Justin Verlander takes home spotlight honors with his gem in a win over the Indians. He tossed seven shutout innings and gave up just two hits while striking out 13! He led all players in DFS scoring on both FanDuel and DraftKings. It was his third straight start with double-digit punch-outs and he now has 196 strikeouts across 151.2 innings pitched. It was his 14th outing of at least six innings while giving up two or fewer earned runs. He’s been dominant all year long and he has to be the front-runner for AL Cy Young at this point in the season. He will carry an impressive 14-4 record and 2.73 ERA into his next outing. Equally impressive is his 0.81 WHIP and .169 BAA.

Strong Outings

  • Noah Syndergaard could have easily taken home spotlight honors on most nights, but not tonight with Verlander’s outing. Thor fired 7.1 innings of one-run (no earned) ball, but was stuck with a no-decision after Diaz blew the save in the ninth. He gave up five hits while striking out a season-high 11. He has had a great July, pitching to a 2.70 ERA across five starts. He will carry a 7-5 record and 4.10 ERA into his next outing.
  • Griffin Canning took advantage of a great match-up and dominated the Tigers in a win. He hurled six shutout innings and gave up four hits while striking out seven. He came into this game struggling mightily, but he is a rookie and growing pains are to be expected. He has at least five punch-outs in 13 of 15 starts thus far. He will carry a 4-6 record and 4.76 ERA into his next outing.
  • Drew Smyly is a Cy Young caliber pitcher with the Philles, kidding of course, but he did deliver his second straight dominant outing since joining the club. He tossed seven shutout innings in a win. He gave up just four hits while striking out five. Through 13 innings with the Phillies, he has given up just one run and has struck out 13. He will carry a 2-5 record and 6.85 ERA into his next outing.
  • Taylor Clarke surprisingly pitched well in a win over the Yankees, holding New York to one-run (zero earned) over 5.1 innings of work. He gave up three hits while striking out six. He entered this game with a 6.10 ERA, but he’s been a bit better in July, pitching to a 4.34 ERA across four starts. He will carry a 4-3 record and 5.53 ERA into his next outing.
  • Zac Gallen was fantastic once again, hurling seven innings of two-run ball against the Twins. He was a hard luck loser, despite giving up just four hits while striking out eight. Gallen had a great month of July, pitching to a 2.39 ERA across five starts (26.1 innings) while striking out 29. He will carry a 1-3 record and 2.72 ERA into his next outing.
  • Yu Darvish was hit with a loss, despite hold the Cardinals to two runs over six innings of work. He gave up six hits while striking out nine. Darvish seems to have turned his season around with a very strong July in which he pitched to a 2.93 ERA across five starts (30.2 innings). He will carry a 3-5 record and 4.46 ERA into his next outing.
  • Chris Bassitt was lights-out in a no-decision against the Brewers, tossing six shutout innings. He gave up just three hits while striking out six. This was arguably his most impressive outing of the year, given the opponent. He will carry a 7-5 record and 3.84 ERA into his next start.
  • Shane Bieber was unable to match Verlander’s stellar night in their pitching duel, but he was great as well; he held the Astros to two runs over seven innings of work in the loss. He gave up nine hits, but was able to work around them with eight strikeouts. It was his 12th start with at least eight punch-outs. He will carry a 10-4 record and 3.40 ERA into his next outing.
  • Sean Reid-Foley hurled five shutout innings in a win over the Royals. It was a night of fours for him, as he gave up four hits and four walks while striking out four. He now has a string of 8.1 consecutive scoreless innings, cutting his ERA nearly in half in the process. He will carry a 1-1 record and 2.55 ERA into his next outing.  

Hitter Highlights

Corey Dickerson had a double-dong night and also singled as part of a five RBI game. The home runs were his first of July, but he is hitting an impressive .328 for the month. He is now hitting .317 on the year with four home runs and 25 RBI through 126 at-bats.

Adam Duvall had a big night, going 4-5 with a pair of solo dingers and an additional run scored. He is off to a crazy hot start since being recalled, going 9-17 with three home runs in his first four games. He should continue to see regular playing time with Markakis out for the year.

Michael Conforto stayed hot last night, going 3-5 with a solo dinger, a double, a walk, and a pair of runs scored. It was his third straight game with a home run and his fifth of July. He now has 21 home runs, 55 RBI, and five stolen bases on the year to go along with a .256 batting average.

Andrew Benintendi stayed hot, finishing 3-4 with a home run, a walk, and three RBI. Benny is hitting a ridiculous .514 with four home runs and 12 RBI over his last eight games. The hot week brings his batting average for the year up to .285 to go along with 11 home runs and nine stolen bases.

Vald Guerrero Jr. also remained hot, going 2-5 with a RBI single and a grand salami. Vladdy is now hitting .395 with three home runs and 17 RBI(!) over his last 11 games. In that span he has seven multi-hit games. It appears that the big time prospect has figured out big league pitching.

Matt Olson went 2-5 with a walk-off home run and two RBI. He is having a strong July, hitting .281 with six home runs and 15 RBI. For the year, he is now hitting .258 with 22 home runs and 47 RBI across 279 at-bats. He should continue to be solid source of power for fantasy owners.

Amed Rosario collected four hits (all singles), a stolen base, and a run scored in the Mets extra inning win. He has enjoyed a strong month of July, hitting .368 with a pair of home runs and a pair of steals. For the year, Rosario is now hitting .277 with 11 home runs, 47 RBI, and 12 steals. A 20-20 season seems unlikely, but he should reach 15-15.

Justin Turner only had one hit, but it was a home run. He also walked twice, had a pair of RBI, and scored twice. Turner hasn’t had a great month of July batting average wise (.244), but he has hit seven dingers. He now has 16 home runs, 63 runs scored, and 46 RBI to go along with a .288 average.

Christian Walker continued his breakout season, going 2-3 with a solo home run and a walk. The long ball was his 20th of the year to go along with 52 RBI, seven steals, and a .254 batting average. He has a chance at a 30-10 season in what is his rookie year. Pretty impressive.

What to Watch for Today

Jacob deGrom (6-7, 2.86 ERA) vs. Lucas Giolito (11-5, 3.52 ERA) provides us with our top pitching duel of the day. These two are trending in opposite directions, deGrom hasn’t given up more than three runs in any of his last 12 starts and he has a 2.10 ERA in that span while Giolito has a 6.38 ERA over his past seven starts.

Hyun-Jin Ryu (11-2, 1.74 ERA) will look for better results in his second Coors start of the year. Ryu has given up two or fewer earned runs in 19 of 20 starts this year, but the lone start he failed to do so was at Coors Field when he was tagged for seven earned runs.

Jordan Lyles (5-7, 5.36 ERA) will make his Brewers season debut after being traded to the club a few days ago. He will take on the Athletics in Oakland. Lyles has shown some flashes this year, but lately it’s been more bad than good.