Posts Tagged ‘Zack Greinke’

2010 MLB Trade Tracker – Greinke to the Brewers

Posted by Todd Lammi on December 22nd, 2010

In this day and age when major league baseball teams tend to hoard minor league prospects, the Milwaukee Brewers have gone the opposite direction in their second straight trade, acquiring starting pitcher Zack Greinke and shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt from the Kansas City Royals for outfielder Lorenzo Cain, shortstop Alcides Escobar, pitcher Jeremy Jeffress and minor league pitcher Jake Odorizzi.

It is no surprise the Milwaukee Brewers are playing to win now with general manager Doug Melvin on the hot seat with his inability to find starting pitchers the last couple of seasons with failed signings of Jeff Suppan and Doug Davis to name a few in addition to Prince Fielder in the last year of his contract. Melvin has essentially pushed all of his chips in at the poker table and is banking on the Brewers making another World Series run like they did a couple of years ago when they traded for CC Sabathia at the deadline.

From a fantasy baseball perspective, Greinke gets a bump up in rankings moving to the National League which should improve his WHIP and ERA as well as increasing his strikeouts slightly. The other possible winner of the trade is Carlos Gomez getting a shot to win the center field job with Cain now out of the picture.  Gomez has shown nothing outside of stolen base ability in his few seasons in the major leagues which gives him some value in NL only leagues but little value in mixed fantasy baseball leagues.

From the Royals side, Cain is the big winner as he should settle into the role as the starting center field, although Royals manager Ned Yost was trying to talk up Melky Cabrera for some reason at the press conference. Escobar struggled in his rookie season at the plate but still should be able to hit for a decent average with a handful steals. The comparisons to Elvis Andrus are a little overblown at this point so don’t go crazy with his stat projections in his second season. Jeffress has little value unless the Royals decide to move Joakim Soria and give Jeffress a chance to close. Dynasty league owners in AL only leagues should keep an eye on Odorizzi who was the top Brewers minor league pitcher but it still two to three years away from the major leagues.

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2010 Kansas City Royals Team Preview

Posted by Todd Lammi on March 16th, 2010

This is the fifth part our series of 2010 fantasy baseball team previews looking at the American League Central. The team previews will include the projected batting order, projected rotation, rookies that could make an impact in 2010 as well as each players current ADP for a 15 team mixed fantasy baseball league.

2010 Kansas City Royals Projected Batting Order:

1.  LF Scott Podsednik (ADP 262)
2. 2B Alberto Callaspo (ADP 287)
3.  RF David DeJesus (ADP 306)
4.  1B Billy Butler (ADP 78)
5.  CF Rick Ankiel (ADP 459)
6.  DH Jose Guillen (ADP 401)
7.  3B Josh Fields / Alex Gordon (ADP ND / 199)
8.  C  Jason Kendall (ADP 389)
9.  SS Yuniesky Betancourt (ADP 482)

2010 Kansas City Royals Projected Rotation & Bullpen:

1.  Zack Greinke (ADP 30)
2.  Gil Meche (ADP 279)
3.  Brian Bannister (ADP 486)
4.  Luke Hochevar (ADP ND)
5.  Kyle Davies (ADP ND)

Closer – Joakim Soria (ADP 100)
Handcuff – Kyle Farnsworth / Juan Cruz

2010 Kansas City Royals Prospects with potential impact this year:

1.  Aaron Crow – SP


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Fantasy Baseball – May Pitcher Rankings

Posted by Todd Lammi on June 2nd, 2009

by Todd Lammi

Instead of using some complicated formula to review May statistics, here is a breakdown of the numbers for the month sorted by category, for pitchers.

