AccuScore
| No Hit Bids Spoiled |
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Amidst all the trade deadline madness, pitchers around the majors had some terrific performances. John Lackey took a no-hit bid into the 9th while Doug Davis had a perfect game spoiled in the seventh. They weren't the only ones to have pitched well either as teams continue to look for deals to help themselves in the race down the stretch.
 There were several terrific pitching performances around baseball Tuesday headlined by John Lackey’s no-hit bid against the Red Sox. Lackey made it through 8.1 innings at Fenway unblemished until Dustin Pedroia pulled a pitch just past the glove of Angel shortstop Macier Izturis. The next batter Kevin Youkilis promptly hit a home run and the shutout was gone as well. Still, Lackey’s performance was terrific and it gave Anaheim its seventh straight win over Boston on the day they made a bold move and acquired slugging first baseman Mark Teixeira. The Angels look to be a team ready for the postseason. Lackey wasn’t the only pitcher sending down batter after batter Tuesday night. Arizona’s Doug Davis took a perfect game into the seventh before San Diego’s Brian Giles singled to centerfield. Davis’ line ended up better than Lackey’s fantasy-wise: 7.2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 ER, 8 K. The lefty has been huge for the D-Backs coming back from cancer earlier this year as a solid member of the rotation. Micah Owings has struggled terribly and he was sent down to the minors to be replaced by Yusmeiro Petit. There was no sign of a return for Max Scherzer just yet, but I have to believe the flamethrower will be back on the roster so that he could join a potential run through the playoffs. There were even more great pitching performances throughout baseball; those will be coming later so keep reading. • AccuScore has already examined the Teixeira trade in detail. The move doesn’t really change either his value or that of Casey Kotchman. Our computers say the move boosts the Angels’ chances because of the added power, and I definitely agree the move was the right thing to do. The Angels were one bat away, and now they are the most complete team in baseball. • Chris Carpenter will be making his first appearance since Opening Day in 2007 when he starts Wednesday against the Teixeira-less Braves. He was clearly the number two pitcher in fantasy (behind Johan Santana) in 2006. If you have roster space in mixed leagues he’s a great speculative add. He should already be owned in NL-only and very deep leagues just in case he pitches well. • When I say everybody was pitching well Tuesday, I mean everybody. Jason Johnson gave up only five hits in six innings of work as the Dodgers shut out the Giants 2-0. Johnson has pitched for eight major league teams including five in the last three years sandwiched around a stint in Japan with the Seibu Lions. He’s still not a guy you want in fantasy, but good to note that just about any pitcher can do well against the Giants. Johnson out dueled a much more talented pitcher to get the win. Matt Cain threw seven innings and struck out eight allowing just one earned run but was the hard luck loser. His ERA over his last six starts is 1.88, and he has struck out 44 batters in that span (44 IP). • Tyler Yates got the first save post-Marte pitching a perfect 9th against Colorado. John Grabow pitched the 7th and Denny Bautista and Sean Burnett threw in the 8th. I still think this will be closer-by-committee until one player takes a stronger hold of the position. Don’t read too far into this just yet. Any of these players could still be traded as well since the Pirates are definitely sellers. Stay tuned. • Matt Joyce is playing everyday for the Tigers, and he has kept on hitting. The rookie is batting .281 and has 10 home runs in just 128 major league at-bats. He had two more hits Tuesday and scored two runs. • Roy Halladay is just a machine as a pitcher. He went another eight innings this time against Tampa allowing three runs and striking out eight. It wasn’t nearly enough this time however as Matt Garza continues to flash his immense talent in a breakout season. Garza had a Hallady special throwing a complete game five-hit shutout with just one walk and five strikeouts. • I just wrote that anybody can pitch well against the Giants. Well, everybody can definitely shut down the Nationals. Brett Myers, pitching for his starting life, went seven innings just one run in a 2-1 Philly victory. I’d still stay far far away from Myers as he will probably implode soon again, but as poorly as he’s been pitching even he completely shutdown Washington. It is the best match-up to look for when streaming pitchers. • Would you be interested in this pitcher? Since June 7: 3-2 record with 62 IP, 52 K, 2.47 ERA. Last six starts: 2 wins, 39.2 IP, 44 K, 1.36 ERA. Congratulations, you have picked up Oliver Perez. And you definitely should. He has made some mechanical tweaks, and it certainly seems to have worked although it has not translated into wins just yet. He did get the win Tuesday against the Marlins (6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 5 K, 3 BB). Perez is back to mixed league worthiness. • Even more pitching goodness. Carlos Zambrano: 8 IP, 0 ER, 9 K, W. Brian Moehler: 8.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 K, W. Gil Meche: 7 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 8 K, W. Obviously Zambrano is a stud. Moehler and Meche have almost identical ratios (4.23 vs. 4.22 ERA, 1.36 vs. 1.31 WHIP) but Meche is far more valuable because of twice as many strikeouts. • A day after expecting to miss about a week with a fractured finger, Michael Young started at shortstop and batted his usual second. So much for that injury. |
