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- Chris Sale looked every bit dominate as advertised in Boston’s 3-1 win over the Blue Jays. The Red Sox ace went 8 scoreless innings allowing just 4 hits and striking out 13. Unfortunately for Sale, his team’s offense wouldn’t score until the 10th inning. This is the 5th time in Sale’s career he did not record a win despite pitching 8+ shutout innings, the most of any active pitcher. Sale now has a 0.91 ERA and 0.71 WHIP with 42 strikeouts on the season. He’s gone at least 7 innings in each of his 4 starts and has 3 straight games with 10 or more Ks. Dominant!
- Steven Souza Jr. had a great game in the Rays 8-1 win over the Tigers. He went 3 for 5, a single short of the cycle, and had 3 R and 3 RBI. Souza Jr. is hitting .349 on the season with 3 HR 15 RBI and 11 runs scored. He is only owned in 59% of CBS leagues, 46.1% of ESPN leagues, and just 31% of Yahoo! leagues. Add him while he’s hitting.
when Steven Souza has 3 hits, a double, triple, home run and 3 RBIs and he's not even on your fantasy team. pic.twitter.com/m0w6OYJMqZ
— Fake Teams (@faketeams) April 21, 2017
- Stephen Strasburg was solid for 7 innings of 2 run ball in a winning effort Thursday. He struck out a season high 10 batters. Strasburg has gone 7 innings exactly in all 4 of his starts and now has a 2.89 ERA. Shawn Kelley nailed down the save but allowed two base runners. He’s got the best stuff in the bullpen and should get the next save chance.
- In other bullpen news, the Phillies/Mets game provided a bit of clarity perhaps. Hector Neris earned his first save of the season. He worked a perfect 9th inning. Joaquin Benoit pitched the 8th. This is hopefully how Philadelphia will use their bullpen going forward. As for New York, Jeurys Familia returned from his suspension to pitch a scoreless 9th inning. He issued 2 walks but also got 2 strikeouts. Familia led the majors with 51 saves last season.
- Eric Thames keeps hitting! Thames lauched his 8th HR of the season during the Brewers 7-5 win over the Cardinals. Thames is hitting .415 and also has 14 RBI and 20 runs scored. His teammate, Travis Shaw, went 2 for 4 including a 3-run HR in the first inning. Shaw has 5 HR and 16 RBI and is available in 60% of ESPN leagues.