# PLAYER TEAM IP
1 Roy Halladay TOR 46
1 Zack Greinke KAN 46
3 CC Sabathia NYY 45.2
4 Carl Pavano CLE 45
5 Jered Weaver LAA 43
5 Johnny Cueto CIN 43
7 Adam Wainwright STL 42.2
8 Jason Marquis COL 42.1
8 Mark Buehrle CHW 42.1
8 Jake Peavy SDG 42.1
8 Edwin Jackson DET 42.1
8 Zach Duke PIT 42.1
13 Cliff Lee CLE 42
14 Justin Verlander DET 41.1
15 Derek Lowe ATL 40.2
15 Ted Lilly CHC 40.2
15 Matt Garza TAM 40.2
15 Ubaldo Jimenez COL 40.2
19 Barry Zito SFO 40.1
19 Matt Cain SFO 40.1

# PLAYER TEAM SO
1 Justin Verlander DET 56
2 Jake Peavy SDG 52
3 Javier Vazquez ATL 44
3 Zack Greinke KAN 44
5 Johan Santana NYM 42
5 Chad Billingsley LAD 42
7 Jon Lester BOS 41
7 Tim Lincecum SFO 41
9 Aaron Harang CIN 40
10 J. Zimmermann WAS 39
11 CC Sabathia NYY 37
11 Jorge De La Rosa COL 37
11 Max Scherzer ARI 37
14 Roy Halladay TOR 36
14 Ted Lilly CHC 36
14 Edwin Jackson DET 36
14 Felix Hernandez SEA 36
17 Dan Haren ARI 35
17 Cole Hamels PHI 35
17 Wandy Rodriguez HOU 35
17 James Shields TAM 35

# PLAYER TEAM Wins
1 Carl Pavano CLE 5
1 Justin Verlander DET 5
1 Rick Porcello DET 5
1 Tim Wakefield BOS 5
5 Derek Lowe ATL 4
5 Roy Halladay TOR 4
5 Ted Lilly CHC 4
5 Johan Santana NYM 4
5 Jason Marquis COL 4
5 Bronson Arroyo CIN 4
5 CC Sabathia NYY 4
5 Todd Wellemeyer STL 4
5 Edwin Jackson DET 4
5 John Maine NYM 4
5 Matt Cain SFO 4
5 Kevin Slowey MIN 4
5 Matt Palmer LAA 4
5 Randy Johnson SFO 4
19 Andy Pettitte NYY 3
19 Livan Hernandez NYM 3

# Player Team WHIP
1 Jake Peavy SDG 0.87
2 Justin Verlander DET 0.90
3 Zack Greinke KC 0.91
4 Johnny Cueto CIN 0.95
4 Jered Weaver LAA 0.95
6 CC Sabathia NYY 0.96
7 Scott Feldman TEX 1.01
8 Roy Halladay TOR 1.04
8 Edwin Jackson DET 1.04
8 Josh Outman OAK 1.04
11 Mark Buehrle CHW 1.06
11 Dan Haren ARI 1.06
11 Rick Porcello DET 1.06
14 Ted Lilly CHC 1.08
14 Brian Tallet TOR 1.08
16 Matt Palmer LAA 1.10
16 Javier Vazquez ATL 1.10
18 Scott Baker MIN 1.11
18 Zach Duke PIT 1.11
20 Tim Lincecum SFO 1.12

# Player Team ERA
1 Rick Porcello DET 1.50
2 Justin Verlander DET 1.52
3 Zack Greinke KC 1.57
4 Roy Halladay TOR 1.76
5 Jake Peavy SDG 2.13
6 Jered Weaver LAA 2.30
7 Edwin Jackson DET 2.34
8 Randy Wolf LAD 2.35
9 Josh Beckett BOS 2.38
10 Johan Santana NYM 2.43
11 Matt Cain SF 2.45
11 Josh Outman OAK 2.45
13 Mark Buehrle CHW 2.55
14 CC Sabathia NYY 2.56
15 Clayton Kershaw LAD 2.57
15 Cliff Lee CLE 2.57
17 Scott Feldman TEX 2.70
17 Livan Hernandez NYM 2.70
19 Johnny Cueto CIN 2.72
19 Josh Johnson FLA 2.72

