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Harvey dominates and Wheeler deals
The New York Metropolitans have a new-look rotation in 2013. Rookie ace Matt Harvey has burst onto the scene with dominant command and has become an instant fantasy star. Waiting in the wings all season long has been uber-prospect Zack Wheeler, and yesterday the Mets got a chance to do something pretty special as they called up Wheeler to make his much-anticipated debut on a day in which they were slated for a double header. The first game saw Harvey take the mound while the second was tabbed as Wheeler’s debut, and neither would disappoint. Harvey had dominant command and pulled a no-hit bid into the 7th inning when leadoff batter Jason Heyward managed an infield single. Harvey did end up tiring, ultimately giving up 3 ER over 116 pitches. Harvey earned his sixth win with the performance. The fantasy stud posted a career- and season-high of 13 strikeouts while walking three and allowing 3 hits. His 2.16 ERA and minuscule 0.90 WHIP to go with 115 K over 104 IP are just what roto leaguers love to see.
Zack Wheeler had a debut to remember as he held the vaunted Braves' offense scoreless over six frames, allowing only 4 hits. Wheeler did walk 5 but was able to limit the damage with 7 K. Wheeler faced a more potent lineup than Harvey did in the first game of the twin-billing, as the Upton Brothers and Brian McCann sat out game one but started the nightcap. Wheeler was optioned back to Triple-A as a procedural move; he will return to start when his rotation spot comes back around in five days. The Mets acquired Eric Young Jr. via trade from the Rockies, so expect a slew of moves in the coming days.
S.O.S.: Saves, Oh Saves!
Jim Johnson stamped save number 26 for the O’s; Glen Perkins’ name is Glen and Glen got his 17th save, Hooray Glen; Sergio Romo closed out his 17th for the Gigantes (I still miss Brian Wilson); Jonathan Papelbon closed the door on the Nats for number 14, as his time in Philly could be coming to an end; Bobby Parnell finished off Matt Harvey’s filthy-work with his 10th save; Kevin Gregg (so many Gs) topped off the Cubs win over the rival RedBirds for his 10th save; Vinnie Pestano got his second save in awkward fashion with some boneheaded base running by the Royals; Yoervis “Funky Cold” Medina earned his first career save and could be another one to watch in Seattle-- he does give up an awful lot of walks, and I still see Carter Capps as the best suited for the job even with his recent struggles.
AL Recaps:
- E5, a.k.a. Edward Encarnacion, hit home run number 19, J.P Arencibia smacked his 15th and even Maicer Izturis joined the fun with his 4th of the year as the Jays stomped the Rockies behind another solid performance by Esmil Rogers. Rogers has gone 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA in four starts since being added to the rotation. He’s worth a look in deep leagues.
- Jarrod Parker improved to .500 (6 - 6) with a win over Yu Darvish (7 – 3) and the division-rival Rangers. The A’s have owned Darvish as Brandon Moss (13) and John Jaso (2) went deep. Parker has been pitching to contact lately and it's worked. It’s not pretty for fantasy purposes, as he only struck out 4 but he only allowed 3 hits and 2 BB over 7 innings. Josh Donaldson drove in his team leading 44th RBI with a sac fly.
- Zach Britton was called upon to make a spot start against the Tigers…scary, right? Not so fast! Britton was actually damn good, attacking the zone and allowed only one run on five hits over 5.1 innings. He got support from Adam Jones who smacked a three-run tater, and J.J. Hardy, who was 3-for-4 with a homer, his third homer off Justin Verlander this month. Matt Tuiasosopo did the only damage for the Tigers with a solo homer, his 3rd. Miguel Cabrera was 2-for-5, but left five runners on base.
- Alfredo Aceves defeated the Rays in the first game of a double header and David Ortiz drove in three off Chris Archer. The second game was a bit more interesting as Daniel Nava homered for the 10th time and Felix Doubront was dominant for 8 innings allowing only 3 hits walking none and striking out 6. John Farrell mismanaged the game as he brought in Andrew Bailey for the ninth with Doubront cruising having thrown only 93 pitches through eight innings. Bailey gave up a solo homer to the first batter he faced to blow the save. He would vulture a win, however, thanks to Jonny Gomes walk-off bomb over the Green Monster in the bottom of the ninth. The Red Sox may be shopping for closers at before the trade deadline.
- Connor Gillaspie and Joe Mauer homered in the Twins victory over the White Sox.
- The Astros pulled an interleague win over the Brewers with a 10-run outburst led by another strong performance from 22-year-old Jordan Lyles and homers by Carlos Pena and Matt Dominguez, the latter of whom drove in five runs by himself. Lyles moved to 4 – 1 with the effort, striking out five over seven strong innings. He allowed seven hits but walked none.
- Raul Ibanez homered for the 14th time, Justin Smoak hit his 4th in his first game back from the DL, Mark Trumbo added his 16th and Albert Pujols slugged his 12th starting as the DH on Tuesday.
NL Recaps:
- Jeff Samardzija was excellent as he nearly went the distance against the Cardinals. Samardjalphabet tossed 8.1 innings striking out 6 allowing 2 ER on 7 hits with one walk. Ryan Sweeney and Cody Ranson added homers in support as the Cubs got to Adam Wainwright early for 4 ER. Yadier Molina was 3-for-3 with an RBI in the loss.
- Charlie Morton looks to be improving with each start back from his TJ surgery a year ago. He went 5.1 innings allowing 3 hits and that was it; zero ER and zero walks with 2 Ks. Starling Marte tripled and drove in one, Russell Martin the same and Pedro Alvarez drove in the other two runs in the 4 – 0 win.
- Cliff Lee did his best Cliff Lee impersonation on Tuesday as he defeated the Nationals with eight strong innings, striking out nine with 5 hits allowed and no walks. He surrendered 2 ER on solo homers by Jayson Werth (7) and Jeff Kobernus (1). Ryan Howard hit his SECOND triple of the season and drove in his 37th RBI. Michael Young hit 3 doubles driving in 1 RBI and Kevin Frandsen added a pair of RBI.
- Paul Goldschmidt walked off the Marlins as he took Chad Qualls way deep to center field in the bottom of the ninth in a tie game. Martin Prado hit his 5th dinger. The most intriguing thing I saw in this game was Marlins starter Nathan Eovaldi consistently sitting above 95 mph with his fastball. He only struck out three, but he pitched quite capably. He could be one to watch in the near future as he was once a decent prospect in the Dodgers' system.
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