Brett Gardner picked up his third 3-hit game in four days, scoring three runs and stealing his 25th and 26th bases. After a .194 April, he’s above .300 for the third consecutive month.

It took him long enough, but Hanley Ramirez appears to FINALLY be hitting his stride. Ramirez picked up another two hits, blasted his 9th homer and swiped his 16th bag in the Marlins 7-5 triumph. He’s driven in 11 runs over the past nine games and 41 total.

Gio Gonzalez rebounded from a poor outing at Texas (4 IP 7 R 3 ER) to shutout the Angels over seven, four-hit innings. The southpaw whiffed eight against two walks, and his 2.32 ERA speaks for itself. With any run support he’d have the peripherals of a legit ace.

Daniel Murphy went 2/3 with two runs and two BB in the series finale against Philadelphia, and has now hit in 19 of 21 games. He’s batting .384 in July and .315 overall. Defense, you say?

Zack Cozart notched two hits, including his first major league HR, and scored two runs in the Reds 3-1 victory over St. Louis. The 25-year old has a .400 BA through 25 plate appearances. He came to the support of Homer Bailey who pitched 7 1/3 innings of three-hit one-run ball. Bailey isn’t missing bats (4 K: 3 BB) or recording outs on the ground (9 FB outs), but for today his effort was more than sufficient.

Freddie Freeman’s only hit was a critical one, a two-out walk off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat Washington in comeback fashion. He also drew two walks on the afternoon. Freeman has driven in 13 runs in 13 July contests and looks supremely confident right now.

Hitting in the number three spot must appeal to Jeff Keppinger. He left the yard for a second straight game, going 3/5 with three runs and two RBI. Nevertheless, do not expect continued power output from the punching Judy second baseman.

Pirates’ batters struck out 16 times in an 11-inning victory over Houston. Five different hitters took the whiff multiple times, including four from Chase d’Arnaud who went 0/6. Wandy Rodriguez K'd 11 in 5 2/3 innings, but surrendered eight hits, three free passes and four ER. That’s one bizarre pitching line.

Felipe Paulino can’t buy a W for the Royals, but the K’s keep coming. He struck out eight in seven innings at Minnesota, and now has 32 in his last 28 innings of work. Despite giving up a lot of hits, the hard thrower is beginning to harness his stuff and command the zone more effectively.

Mitch Moreland, who had been an 0’fer machine as of late, made his one knock count smacking a three-run dinger to account for the entirety of the Rangers offense. On June 16th he was hitting .300 on the button, and is now wallowing at .267. His overtly pull-happy approach is getting him in serious trouble.

Written by Adam Ganeles exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com

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(July 3, 2011 – Photo by Mark Hirsch/Getty Images North America)