Cleveland Indians at Minnesota Twins: It’s going to be a tough year, Twins fans. As an Orioles fan, let me suggest you take solace in the little things, mostly Denard Span. This game was all Cleveland, as Derek Lowe got the complete game shutout without registering a K. Lowe has looked like a different pitcher this year. While his GBs are up, his strand rate has masked a 1.00 K:BB rate and 1.50 WHIP. It’s going to get messy and get messy fast, with an ERA north of 4.50 ROTW. He’ll be borderline unownable from now on, so trade him for anything useful if you can. Shin-soo Choo led-off and went 2/4 with a homer. He has a .245 average and .371 OBP. He’s a good player, stop trying to drop/trade him.

Houston Astros at Philadelphia Phillies: Chad Qualls did what Chad Qualls does: ruined a perfectly good outing by a starting pitcher (in this case Cliff Lee). In a surprise start, Jordan Lyles was called up for the Astros and thereby passed the 100 minimum MLB IP threshold in my dynasty league, so I have to activate him. I’ve been all over Lyles in deeper leagues and think he’ll ultimately stick in that rotation. He has the real chance to spin a 7 K/9 rate. Sure, he’ll walk a good bit, maybe 2.95 per nine, but will be a solid pitcher in deep formats. SHOCKER: Brad Mills brought Brett Myers into a non-save situation in the bottom of the 10th against the heart of the Phillies order. The Astros seem to be doing some smart things down there. Of course, it didn’t exactly work out as Hunter Pence yanked a liner out to left; it was gone in like 2.3 seconds (unofficially). Off the bat, there was legitimate concern it wouldn’t be high enough to clear the fence, but Myers became the goat and Pence the hero.

San Diego Padres at Washington Nationals: The Padres got to Stephen Strasburg early in a rare poor start from the young phenom. Speaking of phenoms, immature bratty Bryce Harper went yard, just enjoy it people. Yonder Alonso scored a run and collected an RBI. While Alonso won’t continue to bat .361 on balls in play, he is posting decent swinging strike, K and BB percentages. If he can continue similar paces, you’re looking at a .275/.355/.415 line the rest of the way. He’ll add 10 HRs and five steals as well. That line screams corner infielder in deep leagues.  Quietly, Will Venable is up to .280/.353/.411 on the year and healthy. He’ll never bat well, but a .260 average and 12 HRs and 18 SBs the rest of the season are possible.

Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals: Paul Maholm pitched “aight” because that’s what he does. Matt Holliday hit his seventh HR because that’s what he does. And Kyle Lohse got hit hard because that’s what batters do against pitchers like Lohse. This contest turned into a bullpen battle, which favors you know who. James Russell had a tough outing, giving up a surprising home run to a lefty (Matt Carpenter) and then a triple to a righty (Tyler Greene). And, of course because it’s 2012, Jason Motte gave up a line-drive no-doubter to Alfonso Soriano to tie the game in the ninth. Rafael Dolis got the call in the bottom of the ninth and gave up a lead-off single to Holliday. Holliday got to second on a groundout and scored the winning run on a single through the hole between first and second by Yadier Molina. Aside from Holliday’s AB, Dolis looked pretty good. That said, nothing in his numbers suggests he’s ready to be a big time relief pitcher.

Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox: Jake Peavy flirted with disaster all game long and decided to consummate the relationship in the 6th in a thumping fashion (two-run HR from Miguel Cabrera and three-run HR from Ryan Raburn). Then Will Ohman came on and gave up another three-run HR, this one to Austin Jackson. Remember when Ohman was the Orioles closer for a hot minute? That was weird. The Tigers then continued whooping up on the White Sox, ultimately showing who the top cats are in the Central. See what I did there? That said, the grandest cat of them all, closer Jose Valverde, left the game with a sore lower back. It's unclear whether there is long-term damage here or whether Leyland will turn to Octavio Dotel or Joaquin Benoit. If you have to speculate, grab the guy who can get both righties and lefties out (Benoit). That said, you can’t ignore the “closer experience” label on Dotel.

Seattle Mariners at Boston Red Sox:  Josh Beckett looked good (60/93 pitches for strikes) and the Mariners offense looked bad. Shocking, I know. David Ortiz hit another home run and continues to mash. Jarrod Saltalamacchia is now up to .261, look out, he's becoming a solid catcher option. Ichiro got two hits, stole two bases and his teammates combined for two hits, blech.

