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| Doug Mathis made his first major league start on Tuesday night, and it was a forgettable one. Mathis allowed nine runs (six earned) on eight hits, walked four and didn't strike out a Twin on Tuesday night. All of this in 2.1 innings of work. |
Our View: Mathis is currently scheduled to pitch Sunday at Cleveland, a start the Rangers coaching staff might reconsider after the young pitchers performance tonight.
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| Glen Perkins pitched six scoreless innings for his first major league win and the Minnesota Twins beat the Texas Rangers 11-4 on Tuesday.
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Our View: Yet another high scoring affair where Texas is involved. Not only did the Rangers make it easy on Perkins, early errors put the Rangers in catchup mode before the end of the first inning and completely out of reach after the third.
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| Bobby Jenks picked up his 11th save of the season to help secure the Chicago White Sox 4-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night. |
Our View: Jenks has been consistent after in early April. His 1.86 ERA and 1.05 WHIP speaks volumes for the once volatile right-hander.
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| Carlos Quentin hit a first inning home run off Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia, his league leading 12th of the season, and his second in as many games. |
Our View: The kid has been impressive to say the least. Along with his 12 long balls the left fielder has 38 RBI and 31 runs scored. Throw in four stolen bases and the mix equals fantasy stud.
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| Jose Contreras , who held the Angels to one run on four hits in his laststart, outpitched C.C. Sabathia on Tuesday to help the Chicago White Sox to a 4-1 victory over the Indians. It was Cleveland's sixth straight win. |
Our View: Contreras is en fuego. The win gave him five on the season and lowered his ERA to 3.17.
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| After missing three weeks with a strained right quadriceps, Alex Rodriguez was back in action on Tuesday night against the Orioles. A-Rod was in the cleanup spot and started at third base. The MVP reached on an error in the second inning, grounded out in the fourth and hit a two-run homer in the sixth off Cabrera to make it 10-2. |
Our View: Rodriguez didn't miss a beat hitting hitting his fifth home run in 94 at-bats.
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| Daniel Cabrera allowed two runs on five hits, walked none and struck out four in a huge 12-2 win over the free-falling Yankees. Even the return of Alex Rodriguez couldn't help New York on Tuesday night. |
Our View: Cabrera continues to show signs of being the pitcher he's been projected to be for a handful of years. The right-hander pushed his record to 5-1 and lowered his ERA to 3.48.
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| Edgar Renteria hit one of Detroit's four home runs and matched his career high with five RBI in the Tigers' 12-8 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday. |
Our View: Renteria now has four home runs on the season to go along with his 23 RBI and 20 runs.
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| Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki, who had stolen at least one base in his last 16 games, added another on Tuesday night. The theft was his major league-leading 21st. |
Our View: Ichiro added three hits in the game raising his average to .289 on the season.
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| Carlos Silva allowed nine hits and seven runs over four innings in the 12-8 loss to the Tigers on Tuesday night. |
Our View: Silva hasn't won in his last six starts after beginning the season 3-0. Look up regress in the dictionary, and you will find a picture of Silva.
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| Dustin McGowan allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits in 6.1 innings of work. McGowan, who has won just once in his past six starts, walked four and struck out four in the loss. |
Our View: McGowen pitched well enough to win but Angels starter John Lackey was better.
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| Los Angeles second baseman Howie Kendrick took batting practice with the team prior to Tuesday's game against Toronto, but has not been cleared to resume running. |
Our View: Kendrick is nursing a strained left hamstring. There is still no timetable for his return.
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| The Pirates have suffered a tough 7-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers this evening as outfielder Jason Bay was the only batter capable of producing runs. Bay went 1-for-3, hitting his 10th home run of the season with one man on to produce two RBIs, the only runs Pittsburgh would score on the evening. |
Our View: Bay added a walk, his fourth in as many games. The homer is his third over his last five games, the only hits he has seen during that span.
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| Chone Figgins worked out with his teammates before Tuesday's game against Toronto and is expected to be activated from the disabled list on Wednesday. |
Our View: Figgins has missed the last two weeks with a hamstring strain.
