Monday: Morneau and Thomas 2 HRs A Piece

Jon Lester - 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (1). The AL's answer to the Josh Hamilton story. Lester returned to the majors last night after successfully battling cancer, winning his first start against a powerful Cleveland offense. I'm not sure what his mixed league fantasy value will be, but with Tavarez likely done as a starter, he now has a permanent rotation spot.

Manny Ramirez - 2/4, 1 R, 2 RBI. Keep it going Manny, we're loving this.

Johan Santana - 5 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. He left numerous pitches up and over the plate, and all 6 runs scored on 4 HRs. Just a bad night with his command, so nothing to worry about.

Frank Thomas - 2/3, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR (16). He hasn't shown the same power as last year with only 16 HR through almost 4 months, but he's been a lower tier UTIL option hitting over .290 the past two months. Unfortunately that's only translated to 28 RBI and 21 R.

Justin Morneau - 2/4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR (28). Morneau is up to .342 this month with 8 HR and 24 RBI, giving him a very good chance of taking home player of the month honors. Let's hope he doesn't continue his trend of subpar odd months in August.

Aaron Harang - 10 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K. Yes, 10 innings, and no, he didn't win. A very nice performance from Harang wasted by the inability to score runs. He had a fairly rough April and May, posting 2 months worth of an ERA over 4, but he's been under 3.00 the past two months to post a season ERA of 3.45. He's still been right on par with last year and he's met expectations so far this year.

Chad Billingsley - 9 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (7). When his control doesn't fail him, this is what he's capable of. He's the kind of pitcher who will be unpredictable with when his command and thus his performance will be solid, so don't frustrate yourself with when he'll be on/off and start him each time out. The numbers should balance out in your favor by season's end.

Jeff Kent - 4/4, 1 R, 2 RBI. He's now up to .417 this month. With only 13 HR through almost 4 months he's not the power threat he used to be, but his season AVG is back up to .292 and he's been a valuable fantasy 2B all year long.

James Loney - 1/4, 3 run HR (4). He's going to be a fantasy contributor sometime soon, but since he hits so low in the lineup and plays 1B, don't use him this season. He could be a young sleeper for next season, though.

Roger Clemens - 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (3). What you'd expect against the Royals. I wouldn't start him against great offenses like the Red Sox because he's not missing enough bats to be successful against them.

Alex Rodriguez - 1/3, 1 R, 1 RBI. 100 RBI on the season for A-Rod in 98 games, the first Yankee in history to drive in 100 runs before the 100th game. Given the rich tradition of the Yankees franchise, that shows you what type of season that A-Rod is having.

Andrew Miller - 4 2/3 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 7 K. A typical wild night from a young pitcher. He's usually not this hittable, so this was an anomaly for this talented rookie.

Mark Buehrle - 6 1/3 IP, 14 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. His ERA was due to rise, so fortunately it came against the Tigers, and not all of you were guaranteed to have him active. No worries here.

Curtis Granderson - 3/3, 2 R, 4 RBI, HR (14). A rare big game from Granderson against a LHP. He's still only hitting .190 against them, so this was definitely out of character for him. If he could ever conquer his hitting woes against LHP, who knows what type of fantasy numbers he could put up.

Kevin Millwood - 5 1/3 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 4 K. That's back-to-back medicore outings from Millwood since I suggested using him as a starter. He's capable of pitching very well over the rest of the season, so I'd give him another chance depending on the matchup.

Eric Gagne - 1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER. Man, who hates when their closers enter non-save situations? This is yet another example of why fantasy owners hate when it happens...they rarely have the same mentality, and thus the same results, even if it's a 4 run lead instead of a 3 run lead. The Rangers are rumored to be trying to sign Gagne to a multi-year extension, but it's likely a very small offer.

Sammy Sosa - 2/4, 1 R, 5 RBI, HR (15). An interesting note on Sosa, he's mashing LHP at a .338 pace. Unfortunately he has 3 times as many at-bats against RHP, so he's not really a platoon option with that few at-bats. Those who own him just have to swallow the horrible .242 AVG. It's like pre-roids Sosa!

Greg Maddux - 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. Maddux bucked his bad history at Coors Field with this performance, but his bullpen blew the lead and then the game. That's two straight good starts from Maddux after a rough 3 start patch, but he's still winless in 5 straight.

Jeff Francis - 6 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. This is starting to become a problem as Francis has given up 5 ER in 4/6 appearances. Gotta start to question if he's worth being on your roster at this point as this is his 2nd month in 4 that he's had an ERA above 6.00. Plus he gave up a stolen base to Greg Maddux, which is quite funny.

Brad Hawpe - 2/4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (18). The .301 AVG, 18 HR, 66 RBI, and 52 R look great on the stat sheet, but beware of his disgusting performance against LHP: .190, 1 HR, 10 RBI. I didn't notice this before, but it looks like you should be platooning him.

Orlando Hudson - 2/4, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (8). He's also into this alternating productive months, hitting ,352 in April, .232 in May, .319 in June, and .239 so far in July. However, the 51 RBI and 43 R are solid totals for a 2B, as is the overall .290 AVG.

Mike Piazza - 2/5, 1 R, 4 RBI, HR (2). His first HR since April. He'll get it going sooner or later, and he should still be viewed as one of the better fantasy catchers around. Go get him if an owner doesn't think so, and you have a hole at the position. There's some trade rumors swirling around, so hopefully he stays in the AL as a DH.

John Smoltz - 7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (10). Just what you expect against a weak offense like SF. It appears the troublesome shoulder is behind him for now, but given his age it could affect him again later on in the season.

Matt Cain - 4 1/3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K. Now he's just pitching badly. He's too talented to drop, but bench him until he proves otherwise.

Brian McCann - 1/4, 3 RBI. He's hitting .300 this month with 4 HR and 16 RBI, including .323 since the AS break. Let's hope he's back as the same hitter he was last season.