Oakland Athletics at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Another poor hitting AL West team, another snoozer. Ervin Santana owned the A's, locating a lot of pitches and working into the 8th. Santana's K's are still down but he's getting those ground balls. ROTW: He's not out of the woods yet, but is safe to start against the dregs of his division. Of note is that Scott Downs picked up Santana in the 8th, before giving way for the last out to Ernesto Frieri in the 9th. Mike Trout hit a homer and stole a base, he has three of each on the year. I kind of hope the Angels finish a game out of first, serves 'em right for keeping Trout away from baseball fans. Not much on the A's side. Kila Ka'aihue got a hit and is sitting at .289/.349/.434. 

Tampa Bay Rays at Toronto Blue Jays: Some wretched strike calls in the 9th got Fernando Rodney through the inning quickly and without issue. It should be said that Jose Molina got called out in the top of the frame on what looked like a pitch well off the plate. Molina didn’t argue. Brett Lawrie, meanwhile, went ballistic after he got jobbed on two calls. He just might get suspended. Sometimes baseball is lame, usually when it involves the "human element." Henderson Alvarez was rolling until the 7th. He got nipped by some poor fielding and the long ball. With how hard he throws and the amount of ground balls he gets, he should be better. At the moment, he's really just an Ervin Santana type (sad face). Edwin Encarnacion hit another homer, thank whatever deity was responsible for me choosing him on my HR-only team. Ben Zobrist kept his hot hitting with a 3/5 day. 

New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles: Take that Jeffrey Maier. I suppose the Yankees won’t toast the jack-off who helped the Yanks to their only runs of the night the same way they did Maier. Anyway, Jim Johnson closed the door on the Yankees and he's looking like one of the only reliable closers out there. It's insane. Adam Jones hit another HR (god bless the Erik Bedard trade). Matt Wieters hit another double:  Orioles Magic. J.J. Hardy also doubled (god bless the relievers-with-no-names trade with the Twins). Xavier Avery got a start and should fill in admirably with Nolan Reimold on the shelf. With a little creativity, I can get Avery to a .270 average and 25 SBs. He's a nice target in deep leagues. Don't look now but old man Alex Rodriguez stole his fourth bag of the year. He's hitting .286/.387/.421. Mark Teixeira went 1/4 to raise his line to .232/.285/.399. Yep, still rather have Paul Konerko.

Milwaukee Brewers at New York Mets: things didn’t go so well for Dillon Gee as he deserved the Scarlett L in this game. He has a 4.78 ERA, but a 3.82 FIP and 3.08 xFIP; ROTW: 4.25 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 7.45 K/9 rate.  Meanwhile Zack Greinke deserved the varsity W in this outing, shutting down a weak Mets offense. David Wright got two hits and that's about it for bright spots, as he was eventually pulled from the game to avoid being hit by a pitch in retaliation for the Mets hitting Ryan Braun. The Mets struck out 10 times and reached base six times. What do you know? Rickie Weeks got off the bench and hit a homer. It's time to acquire him everywhere, trust me. 

Cincinnati Reds at Atlanta Braves: Tim Hudson allowed a lot of base runners but only surrendered two runs en route to the victory. Johnny Cueto wasn’t so lucky as six of his base runners scored (one was an unearned run). Brian McCann hit his 6th HR, he's fine people, really. Jason Heyward hit a double and is posting an intriguing .252/.348/.463 line. Heyward ROTW: .260/.368/.440 with 15 HRs and 14 SBs. Jay Bruce hit another double and is straight raking it. That said, it's doubtful his ISO (.333) is going to continue. He's posting a high (20.4%) HR/FB rate and is really selling out for FBs. At a certain point they'll stop clearing the fence and his batting average will suffer. ROTW for Bruce: .255/.332/.485 with 22 HRs. 

Pittsburgh Pirates at Miami Marlins: Josh Johnson got off the snide and shut down a shutdown-able offense. I still maintain that the only question with Johnson is health, you can bank a 2.95 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 8.4 K/9 rate ROTW, but the innings are the question. Andrew McCutchen got a hit, a walk, a run and a SB…ho-hum. Hanley Ramirez hit a couple of doubles and Omar Infante had four hits off Kevin Correia. And, of course, if someone is going to hit a ball out of Marlins Park, it’s going to be Michael McKenry, right?

Kansas City Royals at Texas Rangers: Vin Mazzaro worked around a ton of base runners to get the victory. Colby Lewis couldn’t work around a bunch of base runners and a few errors on the other side of the ledger. Mike Moustakas hit a homer and is having an impressive year. Greg Holland came on in the ninth after Brandon Snyder (a total grab in deep leagues) hit a homer to bring the game to three runs and Holland got the final out. Nothing special here, just that if elite middle relievers are ownable, see if someone dropped Holland and scoop him up.

Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Dodgers: Things didn’t go well for Chad Billingsley and Javy Guerra pitched the fifth, so those two have fallen pretty far, pretty fast. Jason Kubel continues trouncing National League pitching and has been a huge asset. Justin Upton collected a hit and a walk to bring his line to .227/.319/.336. While his K% is up, it’s no different than 2009-2010 and he isn’t swinging and missing any more than he did last year. So far, pitchers aren’t working him any differently and his batted ball rates seem normal, yet his BABIP is a bit under expectation. ROTW, Upton is a .280/.367/.495 hitter with 22 HRs and 18 SBs. Wade Miley shut down an incredibly punchless Dodgers line-up. Going forward, don’t expect much of this, unless he can keep facing AA hitters.

Colorado Rockies at San Francisco Giants: Tim Lincecum struck out a hitter an inning and limited base runners, yet still allowed four runs. Go figure, baseball’s a funky game. I suggest you go out an acquire Lincecum if you can, he’ll be good for a 3.15 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 9.75 K/9 rate ROTW. Gregor Blanco got another start and batted leadoff. In deep leagues, Blanco is absolutely worth a grab, as he could bat .270 with 20 more SBs. Of course, he could also hit .230 with five SBs and lose the job. Still, the potential is worth speculating on. Santiago Cassila allowed a homer to Marco Scutaro off all people to get the loss. Rafael Betancourt worked around a few base runners to get the save. Bullpens suck.


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This is why you shouldn't worry about an innings cap on Stephen Strasburg. In six innings against the Pirates on Thursday, the Nationals ace struck out 13 (including seven straight), allowed one run, and picked up a victory while throwing 103 pitches. It's proof that even if the Nats limit him to around 175 innings in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery, he will produce more in those innings than 90 percent of other starters will in 225 innings. 

So don't buy into the fear that you should trade Strasburg before he gets shut down before the end of the season. Hang onto him, don't expect him to go eight or nine innings in a game, and hope the Nationals stay in the pennant race so they are pressured into keeping him on the mound late in the year. 

Don't trade Josh Hamilton either. You probably knew that though. He followed up his four-homer night with just one bomb against the Orioles, his 15th of the year. 

Two nights after Hamilton hit four homers in one game, Baltimore had five players hit one homer in a game. Ryan Flaherty, J.J. Hardy, Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, and Wilson Betemit all went deep off Colby Lewis, who became the first pitcher in nearly 100 years to give up five homers and strikeout 12. In seven innings, he did not allow a single, double, or triple, just five homers. 

Some other highlights from the night:
- Yunel Escobar went 4-for-4 to raise his average from .242 to .265 while Henderson Alvarez continued to look good on the mound for the Blue Jays, allowing one earned run in seven innings. 

- Josh Beckett came back from injury, but the Red Sox and his fantasy owners wish he had waited a bit longer. Beckett gave up seven earned runs in 2 1/3 innings. Michael Brantley had four hits for Cleveland. 

- C.C. Sabathia threw eight innings with no earned runs against Tampa Bay and when it came to the ninth inning, it was Rafael Soriano, not David Robertson, getting the save. Robertson had pitched two night in a row and gave up four runs in the previous game, so he may have been getting a mental and physical break. For now, assume both Robertson and Soriano will get saves for the Yankees. 

- Andy Dirks and Miguel Cabrera both had four hits for the Tigers

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Wednesday was another wild day in a season littered with blown saves, injuries, lost jobs and general zaniness from the closer position. The closer carousel is still spinning and in fact is probably picking up  steam as it goes round and round. It's a good year to be a “don't pay for saves” acolyte and a great year to pick up saves from the waiver wire. Make sure to stay active and attentive and read on for more details.

We'll start where the spotlight is brightest, as David Robertson soldiers on with one of the more thankless jobs in baseball, taking over as Yankees closer from Mariano Rivera. Robertson had a 1.08 ERA and 100 strike outs in 66.2 innings in 2011. He started 2012 with 0 ER and 21K in 12 IP. Then Rivera went down and suddenly he had to fill the shoes of the greatest closer of all time. Robertson picked up the save Tuesday night, after giving up 2 hits and a walk. Wednesday night he entered in the 9th with a 1-0 Yankees lead and proceeded to blow the save, give up 4 ER on 3 hits, 1 BB and a HR from Matt Joyce. Best not to travel to Manhattan this weekend, it could descend into madness as Yankees fans try to come to terms with life post Mariano.

