The vast majority of the action from the last week happened on Wednesday night. Two pitchers turned in legendary performances that you often see only once in your life at the ballpark. Max Scherzer tied a long-standing major league record with 20 strikeouts of the Detroit Tigers. The fact that it came against his former team was probably that much sweeter. On the complete other side of the spectrum, Noah Syndergaard became the first pitcher since Micah Owings to hit two home runs in one game. I’ll leave you to decide which feat was more impressive.

The Week in Review 

A lot was made earlier in the week when a Chicago fan supposedly bet his life savings on the Cubs to win the World Series this year. Reports have come out that have indicated that this was a hoax. The hoaxter (Don Majewski) would be well within his rights to have that much optimism. Of course, most of those bets go on to be losers, but coming into Thursday, they were 25-8. That came after losing a double header to the Padres. They still have a seven game lead over the Pirates. When you look at their crosstown rivals, you could be looking at the first Chicago World Series in over a century.

If you read only one thing 

Daily Fantasy players are having a blast and there is definitely a road forward in that format, but I have to feel for people that bet through the traditional sports book. The top two finishers in the Cy Young race last year faced off in Boston. It was destined to be a pitcher’s duel right? Well, not exactly. Dallas Keuchel surrendered eight runs in six innings to cede the victory to David Price by default. Meanwhile, Jimmy Nelson vs. James Shields ended up being the best matchup of the night. Go figure.

We Kind of Expected 

The Chicago White Sox are running away with the AL Central and the Tigers have had their issues, but two hitters that struggled mightily last season have come on strong this season. Victor Martinez had three more hits and two more RBI on Thursday night to raise his average over .360 and up to 20 RBI on the season. Nick Castellanos did not have any hits, but he is also hitting over .360.

We Didn’t Expect 

Nathan Eovaldi continues to live a charmed life. He has a 4.85 ERA and gave up another three runs on Thursday night, but still won the game and moved to 3-2 on the season. Last year we saw the same thing when he went 14-3 with a 4.20 ERA. If there is any more proof that won-loss records are more or less luck I don’t know of any.

Save Opportunities

• Zach Britton (converted #9)

Injury News

• The Royals have placed Chris Young and Kris Medlen on the disabled list. This came on the heel of the news that prospect Raul Mondesi Jr. was suspended 50 games for failing a PED test.
• Tim Lincecum had his showcase for teams last week, but little has happened on that front. A number of teams (like the Angels) are seemingly desperate for starting pitching, so they would seem to be the logical choice.