by Todd Lammi
Andre Ethier was locked in at the plat on Friday night, going 3-for-4 with three home runs and six RBI. It was the first three home run game of Ethier’s career as he powered the Los Angeles Dodgers to an 8-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners. In other news around fantasy baseball on Friday…
Hitters:
Hanley Ramirez is working hard this week to reward fantasy baseball owners that drafted him high in the first round. Ramirez homered for the second straight day on Friday, giving him four home runs in his last five games. He has now driven in 15 runs in his last five games with two stolen bases.
The Baltimore Orioles banged out 16 hits and scored 11 runs without hitting any home runs Friday. Melvin Mora drove in four runs and Aubrey Huff knocked in three runs while Adam Jones, Nick Markakis and Nolan Reimold all had three hits apiece.
Jake Fox homered for the second straight game, giving him in nine RBI in his last five games. With Aramis Ramirez expected back sometime after the all-star break, Fox should have two to three more weeks ov value in National League only fantasy baseball leagues.
Victor Martinez homered for the second consecutive game, giving him four home runs and 11 RBI in his last 10 games. Martinez now has 14 home runs and 56 RBI on the season.
Garrett Atkins is showing signs of life, getting additional at bats as the designated hitter in interleague play. Atkins has collected three hits in each of the last two games with a total of four RBI. He has lifted his batting average 37 points in the last 10 games. Unfortunately for fantasy baseball owners, he most likely heads back to the bench once the Colorado Rockies return to National League play. The best case scenario is the extra bats have given Atkins a little bit of trade value to the Rockies are able to move him at the deadline to a team that will give him more playing time.
B.J. Upton went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBI. Upton stole his 27th base of the season, and is now up to .245 on the year. In his last 10 games, he has two home runs, 12 RBI and three stolen bases.
Brett Gardner went 5-for-6 with three runs score and stole his 17th base of the season. Gardner has stolen six bases in his last 10 games and is now hitting .303 on the season.
Pitchers:
Brad Bergeson allowed one run in six innings and struck out five to improve to 5-2 on the season. Bergeson has not lost since April 19th and has lowered his ERA over 1.5 runs during that stretch.
Randy Wells allowed two runs in seven innings with six strikeouts to win his second consecutive start. Wells has a 2.57 ERA and 1.09 whip ratio through nine starts.
Virgil Vazquez won his first start, replacing demoted Ian Snell, allowing two runs in six innings with seven strikeouts. Vazquez was 5-2 with a 4.18 ERA in Triple-A with 53 strikeouts in 79 2/3 innings before being recalled from the minor leagues.
Ricky Romero hurled seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts to win his second straight start. Romero has a 2.36 ERA in his last five starts with 33 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings.
CC Sabathia allowed one run in seven innings with eight strikeouts to notch his seventh win of the season. Sabathia currently ranks fourth in the American League in whip ratio at 1.09.
Josh Beckett worked seven shutout innings with six strikeouts to up his record to 9-3 on the season. Beckett has allowed zero earned runs in four of his past five starts
Yovani Gallardo allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts to improve his record to 8-4. Gallardo has allowed two runs or less in six of his last seven starts (he allowed three runs in the other start) and currently sits fifth in the National League in ERA at 2.86 and fourth in strikeouts with 102.
Jason Hammel allowed two runs in 7 1/3 innings with five strikeouts to up his mark to 5-3 on the season. Hammel has quietly become an effective starter for the Rockies, allowing two runs or less in four of his last five starts. He is 5-0 in his last seven starts, with his last loss coming on May 19th.
Clayton Kershaw allowed two runs in six innings with eight strikeouts to even his record at 5-5 for the year. Kershaw has a 0.97 ERA in his last three starts with 21 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings.
Closers:
Huston Street worked a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his 17th save of the season. It has been quite a comeback for Street this year, as he is only three saves back of the lead in the National League, despite losing his job to Manny Corpas earlier in the season.
LaTroy Hawkins picked up his 10th save of the season in place of Jose Valverde who was given the night off. It was the fourth day in a row that Hawkins pitched.