Is it the pressure getting to Robertson, or does he just need to tilt that brim a bit? His Tampa Bay counterpart, Fernando Rodney ended up with a 2 inning 4-1 win thanks to the meltdown.

In Milwaukee, both teams decided to join in Closergate 2012, starting with John Axford, who gave up 2 runs in the top of the 9th, spoiling Zack Grienke's 8 IP, 0 ER, 11 K gem. The Reds Sean Marshall came in for the save, but gave up a solo HR to Ryan Braun, followed by 2 more hits, before being pulled. Dusty Baker went to Logan Ondrusek who gave up a walk just to add to the excitement, before getting the final out and recording his first career save.

Miami's new closer, Steve Cishek who just took the job from Heath Bell and his 10.24 ERA, blew a save by giving up an RBI single to Brian Bogusevic spoiling a 1 run lead in the 9th. Miami did eventually win 5-3 in the 12th inning, thanks to a rejuvenated Omar Infante's 2 run single. Josh Johnson pulled that super annoying move where he pitched so badly you had to bench him, then he turns around and goes 7 IP with 2 ER and 6K. Thanks for that Josh.

Toronto manager John Farrell, fed up with his closer Francisco Cordero after watching him blow his third save on Tuesday night, named Casey Janssen his new closer. The move paid immediate dividends as Janssen pitched a clean 9th on Wednesday to record his first save. Brandon Morrow continued with his breakout year, pitching 6 innings with 1 ER and 10 K. Toronto beat Oakland 5-2 thanks to home runs from Adam Lind (his 3rd) JP Arencibia (3rd) and Edwin Encarnacion (10th).

Another newly minted closer, the Cubs Rafael Dolis, picked up his 3rd save since taking the job from Carlos Marmol. Dolis worked a clean 9th to seal a 1-0 Cubs win over Atlanta. The matchup of Tim Hudson versus Paul Malholm in Wrigley ended up being a nice pitchers duel. Hudson only needed 73 pitches to go 7 IP with 1 ER and a K. Malholm also went 7 IP with 0 ER and 3 K. The game's one run came courtesy of the red hot Bryan LaHair.

No closer issues in Kansas City, as Jonathan Broxton picked up his 7th save off the floundering Red Sox. Jon Lester gave up 4 ER in 5 IP with 3 K. Another horrible loss was overshadowed by news that Josh Beckett may have – GASP - played golf last Thursday, even though he missed his Saturday start due to stiffness in his lat muscle. No word on whether or not there was fried chicken involved. Further reports said readers would rather gouge out their own eyeballs than hear anything more about this. Seriously, anyone that can stomach hearing more boring off field crap about Josh Beckett, should be both admired and feared.

Speaking of teams with high expectations that just might be terrible, the Phillies lost to the Mets 10-6. Cliff Lee made first start coming back from injury going 6 IP on 84 pitches, with 2 ER and 6 K. The Phillies bullpen then took a blowtorch to the game giving up 8 runs in 3 innings. Ike Davis flashed some signs of life for the Mets, going 2 for 4 with a HR, 2 runs and 3 RBI.

(May 8, 2012 - Source: Nick Laham/Getty Images North America)

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Umpire Tim Welke made a laughably bad call in the Dodgers/Rockies game Wednesday. Welke called Jerry Hairston out at first, even though Todd Helton caught the ball at least 3 feet off the bag. Deadspin has it if you haven't seen it. Here's the thing though, from his angle Welke really might have thought Helton was still on the bag. Hard to tell, but it's definitely in the realm of possibility that Helton came off straight at him and totally blocked his view. Let's all cut Welke some slack then, right? No. Welke gets no slack because he's an asshole. All he had to do was ask the home plate umpire for help and the call would have been reversed. He of course refused and due to baseball's insane umpire rules, the call couldn't be corrected. Where else in the world can someone do their job so egregiously wrong and then flat out refuse to admit a mistake while also denying any input from coworkers? Don't worry though, Bud Selig surely called Tim Welke after the game to reassure him that his farts don't stink. Baseball doesn't even need instant replay, it just needs some common sense.

Sorry, complaining about umpiring is boring though and everyone hates it. Let's talk about what happened with actual MLB players on Wednesday night instead. Some of them hit the ball really well and one of them pitched really well.

