Christopher Morais

 Welcome to the The Fantasy Fix’s nightly fantasy baseball recap, where you’ll find updates on bullpen usage, lineup construction, injuries, and transactions. Whether you play season-long or daily fantasy, expect to see the best coverage from every team, every night, all season long.

IF YOU ONLY READ ONE THING…

The Boston Red Sox probably can’t wait to leave California. The Angels pounded the Red Sox in the first game of their double-header, thanks to homeruns by Kole Calhoun, David Freese and slugger Albert Pujols. Starter Eduardo Rodriguez last just 1.2 innings, giving up seven runs on six hits while striking out none. The Angels would finish game one with 11 runs on 11 hits on their way to an easy victory.

Things sadly didn’t get better in game two, as the Angels once again got out to an early lead, scoring six runs after three innings of play. Pujols hit his second homerun in as many games off starter Steven Wright, while Mike Trout hit his 28^th homerun of the season. In all, the Angels outscored the Red Sox 18-4 today. With their season slowly slipping away, it’s looking more and more likely that the Red Sox will be sellers at the trade deadline and miss the playoffs once again.

JUST AS WE EXPECTED…

Every time the Rockies play at home, there’s a pretty good chance that both teams score a lot of runs. Tonight was no exception. With the terrible Nick Martinez taking the mound for the Rangers, Colorado scored seven runs in the first two innings, including Troy Tulowitzki hitting his 12^th homerun of the season. Martinez would pitch another two hitting before getting the hook. The Rangers would make it a game however, scoring runs in the third, fifth, seventh and in the top of the ninth to tie the game at seven. The Rockies would win it in the bottom of the ninth, thanks to an RBI single by Ben Paulsen.

BUT WE DIDN’T SEE THIS COMING…

The most expensive pitcher of the night did not deliver the goods for fantasy owners. Matt Harvey gave up two runs in the bottom of the first, before giving up another three in the bottom of the third. Harvey would pitch seven innings, giving up five runs (four earned), on five hits while striking out three. The Mets would score two runs in the top of the fourth, but that’s as much as they would get off starter Gio Gonzalez, who picked up his seventh win of the season. The biggest problem for the Mets continues to be their inability to drive in runs at key moments of the game, finishing 1-10 with runners in scoring position. Their pitching staff remains one of the best in baseball, but tonight “The Dark Knight” was anything but heroic.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Kanas City Royals had themselves a good old slugfest tonight. Both teams would combine to score 17 runs on 31 hits, with the Pirates coming out on top 10-7. The Royals were lead by the man they call “Moose”, Mike Moustakas, who finished the night 2-for-3 with a homerun and two RBIs. First-baseman Eric Hosmer also had himself a very productive night, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.

The Pirates were able to get to starter Yordano Ventura early and often. Pittsburgh would score four runs in the second inning, one in the fourth inning and one in the fifth, chasing Ventura after just four-plus innings of work. The Royals starter would give up six runs, on ten hits while striking out just two. Travis Ishikawa was hitting .056 with one RBI this season before his offensive explosion tonight. The first-baseman finished the night 3-for-5 with one run scored and four RBIs. One of those hits would be a two-run homerun in the fifth off reliever Kris Medlen. A.J Burnett picked up his eighth win of the season despite allowing six runs on 11 hits in six innings of work.

THE REST OF THE DETAILS

 SAVE CHANCES

• Joe Smith (1)
• Jonathan Papelbon (16)
• Joakim Soria (21)
• Aroldis Chapman (19)
• Jim Johnson (7)
• Mark Melancon (30)
• Brad Ziegler (15)
• John Axford (BS 2)

LINEUP MOVES

• Phillies select pitcher Aaron Nola from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Will start Tuesday vs Rays.
• Giants Reinstate Tim Hudson from DL to start vs Padres

INJURIES

• Kelly Johnson—day-to-day—(illness)
• Manny Parra—15-day DL—(elbow)
• J Ellis—15-day DL—(knee)
• Yasmani Grandal—day-to-day—(head)
• Miguel Rojas—day-to-day—(illness)
• Michael Cuddyer—day-to-day—(knee)
• Maikel Franco—day-to-day—(elbow)
• Chad Billingsley—15-day DL—(elbow)
• Francisco Cervelli—day-to-day—(wrist)
• Jordy Mercer—15-day DL—(leg)
• Justin Upton—day-to-day—(oblique)