Fantasy Baseball: Thursday News and Notes

Last Night Rewind

• Not a bad night for Buster Posey. The San Francisco Giants catcher smacked two home runs and drove in six to lead the Giants to a 15-2 win over the Brewers. Posey's home runs included his first career grand slam and he had four hits in total on the night.
• If you read the blog yesterday you likely saw that Jamie Moyer needed to be on the bench against the Atlanta Braves. That proved to be true as the Braves got to Moyer for seven runs in 5.1 innings and managed to hit three home runs in the process. The loss broke a string of four consecutive quality starts that began after his implosion against Boston.
• Adam Dunn had a three-home run night for the Washington Nationals on Wednesday. Dunn drove in five overall and became the first Nationals player since 2006 and only the second since they were the Expos in 1987 to have a three home run game. It also is the 10th year in a row that Dunn has hit at least 20 home runs.
• Tim Wakefield had no control over the knuckle ball last night. Though he surrendered only four hits in 5.2 innings, he walked six batters and allowed six runs to score. Nothing about the night was pretty for the Boston starter, and his ERA jumped to 5.22 after the disaster of a night.
• Have to fall on my sword with Joe Saunders. He was destroyed last night, lasting just 5.2 innings and giving up 10 hits and five earned runs. Saunders had pitched well in Chicago historically, but this was nothing short of a disaster. Saunders was coming off two solid starts, so things lined up, but this did not work out for anyone.

Thursday Notes

• Roy Oswalt's 1-8 record at home looks ugly, but when you consider batters are only hitting .245 against him and he has a sub-4.00 ERA, you can see that the issues are more on offense and not in pitching. Oswalt has already recorded a win against the Pittsburgh Pirates this season, and he is pitching too well to worry about the win aspect that is out of his control.
• Franklin Gutierrez and Ichiro both have good numbers against Andy Pettitte. Gutierrez is 5-for-12 with a home run while Ichiro has hit .389. Look to avoid the 5-for-23 of Jack Wilson and the 3-for-13 of Jose Lopez. Pettitte is 3-0 this season on the road with a 2.59 ERA.
• Mark Kotsay is worth the start against Ervin Santana. Konerko is 10-for-24. Teammates Juan Pierre and Alex Rios are both hitting better than .350 against Santana and should be in your lineup as well. Look to avoid the 4-for-22 and 4-for-21 of Paul Konerko and A.J. Pierzynski in this one.
• Scott Baker is 1-5 on the road this season with a 6.55 ERA away from home this season. He has given up 10 home runs in 45.2 innings of work on the road and batters are hitting .325 against him. Baker had a good outing against the Tampa Bay Rays last time out, but it was another home outing.
• The San Diego Padres are going to move Mat Latos back into the rotation over the next several weeks. He will get the ball in this one on Wednesday. The Padres are looking to control his innings in case they are in a pennant race in the latter half of the season. Latos is 5-2 on the road with a 2.93 ERA.
• Barry Zito has had two rough starts in his last three outings. In total, he has given up 13 runs on 13 hits in his last 15.1 innings over those three appearances. Zito has not been able to get a win since June 12th and has seen his ERA jump by 1.50 runs since May 16th.
• John Danks is just 4-4 at home, but he has kept his ERA to 3.10 in those nine starts there this season. Batters continue to struggle against him in his own park, hitting only .226. Keep Bobby Abreu in the lineup. He is 4-for-10 with two home runs against Danks and Torii Hunter hits .292 in 24 trips to the plate. Erick Aybar is the only concern at just 3-for-16.
• Chris Carpenter is coming off his shortest outing of the season, but he has held most of the Colorado Rockies lineup in check. Clint Barnes is only 2-for-12 while Brad Hawpe, who continues to struggle over the last 30 days, is only 3-for-13. Carpenter is too good not to be able to rebound, even with a nagging forearm injury. If he is healthy to go, he should be in your lineup here.
• Vladimir Guerrero is just 1-for-17 against Jeremy Guthrie, but teammate Michael Young has hit him well, going 6-for-15 with a home run. Ian Kinsler should be back in the lineup tonight as well, and he is a .357 hitter against Guthrie.
• Spot Starts: Wells, Sanchez, Cecil

Friday Notes

• Expect to see Jose Molina get the call behind the plate for the Toronto Blue Jays. He is 5-for-13 against Jon Lester and has the only average above .250 on the Blue Jays. Vernon Wells is only 5-for-21 and Jose Bautista is 4-for-20. Aaron Hill has really struggled as well at just 2-for-20. Avoid any Blue Jays you can in this one.
• After back-to-back rough road outings, Justin Verlander rebounded with a solid home start his last time out. The win improved him to 5-2 at home with a 2.63 ERA this season. It is where he will get Minnesota on Friday. Few decent numbers for the Twins. Keep Denard Span in the lineup, a .435 hitter against Verlander. Jason Kubel is at .357 and Joe Mauer is at .350. Jim Thome may hit just .244, but seven of his 10 hits have been home runs. Look t avoid the 5-for-37 of Michael Cuddyer.
• Jorge de la Rosa will get the ball coming off the DL against the Padres on Friday. He pitched well in two of his three rehab starts and had struck out 23 batters in 26 innings prior to being injured. Scott Hairston is 4-for-10 against the Colorado starter and has had two home runs to boot. Adrian Gonzalez is only 4-for-18.
• The sample might be big enough to say that you should sit David DeJesus against Mark Buehrle. In 72 at-bats, he has just one home run and holds a .181 average. Alberto Callaspo is no better in a smaller sample, checking in at 2-for-19. Mitch Maier should go in this one, as he is 8-for-19. Bloomquist, Butler, and Aviles are all worth the start.
• Adam Wainwright still pitches well away from home but he holds only a 3-5 record. Look to avoid Carlos Lee. He is only 1-for-23 against Wainwright. Michael Bourn is 7-for-21 and Hunter Pence checks in at .310. Lance Berkman can only find his way to .240 but does have two home runs in 25 at-bats.
• Spot Starts: Norris, Pineiro, Leake

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com