In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down each of the playoff teams from a scouting perspective.
When you are faced with a team like the Twins, much of what makes them so difficult to match up against is that they leave you wondering just exactly why they are so good at winning ballgames. Their pitching does not match up with the league's elite clubs and their offense is not explosive, especially after losing Justin Morneau. But, somehow a combination of the little things adds up to one very tough team.
The Twins are an offense built on little ball, moving runners and using their home turf to their advantage, so an important factor to slowing them down will be attacking them aggressively and forcing them to beat you.
MINNEAPOLIS -- If the rest of the Tigers have as much heart as Justin Verlander, Detroit will hang on in the AL Central.
But they still have to prove it.
Oh, Zack Greinke may deserve the AL Cy Young Award. But he never had to pitch a game like this.
A packed house (largest crowd at the Metrodome since Opening Day). His team having lost eight of 11 to turn a 6 1/2-game lead into three. His offense unable to get a big hit off Twins right-hander Carl Pavano, who has tamed more Tigers this year than Siegfried and Roy combined.
Yet Verlander did absolutely everything he could, putting on as impressive a performance as there has been this season considering the circumstances.
MINNEAPOLIS -- Ron Gardenhire came off the field Friday night singing Earth, Wind and Fire to himself:
"You're a shining star, no matter who you are."
That's been true this week for Gardenhire's Twins.
Since Monday, when Minnesota declared star cleanup hitter Justin Morneau out for the season because of a stress fracture in his lower back, the Twins have made up 2 1/2 games on the Tigers to turn the AL Central into a race.
Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Before we get our heaping of box score browsing, let's look at a related subject: The fantasy baseball stretch run. With the annual ushering in of September baseball, we see roster changes galore. Not only are there call-ups with the legal expansion of rosters, but players with seemingly minor injuries are shut down on teams who have fallen out of the race. You also have younger players being given an audition for 2010, or being shut down so the team doesn't overwork them in their first season of increased workload. If you are in the thick of things in your fantasy baseball race, now is not the time to use a laissez-faire approach.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
The team might not win a lot of games, but it sure is fun watching the Washington Nationals hit.
In yesterday's 8-3 win against Milwaukee, the Nationals received dingers from Christian Guzman, Adam Dunn, and Ryan Zimmerman. The round-tripper was Guzman's fifth of the year. Seeing Dunn and Zimmerman display some power is nothing new for Nationals fans; in fact, the pair has hit homers in the same game four times in August and the seventh time this season. The round-tripper was Guzman's fifth of the year.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... Jamie Moyer can still win games.
Moyer bristled when the Phillies demoted him to the bullpen in favor of Pedro Martinez, and when a rain delay Tuesday forced Martinez from his start against the Diamondbacks, Moyer took over when play resumed in the fourth inning for his first outing since the decision.
He went the rest of the way, allowing two hits and striking out five in six scoreless innings and earning his first relief win since May 15, 1996, for the Red Sox. (That day he worked two innings in relief of Tom Gordon.)
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
One of the most prized prospects in baseball is blossoming before our eyes. And his timing couldn't be better as the Colorado Rockies are in the thick of a Wild Card hunt.
Carlos Gonzalez did it all in the minor leagues. Before being called up he hit ten home runs and batted .339 in 48 games. He struggled a bit upon arriving in Denver, but now is really turning it on.
Over the last month, Gonzalez is batting .432 with a home run and three stolen bases. His 1.114 OPS shows that he's really creaming the ball and his eruption is fueling the Rockies' winning ways. On Sunday Gonzalez went 3-for-5 and brought his season batting average up to .283.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
By the looks of his season stats, you wouldn't know that Jordan Zimmermann has actually been one of the most dominant pitchers in the majors over the past month. We're talking a 1.90 ERA and a .198 batting average against. On that same note, Minnesota's Scott Baker is holding opposing hitters to a .205 average over his last five starts. The turnaround of these pitchers teach fantasy owners an important lesson about staying patient and swooping in when the time is right.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Dare we say it? He's back. The man who won the 2005 Cy Young and finished third the following season is officially back in the Cardinals rotation. He made the Brewers -- one of the best hitting teams in the league -- look stupid for eight innings Monday, which means he's now thrown 23 innings of shutout ball this season. His staggering numbers thus far: 23 innings, 0 earned runs, 23 strikeouts, 10 hits, 4 walks.
In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down each of the playoff teams from a scouting perspective.
MINNEAPOLIS -- If the rest of the 
MINNEAPOLIS -- 
Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Starting Five
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
