Oakland Explodes

 
It was a busy Friday night in Major League Baseball with a doubleheader, a few amazing pitching performances and some big stats from offensive players, too. A few of the outings we have come to expect, but there were a few other players that perhaps the casual fan is just getting to know. We also had a handful of players making their season debut after overcoming injuries. Pitchers had the upper hand in a lot of the games, but the bats were on fire in places like Denver and St. Petersburg. Let's get started!

Friday's Fantasy Five

Jed Lowrie continues to roll up huge numbers, and he was at it again on Friday night against his original MLB organization. He finished 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles, a run scored and an RBI to raise his average to .372. He leads the majors with 32 hits while also sitting atop the list with 22 RBI. Is he a triple crown candidate? Well, let's not get crazy. However, he is doing an amazing job in pitcher-friendly O.co Coliseum. He'll look to keep it rolling on Saturday against Red Sox RHP Chris Sale. He is 8-for-20 (.400) with two RBI and four strikeouts all-time against the BoSox ace.

Justin Verlander has the fastball dancing against a very familiar opponent. He knows the White Sox all too well from his days with the Detroit Tigers, and he picked up another win at Guaranteed Rate Field on Friday. He allowed just two hits with three walks and five strikeouts over six strikeouts to run his record to 3-0 and lower his ERA to 1.10. He is 4-0 across his past nine starts against the White Sox dating back to the start of the 2015 season, and he has 71 strikeouts over 55 1/3 innings during the impressive span. He has won seven of his past eight decisions against the White Sox, and his last loss against the came on June 11, 2014.




Brian Dozier finished Friday's game in Tampa Bay with two hits over five at-bats with a run scored. It wasn't all great, as he was caught stealing at second base. He has hit safely in all 14 games this season, going 18-for-62 (.290) with 13 runs scored, four homers and seven RBI, and he has a 21-game hitting streak going back to last season. It's the longest active hitting streak in the majors, and the longest by a member of the Twins since Dozier hit safely in 24 straight back during the 2016 campaign.

Javier Baez is doing amazing things for the Cubbies, and he had another big line in Friday's rout at Coors Field. The second baseman posted four hits, including a double and a two-run home run while ending up with four RBI. He is in some rare Chicago Cubs company, posting 20 RBI through the first 17 games. He is the first player in the organization to reach 20 or more RBI through the club's first 17 outings since Billy Williams collected 25 RBI during the 1970 season. He has done a majority of the good work lately, driving in 16 runs over the past eight games.

Tyson Ross is normally not someone fantasy owners are going to depend upon, but anyone who rolled the dice on his in DFS as a contrarian play in Arizona was treated to a great pitching line. He carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning before pinch hitter Christian Walker doubled in a run to spoil the bid with two outs. Despite the impressive 127-pitch outing he ended up coming up empty with a very unsatisfying no-decision, although he'll certainly be encouraged by the start. He'll try to keep it rolling in San Francisco next Tuesday. The Padres remain the only active organization without a no-hitter in franchise history.

Game of the Night

A game at Coors Field can be the best game for fantasy purposes most nights, but it was especially so on Friday. The Cubs racked up 16 runs and 18 hits in the road win. We mentioned Baez and his exploits above, but he wasn't the only one raking. Albert Almora racked up four hits with a double, an RBI and four runs scored in the win. It was his first-career four-hit game, and he is now slashing .325/.372/.525, including an impressive 9-for-18 (.500) with nine runs scored across the past six contests. Kyle Schwarber is loving life at Coors Field, collecting five hits with six RBI in the first two games of the series. He is now slashing .283/.406/.566, as he is finally healthy and getting a chance to play frequently. Kyle Hendricks picked up his first win of the season, and Coors Field probably wouldn't be the guess for most where that would happen. Most pitchers do not iron their problems out in the rarefied air, but he yielded just three runs and five hits with no walks and six strikeouts over five innings for his first victory of the 2018 campaign.

