The resurrection story of Alex Gordon continues, as the former #2 overall selection extended his hitting streak to 18 games with a single in his final turn at bat.

John Lackey owners can stand back from the ledge, at least for the time being. Lackey produced his second consecutive sharp outing, throwing eight innings of shutout ball against the Angels, whiffing six and walking one. In more important news for Red Sox fans, Carl Crawford picked up two knocks and jacked his first homer of the “new” campaign.

Roy Halladay fanned a career-high tying 14 Padres in an 8 2/3-inning stroll in the park. However, the minor league caliber offense he faced diminished the magnitude of the effort. Brad Hawpe, amongst other San Diego bats (.214 team BA), should consider an alternate profession ASAP. Hawpe went 0/3 with two K's on Sunday, and is batting .098 on the year with 22 strikeouts in 51 AB. 

Dexter Fowler has now reached base in 18 of 19 games started (23 hits & 14 BB), going 2/4 with two runs against Josh Johnson and the Fish. In the opposing dugout, Mike Stanton extended his hitting streak to seven games with a GW three-run homer in the 8th inning. He has two HR, 5 RBI and 8 R during that seven game span.

At 41 years of age, Mariano Rivera‘s human characteristics are beginning to present themselves with greater frequency. He opened 2011 with seven saves and a win in 8 1/3 scoreless innings, but has faltered badly in his last two save chances: 2 1/3 IP six hits, three earned runs and two blown saves against Toronto and Baltimore.

David Wright, a.k.a. “Mr. Mechanical”, has officially snapped out of his 0/16 funk with six hits, three HR, six RBI, seven runs and three stolen bases in his last four. A notoriously streaky performer, he’s due for another slump any moment now.

In 11 games since returning from Appendicitis, Adam Dunn has been mired in a 4/41 slump, striking out 21 times and driving in just three runs. He’s now hitting .145 on the year and .143 with RISP. His teammate, Alex Rios, got the day off Sunday in the midst of a 0/20 funk (.160). The heart of the White Sox order is really producing in spades…

Tigers’ catcher Alex Avila is batting .321 with 14 RBI. Where did this come from? His near namesake, Royals infielder Mike Aviles, is starting to make amends for a horrific start. Aviles went 3/5 on Sunday, with two HR, four RBI, two runs scored and a SB. His BA has climbed to .236.

Ryan Howard picked up two more hits against left-handed pitching. He looks mighty comfortable versus the southpaws with a .333 average in 27 AB (career .234).

With his awful spring now a distant memory, Drew Storen has regained the closer role in D.C. He’s pitching to a 0.71 ERA and 0.87 WHIP in 12 2/3 innings of work, and converted three of three save opportunities this week.

Prince Fielder would like everyone to know that–wait for it–he's got wheels! Fielder legged out his first triple of the year (9th of his career) and drove his ML leading 22nd run in the process. His hit distribution continues to heavily favor the left and center of the diamond. It's working.

Injury news: Aaron Hill (hamstring), Scott Rolen (shoulder) and Jose Contreras (elbow) all have been placed on the 15-day DL.

(September 25, 2010 – Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images North America)

Written by Adam Ganeles exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com

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