This article was written by Jason Hunt over at Fake Teams
As we wait to see if anyone on the Reds or Cardinals gets suspended for that fun little brawl they had last night, lots of news out of the games last night.
Jaime Garcia got the victory, going 5 1/3 innings in a pretty ugly start. He gave up 4 earned runs, and the 5 walks were also pretty ugly. He should hopefully bounce back in his next start, but I'd really watch to see if it is a good one or a bad one.
Stephen Strasburg returned from the disabled list yesterday, and was met with a rude reception by the Marlins. The final line: 4 1/3 innings pitched, 6 earned runs, 4 strikeouts, and the loss. To me, these things are going to happen, and Strasburg is just like every other pitcher, and is going to have bad days just like everyone else.
Matt Wieters went 2 for 5 with a homerun, 3 runs batted in, and 2 runs scored as the Orioles won against the Indiansyesterday. Wieters's batting average still hasn't quite gotten to where we all thought it would be (.200 in August), but there's a bit of hope: In July he had 8 walks versus only 3 strikeouts in 45 at bats, the first time he's done that all season. He's not likely to reach what everyone thought he would be this season, but he could still provide some good value over the last 2 months.
Jeremy Hellickson definitely looks like the real deal, and it makes me wonder why they didn't bring him up sooner. He went 7 shutout innings yesterday and struck out 7 to record his second career win. I said it yesterday, and it's still true today in my opinion. He's a definite pickup in all leagues for the rest of the season.
Domonic Brown hit his first career homerun yesterday, while going 2 for 4 with 4 runs batted in. I'm a bit concerned that the Phillies haven't really been playing him against left handed pitchers, and at some point they're going to have to if they want him to achieve his total potential value.
Adam Lind is finally starting to heat up for his patient owners, as he hit another homerun yesterday. In July he hit .275 with 5 homeruns, and is hitting .286 with 1 so far in August. I could see him potentially hitting another 6-8 homeruns the rest of the way.
Ubaldo Jimenez pitched well against the Mets, striking out 8 in 7 innings, but the offense failed to pick him up against the Mets. He took his 3rd loss of the season, but it's really good to see another fine start from him.
Joe Mauer hit his 7th homerun of the season last night, and went 3 for 5 with 3 runs batted in and 2 runs scored. I said before that I didn't think he'd necessarily get to 10 homeruns, but that looks like he will probably get there.
Felix Hernandez had a great start against the Athletics yesterday, striking out 13 while throwing a shutout. Bit of a waste of a good start by Brett Anderson as a result, who went 7 innings of 1 earned run ball and struck out 7. But Anderson remains a key play in my opinion, and should be started for every start regardless of matchup.