For the Rockies, Nolan Arenado was back from a five-game suspension. He didn't show any rust from his layoff, going 3-for-4 with a two-run home run in his first at-bat. While Jon Gray was getting tattooed on the mound, allowing seven runs - five earned - and eight hits over five innings, he was able to collect a single and a double in two at-bats to at least try and help himself out. The Rockies didn't offer very much relief, either, as Bryan Shaw has been a disaster in relief with a 7.84 ERA. He coughed up five runs, four hits and a walk while retiring just two batters. Antonio Senzatela has also been terrible out of the bullpen, yielding four earned runs, six hits and a walk in just two innings as his ERA ballooned to 9.53. Ryan MacMahon ended up 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, posting his first-career multi-hit game.

American League Quick Hits: Jason Hammel allowed two earned runs, five hits and two walks with four strikeouts over nine innings in a no-decision in Game 1 of a doubleheader in Detroit, matching the longest outing of his career. … Mike Moustakas hit in each end of the twin bill, an he has now hit safely in 12 straight games. … JaCoby Jones shined in Game 1, going 2-for-4 with a double, a solo home run and two runs scored with two RBI. He then went 1-for-2 with a triple, a run scored and an RBI in the nightcap. Play like that is certain to buy him some more regular playing time. … Roberto Osuna slammed the door for his sixth save of the season against the Yankees and he has yet to yield a run this season. … Yangervis Solarte swatted a home run and he now has left the yard five times this season. … Lourdes Gurriel made his MLB debut, going 2-for-5 with three RBI. … Giancarlo Stanton cracked a two-run home run to hopefully snap him back on track. … Sonny Gray was terrible in his outing, allowing five earned runs, five hits and four walks with no strikeouts and two wild pitches in 3 1/3 innings in a no-decision. … Roberto Perez got a chance to play, but he took the golden sombrero with four strikeouts in four at-bats. … Dylan Bundy allowed just one run, five hits and two walks with nine strikeouts against the Indians, improving to 1-2 while lowering his ERA to a minuscule 1.42. … Darren O'Day slammed the door shut with two strikeouts for his first save, racking up 11 strikes on 16 pitches. … Jeff Junis was impressive in Game 2 of the K.C.-Detroit double dip, allowing just two earned runs with four hits, a walk and four strikeouts over eight innings. He is still only worth a look in deeper AL-only leagues, but perhaps he is starting to come around. … Fernando Rodney blew his second save chance for the Twins, although he did strike out three in the inning of work. … Mitch Haniger had an impressive showing, going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, two RBI and a walk. Jean Segura also collected three hits, including a key hit in a late-inning rally to help the team to a road victory. … Keone Kela was smacked around for three earned runs and three hits while retiring just one batter in a relief loss in the non-save situation. … Carlos Correa cracked two homers with three RBI across five at-bats. … George Springer went 2-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and four RBI. … Mitch Moreland cracked a grand slam to help the Red Sox to a nice road win.

National League Quick Hits: Ivan Nova and Ben Lively put on a nice and unexpected pitching performance, as each allowed just one earned run across six innings in a pair of no-decisions. … Noah Syndergaard allowed earned runs while scattering seven hits over six innings in a road no-decision in Atlanta, and he did not walk any batters while striking out six. … Ozzie Albies cracked his sixth homer, as he continues to please his fantasy owner with nice power. … Ryan Braun was powering up again, going 2-for-5 with a homer, two runs scored and two RBI. … Jonathan Villar also took the golden sombrero in the team's 8-0 victory against the Marlins. … Travis Shaw picked him up by going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and two runs scored. … Michael Wacha shut down the Reds, allowing one earned run, six hits and a walk over 6 2/3 innings in a victory against the struggling Cincinnati Reds. A managerial change did nothing to get the Reds back on track. … Harrison Bader was 1-for-3 with a run scored and a walk, extending his hitting streak to six games. … Jeff Samardzija (pectoral) made his season debut, allowing just two hits with four walks and four strikeouts over five innings to pick up the win against the Angels. … Mac Williamson belted a homer in his first game back in the majors, seizing an opportunity to play for the injured Hunter Pence (thumb). … Max Scherzer outdueled Clayton Kershaw in a battle of three-time Cy Young Award winners, the first such matchup since 2006. Scherzer came away with the win, allowing just one run with nine strikeouts over six innings. … Kershaw picked up his third loss of the season. Last year he didn't lose his third decision until Sept. 7.