Friday: Night Of The Walkoff HR

Orlando Hernandez - 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (4). Another solid outing from Hernandez as he has bounced back from his worst outing of the season against the Yankees and posted 2 great starts since. His 2.78 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in the first half of the season have been a great surprise for his owners.

John Maine - 8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, W (9). He concludes his improbable 1st half with a 2.74 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 84 K in 102 IP. He's only walked 4 hitters in his last 6 outings, so he's well past the control problems he was working through in the first two months.

Cole Hamels - 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 5 K. Terrible outing for Hamels as he battled control problems and gave up 2 more HRs. Luckily he limited the damage to only 3 ER for his owners' sake.

Billy Wagner - 2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 5 K, SV (16). He pitched in both games of the doubleheader yesterday. I'm sure owners would like to see a could more saves from a dominant closer on a very good team, but he's given his owners almost exactly what they've expected from him so far.

Carlos Delgado - 3/4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (12). I think the now 35 year old is showing his age. He's hitting a miserable .228, only has 12 HR, and has 44 RBI. Nobody expected much in the AVG department after he hit .265 last year, but he cranked 38 HR with 114 RBI. He should rebound some in the 2nd half, so I do think he's a decent buy low candidate, but he's past his prime so temper your expectations somewhat.

Carlos Beltran - 2/5, 2 solo HR (12). He apparently liked what Hamels was tossing up there last night, smacking both HRs off of him. He had 3 straight multi-hit games, but then cooled off for a few before hitting the HRs last night. He's due to get real hot here.

Yovani Gallardo - 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. Another great outing last night. I was able to watch him pitch yesterday afternoon. He does a good job locating his pitches, changing speeds, and mixing in his quality curveball with his fastball which topped out about 94 MPH last night. He has a changeup, but doesn't use it too much yet. He doesn't have A+ dominant stuff, but he does have very good stuff that he uses well. He's definitely going to be a good pitcher, and shows more polish than most pitchers his age.

Rich Hill - 3 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. He didn't have command of his curveball for most of this outing, and it showed in the results. Nothing to worry about here as it was just one of those bad outings.

Francisco Cordero - 2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, BS (3). Another pitcher who didn't have it last night. He was getting hit hard, and Derek Lee just missed one prior to A-Ram's walkoff bomb. He wasn't locating his fastball, and he was hanging his breaking stuff. He had put together 5 straight scoreless appearances since his rough spot earlier this month, so I wouldn't worry about this.

Carlos Marmol/Bob Howry - I'm not sure what's going on in the Cubs bullpen right now with Dempster out. Howry had converted 2 save chances in a row, but then working for the 4th time in 5 nights, he blew a save in his 3rd straight appearance. He got a night off the day after that, but then the following day with Howry presumably available, Marmol was used instead and pitched a perfect inning with 2 Ks. Last night in a game the Cubs weren't winning, Marmol was used in the 8th and Howry in the 9th. If I had to guess, I'd guess that Howry is still the closer given the bullpen arrangement used last night. Marmol definitely has the best pure stuff in that pen, Dempster or not. Since the Cubs have found a quality 5th starter in Marshall and are going to be in the playoff chase, I don't think Marmol will get his chance this season.

Kelvim Escobar - 4 1/3 IP, 10 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. If you own Escobar, you'll understand that he is due for one of these once in a while. As frustrating as it is, you can't really do anything about it. As long as his velocity was OK, this should be another one time thing.

Howie Kendrick - 2/5, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (4). He's had a great month, hitting .347 with 24 R. He really needs to add more HR and SB like I mentioned before, and hopefully those will come now that he's shaken off the after-effects of the broken finger.

Chuck James - 6 2/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (7). A very good outing for James last night, pushing his ERA down to 4.08. That 1.50 WHIP is a killer, and unfortunately he hasn't improved that number in any month. Unless you can afford that WHIP hit and an ERA around 4, I wouldn't use him in something other than a spot-starting role.

Jeff Francoeur - 4/5, 3 R, 1 RBI. He's heating up, and I think his buy-low window is about closed after going 8/9 the past two games. After only 8 HRs in the first half, I have to think he's due for a power surge as well.

