by Todd Lammi
Mark DeRosa was traded from the Cleveland Indians to the St. Louis Cardinals for Chris Perez and a player to be named later. DeRosa should retain his same value as Cardinals manager Tony La Russa will have him play multiple positions. Perez should not see any save chances with Kerry Wood signed through 2010 plus a vesting option for 2011.
Jonathan Sanchez has been sent to the bullpen by the San Francisco Giants in a move that was long overdue. Ryan Sadowski will get the start on Sunday but it not really a good bet for long term success. There is a very good chance the Giants will turn to one of their top minor league prospects once the second half of the season starts.
Hitters:
Jason Werth went 4-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI to power the Philadelphia Phillies to a 10-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. Werth has hit five home runs with 10 RBI in his last 10 games.
Albert Pujols hit two two-run home runs off Kevin Slowey to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-3 win over the Minnesota Twins. Pujols now has 28 home runs with 74 RBI on the season.
Pablo Sandoval went 3-for-5 with two solo home runs, raising his batting average to .340 on the season. Sandoval has been on fire in June, batting close to .400 with eight home runs and 18 RBI.
Scott Podsednik went 4-for-5 with three RBI including his third home run of the season. Podsednik is now hitting .319 on the season with to home runs, seven RBI and three steals in his last 10 games.
Casey McGehee homered for the third time in his last six games and is now batting .340 on the season. If your fantasy baseball league has 10 game eligibility for position qualification, McGehee is now eligible at second base and third base.
Prince Fielder went 2-for-5 with four RBI and connected for his 19th home run for the season. Fielder is now second in the National League with 73 RBI, one behind Pujols. Fielder has hit three home runs and plated 11 runners in his last 10 games.
Aubrey Huff went 2-for-3 with his 10th home run for the season. Huff now has 51 RBI on the season and has driven in 11 runs in his last 10 games.
Pitchers:
J.A. Happ tossed a complete game shutout while striking out four to up his record to a perfect 5-0 on the season. It was only the second start this season where Happ did not walk a batter.
Tim Wakefield worked six scoreless innings with a lone strikeout to notch his 10th win of the season. Wakefield is 4-0 in his last five starts with one no decision.
Javier Vazquez allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings with eight strikeouts in a tough-luck loss against Wakefield. It is nothing new for Vazquez to receive no run support, as he has allowed two rouns or less in five of his last six starts and only has one win to show for it.
Felipe Paulino, back from the disabled list and making his first start in three weeks, twirled a gem of a game, allowing one run in seven innings with nine strikeouts. Paulino allowed only three hits and did not walk a batter, making it through seven innings on 96 pitches.
Scott Kazmir returned from the disabled list exhibiting much better control than the majority of his pre-inury starts. Kazmir making his first starts in more than five weeks, allowed one run in five innings with five strikeouts. More importantly for fantasy baseball owners, he walked only one batter in the outing.
A.J. Burnett allowed one hit in seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts to earn his six win of the season. Burnett has allowed one run in his last three starts covering a total of 20 1/3 innings.
Kevin Correia has been a new man since June 1st, and he was back on the mound again on Saturday with the same reuslt. Correia allowed three runs in seven innings with nine strikeouts to win his fourth game in his last five starts. Correia has a 2.41 ERA in those five starts with 29 strikeouts in 33 2/3 innings.
