On August second, baseball’s long and winding road took some unusual turns, highlighted by a 15 inning marathon in Philadelphia between the Phillies and the White Sox. It featured a hitter pitching and a pitcher making highlight reels plays in the outfield. Intrigued? Roman Quinn went 3-for-6 with two runs, his third home run and stole two bases. Then, he took over on the mound when Zach Eflin left with triceps tightness warming up for the 14th inning. Eflin worked two clean innings with two strikeouts but left the game. Ranger Suárez could not get loose in the bullpen so manager Gabe Kapler put Quinn on the mound and Vince Velasquez in left field. Then history ensued.

 

However, it did not stop there. Velasquez also made a diving catch resulting in this:

 

Despite these efforts, Philadelphia lost on a review of a runner being safe at home following another laser to home plate by Velasquez. 

In Houston, the Astros tied a team record with six different players launching at home run including this bomb by Yordan Alvarez : 

 

Alvarez has recorded 26 extra-base hits through 39 career games. Only Joe DiMaggio (29) and Trevor Story (27) own more through 40 career games than Alvarez since 1900 (Elias Sports). 

Last, but not least from last night, Mike Trout somehow made some personal history too:

 

Here’s the rest of the hitting highlights from Friday:

Not only did Quinn notch a smash and dash, Javier Báez launched his 26th home run along with stealing his ninth base in a win over the Brewers. Baez finished with three hits, two doubles and three RBI pacing the Cubs offense. 

Just as the Mets crept to within one run in Pittsburgh, Starling Marte extended the lead with a three-run home run putting the game out of reach. Since moving to third in the lineup, Marte’s appeared in 59 games batting .314 with 14 home runs and 45 RBI. 

Career grand slam number two for Gleyber Torres , and his 21st home run this season, paced the Yankees offense with all the runs scored in the first inning. Torres owns a .417 average with the bases loaded so far in his career. 

Do not look now, but Joey Votto hit his 11th home run and finished with three RBI in Atlanta. Over his last 56 games, Votto’s 67-for-216 (.310) with 15 doubles, seven home runs and 28 RBI raising his average from .205 to .266 in the process. Austin Riley hit his 17th home run and first since July sixth in the loss. 

Welcome back to the lineup Nelson Cruz . Displaying no signs of rust after sitting out the series in Miami, Cruz went 3-for-4 with two runs, two doubles, his 27th home run and five RBI. Hunter Dozier popped two home runs in a Royals loss to Minnesota. 

Not only did rookie Mike Yastrzemski hit his 10th home run, it was crushed:

 

He’s the oldest rookie in team history with at least 10 home runs and batting .440 his last six contests plus hit five home runs over his last 18 games. 

Ryan McMahon continues to mash in the second half. McMahon went 3-for-4 with two runs, his 12th home run and two RBI last night. In the second half, he’s hit five home runs with 16 RBI.

Juan Soto reached a milestone:

 

 

Starting Pitcher Spotlight: Lynn Shines On

Lance Lynn joined Justin Verlander and Stephen Strasburg as the only pitchers with 14 wins this season. He worked seven innings giving up four hits, one earned run and two walks with 10 strikeouts. Lynn’s recorded at least 10 strikeouts in six games this year in a bit of a renaissance. Of his 114 pitches, Lynn generated 23 swinging strikes and 17 called for a 35.1 called plus swinging strike (CSW) percentage. 

Here’s the other notable performances from Friday:

  • José Quintana , Chicago Cubs: 91 pitches, eight swinging strikes, 15 called, 25.3 CSW%. There could be no more frustrating pitcher in fantasy than Quintana. He logged six innings yielding seven hits and two earned runs with five strikeouts en route to his ninth win. 

  • James Paxton , New York Yankees: 100 pitches, 20 swinging strikes, 11 called, 31 CSW%. Changing his pitch mix, Paxton used fewer fastballs and more curves with success. He settled in after serving up a two-run home run to J.D. Martinez in the first inning for his first win since June second with six strikeouts in six innings. 

  • Mike Clevinger , Cleveland: 107 pitches, 10 swinging strikes, 26 called, 33.6 CSW%. Clevinger logged 6.1 innings allowing three hits, one earned run and four walks with eight strikeouts for his sixth win. 

  • Eric Lauer , San Diego: 87 pitches, 12 swinging strikes, 18 called, 34.5 CSW%. Lauer worked six innings scattering three hits, two earned runs and striking out six for his sixth win. 

 

Bullpen Notes: Change at Coors

News broke during the day noting Wade Davis would be removed from the closer role for the second time this year. His struggles in Colorado this year (11.29 ERA in 21 games) along with his 1.74 WHIP for the season sealed his fate. Scott Oberg will take over the ninth inning and converted his fourth save on Friday working around two hits for a scoreless outing. 

Here’s the rest of high leverage events from Friday:

  • John Osich gets his first win working two clean innings in Philadelphia with two strikeouts. Juan Nicasio allowed the tying run in the ninth trying to fill-in for suspended closer Héctor Neris . Neris will be out for the weekend series serving a three-game suspension. Blake Parker fired two clean innings with four strikeouts and could get the next save chance until Neris returns. 

  • Save number 28 for Aroldis Chapman . He tossed a clean ninth with a strikeout. 

  • With both Ken Giles and Justin Shafer unavailable, Derek Law fired two scoreless innings giving up two walks and two wild pitches with a strikeout. It’s the first two inning save for Toronto since Roberto Osuna ’s on June 22, 2015. 

  • Rounding into form, Raisel Iglesias notched his 21st save striking out two in a clean outing in Atlanta. He’s converted four in a row with six strikeouts against zero walks. 

  • For the good news, José Leclerc held on for his sixth save. However, he allowed two hits, two earned runs and two walks in this outing. His last two appearances yields five walks over his last 1.1 innings. Less than optimal. 

  • Providing Taylor Rogers with a much deserved night off, Sergio Romo recorded his first save with Minnesota, and 18th this year giving up a hit in 1.1 scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Sam Dyson struggled once again serving up four hits and three earned runs in two-thirds of an inning. 

  • Sean Doolittle secured his 24th save with a clean ninth striking out one. 

  • It’s been a bit dry of late for Kirby Yates , but he gets his 32nd save and first since July 17th last night. 

 

What To Watch For

Some injury news on a couple of fantasy stalwarts:

 

And at catcher:

 

Keep tabs on David Dahl . He left last night’s game after extending his hit streak spraining his ankle on a catch. Dahl will probably land on the injured list depending on the severity of the injury. 

As for game action on Saturday, the Red Sox and Yankees will attempt to play a doubleheader in the Bronx with Chris Sale and Domingo Germán matching up in Game 1. 

Cole Hamels makes his return for the Cubs facing the Brewers at home. 

Marcus Stroman makes his Mets debut in Pittsburgh in the evening slate and Aaron Sanchez will try to succeed with the Astros magic starting against Seattle. 

Be sure to stay with Fantasy Alarm to remain ahead of the competition across all fantasy formats. 

 

Statistical Credits:

BaseballSavant.com

Fangraphs.com

MLB.com - Game Note