RK PLAYER TEAM SV SO
1 Heath Bell SDG 15 26
2 F. Cordero CIN 14 22
2 F. Rodriguez NYM 14 27
4 Trevor Hoffman MIL 13 14
4 Ryan Franklin STL 13 16
4 Brian Fuentes LAA 13 19
4 Brad Lidge PHI 13 26
4 J. Papelbon BOS 13 28
9 Bobby Jenks CHW 12 15
9 Chad Qualls ARI 12 23
9 Matt Capps PIT 12 12
9 Brian Wilson SFO 12 23
13 Mariano Rivera NYY 11 26
13 Frank Francisco TEX 11 19
13 George Sherrill BAL 11 21
13 Jonathan Broxton LAD 11 39
17 Joe Nathan MIN 10 22
17 Fernando Rodney DET 10 17
17 Matt Lindstrom FLA 10 22
20 Kerry Wood CLE 8 21

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Fantasy Baseball – the Daily Dirt for Tuesday

Posted by Todd Lammi on May 27th, 2009

by Todd Lammi

There is rejoicing in fantasy baseball land Tuesday night as top prospect Matt Wieters of the Baltimore Orioles is expected to be recalled from Triple-A on Friday.  It should not take long for Wieters to ascend to the top tier of the catching ranks, based on his expected performance. With injuries to Ryan Doumit and Chris Ianetta and Geovany Soto off to a slow start, it is not inconceivable for Wieters to be a top 5 catcher the rest of the season, behind Victor Martinez, Joe Mauer, Brian McCann and Bengie Molina.

To give you an idea of the landscape at catcher from a fantasy baseball statistical purpose, Jorge Posada ranks six among catchers in RBI with 20 despite missing the last three weeks of action. Russell Martin still is stuck on zero home runs, although he does has six stolen bases and Mike Napoli should start to lose at bats with Vladimir Guerrero returning to action as Napoli was seeing time at designated hitter when not catching.

Wieters, who was the fifth overall selection in the 2007 June draft, will take over immediately as the Orioles starting catcher upon his arrival. Wieters is currently hitting .305 with 5 home runs and 30 RBI in 141 at bats with a 2o to 30 walk to strikeout ratio in Triple-A. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Tuesday…

Hitters:

Orioles hitters responded to the news of Wieters impending arrival by collecting 14 hits in a 7-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. Adam Jones (11), Aubrey Huff (8) and Nolan Reimold (3) all hit home runs in the victory. With the young bats the Orioles have and the pitching in their farm system, they are probably 1 1/2 years away from competing for the division.

The Cleveland Indians used four home runs to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-1. Mark DeRosa starting in left field hit his 8th home run of the year and is now up to 32 RBI on the season. It is nice the Indians are show casing DeRosa’s versatility in the outfield to boost his trade value, but that comes at the expense of playing time for Matt LaPorta who was sent back to Triple-A. LaPorta never got untracked with the Indians, batting .190 with one home run in 13 games.

Carlos Pena hit his 16th home run and knocked in his 40th RBI to provide the lone run of offense for the Rays.

Joey Votto hit a two-run home in the seventh inning to propel the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-4 win over the Houston Astros. The long ball was Votto’s 8th of the season to go along with his 33 RBI.

Gary Sheffield continues to pick up the slack offensively for the New York Mets with Jose Reyes, Ryan Church and Carlos Delgado all missing from the lineup due to injuries. Sheffield went 2 for 3 with 3 RBI and belted his fifth home run of the year to lead Mets to a 6-1 win over the Washington Nationals. He has now driven in nine runs in his last five games.

Also for the Mets, rookie Fernando Martinez was recalled from Triple-A with Church going on the disabled list. Martinez got the start in right field batting sixth and went 0 for 3 with an RBI. Martinez was hitting .291 with 8 home runs and 28 RBI in 165 at bats in Triple-A with two stolen bases.

Chris Davis hit two home runs to power the Texas Rangers to a 7-3 win over the New York Yankees. Davis now has 12 home runs on the season, but is only batting .208 on the year.

Justin Morneau went 2 for 3 with 3 RBI including his 14th home run of the season in a 5-2 win over the Boston Red Sox. Morneau has driven in 11 runs in his last five games.

