Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the Yankees are still fired up despite their large lead in the AL East.
After two Yankees pitchers hit Blue Jays batters in Tuesday's game, Toronto's Jesse Carlson threw behind Jorge Posada in the bottom of the eighth.
Posada glared, benches briefly emptied, but there were no punches. Yet.
Instead of letting it end there, or charging the mound, Posada waited until he walked and then scored a run to give Carlson a shove after he crossed home plate.
Colorado downed Cincinnati 5-1 with a five-run third inning and six scoreless innings from its bullpen after starter Jose Contreras suffered a strained quadriceps running to first base.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
When you select Carlos Pena in fantasy baseball, you know you aren't getting batting average help. Still, his career-low .223 mark this year was well below expectations, and up until August 5, the power numbers weren't nearly high enough to console disappointed Pena owners.
Well, that has all changed. Since that date, Pena has slugged 11 home runs and driven home 22. His average has been respectable (.286) and his OPS is ridiculous (1.307). On the season, Pena now has a six home run lead on the rest of the AL with 37. He's also third in RBI (91).
There is a pretty even distribution of talent this week as 43 pitchers will be two-start pitchers for the week.
Of the 11 "Must Start" options I really like Yovani Gallardo who gets the enviable task of facing the Nationals and the Pirates. Roy Halladay has it the worst of the bunch as not only does he have to face the Rays and the Red Sox, but he has to face two starting pitchers with sub-four ERA's.
The other 17 pitchers are "Risky Business". You should only be considering these guys if you're in super-deep leagues or just massively desperate for strikeouts. None of these are viable options.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
It must be nice being a Phillies pitcher.
The Philly sluggers put 12 runs on the board in yesterday's game against the Diamond- backs, giving them a total of 25 runs scored in the three-game sweep. Joe Blanton went eight innings and allowed three runs, which is going to be enough to earn a W on most nights when you're on the same team as these hitters. The team has now won eight of their last nine games and look to be the favorites to repeat as NL champions.
NEW YORK (AP) -- David Wright sustained a concussion after being hit squarely in the helmet by a 94 mph fastball from Giants starter Matt Cain on Saturday, and the Mets third baseman was expected to spend the night in the hospital.
Wright was examined in the clubhouse before being taken by ambulance to the Hospital for Special Surgery. Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said Wright had a CT scan, which was negative.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
We've seen our fair share of no-hitters and perfect games get busted up in late this season, maybe even more then our fair share. In fact, if Jonathan Sanchez hadn't finally made it all the way through nine innings back in early July, I'd think there was some sort of conspiracy against the no-hit bid in 2009.
Sunday, Brett Anderson took a perfect game into the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Angels. But, just like most of the attempts for perfection this season, the Angels found a way to play spoiler. This time it was Bobby Abreu in the seventh inning.
Abreu also was responsible for breaking up Anderson's perfect game, grounding a clean single through the left side with two outs in the seventh. Anderson promptly picked him off.
Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.
The most remarkable thing about this season as we hit the not-halfway halfway point of the All-Star break isn't Albert Pujols' RBI total. Or Zack Greinke's ERA. Or the PED suspension of one of the game's biggest stars.
It's the standings. And they not only reflect the season so far, they give us a clue as to the weeks head leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline.
The Phillies and Dodgers are the only first-place team with a lead of more than 2 1/2 games. And 21 of the 30 teams are within 7 1/2 games of a playoff spot: nine of 14 in the AL and 12 of 16 in the NL.
Giants right-hander Matt Cain suffered a contusion on his elbow during Saturday's game, leaving him "doubtful," according to manager Bruce Bochy, to be available to pitch in Tuesday's All-Star Game.
Cain was not as willing to commit to missing what would be his first All-Star Game. He said he's hoping to be able to pitch an inning in St. Louis. The Giants, however, aren't likely to let him take any chances. Cain is expected to throw on Sunday to see how he feels.
Cain, 24, is 10-2 with a 2.38 ERA. He was hit in the elbow by a line drive in the second inning of Saturday's game against the Padres. He went for X-rays, which showed only the contusion.
There are 47 pitchers in fantasy Week 14 getting two starts. In an unusual turn of events, they are pretty evenly partitioned between "must starts," "solid starts" and "risky business".
I love Matt Cain this week. He gets two home starts and gets very, very favorable pitching matchups. If he doesn't get two wins and put up impressive strikeout totals and a low ERA, I'll answer questions every Friday afternoon from here on out in a live chat.
First pitch on Monday is at 1:05 PM ET. Make sure you get your rosters set early.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
Starting Five
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
NEW YORK (AP) -- David Wright sustained a concussion after being hit squarely in the helmet by a 94 mph fastball from Giants starter Matt Cain on Saturday, and the Mets third baseman was expected to spend the night in the hospital.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Giants right-hander 
There are 47 pitchers in fantasy Week 14 getting two starts. In an unusual turn of events, they are pretty evenly partitioned between "must starts," "solid starts" and "risky business".
