Fantasy Sports

BY ADAM RONIS

It has taken longer than expected but Mark Teixeria, a perrenial second half player, is starting to get going. He went 3-for-4 with three home runs and four RBIs. He has 13 homers and 55 RBIs. I would trade for him now.

Brian McCann hit his 14th homer and is batting .310.

Tim Hudson threw seven scoreless innings and allowed four hits, walked four and struck out two to improve to 8-5 with a 2.96 ERA.

Mike Gonzalez allowed three hits and two earned runs in one inning. His velocity is down, but the Braves don't have many options to close right now.

Jeff Clement should get time at catcher for the Mariners. He went 2-for-3 with a homer and should be owned in leagues that start two catchers and AL-only leagues.

Carlos Beltran hit his 11th homer and has 50 RBIs.

Mike Pelfrey is pitching much better and should be owned in deep mixed leagues. He went 5 2/3 scoreless innings and allowed three hits, walked five and struck out five. He got the win and is 4-6 with a 4.30 ERA.

Billy Wagner threw a scoreless ninth for save No. 17.

Adam Lind was called up from Triple-A for the second time this season. He went 2-for-3 with a homer. He should be owned in AL-only leagues.

Nate McLouth stole his ninth base and you should expect more stolen bases from him the rest of the season.

Dustin McGowan went five innings and allowed nine hits, four runs -- three earned -- walked one and struck out two. He is 6-5 with a 4.21 ERA and is a good buy-low guy.

B.J. Ryan threw a scoreless ninth for his 15th save.

Ian Snell had another bad game. He went four innings, allowed eight hits, four runs, four walks and struck out two, He has a 5.99 ERA. Bench him.

Jeff Keppinger returned from the disabled list and went 1-for-4.

Jason Giambi has his average up to .271 after a 3-for-3 day against the Reds with two runs and two RBIs.

Edwin Encarnacion left the game with back spasms.

Johnny Cueto had a solid outing, but fell to 5-8. He went five innings and allowed four hits, one run, no walks and struck out seven. He was removed following a rain delay.

Andy Pettitte threw six scoreless innings, allowing four hits, two walks and struck out four. He is 8-5 with a 4.04 ERA.

Mariano Rivera pitched 1 1/3 innings for his 21st save.

Jimmy Rollins had two more steals and now has 17.

Milton Bradley didn't start for the fourth straight game because of a sore right quad. Check back several blog entries back when I said to trade him because he never stays healthy.

Jered Weaver pitched well in Philadelphia to improve to 7-7. He went 5 1/3 innings, allowing four hits, one run, three walks and struck out six. He has a 4.56 ERA.

K-Rod picked up his 30th save.

Ian Kinsler hit his 12th homer and has been one of the most valuable fantasy players to date.

Vicente Padilla is now 10-3 with a 3.74 ERA. He went seven innings and allowed five hits, three runs, walked two and struck out five. I'd trade him right now.

C.J. Wilson pitched a scoreless ninth for his 15th save.

Carlos Lee, who goes unnoticed at times in fantasy talk, hit his 17th homer and has 58 RBIs.

Evan Longoria hit his 12th homer.

Jose Valverde picked up save No. 18.

Scott Kazmir had one of those games where he couldn't go deep into the game. He went 5 2/3 innings and allowed four hits, three runs, walked two and struck out seven with 106 pitches. He is 6-3 with a 2.03 ERA.

So much for the Prince Fielder power drought. He homered twice, went 3-for-4 and has 16 homers and 42 RBIs. Hope you didn't deal him after a slow start.

Corey Hart's power has come on, too. He hit his 12th homer.

Manny Parra is still walking too many, but he got away with it against the Orioles to get a win. He allowed five hits, three runs, walked six and struck out one in five innings. He is 7-2 with a 4.29 ERA. He has won five straight.

Salomon Torres picked up save No. 12.

Brandon Webb lost again and dropped to 11-4. He went seven innings and allowed eight hits, five runs -- four earned -- one walk and struck out four. He has a 3.40 ERA.

Joe Nathan got save No. 19.

Randy Winn is still a productive fantasy player without much power. He went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and his 11th steal. He is hitting .307 with 32 RBIs.

Joakim Soria picked up save No. 20.

Kevin Youkilis went 2-for-5 with two homers and three RBIs. He has 13 homers and 47 RBIs.

Jonathan Papelbon blew his fourth save of the season.

Jeremy Hermida hit his eighth homer and he has 37 RBIs. Keep in mind he had a great second half last season.

Justin Duchscherer is still available in many leagues and he should be owned. He is now 8-4 with a 1.99 ERA. He went 7 2/3 innings and allowed six hits, one run, two walks and struck out three.

Magglio Ordonez hit his 12th homer and has 48 RBIs.

Adrian Gonzalez hit his 21st homer and has 65 RBIs.

Justin Verlander struggled with walks against a bad offensive team, but struck out 10 in 5 1/3 innings. He allowed five hits and two runs. He is 4-9 with a 4.49 ERA.

Todd Jones got save No. 14.