RADIO
The porridge has been just-right all year. Whether it's playing late-inning hero, being the driving force behind an otherwise average team, or just plain fantasy awesomeness, D'Backs' first baseman Paul Goldschmidt has been fantasy-tastic! Goldschmidt is a serious MVP candidate with his .297 average, an NL-leading 29 home runs with 93 RBI, and an added bonus of 13 stolen bases, which is tops among first baseman.
Tuesday, Goldy decided he was going to save the best for last, as he took Orioles closer Jim Johnson deep in the ninth to tie the game, and then two innings later in the 11th he went oppo-taco for a walk-off tater. It was his fourth multi-homer game of the season. I love gooooooooold.
Hollywood Hyun-jin
The Dodgers' ace is undoubtedly Clayton Kershaw, but there is an underappreciated pitcher by the name of Hyun-jin Ryu who is doing a darn good job in his own right. Ryu outdueled Mets' ace Matt Harvey on Tuesday to improve to 12-3 on the season. He allowed only one run on a first-inning homer before settling down and allowing just five hits over seven solid innings. He only struck out three, but who cares? Now boasting a zestfully clean 2.91 ERA and 1.22 ERA with a 121:43 K:BB ratio on his maiden voyage in the majors, it's safe to say that the Korean import is more than capable of holding his own at the highest level.
AL Hot Shots
- Alfonso Soriano cranked two long balls and drove in six runs on Tuesday as the Yankees put a hurtin’ on the Angels 14-7. Vernon Wells actually homered as well, which hadn't happened since May 15.
- Chris Davis whacked his 44th homer of the season. His average, which sat at .357 on June 6, has crashed all the way down to .299 on the year. He has six homers in August, so who cares?
- Chia-Jen Lo earned his first career save Tuesday as he dodged some bullets to complete the task. He allowed two near-homers, but came out on top. Stay away from the Houston bullpen.
- Yoenis Cespedes was 3-for-4 with his 19th homer of the season. He’s hitting .244 in August with three homers and just six RBI in 41 at-bats.
- Brad Miller launched two homers as the Mariners topped the Rays and Ben Zobrist’s own two-homer effort. The homers were Miller's third and fourth and Zobrist’s ninth and tenth on the season.
- Erasmo Ramirez improved to 4-0 on the year with 5.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER and 7 K defeating Chris Archer and the Rays. Danny Farquhar picked up his fifth save in as many chances while striking out two in a perfect ninth.
- Alexi Ogando had another poor performance for the Rangers on Tuesday as the homer got him in trouble. He allowed three long balls to the Brew Crew, taking his fourth loss on the year.
- Zach McAllister earned his fifth win of the season with a solid performance as the Indians topped the Twins. He allowed one run on four hits while striking out seven.
NL Hot Shots
- Brandon Phillips had a three hit night, drove in his 90th RBI of the season and stole two bags Tuesday.
- Jose Fernandez is amazing. Simply amazing. He shut out one of the hottest teams in baseball for seven solid innings while allowing just three hits and striking out six. His bullpen didn't fail him, but his offense did as he was stuck with another no-decision while Chad Qualls vultured the W after the Marlins scored in the 10th. Yet another reason I hate the WINS stat. It is idiotic!!!!
- Jedd Gyorko clocked his 12th homer in Tuesday’s defeat of the Rockies, but it was Will Venable once again as the driving force, going 3-for-5 with two runs and 2 RBI from the leadoff spot as he continues to gain value.
- Khris Davis and Scooter Gennett teed off on Tuesday. Davis hit his fourth homer of the year as Gennett doubled up his season total with his third and fourth homers. Davis probably is the more offensively talented of the two, but Gennett is middle infielder with some pop.
- Andrew McCutchen added more credit to his MVP candidacy with his 17th home run of the season, but the Buccos fell to the Cardinals in 14 as Starling Marte botched an easy popup in the ninth which cost his team badly and cost Mark Melancon a save.
- Adam LaRoche swatted his 17th homer of the season as the Nats edged the Giants in a clash of the most underachieving, expectation-crushing teams of the NL. Sidenote for LaRoche, I caught a few minutes of a hunting show on TV the other night which had LaRoche and his son bow-hunting. I must say, LaRoche is a cool dude and a great dad. It kinda made me think about how when we bitch about these guys under-performing or slumping, we should consider that they are paid to play baseball because they're gifted and work hard at it, but that they are also still people just like us with everyday issues. In many cases, they have families to deal with and whom they often miss while on the road.
- Craig Kimbrel notched his major league-leading 37th save as the Braves beat the Phillies.
- Steve Cishek nailed down save number 25 and has been one of the most solid closers in baseball since his early season struggles.
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Follow Shawn Caswell on Twitter, or don’t: @CasKnowsRoto
