Roto Roundup: Clayton Kershaw Ks 11, Cameron Maybin Homers Twice, New Closer for Dodgers?

Daily Scoring Drought Scorecard:  15 games

Teams Shutout: 2

Teams w/1 run scored: 2

Teams w/2 runs scored: 2

Teams w/ 3 runs scored: 4

Teams w/ > 3 runs scored: 20

Cubs starter Ryan Dempster held the Giants to just 2 runs on 6 hits and struck out 11 Giants on Friday afternoon. Since his horrific outing on April 28th where he couldn't get 2 outs in the first inning, he has given up just 5 runs in 20 innings, striking out 20 and walking just 3. The window to "buy low" on him has just about closed.

Cubs second baseman Darwin Barney went 3-5 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBIs on Friday. Barney, a career .286 hitter in the minors, is hitting .326-.346-.417 with a HR, 17 RBIs and a 12-4 K/BB rate. He is a sell high candidate, or just a sell, if you can get equal value for him.

Mariners closer Brandon League blew his second straight save, and 3rd of the season, ruining a solid outing from Doug Fister. League gave up 3 runs on 3 hits, including a 2 run HR to Travis Hafner. League's leash may be getting shorter after his last two outings. Manager Eric Wedge indicated after the game that League could be removed from the closer job, so go out and pick up either Jamey Wright or David Purcey as they are the likely replacements.

More Roto Roundup after the jump:

Tigers starter Justin Verlander threw 5 2/3rd no-hit innings, his first start after his no-hitter, and ended up giving up one run on 2 hits, 3 walks and striking out 7. Verlander is now 4-3 with a 2.91 ERA and a 62-21 K/BB rate.

Diamondbacks second baseman Kelly Johnson has had a rough season at the plate hitting just .184-.260-.316 for the season. One would think he is asleep at the plate, but his play in the infield last night was just as bad last night. With a man on first base, he did not cover second base on a ground ball in the hole, which shortstop Stephen Drew got to and threw to second with Johnson about 6-8 feet away from the bag. Manager Kirk Gibson was stewing after watching the play. I expect to see Ryan Roberts playing second base tomorrow night.

Remember earlier this season when some, including me, had concerns about how Adrian Gonzalez would return from his offseason shoulder surgery? Well, worry no more. Gonzalez went 1-3 with a HR and 2 RBIs on Friday night and is now hitting .329-.379-.581 with 8 HRs and 31 RBIs. Can you say MVP?

Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury went 2-5 with a run scored and a SB, and is now hitting .295-.344-.450 with 4 HRs, 17 RBIs an 12 SBs this season. He is 16-47 in his last 10 games with 5 SBs.

It's beginning to look like Nationals outfielder Layne Nix is grabbing a firm hold of the left field job in Washington as he is red hot right now. Nix went 3-5 with a HR and 2 RBIs and is hitting .303-.321-.566 with 5 HRs and 15 RBIs. I would try to deal him now while he has value.

Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez is heating up as he went 2-5 with a run scored and has raised his BA from .194 to .224 in his last 10 games. He has 3 multi-hits in his last 4 games with 5 SBs.

Cardinals closer Eduardo Sanchez blew a save last night after giving up a run on 2 hits and a walk in his inning of work. Sanchez may have a bit of a leash, especially considering Fernando Salas threw 2 innings of shutout ball on Friday night. But one wonders if Salas could be closing for the Cardinals in the next week or so.

Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday is one reason why we haven't heard too much about the slow start from Albert Pujols this season. Holliday went 3-5 with 2 RBIs on Friday and has a triple slash line of .398-.483-.618 with 5 HRs and 28 RBIs.

Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson threw a complete game shutout against the Orioles on Friday night, giving up just 4 hits and a walk and striking out 3. He is now 4-2 with a 2.98 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and a mediocre 30-18 K/BB rate.

Braves starter Brandon Beachy was pulled with a left oblique strain and appears to be headed to the DL. The Braves will probably call up Mike Minor next week to start in his place.

More from the Atlanta Journal Constitution twitter account:

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard is certainly not missing Jayson Werth hitting behind him this year. Howard went 2-4 with a HR, 2 runs, and 3 RBIs on Friday night. He now has 9 HRs and 35 RBIs on the season.

Mets third baseman David Wright went 1-3 with a HR and 2 RBIs on Friday, but is only hitting .236-.341-.421 with 6 HRs and 18 RBIs and a 41-23 K/BB rate in 140 at bats. He is on pace to strike out 175 this season. Wow. I still believe he can have a solid season this year, but he will have to lower his K rate.

Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun went 1-3 with 3 RBIs and 2 SBs on Friday night. He is proving last year was just an off year for him as he is hitting .303-.387-.549 with 10 HRs, 28 RBIs and 7 SBs this season. Matt Kemp is battling Braun for top fantasy outfielder this season.

Blue Jays starter Ricky Romero was dominant on Friday night, shutting out the Twins for 8 2/3rd innings before giving way to Frank Francisco for the final out. Romero gave up just 4 hits, 3 walks and struck out 8 and is now 3-4 on the season with a 3.35 ERA.

Padres center fielder Cameron Maybin went 4-4 with 2 HRs and is Fake Teams Fantasy Player of the Day.

Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw shutout the Diamondbacks for 7 innings on Friday and was dominant in the process as he gave up just 5 base runners while striking out a season high 11 batters. Kershaw is now 4-4 with a 2.75 ERA, 1.19 WHIP  and an excellent 64-20 K/BB rate . Kershaw is an ace at the age of 23. The Dodgers will be sure to lock him up within the next year.

Dodgers closer Vicente Padilla struggled on Friday night as he entered the game with a 4-1 lead and proceeded to give up 2 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks and need 32 pitches to get 2 outs. With 2 on and 2 out, Dodgers manager turned to Kenley Jansen to pitch to Melvin Mora to close out the game, and Jansen struck him out on 4 pitches. It will certainly be interesting to see who gets the next save opportunity in LA.