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| Francisco Rodriguez loaded the bases with three straight walks in the ninth, but was able to work out of the jam and record his major-league leading 18th save. With one out, Rodriguez walked Gregg Zaun, Marco Scutaro and Brad Wilkerson, but Aaron Hill popped out and Alex Rios struck out looking. |
Our View: Rodriguez who is reportedly not 100 percent, is doing his job despite. The right-hander has a 2.79 ERA with 16 strikeouts to 12 walks.
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| John Lackey won for the first time since Sept. 28, pitching seven strong innings giving the Angels a 3-1 win over the Blue Jays on Tuesday night. Lackey allowed one run on seven hits, walked three and struck out six. |
Our View: This was Lackey's second start after a long stint on the disabled list. The right-hander threw 106 pitches of which 67 were strikes.
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| Adrian Beltre hit a solo home run off the Tigers Justin Verlander in the first inning giving the Mariners an early lead. But Seattle didn't score again until the seventh inning when they trailed by 10. |
Our View: The home run was Beltre's ninth of the season. The third baseman later added another hit and two more RBI.
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| Justin Verlander struck out a season-high seven and the Tigers' 12-8 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.
Verlander allowed one run on four hits and walked one in six innings. |
Our View: The victory is only the second on the season against seven losses for the Detroit right-hander.
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| Jonathan Papelbon recorded four outs for his 13 save of the year in a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night. |
Our View: Papelbon has been less than stellar in May, this after a near perfect April. However, he looked like himself tonight striking out three of the four batters he faced.
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| Justin Masterson earned his first career victory as the Red Sox defeated the Royals 2-1 on Tuesday night. Masterson allowed one run on three hits, walked three and struck out five. |
Our View: The Royals have one run and three hits in the two games at Fenway.
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| Gil Meche threw his fourth straight outing on Tuesday at Fenway Park. The right-hander allowed two runs on five hits, walked two and struck out eight in seven innings of work. Meche suffered the loss however as the Royals fell 2-1 to Justin Masterson and the Red Sox. |
Our View: Meche is now 3-6 on the season but in the effort he lowered his ERA nearly a half a run to 5.58.
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| Following up on an earlier report Derek Jeter was hit on his left hand by a pitch Tuesday night, forcing him out of the Yankees' game against Baltimore, and the teams nearly came to blows when New York tried to retaliate three innings later, this according to the AP.
With the Orioles leading 9-0 in the third, right-hander Daniel Cabrera plunked Jeter with a 2-1 delivery and the star shortstop spun away in pain.
The shortstop went to the locker room following the incident and had X-rays taken. The results were negative. |
Our View: Jeter is day-to-day with a bruised hand.
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| Angels shortstop Erick Aybar injured his right hand while making a diving stop of Alex Rios’ ground ball up the middle. Aybar dove for the ball and tried to roll over and throw Rios out. Rios was safe and Aybar grabbed at the outside of his right hand in obvious pain. Aybar left the game immediately.
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Our View: There is no update on his condition yet.
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| Derek Jeter left the Tuesday night game against the Orioles after being hit by a pitch. Orioles right-hander Daniel Cabrera was throwing inside to the All Star shortstop when Jeter was hit in the hand. |
Our View: No word on the severity of the injury. It's more than possible that the Yankees shortstop left as a precaution. The Yankees trailed 9-0 at the time he was hit.
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| The Oakland Athletics placed pitcher Andrew Brown on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday, this according to the Sports Network.
The right-hander was scheduled to undergo an appendectomy on Tuesday. |
Our View: In 17
relief appearances this season, Brown is 0-0 with a 2.45 earned run average.
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| The Washington Nationals have recalled RHP Chris Schroder from Triple-A Columbus today, giving the hurler his third attempt with the major-league squad this season, according to MLB.com. |
Our View: The Nationals made the move after placing infielder Ronnie Belliard on the 15-day disabled list. Schroder has no decisions in three starts this season with a promising 2.25 ERA. Last season he went 2-3 with an ERA of 3.18 in 37 appearances out of the Washington bullpen.
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| The Toronto Blue Jays team website reports that manager John Gibbons indicated prior to Tuesday's game that John McDonald will be sent on a rehab assignment at some point within the next week.
A rehab schedule will become more clear for John McDonald on Wednesday, when he is set to perform more baseball-related activities, according to general manager J.P. Ricciardi.
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Our View: McDonald sprained his right ankle when his cleat was caught on the turf as he tried to field a ground ball.