Mark Reynolds hit his 13th home run of the year and knocked in two in a 6-5 win over the San Diego Padres. Reynolds is currently 5th in the National League in home runs and 7th in stolen bases with 10.

Jayson Nix hit two solo home runs to give the Chicago White Sox a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels.

Pitchers:

Zack Greinke continued his amazing 2009 season, tossing a complete game against the Detroit Tigers in a 6-1 win. Greinke struck out eight while lowering his ERA to 0.84. He has still yet to allow more than two runs in any start this year and also has not given up a home run through 75 innings.

Joe Blanton tossed seven shutout innings with 11 strikeouts in a 5-3 win over the Florida Marlins. The victory evened Blanton’s record at 3-3  and easily surpassed his previous season high of six strikeouts.

Carl Pavano allowed one run in seven innings with six strikeouts to pick up his fifth win of the season. Pavano has now won 5 of his last 6 starts, while allowing four runs or less in all of them.

Livan Hernandez picked up a complete game win, allowing one run with six strikeouts. Hernandez has now allowed two runs or less in four of his last five starts.

Adam Wainwright allowed one run in seven innings with nine strikeouts in a 8-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Wainwright improved to 5-2 and has allowed one run in each of his last three starts, covering a total of 23 2/3 innings.

Nick Blackburn allowed one earned run in seven innings with seven strikeouts to move to 4-2 on the season. Blackburn has shaved 1 1/2 runs off his ERA in his last five starts to his current mark of 3.55

Eric Milton picked up his first win in almost three years, tossing five innings of one run ball in a 7-1 win over the Colorado Rockies. Milton allowed seven hits and struck out three in his second start since being recalled from Triple-A.

Sean Marshall allowed one run in five innings with six strikeouts to pick up a rain-shortened 6-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Marshall continues to keep pace with Randy Wells to see who will become the 5th starter once Rich Harden returns from the disabled list.

Max Scherzer allowed two runs in seven innings with 10 strikeouts to earn his second win of the season. Scherzer has had back-to-back 10 strikeout performances and will face the Atlanta Braves on Sunday.

Jarrod Washburn hurled six scoreless innings with four strikeouts in a 4-3 loss to the Oakland Athletics.

Tim Lincecum pitched eight shutout innings and fanned eight in a 4-0 defeat of the Atlanta Braves.  Lincecum lowered his ERA to 3.03 and has struck out eight or more in 7 of his last 8 starts.

Closers:

Brad Lidge was supposed to get the day off, but after the Marlins cut the lead to two in the ninth innings, he came in to record two outs for his ninth save of the season. Manager Charlie Manuel’s use of the bullpen on Tuesday night signifies he has little faith in Ryan Madson as the closer and why he continues to stick with Lidge in spite of Lidge’s recent blown saves. Instead of using Madson in the ninth inning and a different set up man in the eighth, he still pitched Madson in the eighth and had Chad Durbin come in to close the door in the ninth, which Durbin failed to do.

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Fantasy Baseball – the Daily Dirt for Wednesday

Posted by Todd Lammi on April 29th, 2009

by Todd Lammi

Travis Hafner of the Cleveland Indians was placed on the 15-day disabled list with soreness in his right shoulder. There is a chance that rookie Matt LaPorta could be recalled for the weekend games if the Cleveland Indians decide they need a jolt of offense. In other news around the fantasy baseball diamond on Wednesday…

Hitters:

Torii Hunter hit his 8th home run of the season and is now hitting .329 on the year. With Vladimir Guerrero out of the lineup, Hunter has become the main RBI man for the Los Angeles Angels as he has driven in runs in 7 of his last 8 games.

Jorge Cantu hit his third home run in two nights giving him six long balls on the season with 18 RBI. Cantu currently leads the National League is slugging percentage at .741.

Carlos Quentin hit his 8th home run of the season and drove in two runs in a Chicago White Sox win. The home run was the first for Quentin in the last 10 days.

