Yu Darvish takes home spotlight honors with his electric performance against the Padres. He pitched six shutout innings in the win, giving up four hits while striking out a season high 14! It was his fourth start of the year with at least double-digit strikeouts. He led all players in DFS scoring on both DraftKings and FanDuel. Through two starts in September, Darvish has yet to allow a run across 11.0 innings pitched and he has 21 strikeouts in that span. He has a 2.44 ERA and 93 strikeouts across his last 11 starts (66.1 innings pitched). He will carry a 6-6 record and 3.97 ERA into his next outing.

Strong Outings

  • Joe Musgrove hurled five shutout innings in a win over the Giants. He gave up four hits while striking out seven. Musgrove had a rough month of August, pitching to a 6.27 ERA across six starts which led to his last start being skipped, but he was able to bounce back in this one. He will carry a 10-12 record and 4.52 ERA into his next outing.
  • Marcus Stroman tossed 6.1 innings of one-run ball in a win over the Dbacks. He gave up four hits while striking out six and finishing off the sweep. This was his best outing as a member of the Mets. It was his fourth straight start with at least six strikeouts. He has a 9.2 K/9 across eight starts with New York, which is interesting considering he had a 7.1 K/9 across 21 starts with the Jays this year. He will carry an 8-13 record and 3.35 ERA into his next outing.
  • Domingo Germán was used in relief and dominated the Tigers, hurling four shutout innings and picking up the win. He gave just two hits while striking out five. It was his sixth straight outing with at least five strikeouts and he is up to 151 for the year. He will carry an 18-4 record and 4.09 ERA into his next outing.

Hitter Highlights

Juan Lagares was the top hitter of the day. Yes, you read that right. He went 2-4 with a pair of home runs and six RBI. He swatted his first career grand slam. He is still only hitting .215 this year with five home runs through 242 at-bats.

Kolten Wong stuffed the stat sheet in the Cardinals big win, going 2-4 with a home run, a double, a walk, two runs, two RBI, and a pair of stolen bases. Wong has had a breakout season as he is now hitting .283 with 11 home runs, 57 RBI, and 22 stolen bases. The stolen bases are already a new career high and he is just one home run and four RBI away from matching his career highs in those as well.

Michael Conforto finished 2-3 with a solo home run, a walk, and three runs scored. The home run was number 30 of the year for the lefty and it’s his first time reaching that mark. He is hitting .260 and he has matched his career high in RBIs with 82.

Ronald Acuña Jr. only had one hit, but it was a home run. He also had a pair of stolen bases and an additional run scored. He is now hitting .281 with 39 home runs, 119 runs scored, 95 RBI, and 36 stolen bases. He is the youngest player to ever reach the 35-35 mark, yet he is probably only fourth in the NL MVP race right now.

What to Watch for Today

Anthony Kay (0-0, 3.18 ERA) will make his second career start when he takes on the Yankees tonight. He pitched 5.2 innings of two-run ball in his MLB debut while striking out eight. This will be a tough test for the young lefty as the Yankees boast one of the best offenses in the game.

Clayton Kershaw (13-5, 3.06 ERA) and Noah Syndergaard (10-7, 4.06 ERA) provide us with the top pitching matchup of the night. Kershaw has struggled his last couple times out and he will have his hands full with a hot Mets offense in this one. Thor gave up four runs in five innings his last time out and the Dodgers are far from a pushover.

Gerrit Cole (16-5, 2.73) will look to keep his ridiculous streak going when he takes on the Royals. He is 12-0 with a 1.97 ERA over his last 18 starts. In that span he has struck out 181 and given up just 72 hits across 118.2 innings pitched. The Royals should have a tough time in this one.