowed one run in seven innings with six strikeouts.
Aaron Harang pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings with two strikeouts in a no decision. The outing marked a second consecutive good start for Harang, as he had previously allowed 14 runs in his previous 17 1/3 innings.
Jair Jurrjens allowed two runs in six innings with seven strikeouts, but suffered his fourth loss of the season. It is the second loss already for the month of June for Jurrjens. who was a perfect 3-0 in May.
Recently traded Charlie Morton got the start against his old team the Atlanta Braves, making it through only one inning before being removed with tightness in his hamstring.
Closers:
Francisco Cordero blew his first save of the season, allowing two runs in the ninth inning against the Washington Nationals.
Chris Sampson is someone to keep an eye on in National League only fantasy baseball leagues. After picking up his third win Wednesday, Sampson is a perfect 3-0 with three saves and a 1.70 ERA. With the possiblity of Jose Valverde and or LaTroy Hawkins getting traded if the Houston Astros don’t improve their position in the standings, Sampson, could be in line for some saves the second half of the year.