Adrian Gonzalez hit two home runs and drove in three runs in a San Diego Padres loss. Gonzalez is now hitting .329 on the season with 19 RBI. It will be interesting to see if the Padres fall out of the race if Gonzalez is moved at the trade deadline.

Nick Swisher is heating up again for the New York Yankees. Swisher hit two home runs and drove in four runs Wednesday. Swisher now has seven home runs on the season and 19 RBI.

Threes were wild for the Minnesota Twins as the top three hitters in their lineup knocked out three hits apiece; Denard Span, Brendan Harris and Justin Morneau. All three are batting over .300 on the season plus Jason Kubel.

Billy Butler went 4 for 5 with four runs scored and four RBI, including his first two home runs of the season.

The Oakland A’s placed both Mark Ellis and Nomar Garciaparra on the disabled list. Eric Patterson was recalled from Triple-A to fill in.

Pitchers:

Zack Greinke’s scoreless inning streak came to an end at 29 when he allowed a run in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays. For the game, Greinke allowed two runs in seven innings with eight strikeouts.

Yvoni Gallardo tossed eight scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts and helped his cause by hitting a home run in a 1-0 win. Gallardo’s whip ratio now stands at 0.87.

Johan Santana pitched seven innings, allowing two runs and seven strikeouts in a no decision. He was in line for the win before J.J. Putz allowed two runs in the 8th inning. Santana currently leads the NL in strikeouts with 44 on the year.

Doug Davis hurled seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts to pick up his second win of the season. The control problems that have occurred the previous two seasons have not surfaced yet in 2009, leaving Davis with a current whip ratio of 1.18.

Joba Chamberlain picked up his first win of the season, allowing one run in seven innings with six strikeouts. His ERA stands at 3.13 but he has been less than dominant with a 13/17 walk  to strikeout ratio.

It’s a good thing Edison Volquez reads my website and decided to pick up his performance. Volquez allowed one hit in eight scoreless innings to go with six strikeouts.

Closers:

Carlos Villanueva picked up the save for the Milwaukee Brewers instead of Trevor Hoffman closing back to back games since he just returned from the disabled list.

Huston Street struck out the side in the ninth inning for his second save of the year in place of Manny Corpas who was getting a day off. With Corpas suffering losses in two of his last four appearances, the closer role could change hands once again.

Carlos Marmol returning after missing time with a sore knee did not look 100% in his outing Wednesday. Marmol walked 4 batters in a third of an inning. Of the 22 pitches he threw, only five were for strikes. Kevin Gregg also struggled in a mop up role, walking three and allowing a hit in the eight inning before he was pulled.

Ryan Franklin continues to roll, picking up his 5th save in the last nine days. Jason Motte continues to set up in the 8th inning so if  Franklin ever needs a night off, Motte might get that chance.

Julian Tavarez picked up his first save of the year for the Washington Nationals. Kip Wells set him up with a scoreless eighth inning. It is nice to see the Nationals are trying to solve their bullpen woes, trading for Logan Kensing of the Florida Marlins and demoting Jason Bergmann to Triple-A. Kensing currently has a 9.82 ERA for Florida, while Bergmann’s ERA was 3.60.

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Fantasy Baseball – the Daily Dirt for Friday

Posted by Todd Lammi on April 24th, 2009

by Todd Lammi

Fours and threes were wild in the National League on Friday night as three games ended in that exact score. Unfortunately for the Florida Marlins, closer Matt Lindstrom was wild as well, allowing four hits, three walks and seven runs in the ninth inning, in their 7-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. Shane Victorino hit a two-out grand slam to give the Phillies the lead in the ninth inning and Chase Utley tacked on an insurance run with his fifth home run of the year. The loss cost Marlins starter Josh Johnson a win. Johnson tossed seven scoreless innings while striking out eight Phillies. Dan Uggla hit his third home run of the year for the Fish. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Friday…

National League:

