Last night, there were a ton of headlines in the baseball world. Starling Marte from the Pirates was suspended for 80 games for PED use. The Pirates were already struggling this year and this does not help their cause. The Yankees finally lost at home as the White Sox topped them 4-1. In my eyes, the biggest story comes from Miami. Their pitcher – Chen – was throwing a no hitter, however, when he got to 100 pitches, he was taken out of the game. Even though the Mariners got one hit off a reliever, combined no-hitters aren’t a thing to me. I get the move by the Marlins – protect your young arms – however, a no-hitter is something special. We have every team in action today so let’s get to it.
Low-Scoring Plays
San Francisco Giants @ Kansas City Royals – The Royals are dead last in runs scored this year and batting a whopping .214. That doesn’t fare well against Bumgarner and the Giants. Bumgarner is playing well this season, but is 0-2 because the Giants have no offense either. Two solid pitchers and two weak offenses should result in a low-scoring affair.
Targets: Bumgarner
Pittsburgh Pirates @ St. Louis Cardinals – Neither offense is that good in this game, where the Cardinals score even less often than the Pirates. The Pirates are sending their best arm to the mound in Cole. However the Pirates offense took a blow with Marte taking a seat for 80 days. This matchup is where I am looking for at least one of my pitchers.
Targets: Cole
High-Scoring Plays
Boston Red Sox @ Toronto Blue Jays – Porcello got rocked his last time out against Tampa Bay. Last year was a strong season for him, however, I don’t think he will duplicate it. Last night’s game ended 8-7 as Mookie Betts hit his first home run of the season. The Jays are struggling without Donaldson, however, I like them to get after Porcello today. The Red Sox are playing well and I like to win but I wouldn’t take Porcello on my team today.
Targets: Pedroia, Moreland, Betts
Arizona Diamondbacks @ San Diego Padres – I always like taking someone from the late games, as it allows you to sneak up the standings while everyone else just sits there as they stacked their lineup with guys earlier in the night. This is the latest game of the night and it happens that it should also be high-scoring. Grienke is pitching for Arizona. If you pick him, you have potential to sky through the standings as everyone sits there. We know his story – a once-great pitcher for a cheap price. The D-Backs are first in the league in scoring and I like them to come out and win this game big.
Targets: Grienke, Goldschmidt, Owings
Undervalued Plays
Jason Vargas – KC – SP- $5300 for a starting pitcher who is 2-0 with a 0.66 ERA and averages 28.8 fantasy-points-per-game. Now go back and reread that because there are no typos. He is pitching at home against a San Francisco team that is not hitting the ball this season.
Mookie Betts – BOS – OF – Betts has been the highest-priced outfielder all season. He finally hit his first home run last night and his price dropped in DraftKings. He is still expensive, however, $4800 is easier to work into your lineup than $5200. He is batting .350 and is legitimately a great player. He isn’t undervalued but I wanted to put him in here to touch on his price drop. If you can make it work, take him.
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