by Todd Lammi
Torii Hunter hit three solo home runs, giving him four home runs in his last two games, in a 9-1 win over the San Diego Padres. Kendry Morales added his 10th home run of the season for the Los Angeles Angels. Joe Saunders allowed one run in 8 1/3 innings with five strikeouts to up his record to 7-4. The win was the first for Saunders in his last four starts. The Angels made a couple of roster moves, sending Howie Kendrick to Triple-A and recalling second basemen Sean Rodriguez. Kevin Kouzmanoff was the lone offense for the Padres as he collected his seventh home run of the season. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Saturday…
Hitters:
Albert Pujols went 3-for-4 and blasted two more home runs, giving him four home runs in his last three days.
Gary Sheffield went 2-for-5 and homered for the second consecutive day, giving him seven on the season. What fantasy baseball owner would have thought that Gary Sheffield would have more home runs than teammate David Wright at this point in the season?
Armando Rios went 4-for-4 with two RBI and delivered his 8th home run of the season. The home run was Rios’ second in the month of June, who also added his 10th stolen base of the season.
Cody Ross went 3-for-4 and homered for the second consecutive day. Ross now has 10 home runs on the season with 39 RBI.
Jeremy Hermida homered for the third time in five games and drove in two runs. Hermida has five consecutive multi-hit games and six RBI during that time.
Ryan Zimmerman picked up his 12th home run of the season, homering for this first time in his last 19 games. Zimmerman has seen his batting average fall 34 points since his 11th home run back on May 22nd.
Brian Roberts went 4-for-5 with two RBI and collected a double in his fifth straight game. Roberts is currently on pace for a 16 home run, 65 RBI, 31 steal season.
Adam Jones homered for the first time since May 26th and drove in three runs. Jones is now batting .324 on the season with 41 RBI.
Jose Lopez went 3-for-4 and homered for the fourth time this week, giving him nine home runs on the season.
Pitchers:
Rich Harden returned from the disabled list after missing three weeks with a mid-back strain, allowing two runs in six innings with nine strikeouts.
Anthony Swarzak tossed seven shutout innings and struck out six to even his mark at 2-2. After the game Swarzak was sent back to Triple-A so the Minnesota Twins could recall a position player.
Jose Contreras hurled eight innings of shutout ball, allowing two hits while striking out eight. It was the second straight scoreless start for Contreras since he returned from Triple-A on June 8th.
Zach Duke picked up his seventh win of the season, allowing three runs in eight innings with three strikeouts. Duke has been a work horse this year, as he currently sits second in the National League in innings pitched.
Pitching on two extra days rest due to a sore wrist, Roy Oswalt notched his third win of the season, allowing one run in seven innings with five strikeouts.
Randy Johnson allowed two runs in seven innings with three strikeouts to earn his sixth win of the season. Johnson has a 2.15 ERA in his last five starts.
Joe Saunders allowed one run in 8 1/3 innings with five strikeouts to up his record to 7-4. The win was the first for Saunders in his last four starts.