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| Francisco Liriano had another solid outing for Triple-A Rochester in a midday game against Syracuse on Tuesday. The left-hander allowed two runs on eight hits, walked one and struck out three in seven innings of work. |
Our View: The outing was Liriano's fourth straight solid minor league start. The team has not defined when he would return to the 25-man roster.
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| The Star Tribune reports that after being examined on Tuesday, Twins infielder Matt Tolbert said that he will have surgery on Thursday to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb. He’ll need about 5-6 weeks to fully recover. Tolbert injured his thumb when he dived for first base on Thursday while making the final out of the game. |
Our View: With this kind of surgery, it could be closer to two months before he plays again.
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| According to the Royals team website, Jose Guillen said no player or team wants a no-hitter pitched against them, but he was shining when talking about those involved.
"You never want to see a no-hitter go against you like that, but, unfortunately, that situation happened," Guillen said. "I give a lot of credit to the pitcher, but most of the credit I give to Jason Varitek ."
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Our View: Varitek, who caught Lester's no-hitter on Monday night, became the first in history to catch four no-hitters in his career. He was behind the plate for Clay Buchholz's no-hitter last September, for Derek Lowe's in '02 and for Hideo Nomo's in '01.
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| Mike Mussina didn't do his best Jamie Moyer impression on Tuesday night against the Orioles. The veteran right-hander allowed seven runs (one earned) on five hits, walked two and struck out one in two-thirds of an inning before giving way to Ross Ohlendorf. |
Our View: After winning five straight, Mussina was bombed. While we don't expect the veteran to get lit up like he did against the O's, his five straight wins were a bit of an aberration for an arm that is throwing in the mid-eighties.
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| When the Mariners begin a three-game series on Tuesday against the Tigers, Jeremy Reed will be with the team. Reed, who has been honing his skills at Triple-A Tacoma, was batting .349 before being called up today, this according to the team website.
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Our View: Reed was a mainstay in center field in 2005, playing in 141 games and batting .254 with 45 RBIs. Reed was the regular center fielder in 2006 as well -- until July 2 when he broke his right thumb. Reed underwent surgery four days later and missed the remainder of the season.
By the time he came back, the Mariners had moved Ichiro Suzuki from right field to center field and signed right-handed-hitting Jose Guillen to play right field.
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| Carlos Gomez is back in the starting lineup for the Twins on Tuesday night against the Rangers. Gomez has been available only as a pinch hitter since last week while he nursed a wrist injury. |
Our View: Gomez has 155 at-bats heading into Tuesday's game. He's recorded 14 RBI, 24 runs scored, three home runs and 16 stolen bases while hitting .271.
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| Alex Rodriguez, who was activated from the disabled list today, is starting at third base and hitting cleanup against the Orioles. |
Our View: A-Rod missed the teams last 17 games.
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| Matt Joyce continues to receive playing time in the Tigers lineup. The left fielder is starting and hitting seventh tonight against Seattle and Carlos Silva. |
Our View: Gary Sheffield has returned to the designated hitter role offering Joyce regular playing time.
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| Coco Crisp is leading off and playing center field tonight as the Red Sox host the Royals. |
Our View: Regular center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury is not in the lineup tonight against KC right-hander Gil Meche.
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| Ben Francisco isn't receiving much face time in the major media outlets, but it appears he's taken over the starting outfield spot from Franklin Gutierrez. Granted, Francisco's small sample (41 at-bats) and major league peripherals have exceeded his minor league portfolio, but it's hard to ignore what he's done so far in Cleveland. |
Our View: Francisco has six RBI, six runs scored, a stolen base, has struck out only seven times and is hitting .372 in his 41 at-bats.
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| Right-handed reliever Chris Britton has been optioned to Triple-A Scranton, according to the AP. The team activated Alex Rodriguez from the DL, and optioned Britton to make room on the roster. |
Our View: Britton held no fantasy value as a middle reliever prior to his demotion.
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| Alex Rodriguez has been officially activated from the DL, according to the AP. A-Rod returns to the Yankees after missing 17 games with a strained right quadriceps muscle. The Yankees went 6-11 in his absence, losing five of its last six games to fall to 20-24 for the season. Pitcher Chris Britton has been optioned to Triple-A Scranton to make room on the roster.
