Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.Tuesday was an interesting night for pitchers. Heck, I was just giddy that there were more than two games being played.
It took Justin Verlander a little over a month to convince baseball pundits that he was the "real deal". Going into Tuesday night's start Verlander was the hottest pitcher in baseball. He was touched up for five earned runs in four innings and it'll be interesting to see how the fantasy baseball world reacts. The only correct reaction is to throw him back into your lineup for his next start. One bad outing in ten is a great run at things.
We also saw some gems Tuesday night. King Felix Hernandez threw a complete game shutout and allowed only two hits. If he pitched in New York or Boston we'd all be talking Cy Young.
Gil Meche also went the distance last night allowing only four hits in his win against the Diamondbacks. Over Meche's last four starts he's only allowed three earned runs. His ERA in that time span is 0.93.
Kevin Millwood and Sean O'Sullivan each allowed only one earned run on Tuesday night. Millwood now has a 2.62 ERA and has won his last three starts. O'Sullivan dazzled in his major league debut. He threw seven innings of one-run ball and struck out five. To reward the kid who just won his first ever big league game, the Angels sent him packing back to Triple-A.
Bits From the Box Scores
- David Wright stole his 18th base last night. He's on pace to steal 47. Who thinks he'll get there?
- WTF? Cole Hamels leaves after six with a 3-to-2 lead on Tuesday. Durbin does fine. Romero walks three but gets another inning in the books. Then all hell breaks loose. Ryan Madson gives up a run in the ninth to blow the save then Clay Condrey gives up five earned in 0.1 innings to really put the F.U. in fudge. Are we ready for Lidge to come back yet?
- Alex Rios swiped his 11th base last night and has been tearing up for the last week. He's batting .500/.545/.850 with two home runs and four stolen bases.
- Yovani Gallardo struck out eight batters in five innings last night. Fantastic! He also walked six batters. Not so good... Gallardo has walked 14 batters in his last 18 innings and may be pitching on borrowed time. His hit rate and strand rate go along with my point. It may be time to sell high, if you can.
- Both Aaron Harang and Jair Jurrjens were knocked out of the game last night after two innings. The culprit... rain. The Braves seem to have had a large number of rain delays this season. That's affected both Jurrjens and Lowe.
- David Ortiz went 2-for-3 last night with his fifth home run of the year proving why Tom Herrera is the boss and that I'm only slightly worthy to hang with him.
- Chris Davis struck out twice in Tuesday's game against Houston. Wait, didn't he strike out twice the day before too? And the day before...
- Joe Mauer continued his tear last night with four base hits. He has 67 hits thus far and could quite possibly reach 200 for the season even though he took the first month and a half off.
- Does Brandon Inge really have 15 home runs? Yes, as a matter of fact, he does.
- Will Albert Pujols reach 60 home runs in 2009? He's at 23 after last night.
- With Ben Zobrist and Jason Bartlett manning the middle of the Rays' infield, they may never lose again. Zobrist was 3-for-5 last night with a home run and Bartlett was 2-for-4. They combined to score five runs.
- Did you watch the Giants game last night and wonder when Manny Burriss was going to get to play again? The answer is, most likely, Wednesday... in Triple-A Fresno.
The Afflicted: Why, oh why did Cito Gaston let his closer, Scott Downs, bat with a five run lead? While running out a grounder, Downs injured his foot (that's probably the farthest he's run in years) and may end up on the disabled list. American League fans repeat after me... "Damn you National League and your no DH rule". Derek Jeter also left last night's action with ankle stiffness. He's listed as day-to-day. Mike Hampton, and who didn't see this coming, hit the disabled list with a groin injury.
Lineup Lock Time: The city of Chicago stops everything today at 2:20 PM ET to watch the White Sox and Cubs play. Get your lineups set before then.
