Sunday: Gallardo Pitching For A Job, Pence Stays Hot

Johan Santana - 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. Just another day at the office for Johan.

Joe Nathan - 1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 K. He's back to giving up tons of hits, surrendering 9 in his last 4 outings. Some of it might have to do with the lack of save opportunities that the Twins are giving him, some of it has to do with his defense, and some of it has to do with him giving up more hard hit balls. His defensive efficiency rating is .618 this year, down over 100 points from the past 3 years, but part of that has to do with his skyhigh 0.30 LD%. After giving up 84 hits in 138 1/3 IP the last 2 years, he's given up 35 H in 31 1/3 IP this year. We can hope that he rebounds.

Joe Mauer - 2/4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR (3). 2 HR and 4 doubles in his past 5 games. He's showing some more power as he gets back into it, and owners can hope that he improves upon the 13 HRs he hit last year.

Miguel Cabrera - 2/4, solo HR (17). Back on pace for about 35 HRs this year. He's proving to be worth where he was selected in drafts, and the improved lineup around him will help his R and RBI totals.

Dustin McGowan - 9 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. About as good as it gets, but unfortunately McGowan lost his no hit bid against the first batter of the 9th inning. He's actually posted 6 QS in the past 7 appearances, so he's pitching pretty well right now.

Frank Thomas - 1/4, solo HR (12). 4 HRs in 7 games for the Big Hurt as he's now just 1 HR away from 500.

John Maine - 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K. His continued command improvement is a big reason why he's pitching as well as he is right now. Along with Oliver Perez and James Shields, he's definitely been one of the best WW finds for starting pitching this year. He could post the best stats of the 3 by the time the season is done.

Jack Cust - 1/4, solo HR (11). He's actually hitting .327 this month, and he's maintaining decent fantasy value. His current AVG of .268 is fairly reasonable given his skills.

Travis Hafner - 1/3. His AVG has crashed down to .255. I read he's implemented a new swing of some sort, but it's obviously not working very well. His HR/FB% is down to 15.9%, about half of last year. His GB% has shot up to 49%, about 10% higher than last year. It's obvious from those stats that he's not striking the ball well, and rolling over more balls with his swing. I still think, given his history, he's an excellent buy low. He has two straight seasons of .300, 30+ HR and 100+ RBI. At only 10 HR, I think he's due to break out big time in the 2nd half. Go get him.

Ty Wiggington - 2/3, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (13). He's proving to be quite a valuable fantasy asset as he has multiple infield position eligibility, and he's up to .280, 13 HR, and 38 RBI on the season. His power is the same no matter what the pitcher, but do note that he's hitting .319 against LHP and .268 against RHP.

Sean Marshall - 6 1/3 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 K. Another great start from Marshall. I found it curious that he was removed in the 7th inning after only 81 pitches. He had just induced a fly out, and there wasn't anyone on base. I dunno why Pinella took him out there as he was cruising along. No injury was reported.

Bob Howry - 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K, SV. Another save in place of Dempster. I'd pick him up. Oblique injuries, as I've stated before, are tricky to predict recovery from. There's a good chance Dempster ends up on the DL. Howry's pitching much better, and was a solid closer for the White Sox years ago. He might be worth more than just 2 saves.

Yovani Gallardo - 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. Unfortunately Turnblow came in and gave the game away, or else Gallardo would have picked up his 2nd win. He turned in another great performance, and he'll have one more start before Capuano returns. What happens then is anyone's guess...there's still a possibility that he gets sent back down despite his performance so far. He gets the Cubs next weekend.

Octavio Dotel - 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 K. Blew the save by allowing a HR to Corey Hart. Hart's hitting off anyone and everyone, so it's nothing to be concerned about.

Corey Hart - 1/5, 2 run, HR (10). His HR in the 9th off Dotel sent the game to extra innings. Unreal performance thus far.

Alex Gordon - 1/3, 1 R, 2 SB (9). He's really helping fantasy owners now in all 5 catagories. Amazing what happens when you can get yourself on base.

Cole Hamels - 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. A lengthy rain delay ended his outing early. No worries.

Jimmy Rollins - 2/5, 2 R, SB (14). .284, 13 HR, 45 RBI, 60 R, and 14 SB. His SB are a bit down from previous years, but he's been just a step behind Reyes and Ramirez at SS this year.

Tom Gorzelanny - 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. A QS against one of the best teams in the AL. Not much more could be asked from him in this matchup.

Francisco Rodriguez - 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. Very wild last night with 2 walks and 2 wild pitches. He walked a hitter, then 2 wild pitches got him to 3rd, and he allowed a single to bring in the tying run. Only his 2nd blown save of the season. After 31 pitches last night, I bet Shields gets the save chance tonight.

Chone Figgins - 1/2, 1 R, 2 SB (18). Continues his torrid post-injury pace. He's hitting .442 this month with 13 steals. Ridiculous.

Orlando Cabrera - 2/5, SB (9). A very nice lower tier SS this year as he's hitting .336, 4 HR, 44 RBI, 50 R, and 9 SB on the year. His SB are a bit down, but he's been very solid.

Mike Mussina - 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K. Another decent line in his final interleague start. I'm still wary about him once he starts facing more powerful AL lineups again.

Josh Beckett - 8 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. Business as usual for Beckett as he did what was expected facing a weak lineup in a pitcher's park. This seems to be the year that it all comes together for Beckett.

Jake Peavy - 5 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. The best pitching matchup of the year didn't quite materialize. He wasn't his sharpest last night, although it was one bad inning again. 5 of those hits all came in one inning, and most of them were weak singles. Still, he pitched pretty well against a great offense.

Ken Griffey Jr. - 3/4, 2 solo HR (21). Griffey has now passed Mark McGwire on the HR chart with 584 in his career. He's on fire as trade winds continue to swirl. He's such a huge draw for the Cincy faithful at this point, so I'm not sure whether he'll be traded or not. He hits HRs anywhere, so I don't see a trade impacting his fantasy value.

Chris Young - 2/4, 3 R, SB (8). His AVG hasn't been very good so far (.246), but with 10 HR and 8 SB, he's done a good job as a rookie in the first half of the season. Expect him to hit for a better AVG in the 2nd half.

Brian Roberts - 4/5, solo HR (4). He hasn't shown the same power he did in the first half of the 2005 season, but with a .324 AVG, 46 R, and 24 SB, he's definitely lived up to his draft position. He has 6 multi-hit games in his last 8.

Andrew Miller - 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. He's a permanent member of the Detroit rotation now, so make sure he's unowned in all leagues. This kid is going to be a good one.

Eric Gagne - 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB. Didn't perserve the tie in this one, but his ERA still stands at 1.29. He was due to give up a few runs, so owners should feel lucky it wasn't in a save chance.

Dan Wheeler - 2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. 3 HRs allowed as he blew 2 run leads in consecutive innings. Wheeler is a complete mess right now.

Hunter Pence - 4/6, 4 R, 1 RBI, HR (8). I said Guillen and Hart were the two hottest hitters in baseball right now, and I obviously forgot to include Pence in that catagory as well. Like I've been saying all along, though, he's not going to hit .350 all year. His 39:7 K:BB ratio just won't allow that to happen. He's a 5 catagory guy, though, so when his AVG slumps he should still be of some use. As I've been saying, you should shop him in redraft leagues and see what you can get.