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Our View: He said his ailing quad feels good and is pleased with his swing following his rehab stint. The Yankees will battle the Orioles in the Bronx tonight, and he should be penciled back into your lineups.
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| Right-handed pitcher Chris Schroeder has been recalled from Triple-A Columbus, according to the AP. |
Our View: With Columbus, Schroder has a 3-2 record with a 3.45 ERA in 12 games. This is his third stint with the big league team, and he has no record with a 2.25 ERA in three appearances for the Nationals in 2008.
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| Ian Kinsler has quietly scored 17 runs over 16 games in May, according to MLB.com. He has scored 36 total runs over 43 games. |
Our View: Kinsler only has four home runs, but has 13 stolen bases, with a .298 batting average and a .360 on-base percentage. He is having a solid season under the radar.
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| Glen Perkins will be looking to earn his first win of the season when the Twins host the Rangers tonight, according to MLB.com. |
Our View: Perkins is 0-1 over two starts, but has fared well as he holds a decent 1.33 WHIP over 12 innings, with nine strikeouts and only two walks issued. He is worth a look if you need an arm to fill out your rotation for tonight, namely in deeper leagues.
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| Doug Mathis will make his first Major League start tonight when he takes the hill against the Twins in Minnesota, according to MLB.com. He is making the start in place of the injured Kevin Millwood, and Mathis said, "I'm definitely looking forward to it. It will be different than coming out of the 'pen. I think it helped though, coming out of the bullpen, easing the tension and pressure. It shows me I can get people out. I know I'm here because guys got hurt. A guy like Kevin Millwood is not going to lose his spot in the rotation. I just want to help the team now, and what happens after guys get healthy will happen. I just want to pitch well enough where if there is a need down the line in the rotation or the bullpen, they feel confident in me being up here."
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Our View: This could be only a temporary gig, but Millwood's return is not imminent. He has only had one light throwing session off a mound since injuring himself in a start against the Athletics on May 10. With no other obvious starting pitching options available, Mathis could get two or three more starts. Mathis has not allowed a run or a hit over three innings of work in a relief role with the Rangers this season, with one walk and three strikeouts. His numbers have been good in limited action, and could be worth a look in AL-only leagues if you need help in your fantasy rotation.
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| Dustin McGowan is going to start against the Angels tonight in place of Roy Halladay, according to MLB.com. Hallday was scheduled to pitch tonight, but served an inning in relief out of the bullpen on May 18, and the team decided to move his next start to Saturday. |
Our View: McGowan needs to bounce back, as he was lit up for nine runs in a mere 3.2 innings of work in his last start against Cleveland. Due to Halladay's move, McGowan will pitch tonight and Sunday, giving him two starts for the fantasy week.
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| John Lackey is set to make his second start of the season tonight on the road against Toronto, according to MLB.com. Lackey is 2-2 in his career at Rogers Centre. |
Our View: He pitched well in his first start of the season (against the White Sox) since returning from his strained right triceps, as he only allowed one run on six hits over seven innings, with one walk and four strikeouts. Lackey should get stronger with each passing start, and should be in your lineups tonight.
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| Paul Byrd is pitching well with a 3.61 ERA and 1.12 WHIP but could be on the block as he is the oldest hurler in the Indians' rotation, and has his contract up, according to TribeTimeReport.com. The team would like to keep Aaron Laffey in the rotation with return of Jake Westbrook, and trading Byrd would be a sensible option. |
Our View: The Brewers, Braves, and Astros were listed as teams that could show interest in Byrd, but the 37-year old hurler's $7.5 million dollar salary could be an issue.
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| Ichiro Suzuki has stolen at least one base in 11 of his last 16 games, according to MLB.com. He has 20 stolen bases for the season, and has only been caught once. |
Our View: He has 14 of his 20 stolen bases over 17 games in May, with four coming over his last three games. He is on pace for 72 steals.
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| David Ortiz has a good track record versus Gil Meche, tonight's opposing hurler for the Royals, according to MLB.com. Over his career, Ortiz is 7-for-17 (.412) with a double and four homers against Meche. |
Our View: Ortiz should have another strong outing, and has been hot as he is hitting .343 with five homers and 16 RBI over 18 games in May.
