With Mookie Betts on the disabled list and J.D. Martínez nursing a sore back, Andrew Benintendi has shouldered the load for Boston’s offense. Benintendi homered for the fourth time in the last five contests and hit the first leadoff home run in a game for a Red Sox player not named Betts since Brock Holt in July of 2014 last night. In the 11 games without Betts, Benintendi has hit safely in 10 of them, slashing .369/.420/.697 with 12 runs, five home runs and 11 RBI.

Luckily for Boston, Benintendi should stay hot with the White Sox heading in for the weekend while Betts will continue to work his way back to the lineup. Why? Well, take note of Benintendi’s home and road splits:

  • Benintendi at Fenway - 30 games, 26 runs, seven home runs, 30 RBI, three stolen bases; .369/.420/.697

  • Benintendi on the road - 26 games, 19 runs, four home runs, 14 RBI, seven stolen bases; .220/.333/.394

It’s interesting Benintendi steals more in road games to make up for the lack of production within the slash lines, hopefully he can close the gap when Boston ventures out on its next road trip.

 

That Just Happened

The crop report on Jalen Beeks turned out to be a disaster as predicted by Justin Mason in last night’s Closing Bell. Beeks lasted four innings giving up seven hits, six earned runs and three walks with four strikeouts resulting in a 13.50 ERA. Sorry, could not resist a reference to Coming to America.

On the other side of things, Gerrit Cole won his seventh game of the season after dominating the Rangers once again. Cole whiffed eight in six innings yielding three hits, one earned run and three walks to lower his ERA to 2.16. Against Texas, he’s struck out 33 batters in only 20 innings with a 2.25 ERA versus them this year in three starts.

Detroit’s Jeimer Candelario returned to the lineup hitting fifth and finished with two hits in four at-bats, including a double. He scored two runs and drove in one. Candelario’s hit safely in 29 of his last 38 games batting .297 (43-for-145) with 30 runs, 11 doubles, two triples, nine home runs and 25 RBI.

Suggesting Brad Brach ’s been walking a fine line while recording 10 straight saves since his Opening Day meltdown would be an understatement. Brach allowed at least one baserunner in all 10 saves during this streak and multiple runners in four of them. Last night, Brach lasted one-third of an inning but served up three hits, three earned runs and two walks prior to his departure resulting in his second blown save.

It’s easy to overlook any player in the Orioles offense not named Manny Machado , but Danny Valencia ’s hitting .341 (28-for-82) his last 24 games raising his average from .135 to a respectable .277 since April 24th.

Seattle’s won 10 of Mike Leake ’s 13 starts this year holding on in Tampa Bay. Leake worked eight innings giving up eight hits, two earned runs and his first walk in five games, with five strikeouts. Leake recorded his sixth win as well. Funny thing is, once fantasy owners start to trust him, it turns out to burn them. Stay tuned.

Trying to get a reliever work usually does not work out. Álex Colomé had not pitched since Sunday and entered the game after Leake allowed a double to Wilson Ramos . Pitching against his previous teammates, Colome struggled yielding two hits and two earned runs with a strikeout. This marks his first outing as a Mariner which did not result in a hold or a save.

Evan Gattis stayed hot launching his 10th home run and driving in three. Gattis has hit six home runs with 14 RBI over the last 10 games and his home run on Thursday is the fourth of his career against Cole Hamels .

Teammates Alex Bregman and José Altuve added multiple hit games in Houston’s win. Bregman doubled along with hitting his seventh home run. Bregman owns the American League’s lowest chase rate (swings and misses at pitches outside the strike zone) and he’s starting to hit for power. Altuve hit safely for the 12th time in 13 games during which he’s recorded eight multiple hit games going 25-for-54 (.463) with two home runs, nine RBI and stealing five bases.

Shin-Soo Choo had his 12-game hit streak snapped on Wednesday but extended his on-base streak to 23 games on Thursday going 2-for-4 with a run and a walk. During his streak, Choo’s hitting .318 (27-for-85) and raised his average from .239 to its present .267 with 22 walks against 26 strikeouts.

Oakland’s Matt Olson continues to wield a hot bat crushing his fifth home run over his last seven games. Within these games, Olson’s 11-for-27 (.407) with the five homers and 12 RBI.

Closer Blake Treinen notched his 11th consecutive save on Thursday with a strikeout during a clean ninth inning. Treinen’s only given up one earned run over his last 15 outings for a 0.59 ERA over his last 15.1 innings. Remember when he was not closer material?

 

Burning Questions

Chris Sale will greet his former team in Fenway, how many will he strikeout? Detroit’s Michael Fulmer continues to audition for contending teams, can he avoid the big inning? Speaking of pitching under the watchful eyes of teams in the playoff mix, Jacob deGrom will face the Yankees in an interleague tilt, would the Mets move him or Noah Syndergaard in a rebuild? Atlanta will face off with the Dodgers in Los Angeles, which team gets the better pitching?

With so many questions, be sure to check back on Fantasy Alarm for tonight’s Closing Bell and all the corresponding articles to stay ahead of your competition. With pennant races heating up, the trade rumors will be swirling soon.

 

Statistical Credits:

MLB.com

Fangraphs.com