The Indians were walk-off winners over the Astros in a back-and-forth battle that lasted 14 innings. Greg Allen ended it with a home run, his first of the year. The Indians had a 3-2 lead through seven innings thanks to Trevor Bauer , who had 13 strikeouts, and a José Ramírez two-run homer. Then the eighth inning happened, and the Indians ‘pen imploded. The Indians needed three different pitchers to get through the inning, and when the dust settled the Astros had scored six runs to take an 8-3 lead. Safe to assume the Astros win, right? Not so fast! The Indians scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth to push the game into extras. Ken Giles coughed up three runs without recording an out during the ninth inning disaster. The Astros retook the lead in the top of the thirteenth inning thanks to an Evan Gattis home run, his second of the day. The two home runs were his lone two hits in six at-bats, but he made the most of them. His 44.4 points on FanDuel led all hitters in scoring. Okay, the Astros are up 9-8 now, they win right? Not so fast… again! Yonder Alonso responded to Gattis’ home run with a solo shot of his own to push the game into the fourteenth inning, when Allen hit the aforementioned walk-off dinger. In total, there were 19 runs scored, 25 hits, and 15 different pitchers used. The win pushed the Indians record over the .500 mark at 26-25.

 

Hakuna Matata

The fantasy team name “Acuna Matata” has to be the most over used team name this season. The name, of course, stems from rookie sensation Ronald Acuna and his last name being so similar to the famous Lion King saying Hakuna Matata. Hakuna Matata roughly translated means “no worries” but that statement does not currently hold true for Ronald Acuna and his fantasy owners after today’s game. Acuna left the game with an ugly knee injury. There is no word on the severity of the injury as of this time. Hopefully he avoided anything major. To make the day slightly less somber for Braves fans, the team pounced on Chris Sale for six runs and defeated him and the Sox by a final score of 7-1. Mike Foltynewicz was fantastic as he pitched seven innings of one-run ball and gave up just three hits. He struck out seven and picked up his fourth win of the year. Over his last four starts he has thrown a total of 23 innings and has given up just two earned runs. The strong streak of starts has lowered his ERA from 3.65 to 2.55. Tyler Flowers delivered the big blow to Sale as he cranked a three-run home run in the second inning.

 

That Just Happened

Stephen Strasburg was only able to make through five innings against the Marlins, but it was a dominant five innings of work. He gave up just three hits, two walks, and no runs while striking out eight. The Nats went on to win the game 5-2 and Strasburg picked up his sixth win of the year. He provided DFS players with 45.0 points on FanDuel and 27.6 on DraftKings. Bryce Harper helped provide some of the offense by blasting his sixteenth home run of the year.

Matt Carpenter stayed hot as he finished today 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and a run scored. He is now 18-for-45 (.400) over his last eleven games. The Cardinals defeated the Pirates 6-4 in comeback fashion by scoring five runs over the final three innings. Bud Norris picked up his eleventh save of the year.

The Brewers and Mets traded blows in another slugfest today. After combining for 23 runs in the Brewers 17-6 win yesterday, the two teams put up 15 runs today as the Brewers defeated the Mets 8-7. On the Mets side, Asdrubal Cabrera and Devin Mesoraco both launched home runs. For the Brewers, their top of the order provided the majority of the damage, as their first five hitters in the lineup combined for nine hits, eight runs, and seven RBI. Jesus Aguilar was second among all hitters on the “Main” slate in scoring on FanDuel with 38.4 points. He finished the game 2-for-3 with a home run, four RBI, two runs, and a walk. Christian Yelich provided the only three hit effort in this game as he finished 3-for-5 with a couple of runs scored.

Walker Buehler continued to have no issues with MLB hitters today as he tossed seven strong innings. He gave up four hits, one run, and struck out eight. His ERA through seven starts sits at a crisp 2.20. Chris Taylor and Cody Bellinger provided the offense to help Buehler pick up his third win of the year. Taylor finished the day 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. Bellinger had only one hit, but he made the most of it as it was a two-run home run, his eighth of the year.

 

Burning Questions

Tyler Chatwood has 40 walks in 45.2 innings pitched this year; can he show better command tonight against the Giants?

Mookie Betts was scratched today with left side tightness; will he miss any further action?

Wilmer Flores had to be removed early from today’s game with back tightness; will he be available for the Mets doubleheader tomorrow?

Felipe Vázquez left early today with forearm discomfort; is a DL trip looming?

 

Stay tuned.