It was a busy day on the Major League Baseball diamond with some amazing performances for fantasy owners. A three-homer game is pretty rare, but we had two players accomplish the feat n Wednesday. There was also a complete game shutout, a pitcher racking up 16 strikeouts and plenty of multi-homer outings, too. Of course, it wasn't all great, as three players earned the unwanted golden sombrero for striking out four times in a single game. Oh, and one legend and future Hall of Famer moved closer to a milestone. Let's get started!
Wednesday's Fantasy Five
The Indians belted the visiting Rangers by a 12-4 count and Edwin Encarnacion accounted for half of the runs. The slugger swatted three home runs with six RBI. He is hitting just .191 overall on the season, but for one afternoon his fantasy owners has something big to smile about. He entered the game just 2-for-16 (.125) over the past four outings, and he hasn't hit over .200 since April 7. This was also his first multi-RBI game in 26 games dating back to April 1 in Seattle when he belted his first two homers of the season. Perhaps Encarnacion should have signed his big contract last offseason with an American League West club, as he has hit seven of his nine homers and 12 of his 16 RBI against AL West squads.
Luis Severino wasn't fazed by a matchup on the road against the defending world champs. He allowed just five hits and a walk with 10 strikeouts in a complete game shutout to run his record to 5-1 and lower his ERA to 2.11, throwing 83 of his 110 pitches for strikes. It was his first-career complete game, and he closed it out in style by also spinning a shutout. Giancarlo Stanton backed him with a 3-for-4 day, posting a double, two home runs and four RBI. Severino will look to carry over the momentum into his next scheduled start on Tuesday at home against the rival Red Sox.
Speaking of the Red Sox, Mookie Betts swatted three solo home runs and he finished 4-for-4 in a narrow 5-4 victory against the visiting Royals. All three homers came off of Danny Duffy, who also gave up a bomb to J.D. Martinez. He has banged out eight home runs over his past 12 games, and he has 10 bombs through 30 outings to put him on track for 54 dingers. He connected for just 24 last season. In addition, he is re-writing the Red Sox history books, and he has belted three homers in a game on four occasions, passing Hall of Famer Ted Williams. His third homer of the game might have been his most impressive, as he absolutely crushed an offering to straightaway centerfield in the seventh.
James Paxton was dealing at Safeco Field on Wednesday, allowing just two doubles, three singles and a walk over seven scoreless innings while recording a career-high 16 strikeouts in a no-decision. He departed with a 2-0 lead but the bullpen coughed up the lead and the game, as Juan Nicasio and Edwin Diaz couldn't finish things off. Even so, Paxton joined an elite group of Mariners hurlers with 16 or more strikeouts in a single game, joining Matt Moore, Mark Langston and Randy Johnson. He is the first M's pitcher since 1997 to accomplish the feat, too. It's surprising that Felix Hernandez hasn't been able to join that club.
Nolan Arenado enjoyed his day at Wrigley Field, finishing 3-for-6 with a double, two home runs and five RBI in an 11-2 rout of the Cubs. His first-inning homer was one of three clouts served up by Yu Darvish, who is off to a dismal 0-3 start with a 6.00 ERA. Arenado is rolling along, slashing .320/.412/.619, and he has three homers and five extra-base hits in the past three games at Wrigley Field. He has also driven in 13 runs over his past 12 games since returning from his five-game suspension.
Fantasy Game of the Night
The Orioles and the Angels combined for 17 runs in a crazy game. You'd think both starting pitchers were beaten up, but that's not the case. Andrew Heaney allowed just one earned run, five hits and a walk with two strikeouts over six innings to nail down his first victory of the season. It was also his first quality start, as he threw 54 of his 86 pitches for strikes. Still, his ERA sits at 5.31, so he has work to do before getting back in the good graces of fantasy owners. Albert Pujols has been in the good graces of owners for years, and now he is about to make history. He belted a solo home run in the first inning off of Dylan Bundy for career hit No. 2,997, and he tacked on a double later on for hit No. 2,998. The milestone is coming soon, and it will be interesting to see what type of hits he gets for No. 3,000. Mike Trout whacked his 11th homer of the season, a solo blast, and he added two runs scored and two walks in the victory. Martin Maldonado also got into the act with a 3-for-4 game, posting a double with a solo homer, three runs scored and two RBI to give him six hits through the first two games of the series. Still, he is hitting just .222 on the season and he has a ways to go before he is worth using outside of the deepest of AL-only fantasy formats.