Thanks to Edwin Encarnacion, the Blue Jays beat the Rangers 11-5. It was the first time the Rangers lost 2 games in a row since last August. Encarnacion hit his 5th HR in the last 6 games, bringing him to 9 HR on the year, tied for second in the league with Josh Hamilton and Curtis Granderson. It's really a tie for first in the league though, since you have to ignore Matt Kemp's 12 HR, because he's been unfairly inhabited by the ghost of 2004 Barry Bonds. Seriously, he may be possessed. Prepare for an onslaught of Kemp features asking “when did Matt Kemp become such a dickhead,” and “why does Matt Kemp have the same forehead as Josh Whedon?”

Alternate theory it's the ghost of Babe Ruth, moved on to Kemp after previously possessing Albert Pujols for 11 seasons. I say this because Pujols can't hit anymore. He was 1 for 5 on the night, dropping his season line to .208/.252/.287. That's got to be it, the ghost of Babe Ruth jumped to Kemp. That, or Pujols is really 41 years old. Either way, thanks for the 200 million Artie Moreno.

The Angels won 9-0 over the Twins, thanks to a no hitter from Jered Weaver. Weaver was close to a perfect game and I'm sure Chris Ianetta, who let a baserunner on via a passed ball in the 2nd inning, breathed a big sigh of relief when Weaver walked Josh Willingham in the 7th.  Weaver had 9 K. The Angels got home runs from Kendrys Morales, Howie Kendrick and Mark Trumbo.

Carlos Beltran continued his hot start against AJ Burnett and the Pirates. Beltran was 4 for 5 with 2 HR, 7 RBI and 2 R. The Cardinals beat the Pirates 12-3. Anyone out there think that a move back to the NL would reinvigorate Burnett? If so then give up that dream of writing fortune cookies. Burnett went 2.2 innings giving up 12 ER, pushing his ERA to 8.04.

Not to be outdone by his partner in Carlos, Carlos Ruiz also knocked in 7 RBIs, in a losing effort. The Braves beat the Phillies 15-13 in a wild, 11 inning, pitchers duel. Pitchers duel means the two starters might as well have shot each other  right? Roy Halladay was spotted a 6-0 lead entering the bottom of the 5th, only to give up 6 ER, capped by a Brian McCann grand slam. Halladay went 5.1 IP with 8 ER on 12 hits. When asked about his outing after the game, he said “at least I'm not AJ Burnett.”

Will Middlebrooks was called up by the Red Sox today and got the start at third for Kevin Youkilis, who was placed on the DL with back issues. Middlebrooks' debut was strong, 2 for 3 with a double and a walk. The Red Sox lost 4-2 to Oakland, stifled by Brandon McCarthy who went 6.2 IP with 4 K, 5 hits and 1 ER.

Of course Bryce Harper couldn't bare to have the spotlight turned to another newly called up slugger, so he hit 2 doubles to outshine Middlebrooks, going 3 for 4 with 1 RBI and 2 R. Booooooo Bryce Harper, amirite Dodgers fans? Serious question, whose a bigger egomaniac, Bryce Harper or Tim Welke? The Nationals beat the Diamondbacks 5-4 on a 9th inning Ian Desmond walk-off HR. Harper could be seen on the periphery of the home plate celebration, trying to convince teammates to slap him on the head instead.

The Orioles continued to defy expectations, beating the Yankees 5-0, on the backs of blooming young talent; Matt Wieters and Jake Arrieta. Arrieta pitched 8 innings, striking out 9 and giving up 5 hits. Wieters hit his 7th HR of the season on a 3 for 4 night, pushing his season line to .303/.391/.618.

Royals optimists will tell you that Jonathan Sanchez outdueled Justin Verlander. He didn't. Sanchez only went 5 IP and threw 82 pitches, while Verlander went 8 IP, threw 123 pitches and had 7 K's. Still, Sanchez gave up 0 ER and 1 hit, to 2 ER and 6 H for Verlander.  Any silver lining will do and the Royals won 3-2, thanks to a 9th inning infield single from Chris Getz.

Ryan Braun followed his insane night from Tuesday – 3 HR and a triple at Petco – by leaving the game sixth inning with a sprained right Achilles tendon. He's day to day. The game started on a sad note in San Diego, with a tribute to Junior Seau. RIP Junior.  

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Written by Ryan Coombs exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com. Follow Ryan on Twitter @RMCoombs. 

