Fantasy Baseball - the Daily Dirt for Wednesday 5/27

by Todd Lammi

I am always torn whether St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is somewhat smart, just a little nutty, or a combination of both. In the Cardinals 3-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, La Russa had Nick Stavinoha batting clean up. Stavinoha is only playing because Ryan Ludwick and Rick Ankiel are out with injuries, so Stavinoha is basically the team's 6th outfielder. Yet he delivers two RBI to help the Cardinals win. For some reason, the Brewers don't seem to like Corey Hart, regardless of who the manager is. First it was Ned Yost, now it is Ken Macha, who gave a start to Frank Catalanotto on Wednesday. With Hart off to a slow start, it would not surprise me to see the Brewers give him more time off. If the Brew Crew has no interest in Hart, they might as well trade him for pitching and stick Mat Gamel in the outfield now. Of course it would help if Gamel was hitting higher than .174, but it would also help if he received consistent at bats, something that has not happened since he was called up two weeks ago. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Wednesday...

Hitters:

Nolan Reimold hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to help the Baltimore Orioles pull of a come from behind win. Reimold's home run was his second in as many days.

Aaron Hill went 2 for 6 with two RBI and connected for his 12th home run of the season. Hill, who homered for the first time since May 17th is now up to 37 RBI on the year.

James Loney went 2 for 5 with 4 RBI to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 8-6 win over the Colorado Rockies. Despite having only two home runs on the season, Loney ranks in the top five in RBI in the National League with 36 runs driven in.

Russell Branyan went 2 for 4 with two RBI and belted his 11th home run of the season. Branyan is batting .311 on the season with 23 RBI.

Daniel Murphy went 3 for 4 with 5 RBI including his fourth home run of the season in the New York Mets 7-4 win over the Washington Nationals. The left-handed Murphy should see the majority of at bats at first base as part of a platoon with Fernando Tatis.

Trade rumors sometimes seem to perk up a player when they are struggling. Case in point is Dan Uggla of the Florida Marlins. Uggla went 3 for 4 with two RBI to lead the Marlins to a 6-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Uggla has now homered five times in his last nine games.

The New York Yankees used four home runs to defeat the Texas Rangers 9-2. Mark Teixeira (15), Hideki Matsui (6 & 7) and Robinson Cano (9) all left the yard for New York. Ian Kinsler was the only offense for the Rangers, knocking out his 13th home run of the season.

Jay Bruce smashed two home runs and a triple while collecting four RBI. The power is legit, with 14 home runs and only 5 doubles, the majority of fly balls he hits are going over the fence.

Denard Span went 4 for 4 with two runs scored and stole his 11th base of the season. Span is now hitting .316 with 28 runs scored for the year.

Pitchers:

Rick Porcello picked up his 6th win of the year, allowing two runs in six inning with four strikeouts in a 8-3 win over the Kansas City Royals. Porcello has allowed 5 runs in his last 30 innings while reeling off five straight victories.

Carlos Zambrano allowed one earned run in 6 1/3 innings with six strikeouts in a no decision. Zambrano was ejected in the 7th inning after bumping an umpire and making the ejection gesture and could be facing a possible suspension.

Erik Bedard allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings with five strikeouts to up his record to 3-2 on the season. He is now a perfect 3-0 on the road and 0-2 at home this season.

Bronson Arroyo picked up his 7th win of the season, tossing a complete gem against the Houston Astros in a 6-1 victory. Arroyo scattered five hits while striking out three and has given up one run in back-to-back starts.

Johan Santana battled through control problems to notch his 7th win of the year, allowing three runs in six innings with 11 strikeouts. Santana walked six batters in the game, the first time he has done that since 2002 with the Minnesota Twins.

Kevin Slowey netted his seventh win of the season in a 4-2 defeat of the Boston Red Sox. Slowey allowed two runs in six innings with five strikeouts and has now allowed two runs or less in four straight starts.

Jered Weaver allowed one run in eight innings with eight strikeouts to improve his record to 4-2 in a 3-1 win over the Chicago White Sox. Weaver has now allowed one run in 4 of his last 5 starts.

A. J. Burnett hurled six shutout innings and struck out seven to improve his record to 3-2.

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