by Todd Lammi
Eleven was the magic number for the Texas Rangers on Saturday, as they defeated the Houston Astros 6-3. The Rangers banged out 11 hits, including two home runs from Nelson Cruz, giving him 11 on the season. Cruz drove in four runs and now has 30 RBI on the year. Hank Blalock went 3 for 4 and added his 11th home run of the season. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Saturday…
Hitters:
Joe Mauer went 3 for 3 with three runs scored and two RBI including his 9th home run of the year. Mauer is now hitting .429 on the season and has driven in 12 runs in his last six games.
Joey Votto went 2 for 4 with 4 RBI and swatted two home runs. Votto is now batting .371 with 31 RBI on the season.
Recent Philadelphia Phillies call up John Mayberry Jr. went 2 for 3 with 3 RBI and his first major league home run. He should see some time in the outfield or designated hitter during interleague games.
Under the category “why do teams keep pitching to him”, Raul Ibanez slugged his 17th home run of the season, giving him a home run in four consecutvie games.
Recently promoted Jonny Gomes got the start in left field for the Cincinnati Reds and went 1 for 4 with a stolen base. Gomes should see starts against left-handed pitching as long as he is in the majors.
Adam Kennedy went 3 for 4 and hit his second home run of the season. Kennedy has been on a roll at the plate with three 3-hit games in his last eight games. Kennedy has raiased his batting average by almost 120 points in the last 10 days, to his current mark of .400
Jason Bartlett went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI and stole his 13th base of the season. His current pace of a 22 home runs, 108 RBI, 48 steal season would put him in the company of Hanley Ramirez / Jimmy Rollins (back when he had power) in the first round of fantasy baseball drafts next year.
Pitchers:
The New York Mets defeated the Boston Red Sox 3-2 on a two-run home run from Omir Santos in the ninth inning. Mike Pelfrey allowed two runs in seven innings for the Mets with six strikeouts. Josh Beckett hurled eight scoreless innings for the Red Sox while fanning five.
Kyle Lohse tossed eight innings of shut out ball and struck out six to improve to 4-3 on the season. The win for Lohse ended his personal three game losing streak.
Derek Lowe allowed two runs in 7 1/3 innings to move to 6-2 on the year. Lowe has allowed two runs in three consecutive starts.
Matt Cain picked up a complete game victory, moving to 5-1 on the season. Cain allowed one run against the Seattle Mariners and struck out seven to lower his ERA to 2.40.
Clayton Richard, mentioned earlier in the week as a possible player in the Jake Peavy trade, tossed six shutout innings with eight strikeouts versus the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Ross Detwiler allowed one run in six innings and struck out four in a no decision.
In his first start of the season, J.A. Happ allowed two runs in six innings with four strikeouts in a no decision. Happ is a good fantasy baseball play in National League only formats.
Rookie Anthony Swarzak of the Minnesota Twins pitched seven shutout innings with three strikeouts to earn his first major league win.
Josh Geer allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts to pick up his first win of the year for the San Diego Padres.
Rookie Sean West called up from AA by the Florida Marlins allowed two runs in five innings with five strikeouts in a no decision.
Casey Janssen returned to the Toronto Blue Jays rotation, making his first start since 2006, allowed three runs in six innings but did not register a strikeout.
Closers:
Brad Lidge blew his third save of the year, allowing three runs in 1/3 of an inning.
J.J. Putz picked up his second save of the season for the Mets in place of an ailing Francisco Rodriguez. K-Rod is out of action due to back spasms and could be faced with a stint on the disabled list.