Adam Wainwright allowed one earned run in seven innings with six strikeouts, but got a no decision in the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 win over the Chicago Cubs. Ryan Franklin picked up his fifth save of the season. Albert Pujols stole his third base of the year. Ryan Dempster allowed three runs in six innings with six strikeouts for the Cubs…..Javier Vazquez allowed one run in six innings with nine strikeouts to get his second win of the season in the Atlanta Braves 4-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Jeff Francoeur hit his second home run of the year. Braves outfielder Garret Anderson was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained quadriceps muscle. Brandon Jones was recalled from Triple-A. Edison Volquez had control issues for the Reds, walking seven in five innings and allowing three runs…..Johan Santana struck out 10 in six innings to pick up his third win of the year for the New York Mets in a 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals. Jesus Flores and Nick Johnson each hit their first home run of the year for the Nationals…..Yvoni Gallardo picked up a complete game 5-2 win at the expense of the Houston Astros. Gallardo struck out seven without walking a batter. Rickie Weeks hit his third home run of the year for Milwaukee. Carlos Lee hit home run number four for the Astros…..Tim Lincecum looks back on track after striking out 12 in eight innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Bengie Molina hit his third home run of the season and Edgar Renteria hit his second for the Giants.

American League:

Zack Greinke is making it look way too easy this season for the Kansas City Royals. Greinke ran his scoreless innings streak to 29 with a complete game 6-1 win over the Detroit Tigers. Greinke struck out 10 while allowing only three hits. Mark Teahen hit his second home run of the year for the Royals. Closer Joakim Soria will be shutdown over the weekend with a sore shoulder. Juan Cruz could see a save opportunity or two while Soria is out….. Nick Blackburn allowed one run in seven innings to pick up his first win of the season in the Minnesota Twins 5-1 win over the Cleveland Indians. Justin Mourneau hit his fourth home run of the year for the Twins…..Michael Young hit a two-run home run in the top of the nith inning to lift the Texas Rangers to a 5-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles. Hank Blalock added his fourth home run of the season for the Rangers. Brian Roberts hit his first home run of the year for the Orioles…..The Toronto Blue Jays knocked out 21 hits en route to a 14-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Aaron Hill drove in three runs and Vernon Wells added two RBI. Brian Tallet hurled 5 2/3 scoreless innings to pick up the win…..Kevin Youkilis hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Boston Red Sox a 5-4 win over the New York Yankees. Jason Bay hit his fourth home run and Jacob Ellsbury stole his 7th base of the year for Boston. Injured shortstop Julio Lugo is expected to jon the Red Sox next week assuming his games in Triple-A go well over the weekend. The Yankees placed Chien-Ming Wang on the disabled list. Look for Phil Hughes who I wrote about earlier this week to possibly be recalled to start in Wang’s place next week…..Scott Kazmir threw six shutout innings for the Tampa Bay Rays in their win over the Oakland A’s. Carlos Pena hit two home runs and drove in four runs.

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Fantasy Baseball – the Daily Dirt for Saturday

Posted by Todd Lammi on April 18th, 2009

by Todd Lammi

Zack Greinke extended his scoreless inning streak  to 20, as he threw a complete game shutout against the Texas Rangers, striking out 10 batters, in a 2-0 victory. Greinke has now struck out 26 in only 20 innings on the season. Kevin Millwood got the loss, as he also threw a complete game with three strikeouts. His one mistake was a two-run home run given up to Miguel Olivo in the seventh inning. Rangers top pitching prospect Derek Holland was recalled from Triple-A and will initially pitch out of the bullpen. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Saturday…

American League:

The Cleveland Indians set a major league record, scoring 14 runs in the second innings, as they pounded the New York Yankees 22-4. The Indians hit six home runs, led by Grady Sizemore (4), Victor Martinez (4) and Travis Hafner (4). Chien-Ming Wang had another poor outing for the Yankees, allowing eight runs in 1 1/3 innings. Wang’s ERA now stands at 34.50, after giving up run totals of 7,8 and 8 in his three starts….. Carlos Quentin hit his 6th home run and Paul Konerko his 3rd as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 8-3. The control problems that Rays starter  Scott Kazmir had at the end of last season resurfaced today, as he walked six in four innings. Carl Crawford stole base number four for the Rays…..Kevin Youkilis hit his 3rd home run of the season and drove in four runs in a 6-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Shortstop Jed Lowrie on the 15-day DL with is headed to Arizona to get a second opinion on his sprained left wrist, as it may require surgery…..Jason Kubel continues to rake for the Minnesota Twins, going 4 for 5 with 2 RBI in a 9-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Kevin Slowey allowed two runs in seven innings with five strikeouts to pick up the win. Bobby Abreu stole base number six and Chone Figgins base number seven for the Angels…..Edwin Jackson tossed 7 2/3 shutout innings with six strikeouts to lead the Detroit Tigers over the Seattle Mariners 2-0. Fernando Rodney picked up his 3rd save of the year. Erik Bedard had a strong outing for the Mariners, allowing two runs in six innings with eight strikeouts. ….Lyle Overbay hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the Toronto Blue Jays a 4-2 win over the Oakland Athletics. Rookie starter Trevor Cahill for the A’s has a 2.60 ERA, and is holding batters to a .197 average, but his lack of control is holding him back from pitching deeper into ballgames. Cahill currently has a 13/5 walk to strikeout ratio.

National League:

Ian Snell threw seven shutout innings to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Atlanta Braves 10-0. Outfielder Craig Monroe hit two home runs and drove in six runs for the Pirates. One thing to keep in mind when projecting fantasy baseball stats is the change in position coaches. New pitching coach Joe Kerrigan seems to have a done a good job early on of making improvements in multiple Pirate pitchers. Heading into Saturday’s games, the Pirates led the major leagues in ERA. Jo-Jo Reyes did not fare well in his first start for the Braves, allowing five runs in 5 2/3 innings. Chipper Jones missed his 4th straight game with a bruised thumb…..Jeremy Hermida was a one man show for the Florida Marlins, vaulting the Marlins past the Washington Nationals in extra innings 9-6. Hermida hit a two-run home run off closer Joel Hanrahan in the ninth inning to tie the game at 6-6 and then hit a three-run home run in the 11th inning for the win. Austin Kearns hit a grand slam for the Nationals…..Johan Santana threw seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts to pitch the New York Mets past the Milwaukee Brewers 1-0. Yvoni Gallardo of the Brewers matched him pitch for pitch, tossing six shutout innings with seven strikeouts…..Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run home run in the 11th inning to lead the Chicago Cubs over the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5. Any questions about either bullpen seemed to be answered in this game. Carlos Marmol who had been unscored upon this season, pitched the seventh inning with Kevin Gregg throwing innings 8 and 9. For the Cardinals, Jason Motte pitched inning 7, Ryan Franklin innings 8-9 and Chris Perez inning 10…..The Los Angeles Dodgers got two home runs each from Manny Ramirez and Andre Ethier to defeat the Colorado Rockies 9-5. Chad Billingsley moved to 3-0 on the season with six strikeouts in six innings. Those of you in NL only fantasy baseball leagues looking for relief pitchers with good numbers should check out Ronald Belisario of the Dodgers. Belisario  has allowed one run in 8 2/3 innings with 12 strikeouts…..San Francisco Giants starter Tim Lincecum flashed his 2008 form, throwing eight shutout innings with 13 strikeouts against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Doug Davis of the D-Backs matched him with eight scoreless innings and six strikeouts. Outfielder Chris Young won the game for Arizona in the 9th inning with a two-run double…..Wandy Rodriguez threw seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts to pace the Houston Astros to a 7-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence each stole their second base of the season for the Astros…..Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a tie-breaking three-run home run off of closer Brad Lidge in the 9th inning to power the San Diego Padres past the Philadelphia Phillies 8-5. Adrian Gonzalez hit his 4th home run for the Padres. Raul Ibanez (4), Ryan Howard (2) and Chase Utley (3) all went deep for the Phillies.

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