For the O's, Bundy certainly wasn't posting many donuts. He allowed seven runs - five earned - and seven hits with a walk and four strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings in a loss, dropping his record to 1-4. Despite the poor record, his ERA is still a respectable 3.76. Manny Machado had a strange line, going 0-for-4 with a pair of RBI. One of the runs batted in came on a sacrifice fly, and another on a groundout. Still, fantasy owners aren't complaining, as he is up to 25 RBI. Chris Davis didn't have a great day defensively, committing an error on a grounder to hurt his starting pitcher, but he made up for it by going 2-for-4 with a run scored and RBI. Mark Trumbo also had two hits in four at-bats against his former team, and Jace Peterson had a bases-loaded clearing triple, giving him three of his season's seven RBI.
American League Quick Hits: Jorge Soler went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles to give him four extra-base hits over the past two outings. … Cheslor Cuthbert belted a solo home run, his third long ball of the season. He has three homers and five RBI over the past four contests. … Danny Duffy was serving up batting practice to Betts, and he slipped to 0-4 on the season. … Drew Pomeranz earned his first victory of the 2018 campaign, turning in a quality start in the process. … Craig Kimbrel struck out the side as he nailed down his eighth save. … Marcus Stroman is having a nightmare start, as he slipped to 0-4 despite a quality start. He didn't lose his fourth decision until June 22 last season. … Fernando Romero won his major league debut, allowing just four hits and three walks with five strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. If you need pitching in AL-only leagues, grab him now. … Matt Moore took one for the team, allowing 10 earned runs and 11 hits over four innings, as the Rangers tried to preserve their bullpen. At least Nick Gardewine and Jesse Chavez did a decent job while logging two innings each. … Corey Kluber is pitching like a Cy Young Award winner, moving to 5-1 while allowing three earned runs over seven innings with six strikeouts. … Francisco Lindor (5) and Jason Kipnis (1) each went deep, too, as the Indians clubbed five total homers. … Blake Snell surprised by allowing just two earned runs, five hits and a walk over 6 2/3 innings in a no-decision in Detroit. He matched pitchers with Michael Fulmer in a well-pitched game. Fulmer allowed just two runs over six innings in a no-decision. … Lucas Giolito slipped to 1-4 despite a quality start in St. Louis. … Dallas Keuchel slipped to 1-5 in a loss against the Yankees despite a quality start. … Remember when the A's cut Mark Canha despite a huge spring? Injuries created a space and he hasn't looked back. He was 3-for-4 with a solo home run and he is slashing .339/.391/.644. … Nelson Cruz took the golden sombrero in the home loss. … Edwin Diaz allowed a run in a non-save situation, serving up the homer to Canha. It was just the third hit he allowed all season, and the first homer.
National League Quick Hits: Carlos Martinez was lights out, allowing just one earned run, five hits and two walks with five strikeouts over 7 1/3 innings in a win against the Pale Hose. He also helped his own cause with a solo home run at the plate. … Bud Norris recorded four outs, including two strikeouts, while picking up his sixth save. … Trevor Story whacked his seventh homer of the season as he continues to be productive for his fantasy owners. … Tyler Anderson allowed just two runs over seven innings with nine strikeouts, improving to 2-0 while lowering his ERA to 3.78 in the 100-pitch quality start at Chicago. … Derek Holland earned his first victory of the season in four decisions, giving up three runs over five frames. He is still nothing but rotation filler in deeper NL formats. … Francisco Cervelli continues to rake, smacking his fifth homer of the season. … Bryce Harper had a double and a homer in Wednesday's 9-3 win over the Bucs. He has just two doubles on the season, but he is now up to 10 home runs. … Matt Adams banged out his sixth bomb of the season. Twos were wild for Adams, as he was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, two RBI and two walks. … Stephen Strasburg evened his record at 3-3 while striking out 11 batters over seven innings. … Max Moroff of the Pirates and Rhys Hoskins of the Phillies were also in the golden sombrero club. … Sean Newcomb was dealing for the Braves at Citi Field, allowing just two hits over seven scoreless frames with eight strikeouts against the Mets. … Wade Miley made his debut for the Brew Crew and he held the Reds down, allowing just one run over six frames. Wait to see him face a major-league caliber hitting group before investing a roster spot on him, however. … Aaron Nola moved to 4-1 with 7 1/3 scoreless innings in Miami. … Jose Urena was on the short end thanks to no run support, as he yielded just one run over seven innings. Still, he slipped to 0-5. … Last, but certainly not least, Hyun-Jin Ryu checked out of his start due to a strained groin. Manager Dave Roberts was reportedly not optimistic about the injury after the game, as things go from bad to worse for the struggling Dodgers.
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