Wednesday - Our First 30 Run Game In 100+ Years

Esteban Loaiza - 7 2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (1). Loaiza pitched for the first time this year after returning from knee surgery, and he pitched quite well. He doesn't have the stuff necessary to get hitters out unless his velocity is up, and it was apparently up yesterday. He could have fringe mixed league value in the final month, but I'd make him prove his worth in his next start.

A.J. Burnett - 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K. A Matt Stairs error opened up a 4 run floodgate in the 7th inning. Had that error not been committed, we might have been looking at 7 scoreless innings and a win. Burnett has pitched great since returning, and his pitch counts has remained reasonable, so hopefully he'll finish strong.

Jack Cust - 1/3, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (21). Cust has hit .333 with 4 HR and 15 RBI in August, turning in one of his finest months in this surprise season. His K rate remains at an alarming level with 20 K in 19 G this month, but with 20 BB, he's evening things out. He remains a solid 2 catagory, borderline 3 catagory OF worth owning in all leagues.

Carlos Silva - 7 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (10). Silva has been on fire this month, posting a 1.61 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP. His K rate remains bad with only 17 K in 28 IP, and with a WHIP no less than 1.23 and usually in the 1.40 in other months along with his career, he's only an option if you want to ride out a hot streak. Don't count on him keeping this up.

Michael Cuddyer - 1/4, 1 R, 4 RBI, GS (13). With a .276 AVG and only 13 HR, Cuddyer has not matched his breakout season last year. Now that he's hitting lower in a suddenly weak Twins offense, he's not much of a fantasy option in mixed leagues.

Paul Konerko - 1/4, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (25). Back to back HR games for Konerko who has been the Konerko of old after a slow start the first few months. He'll likely reach 30 HR again barring injury, but with only 69 RBI right now and the lack of anyone getting on base in front of him, his 4th straight 100 RBI season won't happen. He's been a fantasy disappointment this year between the slow start and weak lineup around him.

Kason Gabbard - 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (6). Hard to lose when given 30 runs of support. In fact, I'd argue it's damn near impossible. He's been surprising so far for the Rangers, posting a 3.51 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP since coming over from Boston in the trade for Eric Gagne. He'll likely settle in as a middle-of-the-rotation starter for the Rangers in the upcoming years, but his lack of Ks and average WHIP makes him a poor bet for the final month.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia - 4/6, 5 R, 7 RBI, 2 HR (4). He hasn't been as good as I thought he would be in Texas so far, but he sure made up for a lot of problems with his monster game yesterday in the 30-3 blowout. He's hitting .219 with 4 HR, 12 RBI, and 12 R in 19 G with the Rangers so far, but obviously those are mostly padded by last night's performance. Still, those are solid overall numbers minus the AVG for a C, so I'd stick with him if you're still starting him.

C.J. Wilson - 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K, SV (7). Well, I missed the boat here. Benoit was the stated closed everywhere until Wilson started saving games, and even then many outlets stated that it was due to matchups. There's no question now that Wilson is the Ranger's closer for the rest of the year, and he's been excellent since taking over the role, with 11 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, and 11 K.

Justin Verlander - 4 IP, 10 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. Bonderman must have taught him how to pitch in the 2nd half. Joking aside, he's been horrible after the AS break, posting a 5.83 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP with a .286 BAA to boot. He's very likely worn down from pitching deep into last year when he wasn't used to it, and then following that up with a full season this year. I've been warning about this for a while, but it's definitely come true. Unfortunately it's too late for those who still own him to do anything about it other than hope he'll finish strong.

Carlos Guillen - 2/5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (17). He's at .305, 17 HR, 82 RBI, 68 R, and 11 SB on the year. He's in the ballpark in AVG, will probably surpass HR and RBI, but will fall a bit short on R and SB this year, although he's spent far more time this year hitting deeper into the order. Considering how close he is to last year's numbers and how far he fell in many drafts this year, he's been a steal.

Derek Lowe - 7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (10). Much better. Hopefully Lowe has finally overcome his back injury and can resume pitching like he was prior to it.

Matt Kemp - 4/6, 3 R, 2 RBI. He's hitting .335 so far this year, albeit in limited time with 64 G. He's hit 8 HR, 30 RBI, 32 R, and 5 SB, showing what he can do given playing time. He'll likely be a nice late round target next year as his talent definitely supports his numbers so far, minus the AVG. His K:BB ratio of 43:11 doesn't show that he's ready to hit .300 at the major league level yet, but he's obviously still growing.

