Red Sox starter Jon Lester left his start last night after straining his lat and will be out at least two weeks. He lasted just 4 innings last night giving up just a walk and striking out 5. For the season, he is 10-4 with a 3.31 ERA and 1.31 WHIP.
Mets shortstop Jose Reyes did not test his hamstring last night and sat out again. He is considered day to day at this point, but there is no sense rushing him. Plus, Reyes has a contract he is playing for, so he should play it smart and make sure he is 100% before returning to the Mets lineup.
Speaking of rushing himself, Albert Pujols was tested by the Cardinals team doctors and was activated before Tuesday night's game. He was supposed to be out 4-6 weeks with the fractured forearm, and missed only 2 weeks. Unless he is some kind of miracle healer, I don't see him hitting well once he returns to the lineup on Wednesday.
More Roundup after the jump:
Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday homered twice last night and is now hitting .320-.418-.562 with 12 HRs, 44 RBIs and no SBs. Holliday's SB totals have steadily dropped over the last 3 years from 28 to 14 to 9 last season. He is good for 25-100-.300 every year.
Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson went 3-6 with 2 HRs, 3 runs and 3 RBIs last night and is now hitting .278-.370-.597 with 25 HRs, 62 RBIs and 15 SBs. I certainly did not see this kind of season coming from Granderson back in spring training, and he will get strong consideration for one of the three Fantasy All Star Outfielders in the MLB Hats Off Series.
Granderson's teammate CC Sabathia shutout the Indians for 7 innings on 5 hits, 2 walks and 11 strikeouts last night to win his 12th game. He lowered his ERA to 2.90, his WHIP to 1.20 and owns an excellent 117-34 K/BB rate in 136+ innings this season.
Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez went 1-4 with a HR and 2 RBIs last night and has now homered 7 times in his last 10 games. For the season, he is hitting .295-.340-.487 with 13 HRs, 46 RBIs and 38 runs scored.
Pirates starter Jeff Karstens just continues to pitch well as he held the Astros to just one run in 7 innings last night to win his 7th game of the season. He is now 7-4 with a 2.55 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. I wrote about Karstens here on Saturday.
Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista went 2-4 with a HR and 2 RBIs and has now homered 5 times in his last 8 games and is hitting .331-.467-.687 with a major league leading 28 HRs, 58 RBIs, and a 70-51 K/BB rate. AL MVP?
Braves second baseman Dan Uggla went 2-2 with a HR, 2 walks and 2 runs scored last night and now has 13 HRs and 30 RBIs to go along with his horrific .178-.250-.344 triple slash line. I own Uggla in two keeper leagues and will not be keeping him in 2012, unless he goes on a Troy Tulowitzki-like tear in the second half.
Ryan Howard went 4-5 with a HR, 3 runs scored and 4 RBIs last night. Howard is having a bit of a down year at the plate but still has 18 HRs and 71 RBIs, but his ISO since 2006 has the following trend: .346 - .316 - .292 - .292 - .229 - .222. Not a good trend.