Thursday: Manny Being Manny At The Plate, Finally

Oliver Perez - 6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K. Perez gave up 5 runs, but all were unearned. He cruised through 5 innings, but then his own throwing error lead to a run with one out. 2 popouts followed, and then a grounder hit David Wright in the knee for an infield single, and a 3 run HR followed before a walk and a K ended the inning. Unfortunately Perez's night was done at that point, although the damage was mostly all his fault other than the lucky infield single. Still, the 9:1 K:BB ratio was nice to see, even if it was against the impatient Pirates.

Dave Bush - 5 1/3 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. A tough outing for Bush, although many tough outings are encountered in Cincy against the Reds. This isn't anything to worry about for those of you using him.

Francisco Cordero - 1 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, BS (4). He blew the save in the 9th, then gave away the game in the 10th. I'm not sure why he was left in after the blown save, but these are the first 2 ER he's given up this month, so he had bounced back nicely after a horrible June.

Ryan Braun - 3/5, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (17), SB (9). With Hunter Pence out with a broken bone in his wrist, the NL ROY is pretty much wrapped up for Braun. He continues to defy logic pertaining to rookies as he's up to .352 on the year. This is one of the best offensive rookie seasons we've seen to date.

Ken Griffey Jr. - 3/4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (25). He's only hitting .234 this month, but he does have 4 HR and 17 RBI to make up for it. He's another guy prone to going on big hot streaks, so this might be the start of another one. If you're a team that can't afford an injury to your OF, try to trade him for someone producing similarly so you don't run into the likelihood of him getting hurt again, which is rather high given his history in Cincy.

Carl Crawford - 2/5, 1 RBI, SB (32). He was also caught stealing in the contest, making him 32/40 for the season. The 80% conversion rate is very good, and the .290 AVG isn't too bad either. He's right on pace with last year's 89 R pace, which is a bit disappointing, but Tampa just doesn't have much thunder in their lineup.

B.J. Upton - 2/3, 1 R, 1 RBI. His 13 SB are quite disappointing so far from someone expected to reach 40 SBs this season if given ample playing time, but all his other stats are definitely beyond expectations. He left the game early and some feared the he had re-injured his quad, but it was simple cramps and he'll be back today.

Brian Roberts - 1/2, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (7), SB (30). He's not producing the same power numbers as 2005, but he's having another great year for a fantasy 2B and is playing like a top shelf option at the position, just as he was drafted to be.

Justin Verlander - 7 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K. This type of outing wouldn't normally lead to 3 ER, but he bunched a couple baserunners and hits together in the same inning, scoring all 3 ER. The weak Tigers bullpen gave away the game at the end, even though there was no save opportunity. Expect the Tigers to acquire some relief help, which should slightly help Verlander's value by increasing his chances for wins.

Tim Lincecum - 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (6). His only mistake was a 2 run HR. He's been one of the best fantasy pitchers in baseball this month, posting a 1.62 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and 38 K in 33 1/3 IP while winning 4 of his 5 starts. Redraft playoff teams should move him with the assumption that he'll be shut down early come fantasy playoff time.

Jeff Francoeur - 1/4, 2 run HR (11). Ask and ye shall receive. This is exactly the Francoeur I wanted when I posted about him yesterday!

Kason Gabbard - 4 2/3 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. He shouldn't have been started against the Indians anyways, and with Lester remaining in the rotation and Schilling due back soon, there's no reason to hang onto him now.

Manny Ramirez - 3/4, 4 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR (17). He continues his scorching hot streak since the AS break, raising his numbers since then to .415, 6 HR, 19 RBI, and 16 R in 15 games. It's going to take a nice August and September, but will anyone honestly be surprised if he reaches 30 HR and 100 RBI again?

Ryan Garko - 1/4, 3 run HR (13). Another hot hitter post AS break as he's hitting .463 with 4 HR, 12 RBI, and 10 R in 13 games.

Wandy Rodriguez - 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (7). I really wanted to spot-start him yesterday in this game, but he didn't clear waivers in time. This was a perfect matchup for him against a K-prone SD lineup. He remains a fringe mixed league option.

Carlos Lee - 1/3, 2 run HR (21). He's on a nice little power surge, homering 5 times in 10 games. He's back on pace for another 30 HR season, and his 83 RBI are good for 2nd in the NL.

Jorge De La Rosa - 5 1/3 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. This was an interesting start facing A-Rod since De La Rosa had served up his 400th career HR earlier, so had A-Rod homered last night, he would have surrendered his 500th career HR as well. Instead he intentionally walked him and hit him. Jerk.

Derrek Lee - 1/3, solo HR (9). His first road HR of the year, amazingly enough. Again, there's really no reason why his HRs are down this year, so like Matsui before him, hopefully he's ready to start sending some balls out of the park. I think expecting 8-10 HR over the rest of the year is reasonable.

Albert Pujols - 2/4, 2 R, 5 RBI, HR (23). He had been hitless in the series against the Cubs prior to becoming an RBI machine last night. I think he made up for it.

Chris Duncan - 1/2, GS (20). If only he could face RHP all season long.

Brad Penny - 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, W (13). Not his best performance, but good enough to become the NL's 2nd 13 game winner last night. His blister is behind him, and his post-AS break ERA of 3.26 is more befitting of his 1.19 WHIP, plus he's won all 3 games. Perhaps he'll finally shake that post-AS problem he's had?

Takashi Saito - 1 IP, 1 BB, 1 K, SV (26). Saito returned last night from a cranky shoulder and notched the save. It appears he's good to go, although further problems can't be ruled out for the 37 year old. As a reminder, go handcuff him with Broxton before your league's trading deadline to be safe.

Eric Byrnes - 1/4, 3 run HR (15), SB (27). Another fine 5 catagory statline for Byrnes last night, who delivered a walkoff HR against batting practice pitcher Armando Benitez.

Dan Haren - 7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (12). His best start in over a month, although he's hardly been getting lit up. He's been the most consistent fantasy pitcher in baseball this year in terms of quality starts in his breakthrough year.