Monday's Slight Of Games: Wang Gets Pounded

Matt Cain - 7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. Another solid stat line, but he was again the victim of horrible run support. The Giants offense is just absolutely horrible, and it's that much worse when Bonds doesn't play. Unrelated, but continue to target spot starters against the Giants. In terms of Cain, you just can't count on him to put up more than 2-3 wins over the rest of the year, even though he's definitely pitching much better.

Paul Maholm - 9 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K. That's great, but as mentioned above, it came against the Giants. He's working on his 3rd straight sub 4.00 ERA month, but with the lack of Ks and wins combined with the fact he isn't this good, and I'm not going to recommend him in mixed leagues.

Noah Lowry - 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 3 K, W (13). He has an impressive 3.28 ERA on the season now, but he's combined that with a hideous 1.46 WHIP and 79 K in 142 2/3 IP. He's fool's gold and due for an ERA correction in a big way, but as with Garland earlier, you might as well ride out the hot streak if you can stomach the WHIP.

Shannon Stewart - 4/5, 3 R. He's sporting a nice .303 AVG on the season, and despite the modest contribution with 10 SB, he's not really doing much for your fantasy team with 9 HR, 36 RBI, and only 59 R despite hitting leadoff with a good AVG.

Jeremy Guthrie - 4 2/3 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. Further poundings are being laid down on Guthrie, who's ERA has shot up to 3.50. Hope you sold high on him back around the AS break.

Chien Ming-Wang - 6 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. That's 2 straight bad outings from Wang, who's seen his ERA shoot up to 4.09 and his WHIP shoot up to 1.30. He's sporting a 8.04 ERA and a 1.79 WHIP this month so far. Hopefully he gets back on track. I traded for him in a deadline deal since I needed wins, and thanks to 2 wild pitches in the 7th by Ron Villone, the 5th run came around to score, and then Rivera blew the save despite having a runner thrown out at home. I hate the damn wins catagory.

Corey Patterson - 2/5, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (6), SB (33). He continues his post AS break assault, upping his numbers to .347 with 4 Hr, 14 RBI, 23 R and 15 SB in 29 games since the AS break. He's clearly re-established himself as the bigtime speed threat with solid pop that we saw break out last season, and he's acclimated himself well as the #2 hitter.

Bobby Abreu - 1/4, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (12). Post AS break assault #2. He's hitting .333 with 7 HR, 38 RBI, and 27 R in 30 games. That's compared to .263 with 5 HR, 41 RBI, and 59 R in 85 games before the AS break. He's clearly back as a fantasy stud in the OF, and the recent power outburst has been 2 years coming.

James Shields - 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Shields has rebounded nicely in his last 3 starts, allowing 5 ER over his last 19 2/3 IP with 20 K and 3 BB. That includes a matchup with Detroit, and then against Boston last night. Unfortunately due to the stagnant TB offense, he's only picked up 1 win in that span. He's re-emerged as a solid mixed league option.

Alex Rios - 2/3, RBI. Rios has cooled off in a big way in the power department, only homering 3 times in his last 42 games, but he's raised his AVG from .293 to .306 in that time frame and is still scoring plenty of runs. The HR/RBI should rebound eventually, but he's making himself useful despite the power outage.

Johan Santana - 7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K. The relatively mediocre starts continue for Santana, and with the dreadful Minnesota offense, it's not getting him any wins despite him pitching well by normal standards. I know you want to drop his sorry ass, but I encourage you not to.

Felix Hernandez - 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Felix turned in his best outing since his last 2 starts versus Oakland. He's someone you have to worry about matchups with, unfortunately, but he's showing the consistency to shut down weak offenses at least. Pitch inefficiency (110 pitches through 6 innings) kept him back from going deeper, and then the bullpen handed the lead away the very next inning to prevent a win. It'd be nice to see him turn in one of these outings against a quality offense.

Joe Mauer - 3/4, 2 RBI, SB (7). He's hitting .364 in August so far, but thanks to the horrible offense around him and his continued lack of power, he's not helping in any other catagory right now.

Roy Oswalt - 8 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (13). I told you he'd bounce back. Oswalt has been his dominant self over the past 5 starts, allowed 3 ER over 33 IP with 26 K and 8 BB. He's back on a roll as a fantasy ace right now.

Chad Billingsley - 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 7 K. The Ks were there, per usual, but his control failed him once again. The roller coaster ride continues.

Chad Qualls - 1 IP, 1 K, SV (3). Qualls picked up the save chance with Lidge pitching the past 3 games, and converted flawlessly. He's valuable insurance for Lidge owners, and clearly 2nd in line should Lidge implode again later on this year.