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Kansas City Royals at Detroit Tigers: This one was a blood bath early, as the Tigers scored 8 runs in the first three innings. Luke Hochevar was the victim, giving up 12 hits and 9 runs over four. I hear Yuniesky Betancourt made a horribly lackluster play in the field to encourage the rally. Meanwhile, Austin Jackson put in work, going 4/5 and raising his average to .314. He's going to score a gargantuan amount of runs this year. Rick Porcello pitched decently, giving up just seven hits over eight innings and walking none. At some point he has to turn the corner, right (although that'd probably require a competent fielding infield)? Eric Hosmer went 0/4 and is hitting .180, but check out his batted ball rates. They look darn similar to last season. I'd be buying Hosmer, not unloading him for pennies. 

Seattle Mariners at Tampa Bay Rays: As a Hector Noesi owner, it was my first real chance to see him pitch (I'm not a night owl). Unfortunately, I wasn’t overly impressed, despite him exiting with a decent line (5.2 IPs, six base runners, three runs). It looks like he'll have real trouble against left-handers, as he throws from a 3/4 slot and basically stands on the 3B side of the rubber. Obviously that comes into play against a team like the Rays more, but he's not much of an option outside of Seattle. If you saw him try to get the ball in on Matt Joyce, you'd know what I mean. Speaking of Joyce, my word, he's on fire and is looking like a #2 OF in many leagues, capable of finishing with a .278 average, 25 HRs, 80 runs and 100 RBIs. Matt Moore was okay against the weak hitting Mariners, going five, but allowing eight base runners. He did K seven and threw 66 of his 101 pitches for strikes. Oddly, Michael Saunders took Moore deep as, for some bizarre reason, Moore keeps getting abused by lefties -- expect that to change. Fernando Rodney struck out the side to collect another save and Kyle Farnsworth was moved to the 60 day DL. That's at least another month for Rodney. Who would have thought Rodney would be one of the more stable closers in baseball, certainly in the state of Florida?

Arizona Diamondbacks at Washington Nationals: Some weak defense and weaker hitting ruined Bryce Harper's home debut. Harper went 0/3 himself as Trevor Cahill was dealing:  7.1 IPs, seven base runners, one ER, five K's and 66/95 pitches for strikes. Jordan Zimmermann didn’t fare as well. He had to work around an Ian Desmond error (you'd think he was use to that by now) and allowed three earned in 6.1 IPs. He let nine men get on base and threw 67 of his 95 pitches for strikes. Jason Kubel is loving National League pitching as he is up to .338/.400/.532 this year. Go grab him if someone dropped him after a slow start. 

Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves: Not so shocking that these two clubs played a low scoring affair that was aided by poor defense. Johnny Venters got the hard lock BABIP-to-death loss as he gave up two runs in 0.2 IPs. Hunter Pence went 2/4 with a run and an RBI and Ty Wigginton collected two RBIs to provide the bulk of the offense for the Phils. On the Braves side, Brian McCann did most of the damage in the form of a solo shot. Cole Hamels didn’t have his best stuff/was possibly getting squeezed by home plate umpire Mike Eastbrook, but he still K'ed 6 in 6 and allowed just 8 base runners. Brandon Beachy was effective without striking many guys out.  

Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees: Brian Matusz got his first win in what seems like forever, shutting down the Yankees: 6.1 IPs, 10 base runners, four K's and 63 of his 87 pitches for strikes. Okay, maybe he didn’t shut them down, but he pitched alright! Curtis Granderson hit his ninth HR and Derek Jeter hit another double: not shocking. Meanwhile Mark Teixeira continued his swoon, going O'fer in his four ABs. Chris Davis went yard for the Orioles again and is looking like this year's Mark Trumbo. Wilson Betemit went 1/4 with a run and RBI and is starting to heat up. He's worth an add for those of you who lost Evan Longoria.  Phil Hughes wasn’t that bad (six K's, 65% of his pitches were strikes) but he wasn’t that good either (two HRs allowed), expect people in NYC to overreact. 

Texas Rangers at Toronto Blue Jays: As an unofficial Blue Jays fan, I watch a ton of their games, but this was the first time I caught Drew Hutchinson. I was immediately impressed by his four K's to start the game. Of course, everything came unraveled after David Murphy got lucky and looped a pitch the left. At the end of the day, Hutchinson went 6, allowed nine base runners and struck out five. Not bad against a somewhat limited Rangers team. Kelly Johnson continues to validate his bounce back status: he went 2/3 with a homer, four RBIs and a walk. He will finish with a .250 average, 22 HRs and 13 SBs. Here's hoping Jose Bautista is getting on track, he hit a dinger and had a couple other scorchers that found gloves. Francisco Cordero came on in the ninth to close it, but gave up three two-out singles to blow the save. It's Santos job when he is healthy; Cordero doesn’t have the stuff to compete. Brett Lawrie said “don’t worry big ole fella, I'll pick you up:”  he homered off Mike Adams, no less, to win the game. Promptly his jersey was taken off; Bryce Harper has a lot to learn. The Jays came back from a 5-0 deficit; the AL East is kind of murderous. 


