Fantasy Sports

BY ADAM RONIS

I need to get a Powerball ticket now. I had Rich Harden and Randy Johnson facing each other and I own both in a head-to-head league. I always want a 1-0 game with loads of strikeouts in that scenario. It was 2-0, but they both pitched well. I'll take it. Chad Qualls picked up his second save since Brandon Lyon pitched three straight days.

In my Sunday column, I highlighted some players that got off to slow starts in the first half to target as potential bargains in the second half. I couldn't get everyone in because of space. One guy that I left out is Robinson Cano. His second-half track record, especially in New York, is so well-documented, I didn't think I needed to include him. He's been on fire and I said it even when he was struggling badly to ride it out. He went 2-for-5 with his eighth homer and raised his average to .260.

Adam LaRoche's second half success is also well known, which is why I excluded him. He hit his 12th homer and is someone to look at.

Another player who had a big last couple of months last year is Rickie Weeks. The Brewers acquired Ray Durham, so Weeks needs to turn it on or he could sit against some righthanders. He went 2-for-5 with two runs, a homer, three RBIs and a walk. He has nine homers and 30 RBIs.

Adam Jones is another player I would buy on. He has been hitting real well the past month and has been in the second spot recently. He went 2-for-4 with two runs, a homer and two RBIs. He is hitting .282 with six homers and 43 RBIs.

Kevin Kouzmanoff also had a big second half last season. He went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and is hitting .278 with 46 RBIs.

Edwin Encarnacion, mentioned in Sunday's column, hit his 18th homer. Also in the Sunday column was Javier Vasquez. He lost but pitched well by going seven innings and allowed four hits, three runs, two walks and struck out 10.

Francisco Cordero has been awful lately and blew his sixth save. I have benched him the last few days. Cordero should call Jose Valverde, who blew his sixth save by allowing six runs in 1/3 inning.

Remember one of the first fantasy roundtables when the question was what player drafted outside of the top 275 or so would produce the most? My answer was Scott Hairston and that's looking like a good choice right now. He has been real hot and hit his 16th homer. He has the power and this is the first time he's playing every day.

Johnny Damon returned from the DL and went 1-for-4 with a run and RBI.

Rafael Soriano was activated from the DL. I have 10 days in the pool for when he returns to the DL.

Troy Tulowitzki returned from the DL and went 5-for-5 with a run and RBI.