Daisuke Matsuzaka - 6 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 8 K. Another strong start from Dice-K, but the walks continue to haunt him. He limited the hits, but the lack of offensive support cost him a win.

B.J. Upton - 1/4, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (18). His AVG has taken the inevitable nosedive this month as he's only hitting .224 in August, but he continues to provide surprising power with 4 HR and 11 RBI this month, plus 11 R. He hasn't stolen a base since June, barely trying by going 0/2 since then, so don't count on any SB from him the rest of the way as the groin injury that put him on the DL is clearly preventing him from running. Still, the power is keeping him plenty valuable.

Bronson Arroyo - 5 1/3 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (7). It wasn't pretty, but his owners will take it. Arroyo continues to struggle pitching at home, but he managed to get out of a bases loaded, 1 out jam by getting Teixeira and McCann out.

Andruw Jones - 1/4, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (24). He came back strong with a big July of .263, 8 HR, 23 RBI, and 24 R, but has again slumped in August with a line of .211, 4 HR, 13 RBI, and 11 R. Hopefully he has a solid September to make my buy low suggestion look better.

Jake Peavy - 6 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 11 K, W (14). His command failed him, but he pitched around the baserunners and picked up the win by turning in a very solid effort otherwise. He's won 5 of his last 6 starts, including 3 double digit K games as he's back on top of his form.

Jose Reyes - 1/5, 1 R, 3 SB (67). Reyes has gone back on a ridiculous tear on the basepaths, stealing 13 bases in his last 10 games to give him 17 already this month. With a week left, he should easily post his highest monthly SB total this year.

Brad Lidge - 1 IP, 1 K, 1 SV (12). 5 consecutive scoreless inning save conversions for Lidge since his 4 ER meltdown against the Brewers earlier this month. It seems as though he's close to being an elite closer once again.

Albert Pujols - 2/4, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (30). That's now 5 straight games with a HR for Pujols who's heating up at exactly the right time for his owners.

Jeremy Hermida - 1/3, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (12). Hermida has been hitting great since the AS break, posting a line of .340 with 4 HR, 15 RBI, and 12 R in 37 G. Unfortunately due to his spot in the batting order, the R/RBI are quite low given what he's been doing at the plate. Give him another look if your OF is under-performing.

Tom Gorzelanny - 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (12). A very surprising and quality performance from Tom G in Colorado against a powerful offense. He bounced back nicely after getting hit hard by the Phillies his last time out.

Jason Bay - 2/5, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (19). He's worthless, despite the nice game last night. He's shown no signs of turning it around for any period of time, so I'm very tempted to bench him for the rest of the year barring a miracle hot streak in September from this turd.

Brandon Webb - 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (14). Sadly, the scoreless inning streak ended in the first inning, but Webb continued to pitch like the ace that he has become and turned in a great start for his 6th consecutive win.

Chris Young - 1/4, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (26). His AVG in August is the 2nd worst month of his season at .209, but he's banged out 7 more HR this month. Unfortunately since he leads off, that's only equated to 8 RBI and 13 R. It's a shame the Diamondbacks haven't moved him into an RBI spot since he's really only hitting for power to help the team, although he does have 6 SB this month as well. Still, he could be running while hitting in the middle of the order as well.

Andy Pettitte - 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (11). One of his best starts of the year, versus the Angels no less. He's won 5 in a row, and has pitched very well in the process. He'll likely be inconsistent still, but at least he's helping fantasy teams a lot right now.

John Lackey - 7 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. Bad start, but it was the Yankees. Lackey failed in his bid to become the first 16 game winner in MLB.

Bobby Abreu - 2/5, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (15). He's taken his AVG all the way up to .288 on the year as he continues to have a big 2nd half. He's hitting .340 with 10 HR, 46 RBI, 20 R, and 3 SB after the AS break.

Rich Hill - 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K. That's back-to-back great outings from Hill, who is hopefully turning the corner for a solid stretch run. Both the Cubs and his fantasy owners alike need a nice final month from the youngster.

Barry Zito - 8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K. Amazing what happens when you don't walk everyone. Zito has dominated the Cubs both times he's faced them recently, so it'd be nice to see him put up a line like that against a team that isn't inept against LHP. It's a start, and perhaps he could provide mixed league value in the final month.