Fantasy Baseball - the Daily Dirt for Sunday

by Todd Lammi

Cameron Maybin was sent to Triple-A by the Florida Marlins. He will get a chance to play every day and rebuild his confidence after being rushed to the major leagues last season by the Detroit Tigers and by the Marlins this year. Maybin needs to work on reducing his strikeout rate, after fanning 31 times in 84 at bats this season. In other fantasy baseball news from around the diamond on Sunday...

Hitters:

Albert Pujols hit his 12th home run of the season, scored three runs and stole his fifth base.

Jay Bruce hit his 10th home run of the season, giving him four home runs in his last five games. His batting average has been hovering in the .260 range for most of the season, because of his inability to hit lefties so far, as he holds a .172 average against southpaws.

Jose Reyes went 2 for 4 and stole his 10th base of the season. Reyes started picking up the pace on the base paths this past week, stealing six bases in seven games.

Nate McLouth hit his fifth home run of the season, and has been one of the few offensive bright spots for the Pittsburgh Pirates this year. McLouth is hitting .292 with 22 RBI for the year.

Johnny Damon hit a three-run home run, his 9th of the season to power the New York Yankees to a 5-3 win. Damon is batting .314 on the year with 25 RBI.

Hank Blalock hit two solo home runs giving him nine on the season. He is now batting .257 with 21 RBI.

Alfonso Soriano hit a two-run home run, his 10th of the season to go along with 20 RBI.

The Chicago Cubs seem content going with Aaron Miles at second base (.205 avg.) and Mike Fontenot (.229) at third base with Aramis Ramirez sidelined. Recently acquired Ryan Freel pinch hit on Sunday.

The Houston Astros had multiple offensive stars on Sunday. Carlos Lee went 3 for 4 with 4 RBI and his 6th home run of the season. Miguel Tejada went 3 for 5 with 4 RBI and his second home run of the year and Ivan Rodriguez went 4 for 3 and knocked out his fourth home run of the season.

Armando Rios went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI and his third home run of the year. Cito Gaston and Gene Tenace have done a great job with the Toronto Blue Jays hitters since taking over last June. The Blue Jays had six hitters batting over .300 in their lineup on Sunday.

Juan Pierre went 3 for 5 and stole his third base of the season for the Los Angeles Dodgers. With Manny Ramirez now sidelined the next two months, Pierre is a good source of runs scored and stolen bases.

Adam Dunn went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI including two home runs, numbers 10 & 11 on the season. Dunn is now hitting .311 with 28 RBI. Teammate Josh Willingham also added two home runs for the Washington Nationals.

Chipper Jones left Sunday's game in the seventh inning with a sore elbow and is considered day to day.

Pitchers:

Kenshin Kawakami picked up his second win of the season, allowing two runs in six innings with six strikeouts.

Rick Porcello picked up win number three on the season, allowing one run in five innings with five strikeouts. Despite his inconsistencies from start to start, he still sports a respectable 4.28 EAR and 1.31 whip ratio on the season.

Rookie Brett Cecil tossed eight shutout innings, allowing five hits with six strikeouts to pick up his first win of the season.

Nick Blackburn pitched seven shutout innings with six strikeouts, olny to see his win blown by the Minnesota Twins bullpen in the 8th inning.

Matt Garza allowed three runs in seven innings with six strikeouts in a no decision. He has now allowed five runs in his last 22 2/3 innings.

Luke Hochevar was recalled from Triple-A to replace Sidney Ponson in the rotation and will start on Tuesday for the Kansas City Royals.

Bryan Augenstien is expected to be recalled from AA to start for the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Cincinnati Reds. Augenstein is 5-0 with a 0.78 ERA, with 31 strikeouts in 34 2/3 innings.

Closers:

Rafael Soriano picked up his third save of the season with Mike Gonzalez working the 8th inning. I don't think it was a permanent closer change as the Phillies had left-handed hitters Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez and Matt Stairs up in the 8th inning to hit and I think Boby Cox feels confident that either Gonzalez or Soriano could close as needed.

Ryan Franklin blew his first save of the season, giving up home runs in the ninth inning to Jerry Hairston and pitcher Micah Owings.

Brandon Morrow, in his first appearance since April 23rd, allowed one run and loaded the bases in the ninth inning before getting Brendan Harris to ground out to preserve the save.

Huston Street picked up his fourth save of the season, and has not allowed a run in his last seven appearances.

Joakim Soria was placed on the disabled list by the Kansas City Royals with a strained rotator cuff. Juan Cruz will take over as closer while Soria is out of action.

Minor Leagues:

Tommy Hanson had his longest outing of the season, pitching eight innings with nine strikeouts. He did allow three home runs but they were all solo shots.

Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched four scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks, but did not strike out a batter. There is a chance he could be recalled by the Boston Red Sox to start next weekend.

John Lackey allowed three runs in five innings with five strikeouts and could be ready to return to the Los Angeles Angels rotation by the weekend.

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