Pitching dominated Saturday's action as there were four games that ended with a 2-1 score, one with a 2-0 score, and two with a 3-2 score. The top pitching performances were lead by James Shields, Roy Halladay, Josh Johnson and Wandy Rodriguez.
Before I get to the major league action , here are a few notes from Saturday's minor league action:
Nationals top prospect Bryce Harper went 1-3 with his 6th home run and 5th in his last 8 games.
Reds infield prospect Zach Cozart had a game to remember as he went 5-5 with 4 doubles, a HR and 3 RBIs. Five extra base hits in one game is some feat.
Orioles SS prospect Manny Machado went 2-3 with a HR, 3 RBIs, 2 runs scored, and a SB. He is hitting .338-.430-.572 with 4 HRs and 18 RBIs.
Padres 1B prospect Anthony Rizzo went 2-4 with a 2B, 3B and 2 RBIs giving him 30 RBIs for the month of April.
MiLB top pitching prospect Julio Teheran won his 3rd game of the season, limiting the Jesus Montero led Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees to one run on 7 hits, a walk and 7 strikeouts in 6 innings. He could see time in Atlanta this season.
I wrote about Rays starter James Shields in the Fake Teams Fantasy Player of the Day article earlier today.
Angels starter Joel Piniero came off the DL to give up just one run in 7 innings vs the Rays. He gave up 4 hits, a walk and struck out 3 to keep the game close for the Angels.
Phillies starter Roy Halladay threw another complete game for his 4th win of the season. He gave up one run on 7 hits, a walk and 8 strikeouts, as he lowered his ERA to 2.14 with a 0.99 WHIP. Cy Young #3 is in his sights. Halladay didn't waste anytime on Saturday, as he threw first pitch strikes to 25 of the 33 batters he faced.
More Roto Roundup after the jump:
Braves closer Craig Kimbrel has had a rough couple days as he blew the save in Friday night's game, and he lost the game on Saturday afternoon. He gave up 2 hits, a walk and the game winning run after coming in to pitch the 9th inning of a 2-2 game. I imagine he will not be used on Sunday if a save opportunity come up.
I wrote about the Cardinals bullpen situation yesterday, and it appears the Mitchell Boggs is out, and the closer battle is between Fernando Salas and Eduardo Sanchez.
According to ESPN's Buster Olney, the Yankees may consider moving SS Derek Jeter to the bottom of their lineup in the next few weeks. Jeter is hitting just .250-.311-.272 with no homers and 6 RBIs this season. Here is another fun fact from Buster on Twitter yesterday:
Buster_ESPN Buster Olney
@Killin_Zoe @steve_karsay Here are recent facts: .297 slugging percentage, 0 homers over
305 PAs. His production is among worst in majors.
Wow. $17 million for an 8-hole hitter.
Blue Jays recent call up David Cooper is 0-7 with a walk, K and an RBI in his first two games as the Blue Jays DH.
Rangers utility guy Michael Young is certainly making it look like he has put all the offseason trade rumors behind him, as he is hitting .342-.353-.495 after going 2-5 with a HR, 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs on Saturday. I have to think Ned Colletti may be second-guessing himself for not trading for him right now with Rafael Furcal and Casey Blake on the DL.
Rangers DH Mike Napoli went 1-2 with a HR, 3 walks, 2 runs scored and an RBI on Saturday night. He is hitting .267-.431-.733 with 6 HRs and 12 RBIs. Although he is not playing everyday, Napoli is in the top 5 in slugging percentage at this point behind Jose Bautista, Ryan Braun and Lance Berkman.
Indians catcher Carlos Santana went 1-4 with his 5th HR of the season along with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts. He is still hitting under .200 for the season, but has hits in 7 of his last 10 games, and ends the month of April with 5 HRs and 17 RBIs. His .194 BABIP will certainly improve going forward.
Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera went 2-3 with a HR, 3 walks and an RBI on Saturday. He ends the month with 7 HRs, 19 RBIs and a triple slash line of .333-.454-.635.
After a rough start to the season, Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez is starting to pitch very well for fantasy owners. He threw 8 shutout innings on Saturday, giving up 7 hits, walking none and striking out 6. He has given up one run or less in half of his starts this month, but was denied his second win when closer Brandon Lyon blew his third save.
Royals second baseman Mike Aviles was not amongst the top fantasy second baseman for 2011, but he ended the month 4 amongst all second baseman in RBIs after going 1-3 with 2 RBIs on Saturday. His triple slash line of .225-.260-.493 should improve as his BABIP improves from the current level of .212.
Alex Gordon went 2-5 with a HR and 3 RBIs on Saturday, and ends the month hitting .339-.395-.541 with 2 HRs and 19 RBIs. I am hoping he is just as successful in May as he was in April.
Marlins starter Josh Johnson threw 7 shutout innings on Saturday, giving up just 7 base runners while striking out 6, but was denied a win by his bullpen who blew a 3-0 lead in the 8th inning. Johnson ends the month with 3 wins, 0.88 ERA, a 0.71 WHIP, a 39-11 K/BB rate and has allowed just 18 hits in 41 innings pitched.
Jason Hammel held the Pirates to one run, a leadoff HR to Andrew McCutchen, in 7 innings on Saturday, giving up 6 hits, 2 walks, and striking out 4 in 7 solid innings. He ends the month with a 3-1 record with a 3.23 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and an 18-8 K/BB rate.
Matt Garza earned his first win of the season on Saturday, giving up 3 runs, 8 base runners and striking out 10 in 8 innings of work. He now owns a 51-11 K/BB rate in 38+ innings this year.
Diamondbacks shortstop went 2-4 with 2 RBIs and ended the month hitting .321-.389-.531 with 2 HRs, 22 RBIs and 1 SB. With all the hype surrounding Troy Tulowitzki's hot start to the 2011 season, it is Drew who is leading all MLB shortstops in RBIs at this point.