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| Justin Masterson will be looking for his first career win when the Red Sox host the Royals tonight at Fenway Park, according to MLB.com. This will be his second start of the season. |
Our View: Masterson was solid in his first start against the Angels, as he only allowed one run on two hits over six innings, with four strikeouts, and he merits fantasy consideration for tonight with a favorable match-up against the Royals.
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| Mike Aviles is hitting well at Triple-A Omaha, according to MLB.com. He recently hit a grand slam, which was his seventh homer of the season, to go along with a .345 batting average. |
Our View: The shortstop could make an impact with the Royals, but Tony Pena is too good defensively to get pushed aside for a starting job in the near future.
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| Catcher Matt Tupman has been optioned back to Triple-A Omaha, according to MLB.com. John Buck returned from emergency leave, and Tupman is no longer needed for depth. |
Our View: Tupman registered a single on his only at-bat during his brief stint with the Royals.
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| Hideki Matsui has hit safely in 17-of-20 home games at Yankee Stadium this season, according to MLB.com. |
Our View: Matsui has multiple hits in four of his nine home games in May as well. Keep him active in your lineups tonight in the Bronx against Baltimore.
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| Mike Mussina has won five straight starts and will aim to extend his streak tonight when the Yankees host the Orioles, according to MLB.com. He has also allowed three earned runs or fewer in every start over the streak. |
Our View: Mussina is 6-3 overall, with a 3.99 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. He only has 24 strikeouts over 49.2 innings, but is solid in the other stat categories, and should remain in your lineups tonight.
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| Daniel Cabrera will challenge the Yankees tonight in the Bronx, according to MLB.com. Cabrera has thrown seven straight quality starts, and holds a 4-1 record with a 3.58 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. |
Our View: Alex Rodriguez is set to return to the Yankees tonight, and will provide a spark, but Cabrera is still worth consideration, especially in AL-only leagues.
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| ESPN Baseball Tonight reported that Jorge Posada is "progressing rather nicely" in his shoulder rehab. The Yankee catcher had a scheduled day off Monday in his throwing program and is ahead of schedule in his rehab. |
Our View: The team hopes to get him back from the disabled list the first week of June.
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| The Dallas Morning News reports that C.J. Wilson has been awful in May, and his poor form continued Monday with a blown save at Minnesota. |
Our View: The biggest concern for Wilson is his K:BB (10:10) has come back to haunt him. His 5.03 ERA should call for a larger WHIP (1.32) but until he garners better command of the K Zone his ninth inning role will continue to be in jeopardy. Wilson has allowed seven runs over his last 4.2 innings.
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| Alex Rodriguez is set to return to the Yankees' lineup tonight when they battle the Orioles, according to MyPinstripes.com. |
Our View: He will be activated from the DL prior to game time and said his ailing quad feels good and is pleased with his swing following his rehab stint.
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| Santiago Casilla's right elbow injury is not as severe as the team has initially feared, according to the SF Chronicle. |
Our View: Casilla has a mild ligament sprain, but he will begin throwing again after resting for the next four days. That means that he could likely be back in a month or less.
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| Manager Bob Geren commented that ailing second baseman Mark Ellis was available to play in case of emergency on Monday, according to the SF Chronicle. He is nursing a strained left hamstring. |
Our View: Ellis did some running before Monday's game and noted that his hamstring is feeling better every day but he now must regain strength in it, which sounds like he still could be a day or two away from returning.
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| Evan Longoria hit the game winning home run for the Rays in the 13th inning of their game with the A's. On the night the rookie third baseman went 3-for-6 at the plate with three RBI. |
Our View: Longoria has failed to make a splash hitting just .244 with five home runs in 123 AB, but he also hasn't looked completely overmatched at the plate, though it's clear a Ryan Braun type breakout isn't in the cards for this future all-star.
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| Frank Thomas went deep twice on Monday night on his way to his best effort of the season as he went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI. |
Our View: It only took big Frank 22 games in an A's uniform to hit his first home run. Thomas is now hitting .237 on the year, far below what is an acceptable number for a DH with only five home runs in 131 AB.
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| James Shields allowed five runs over 7.2 innings against the A's thanks to three home runs allowed on the night which accounted for four of the five runs. |
Our View: Shields entered the night with just two HR allowed, so look at tonight's misadventures as simple normalization from the Rays best hurler.
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