White Sox starter Edwin Jackson dominated the Rays on Thursday, giving up one run on 4 hits and striking out 13. He follows Tim Lincecum's dominating performance yesterday with one of his own. He threw first pitch strikes to 20 of the 29 batters he faced and now sports a 20-5 K/BB rate in his two wins this season.
Yes, the Red Sox got shutout by Indians starter Fausto Carmona for 7 innings. Carmona gave up just 2 hits and 2 walks and struckout 4 in his 7 innings of work. Red Sox fans must be chomping at the bit with the Yankees coming into town this weekend.
The Red Sox spoiled a dominating performance by starter Jon Lester who also hurled 7 shutout innings giving up 3 hits, 3 walks and striking out 9. Lester threw first pitch strikes to 19 of the 26 batters he faced.
Half of the Red Sox lineup is hitting under .200 including Jacoby Ellsbury, Carl Crawford, Kevin Youkilis, Marco Scutaro and Jarrod Saltalamacchia. And Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz and J.D. Drew are all under .230. If you can find an owner who is ready to deal any of Crawford, Pedroia, Youkilis or Ellsbury, I would consider making a deal for them.
More Roto Roundup after the jump:
Athletics starter Trevor Cahill threw 8 solid innings on Thursday, holding the Blue Jays to one run on 3 hits while striking out 7. Cahill induced 11 groundballs and threw first pitch strikes to 17 of the 27 batters he faced.
Yankees starter A.J. Burnett won his second game of the season, holding the Twins to 2 runs on 5 hits, 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts in 6 innings of work. Burnett appears to be back on track after his horrible 2010 season.
Phillies starter Roy Halladay won his first game of the year, shutting out the Mets for 7 innings, giving up 7 baserunners and striking out 7. His ERA sits at 0.69.
Phillies second baseman Wilson Valdez went 4-4 with a HR, 3 runs scored and 3 RBI. He is making the most of his opportunity with Chase Utley out. Then again, it is only one week, and fantasy owners should not expect Valdez to continue to hit this well.
Russell Martin went 0-3 with an RBI, and is hitting .300-.333-.500. I would deal him now before his BA and SLG start falling.
Twins second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka broke his fibula yesterday and will be out for about a month. The Twins called up Luke Hughes to take Nishioka's spot on the roster, and he may share second base duties with Matt Tolbert.
Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki went 2-3 with his 3rd HR and 3 RBI on Thursday afternoon. Tulo is off to a fast start to the 2011 season, and he may just be the # 1 shortstop by the end of the year, if he keeps this up.
Rockies starter Esmil Rogers went 7+ innings holding the Pirates to one run on 4 hits and striking out 7 on Thursday. Rogers is a pickup only in NL-only leagues.
Brewers starter Shaun Marcum won his first game in the NL holding the Braves to 2 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings. He walked two and struck out 4.
The Braves batted catcher Brian McCann in the 3 hole in the lineup yesterday. Why? Jason Heyward is their best player, and he should be batting 3rd, with McCann batting 5th behind Dan Uggla.
Brewers closer John Axford converted his second save in as many days, striking out 1 in his inning of work. What is interesting is that while Takashi Saito has not been available, reliever Kameron Loe pitched the 8th the last two days. He is someone to keep an eye on should Axford blow a few saves down the road.
Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun went 2-3 with a HR and 2 RBI on Thursday. He now has 3 HRs this season, and could be well on his way to a 30+ HR season, after seeing his power drop the last two years.
White Sox outfielder Juan Pierre went 3-5 with a run scored, RBI and his 3rd SB of the season. Can he reach 70 SBs this season?