Ben Francisco - In a night of walkoff HR, his was cool in the fact it was his first career HR. Congrats, Ben!

Johan Santana - 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (9). The Tigers offense? Who cares, it's Santana. It's scary to think his current 2.76 ERA is the best of his career heading into the All Star break.

Justin Verlander - 5 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, 5 BB, 5 K. Unfortunately this excellent pitching matchup failed to materialize as his command failed him last night. Oh well.

Joe Mauer - 1/3, 2 R, 4 RBI, GS (4). A big grand slam off Verlander last night for Mauer, the first of his career. I really hope his power starts developing in the 2nd half this year...it'll be the only way his owners will convert on the high draft slot he required this year.

Mike Mussina - 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (4). Mussina has been very good recently, only allowing 9 ER in his last 31 2/3 IP. He's definitely turned his season around, and I was wrong in saying that he was done as a useful fantasy starter. Make sure he's owned in your league.

Ian Snell - 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Nothing like a matchup with the Nationals to get well after a rough start. His offense didn't get him the support he needed to pick up the win. He caps his amazing first half with a 2.90 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP.

Kenny Lofton - 4/4, 4 SB (20). Huge game for those who had him active last night. With a .301 AVG and 51 R, he's been a solid speed OF. He's much better in Rotisserie where his SB droughts don't leave you with a worthless offensive player in your lineup.

Bronson Arroyo - 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. That's two solid starts in a row following 6 straight bad outings. Give some consideration to re-adding him, but I'd keep him benched for one more start just to be safe.

Josh Hamilton - 1/3, 2 run HR (13). Definitely on fire with 4 HR in his last 8 games. Keep him active while he hits like this.

Brian Fuentes - 2/3 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, BS (6). There's no closer pitching worse than Fuentes right now. In his last 4 outings, his stat line is 2 1/3 IP, 11 H, 8 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. That's just brutal for his owners, but you can't do anything other than hope he turns it around. I hope you sold high on him like I suggested...I just don't see him being on the Rockies roster or closing after the trading deadline.

Garrett Atkins - 2/5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR (12). After a vomit inducing first 2 months, Atkins has put up a June of .304, 8 HR, 23 RBI, 20 R, 1 SB. His minor league numbers don't support the 29 HRs he hit last year, but it's possible that he's a late bloomer. I'd be surprised if he hit more than 10 HRs or so in the 2nd half given that, but he should definitely be a .300 hitter with 50 or so RBIs. Maybe he'll show last year wasn't a fluke in the power department as an added bonus.

Lance Berkman - 2/5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (13). He's locked in now. His first 2 months weren't quite as bad as Atkins', but he's heated up similarly in June with a line of .297, 7 HR, 21 RBI, 19 R, 1 SB. If you can catch an owner looking more at his stats so far rather than last month, get him at a discount. Same goes for Atkins.

Zach Greinke - 2 2/3 IP, 1 H, 2 K, SV (1). With Octavio Dotel likely out the door come the trading deadline, Greinke will take over as the Royals closer. Go get him now...he's done quality work in a MR relief role and can at least help in ratios/Ks til he takes over as the closer.

J.J. Putz - 1 2/3 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K, SV (23). He lowered his ERA to a ridiculous 0.95. His last 3 save chances have been over an inning. I don't really like seeing a closer used like that, especially one who had elbow problems in the Spring, but I wouldn't worry too much unless he starts showing symptoms of being overworked.

Matt Morris - 7 IP, 10 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. Boy, he got lucky in this outing only giving up 1 ER. If you can get something valuable in return for him, I still suggest doing it. Your best bet might be combining him with another player for an upgrade.

Barry Bonds - 2/4, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (16). Owners are getting about what was expected from him, but since he seemed to fall quite far in both of mine, odds are you're getting good value from him.

Chris Young - 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, W (8). Another great outing from Young, and his owners are defintely getting more than they expected from him when they drafted him this year.

Juan Pierre - 3/5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 3 SB (29). With a .277 AVG and 45 R, he's really only a 1 1/2 catagory player. Still, if your lineup is strong enough around him, he's on pace for almost 60 SB, which is a huge boost for that catagory.