During a season wrought with focus on home run and strikeout totals, a feel good moment not to be overlooked occurred on Sunday when Carlos Carrasco returned to the mound. It’s not the results of him giving up an earned run, but in making it back to the majors after sharing his Leukemia diagnosis in June. Tampa Bay’s dugout stood in applause after his warmup pitches and a surreal moment happened with Francisco Lindor hugging Carrasco before the start of the inning:

 

 

There’s little moments or pockets which prove sports can transcend the game, this proves to be one of them. 

On any other day, Justin Verlander ’s third no-hitter of his career would be the lead moment for the Round-Up. Verlander walked one while racking up 14 strikeouts in Toronto for his second no-hitter in the city. He also no-hit the Blue Jays on May seventh of 2011. This gap represents the second-longest in baseball history between no-hitters by a pitcher. As for all of the no-hitter tidbits and Verlander’s place in history with a hat tip to Sarah Langs and Chad Thornburg of MLB.com: 

  • Verlander joins Larry Corcoran, Cy Young, Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan with three career no-hitters. 

  • Firing this one with Houston, Verlander’s the eighth pitcher ever to record a no-hitter with multiple teams. 

  • Verlander surpassed 250 strikeouts for the fifth time in his career becoming the fifth pitcher to reach the plateau with Max Scherzer , Ryan, Walter Johnson, and Roger Clemens. 

  • With five starts remaining, Verlander’s on pace for his first 300 strikeout season needing only 43 in these outings. Stay tuned. 

During his start on Sunday, Verlander generated 23 swinging strikes and 19 called of his 120 pitches for a 35 called plus swinging strike (CSW) percentage.

Here are the other notable starting pitcher performances from Sunday:

  • Charlie Morton , Tampa Bay: 108 pitches, 16 swinging strikes, 19 called, 32.4 CSW%. Morton worked 5.1 innings giving up four hits, one earned run and three walks with eight strikeouts en route to his 14th win. 

  • Michael Pineda , Minnesota: 84 pitches, 13 swinging and called strikes, 31 CSW%. Pineda recorded nine strikeouts allowing five hits, two earned runs and a walk over six innings for his 11th win of the year. 

  • Patrick Corbin , Washington: 95 pitches, 17 swinging strikes, eight called, 26.3 CSW%. Also winning his 11th, Corbin logged six innings yielding three hits, three earned runs and three walks with eight strikeouts. 

  • Although neither factored in the decision, both Tyler Mahle and Sean Manaea returned from the injured list on Sunday and could be factors in deeper formats. Mahle worked 6.1 innings giving up two hits and two runs (one earned) with five strikeouts. Manaea tossed five shutout innings in New York allowing one hit and three walks with five strikeouts. 

Bullpen Notes: Kennedy nets save number 25

Transitioning to the bullpen can prolong the career of failed starting pitchers. Ian Kennedy notched his 25th save on Sunday with a clean inning striking out one. He also leads the majors in saves (23) since May 30th. Kennedy’s also turned in 19 scoreless outings of his last 20 with a 0.48 ERA over 18.2 innings. Not in the headlines of Sunday, but noting the box scores, Sean Doolittle returned to the Nationals bullpen with a clean top of the ninth and could provide stability to a deep bullpen in September. 

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

  • During Game 1 of a doubleheader, Michael Lorenzen absorbs the loss and his third blown save allowing an inherited runner to score in the eighth then the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth. Carlos Martínez of St. Louis benefits with his fourth win as a result after striking out the side in the top of the inning. In Game 2, much-maligned Raisel Iglesias records his 28th save firing a clean inning with three strikeouts. 

  • Tough day in New York for Liam Hendriks suffering his first blown save since July 30th coughing up back-to-back home runs to Brett Gardner and Mike Ford resulting in his second loss this season. Adam Ottavino gets his sixth win for the Yankees. 

  • During Verlander’s no-no, Ken Giles incurred his third loss serving up a two-run home run to Abraham Toro in the top of the ninth inning. 

  • Preserving a 4-0 win, Josh Hader tossed a clean bottom of the ninth striking out two in Chicago. Craig Kimbrel yielded a three-run home run to Christian Yelich in the top of the inning. 

  • Save number 10 for Brandon Workman in a rebound outing against the Angels with a clean inning striking out one. 

