Welcome to the TheFantasyFix.com’s nightly fantasy baseball recap, where you’ll find updates on bullpen usage, lineup construction, injuries, and transactions. No matter the format, we’ve got you covered on everything you need to know to help you win your league.

What’s not mentioned below: Before Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Nathan Karns hit a solo home run today in the teams 1-0 win over the Phillies, no pitcher (AL or NL) had ever homered and accounted for the only run of a 1-0 victory in interleague play. So, there’s that. Its worth mentioning that the home run was off of Phillies’ top pitching prospect Aaron Nola in his first career start. Despite the loss, Nola had a strong debut, giving up just the one run across six innings of work, walking one and striking out six. Justin Turner and Yasiel Puig both homered for the Dodgers, though it wasn’t enough as they fell to the Atlanta Braves, 4-3. Nathan Eovaldi was solid in his start tonight for the Yankees, tossing 5.2 innings of two run ball, walking three and striking out four in the team’s 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles. Eovaldi simply ran out of gas in the sixth, and he was unable to finish the inning. Mark Teixeira went 2-4 for the Bronx Bombers in the win. Matt Holliday snapped a 25-game streak without a home run tonight, blasting a grand slam that lifted the St. Louis Cardinals over the Chicago White Sox, 8-5. Pirates’ ace Gerrit Cole took a tough luck loss tonight, slipping to 13-4 after letting up three runs (two earned), across 7.2 innings of work with six strikeouts against the Kansas City Royals. The Houston Astros scored seven unanswered runs to top the Boston Red Sox, 8-3. Jose Altuve went 2-3 with a stolen base and two runs scored in the win. The Red Sox have lost six straight games. The Cubs and Reds are currently in the 13^th inning of their game, with the Cubs leading 5-4 thanks to rookie Kyle Schwarber’s two home runs (one to tie it in the ninth, one to take the lead in the 13^th). He’s good at baseball. Shin-Soo Choo (!!!) hit for the cycle tonight in the Rangers 9-0 win over the Colorado Rockies. Prince Fielder went 2-4 with a home run in the team’s win.

IF YOU ONLY READ ONE THING…

To be honest, I don’t think there is a ton of us that expected for the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners to combine for 20 runs tonight, but this is why we love baseball! Mariners’ starter Taijuan Walker gave up 5+ runs in his third straight start, bringing his ERA up to an ugly 5.06 on the season. Walker has been up and down all season, though before his recent skid it seemed as if he was starting to figure things out and slowly starting to become the No. 1 starter we all expect him to be. Robinson Cano went 3-4 for the Mariners, scoring two runs and driving in a run of his own. If you didn’t buy low on Cano, it may be too late now. Cano is starting to look like his old self at the plate, and he has recently rediscovered his power stroke as well, hitting three home runs in his last four games, and seven since June 22nd. Speaking of the long ball, if you weren’t able to see Nelson Cruz’s home run, I suggest you look it up. Wow. Just wow. Shane Greene continued to be terrible in this start, giving up five runs in 4.2 innings of work. Greene had gotten out to a great start at the beginning of the season, and it was starting to see that the Tigers had won the trade that netted them Greene, but his ERA currently sits at 6.52, and it should be time for the team to consider taking him out of the rotation, especially as they continue to fall out of the playoff race. He is still just 26 years old, and I do not doubt his talent, but the team needs to win games now, and I don’t see it happening every fifth day if he continues to take the mound. Oh, and by the way, if the Tigers want to win, don’t employ Neftali Feliz; there’s a reason that the Rangers and their 4.46 bullpen ERA didn’t even want him. Feliz came into the game with the Tigers leading by two, but quickly gave up five runs and eventually, cost the Tigers a win. J.D. Martinez hit his 27^th home run of the season for the Tigers in the loss.

JUST AS WE EXPECTED…

I wrote in this spot a couple weeks ago about how Jacob deGrom doesn’t get treated like the ace that he truly is, and every fifth day he comes out and flat out dominates. As one would expect, that didn’t change much today for right-hander against the Washington Nationals. deGrom earned his 10^th win of the season after tossing six innings of two run ball, giving up three hits and striking out eight batters. In just his second big league season, degrom has established himself as one of the deadliest pitchers in the game, and he will be in the mix for the NL CY Young award this year, along with pitchers Zack Greinke and Max Scherzer. The win was an important one for the Mets, as they try to hang on to playoff hopes and gain some ground on the Nationals in the NL East. Shortstop Wilmer Flores led the offense for the Mets tonight, going 2-4 with two runs batted in. It’s not secret that the Mets have struggled mightily offensively this season, but perhaps the best way to go about upgrading the offense is calling up outfield prospect Michael Conforto, who was the Mets’ first round selection in the 2014 draft. For the people that say there is no need to rush Conforto, here are the batting averages of the left-handed hitters the Mets have promoted to the majors this season: .154, .172, .178, and .206. Conforto does not have to be the savior for the team, but it’s pretty clear that he would at least be an upgrade over what they currently have. If he struggles early on, send him back down. If the team isn’t going to make any moves to upgrade the offense, promoting Conforto to the show would seem to make the most sense. Conforto is slashing .325/.407/.531 across 182 at-bats at the Double-A level.

BUT WE DIDN’T SEE THIS COMING…

Matt Garza outdueled Cleveland Indians’ starter Danny Salazar today in the Brewers 8-1 win over the Cleveland Indians. The Brewers’ offense was able to get to Salazar early in the game, thanks largely to shortstop Jean Segura’s big offensive day. Segura went 3-4 with a home run, two runs scored and two runs batted in, while also stealing his 14^th base of the year. Salazar struck out eight across his six innings of work, walking three and giving up three runs. This continues to be the story for the Indians this season, their starters turning in quality outings but the offense doing little-to-nothing to help support the rotation. Among those who had a strong offensive day for the Brew Crew was Gerardo Parra, who went 2-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Parra is hitting .315 in what is without a doubt his best season to date, and don’t be surprised if the team moves him prior to the trade deadline. For a team that has seemingly been out of contention all season, the Brewers could get a nice return for Parra from a team that doesn’t want to pay the premium for the more sought-after outfielders on the market. The start for Garza was an encouraging one, as he could also been on the move to a team that needs some pitching help, though the return for him would be extremely small, depending on how much money Milwaukee would be willing to eat on his contract.

THE REST OF THE DETAILS

SAVE CHANCES

Andrew Miller (21)

Brad Boxberger (24)

J.J. Hoover (Blown Save)

Jim Johnson (8)

Carson Smith (8)

Trevor Rosenthal (28)

Greg Holland (21)

LINEUP MOVES

Billy Hamilton, Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, Ben Revere all held out their respective lineups.

INJURIES

Jason Vargas – Day-to-day – (Elbow)

Brett Anderson – Day-to-day – (Achilles)

RUMORS & TRANSACTIONS

As we approach the July 31^st non-waiver trade deadline, teams start to get a better indication of whether they will be buying or selling prior to the deadline. Of the teams interested in adding pieces before the deadline, the Houston Astros are reportedly in the mix for Phillies’ ace Cole Hamels, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported this afternoon. The southpaw’s name has been mentioned in trade dicussions with various teams for some time now, including the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers, among others. There have been whispers throughout the season that the Astros could make a play for Hamels, but now with the deadline approaching and the team sitting two games behind the Angels in the AL West, the time to go for it is now.