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Oakland Athletics at Boston Red Sox: That thing about the AL East being real good, well, maybe not. Felix Doubrant got the start and was ineffectively wild: 8 Ks in 4 IPs, but also 8 base runners and just 58 of his 94 pitches for strikes. Meanwhile Jarrod Parker was largely in control: 6 base runners in 6.2 IPs. That said he threw 59 of his 98 pitches for strikes. He got the win although Grant Balfour clearly tried to give it away. He entered in a non-save chance, walked two batters and gave up three hits. He was lifted for Jordan Noberto who got the save on a Dustin Pedroia ground out. So far, Balfour has been squeezed by the HR monster (21.4% HR/FB rate) and is walking a few too many batters. While his fast ball velocity is down a smidge, he’s still getting the same swinging strike percentage as recent history. Melvin did say Balfour remains the closer, and, really, he has to if the Athletics want to be able to trade him. If you're handcuffing, it's likely Ryan Cook. In the minors, Will Middlebrooks actually had a hard night at the plate, but is still hitting .333. If Kevin Youkilis misses much more time, he could have his ticket punched soon.

New York Mets at Houston Astros: Perhaps the two worst bullpens in baseball squared off and, what do you know, a few runs got walked home. This game was all Houston, as they got off to a quick start, including Jed Lowrie's third HR of the year. Boy, I bet the Sox wish they had him. Jon Niese didn’t throw well, and was all over the place (36 of his 60 pitches for strikes). The Astros bullpen actually pitched 2.2 scoreless innings and Brett Myers secured the win for J.A. Happ, who struck out 7 in 6.1 IPs. He also threw 75 of his 110 pitches for strikes. Still, it was the Mets. Ike Davis got a hit and raised his average to .188. 

 Miami Marlins at San Francisco Giants: Hey, what do you know? Jose Reyes isn’t Dee Gordon. Reyes went 1/3 with a walk, SB and run, in so doing, he pushed his OBP above .300. That terrible tease Ricky Nolasco went 7.1 IPs, gave up one run on a homer and somehow K’ed just one. Edward Mujica worked a perfect 0.2 IPs for the hold and Heath Bell had a clean inning for the first time since 1888. Matt Cain gets the hard luck loss as the Giants, surprise, surprise, struggled to score runs. Pablo Sandoval hit the HR and is looking like a healthy year will have him challenge for the top spots at 3B. Oh, and ‘cause apparently this is important, Giancarlo Stanton hit his HR and is laughing at Albert Pujols.

Milwaukee Brewers at San Diego Padres: Another low scoring NL West-ish affair. Shaun Marcum and Edison Volquez, both went seven scoreless and somehow, Volquez only walked two batters. He has a 2.92 ERA. Here’s hoping the move to a cavernous ballpark gave him the confidence he needed to throw strikes. All of the scoring came on a Mark Kotsay HR, yeah, you read right. If not for him, they’d probably still be playing. Andrew Cashner looked good in picking up the hold and Huston Street pitched a clean frame for his fourth save.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Colorado Rockies: A high scoring game in the NL West! Somehow, Dee Gordon hit a HR and Matt Kemp didn’t, that’s insane. A. J. Ellis hit a homer and double and is batting .305. I‘m pretty sure I called him a sleeper like two years ago, so, yeah, I’m buying him. Jhoulys Chacin was victimized early and often. In all but deep leagues, he deserves to ride the pine or be banished from the squad altogether. Javy Guerra allowed a hit but struck out two to close the door in the ninth.

Cleveland Indians at Chicago White Sox: So Ubaldo Jimenez walked six batters and gave up 8 hits in just 4.2 innings. He threw just 54 of his 102 pitches for strikes. He also gave up HRs to the “powerful” A.J. Pierzynski and Gordon Beckham. I bet every pitcher looked like Jimenez in 2009 to Beckham. At this point, in 12-team leagues, Jimenez is probably worth putting on the scrap heap. I’d hold him in deeper leagues, but can’t fault you for ditching the horror. “Closer” Hector Santiago got an inning of work, allowed three base runners, struck out two and came out of it without giving up a run. He threw 17 balls and just 15 strikes. Robin Ventura keeps suggesting that Santiago is the closer, but he’s clearly in, at least, a platoon with Matt Thornton. Going forward, given that Thornton is a lefty, I’m betting on Addison Reed getting the bulk of the saves. If he’s available, it’s time to grab him.

Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Jerome Williams pitched a complete game shut-out, which means you need to start anyone when they’re facing the Twins. Denard Span was the lone bright spot, getting two of the team’s three hits. He’s batting .340 with a .392 OBP. He’s a solid OF, but, even with those on base skillz, will struggle to score runs. Mike Trout got a hit, a run, a walk and a strike-out. Torii Hunter hit his fourth HR and is batting .310. People seem to be ignoring this mini-resurgence, but T-Hunt is fully capable of finishing with a .275-.280 average, 24 HRs and five SBs. That’s darn solid.

Pittsburgh Pirates at St. Louis Cardinals: Jason Motte has to love a game like this: his bullpen mates blew it just enough to allow for a cushy save opportunity. Motte converted easily and made himself look good in comparison. Dude is one of the safer closers in the game. The Cards got to Charlie Morton early and often (as they should):  David Freese and Matt Holliday went deep and Yadier Molina scored three runs. Pedro Alvarez hit another HR, but he’s due to come back to earth. Ride the hot strike, but get ready to get off quick. In addition, if you can, try to trade him to Evan Longoria’s owner. Andrew McCutchen is having a quietly awesome season. Down on the far, Oscar Taveras, a Cardinals prospect, hit his 7th round tripper at AA. If he isn’t owned in your dynasty league, grab him.

Written by Albert Lang exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com

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Written by Mike Naclerio exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com
Follow Mike on twitter @MikeNaclerio.

On this day in 1952, Ted Williams hit a two-run home run in his final at-bat before being deployed to the Korean War.

Carlos Gonzalez hit is fourth long ball and stole his third and fourth bases of the season last night against the New York Mets. The Rockies’ outfielder is on pace for a 35 homer/35 stolen base season.

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Mike Trout was 0-for-7 this weekend since being recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake City. Bryce Harper, who was also promoted this weekend, went 2-for-6 at the plate, with one run batted in and made this incredible catch on Sunday.

Billy Hamilton of the Advanced-A Bakersfiled Blaze was 3-for-4, with one run scored and one stolen base Sunday. Hamilton leads the California League with 29 stolen bags in 23 games for the Cincinnati Reds’ affiliate.

Heading into Sunday, Dee Gordon (10) and Starlin Castro (10) each had more stolen bases then the entire Angels (9), Nationals (8), Reds (8), Red Sox (6), Orioles (6), Tigers (6) and Mets (5) teams.  

Ervin Santana of the Angels has surrendered 10 homers so far in 2012, the most of any pitcher in the big leagues.

Jair Jurrjens dished seven innings of four-hit ball yesterday, surrendering three walks and one earned run, while striking out four. Jurrjens earned a no decision in his 93-pitch effort (54 strikes) for the Triple-A Gwinnett Braves.

Consider the list that follows an addendum to my waiver wire article from Saturday. Here are some pitchers owned in 20% or less that need to be taken seriously:

Wade Miley (Ari-SP | 7% Y! and 4% ESPN) Miley is now 3-0 on the season while filling in for Daniel Hudson, with a 1.29 ERA and 0.81 WHIP.

Henderson Alvarez (Tor-SP | 15% Y! and 5% ESPN) Alvarez earned his first win of the season yesterday, albeit against the Seattle Mariners. Despite the 1:1 K:BB, I believe the young Blue Jay has the ability to become a special player, just like Albert Lang told me he would!

Chris Capuano (LAD-SP | 17% Y! and 13% ESPN) Capuano is also 3-0 on the season with a 2.73 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. The lefthander plays in some nice pitcher friendly parks throughout the season, and like Brett recently noted, Capuano’s ability to miss bats will aid your fake baseball team.

Please make sure to give our friend Goose over at FantasyRundown.com a follow in Twitter @FantasyRundown. This guy hunts down all the best content on the web and puts it all in one great index for you, the reader.

Sean Marhsall (5), Matt Thornton (1), Craig Kimbrel (8), Ramon Ramirez (1), Fernando Rodney (7), Kenley Jansen (2), John Axford (5) and Santiago Casilla (4) each earned handshakes on Sunday.

Pitching duels I am looking forward today: Felix Hernandez vs. Jeremy Hellickson, Yu Darvish vs. Kyle Drabek, Jason Hammel vs. Hiroki Kuroda

Written by Steve Mims exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com. Follow Steve on Twitter @nwsportscards

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