2011 Fantasy Baseball Daily Fix: Cargo Flight Starting to Take Off
In only his second start back from the DL (shoulder), Francisco Liriano no-hit a full strength Rangers lineup for seven innings before falling short in the 8th. He threw eight innings of two-hit one-run ball, striking out nine and walking zero. Stunning to see him throw 65% strikes.
The Red Sox outscored the Blue Jays 30-5 in the final two games of the weekend series, and outhit them a staggering 35-8. The Sox box score is too jumbled to sort through, but one thing is for certain: Kyle Drabek needs a mechanical correction in the minors ASAP. Jon Lester does not, throwing eight innings of two-hit one-run ball K’ing eight along the way. He certainly avenged his last start against Toronto (5 1/3 IP, 5 ER, 12 total base runners).
Tommy Hanson whiffed 14 Astros over seven one-run innings, lowering his ERA to 2.48 and notching his 8th victory. 12 of the K’s came via the swing and miss, including striking out the side in his final frame of work. 112 pitches of pure domination.
James Loney recorded his second three-hit game of the season, going 3/5 with a grand slam and two runs scored. Is he finally coming around? In other news, Matt Kemp hit his NL leading 20th homer, his 7th dinger of the month.
The Yankees spanked 18-hits off Josh Tomlin and the Indians bullpen, with seven different players racking up multi-knock games. After homering in three consecutive games, Curtis Granderson contributed a 4/4 effort with two runs and two RBI. Slump busted.
The Indians stole five bases off the Freddy Garcia/Russell Martin battery, but could scratch across just one-run on the afternoon. The clutch hitting that was paramount during their phenomenal streak has gone by the wayside.
Miguel Olivo is a one-man wrecking crew. He hit two HR’s and drove in three runs on Sunday, padding his June totals to 6 HR and 14 RBI for the month. If Olivo’s stellar roll snuck under your radar, you’re not alone. Check the wire for the hot hand.
Mike Stanton’s 0-4 was no ordinary 0’fer: he left nine men on base, including 1st and 2nd on four different occasions. Despite his respectable RBI total of 39, he’s batting just .220 with RISP.
Ryan Howard entered Sunday’s game in a 3/22 tailspin over his previous six contests, but Doug Davis was the perfect medicine. Howard went 3/3 with three RBI and a BB.
Braves management can step back off the ledge, at least for a day. Dan Uggla left the park for the first time since May 15th, and drove in his first run since May 27th. He went 2/3 with two runs and two RBI. Still, his .183 mark is… not going to cut it.
And of course, congrats to the Dallas Mavericks!
(May 2, 2011 – Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images North America)
Written by Adam Ganeles exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com
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