IF YOU READ ONLY ONE THING…

After the near perfect game for Max Scherzer in Washington D.C. yesterday, it was the Nationals offense catching all the highlights on Sunday. The Nationals chased Pirates starter Charlie Morton from the game with a nine run first inning. In fact, those nine runs would be the only runs scored by the Nationals in the game. The Nationals first inning included another Bryce Harper home run, his 24^th of the season. Harper followed up his home run Saturday after a hamstring injury had sidelined him. Harper now owns a league leading wRC+ of 224. Harper’s price is only going to go higher in daily leagues but will always be worthy of consideration in cash games and as part of a Nationals’ stack in tournaments.

JUST AS WE EXPECTED…

The Orioles and Blue Jays’ offenses did exactly what you would expect out of the sixth and first scoring offenses respectively on Sunday as they combined for a total of 22 runs scored. Neither of the starters for Baltimore or Toronto pitched through the second inning. Jose Bautista continues to not miss a beat hitting his fourteenth home run of the year and added four runs batted in. Chris Davis also added a home run for the Orioles in their 13-9 victory. Especially against the Blue Jays, red flags must be raised when considering starting a pitcher against either of these teams right now as both of their offenses are scoring runs at a torrid pace.

BUT WE DIDN’T SEE THIS COMING…

Coming into Sunday, many thought Michael Wacha was a safe daily fantasy starter going against the anemic Philadelphia Phillies lineup. However, Wacha had to labor through five innings giving up five earned runs and eight hits. Wacha’s K/BB ratio remained high at seven strikeouts and one walk. Wacha failed to go over five innings for the first time since May 14^th. Hopefully, this is a blip on the radar for Wacha and he will continue to be a reliable fantasy starter going forward.

J.D. Martinez took Masahiro Tanaka to task on Sunday afternoon belting three home runs for the Tigers and leading Detroit to a 12-4 victory over the Yankees. The other Martinez in the Tigers’ lineup, Victor Martinez, also had a big day adding a home run with four runs batted in. J.D. Martinez was expected to be a breakout candidate coming into this year but still needs to get on base at a higher rate to reach the levels people thought he could. If he can raise his OBP, he’s in a good position to be an effective fantasy player with the lineup that he has in front of him.

THE REST OF THE DETAILS

SAVE CHANCES

–Aroldis Chapman, CIN (15)

–Tyler Clippard, OAK (12)

–Andrew Chafin, ARI (1)

–Jim Johnson, ATL (4)

–Brett Cecil, TOR (blown save)

INJURIES

–Jered Weaver was placed on 15-day DL with left hip inflammation on Sunday.

–Freddie Freeman remained out of the starting lineup with a right wrist injury and is considered day-to-day.

–Jeremy Hellickson exited his start early on Sunday with a back injury. His status is currently unknown but the injury should not keep him sidelined for long.

–Adam Jones was out of the lineup with a right shoulder and the Orioles report that he is day-to-day.

-Both Pablo Sandoval and Blake Swihart for the Red Sox are both considered day-to-day and should return this week.