  • Pedro Báez records his first save of 2019 working a clean 11th inning in Arizona striking out one. Casey Sadler gets his fourth win navigating around a hit and a walk in the 10th inning. Kenley Jansen logged a clean ninth inning during a tied game with two strikeouts. 

  • Continuing his recent surge, Mark Melancon notched his eighth save striking out one in a scoreless outing. 

  • After giving up the game-tying run on a wild pitch in the eighth, Héctor Neris records his third win firing a scoreless ninth. All told, Neris pitched 1.2 innings allowing one walk with two strikeouts. 

Hitter Highlights: Soto makes more history

Perhaps it’s the focus on home runs this year, but somehow Juan Soto continues to fly below the radar in fantasy circles. Soto went 3-for-4 on Sunday with two doubles and his 31st home run driving in three runs in a Nationals win. Plus:

 

 

Soto will not turn 21 until October 25th. He’s currently on pace for 113 runs, 37 home runs, 114 RBI, 101 walks and 14 stolen bases with a .984 on-base plus slugging percentage. Let this sink in for a moment. Teammate Anthony Rendon launched his 32nd home run among his two hits and still leads the majors with a .337 batting average. 

Some history for Eugenio Suárez and some concern for his owners in a doubleheader in St. Louis: 

 

 

After hitting his 40th home run in Game 1, Suarez left Game 2 due to being hit by a pitch near the end of his bat injuring his hand. Suarez will undergo testing today to determine the severity of the injury. Stay tuned. 

Welcome back Adalberto Mondesi . He tied a career-high with four hits and stole three bases in his first game since July 16th. Mondesi’s missed 55 games this year but still leads the majors with eight multi-stolen base games. A big month could be in store for his owners with Mondesi looking to run wild with fresh legs. 

Christian Yelich last hit a home run 12 games ago before this at-bat in the ninth at Wrigley:

 

 

Yelich’s 42nd home run coincided with extending his team’s lead to 4-0 in an eventual win. He’s also homered in both at-bats versus Kimbrel this year. 

Stay hot Kyle Seager . Seager hit his 19th home run of the season driving in three during a win in Texas. He appeared in 26 games in August scoring 16 runs with eight doubles, nine home runs, 25 RBI, 14 walks and a .323/.417/.699 slash line and could be carrying his hot bat through September as well. Dan Vogelbach went 2-for-3 with three runs and his 29th home run. Tom Murphy added his 17th bomb as well in the win. Plenty of fantasy goodness on a bad team for the stretch run. 

During a loss, Nolan Arenado extended his hit streak to eight games including his 35th home run. He’s hitting a robust .452 in the streak with three doubles, three home runs, and four multi-hit games. 

Ty France recorded the first multiple home run game of his career with two in San Francisco knocking in four runs. 

The power breakout by Xander Bogaerts continues with three more hits including his 48th double and 31st home run on Sunday. Bogaerts remains the only player in the majors this year with at least 30 home runs, 45 doubles, and 100 RBI. He’s also within two doubles of joining Alex Rodriguez (1996) as the only shortstop to accrue at least 30 home runs with 50 doubles in a season. J.D. Martinez added his 34th home run and has 14 hits in 31 at-bats (.452) with six home runs driving in 19 during the eight-game road trip. 

Cody Bellinger launched his 43rd home run putting him into a tie for first with Pete Alonso and Mike Trout . Alonso also homered on Sunday. 

Last, but certainly not least, Freddie Freeman went 3-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI in Atlanta’s win over the White Sox. Here’s some kind words about Freeman from his manager: 

 

 

Ronald Acuña Jr. also swiped two bases raising his total to 33 with 24 games remaining during his pursuit of a 40/40 season. 

What To Watch For

Not only will fantasy owners sweat out the news on Suarez, Javy Baez also left his game early on Sunday: 

 

 

Labor Day features a heavy day slate of games with Noah Syndergaard trying to keep his team’s playoff pulse alive heading to Washington to face Joe Ross . 

New York decided not to trade for Mike Minor and will face him at home with Masahiro Tanaka on the mound. 

Mike Soroka gets to face Toronto at home in search of his 11th win while Gerrit Cole brings his high heat to Milwaukee looking to pass teammate Verlander for the major lead in strikeouts. 

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

Statistical Credits: 

BaseballSavant.com

Fangraphs.com

MLB.com - Game Notes