Walker Buehler takes home spotlight honors with another gem against the Padres. He fired six shutout innings in a win, giving up four hits while striking out 11. He led all pitchers in DFS scoring. He seems to have the Padres number, as he tossed a complete game against them earlier in the month with 15 strikeouts. Despite a game in which he gave up five runs (against the Marlins on the 15th), Buehler still posted a 1.69 ERA this month with 48 strikeouts across 32.0 innings pitched. It was his ninth straight start with at least six punch-outs and his 20th such start of the year. He has the look of a guy that will be competing for Cy Young awards as early as next year. He will carry a 11-3 record and 3.03 ERA into his next outing.

Strong Outings

  • Miles Mikolas hurled six innings of one-run ball against the Brewers in a win. He gave up four hits while striking out 10. It was a bounce back outing that he needed, after giving up five earned runs in back-to-back outings prior to this one. He will carry a lackluster 8-13 record and 4.32 ERA into his next outing.
  • Masahiro Tanaka was lights-out against the Mariners, tossing seven shutout innings in a win. He gave up just three hits while striking out seven. Tanaka had a very strange month of August with two dominant outings, one mediocre one, and two blow outs. He will carry a 10-7 record and 4.47 ERA into his next outing.
  • Yu Darvish continues to dominate; he fired eight innings of one-run ball in a win over the Mets. He gave up five hits while striking out seven. Darvish followed up a strong July (2.93 ERA) with another strong month of August (3.45 ERA). He has made 13 straight starts with at least six strikeouts. Very impressive. He will carry a 5-6 record and 4.25 ERA into his next outing.
  • Adam Plutko pitched well in a win over the Tigers. He held them to one run across 5.2 innings pitched, giving up three hits while striking out nine. He pitched pretty well in August, going 3-1 with a 3.41 ERA across five starts. It was his second straight start with at least five strikeouts, something he has done only our times in 15 outings this year. He will carry a 6-3 record and 4.34 ERA into his next outing.
  • Andrew Heaney dominated for a second straight start, holding the Rangers scoreless across six innings pitched in a no-decision. He gave up four hits while striking out 10. This was the follow up outing to his 14 strikeout outing. He had a fantastic month of August, pitching to a 1.82 ERA with 34 strikeouts across 24.2 innings. He will carry a 3-3 record and 3.95 ERA into his next outing.
  • Aaron Brooks turned in a good outing against the Nationals, firing six shutout innings in a win. He gave up just two hits while striking out six. This was his best outing of the year and it came against one of the hottest offenses in baseball. He will carry a 4-7 record and 5.79 ERA into his next outing.
  • Patrick Corbin was a hard-luck loser against Baltimore as he held them to two runs across seven innings pitched. He gave up four hits while striking out nine. It was his fourth straight quality start and in that span he has given up just five earned runs across 27.0 innings pitched (1.67 ERA). He will carry a 10-6 record and 3.15 ERA into his next start.
  • Justin Verlander had a bit of an odd outing for him in a win over the Rays. He only lasted 5.1 innings, despite not giving up a run, and he only had four punch-outs. I say it was a bit of an odd outing because JV had racked up double-digit strikeouts in seven straight games coming into this one before managing just four. He will carry a 16-5 record and 2.69 ERA into his next outing.

Hitter Highlights

Yordan Alvarez went 3-5 with a pair of dingers, a double, four RBI, and three runs scored. How good is this kid? He is now hitting .329 with 21 home runs and 62 RBI across his first 60 games played. It feels like he makes every single Round Up that I write. He is going to be a four category monster for a long time.

Yadier Molina finished a perfect 3-3 with two home runs, a double, a walk, three RBI, and three runs scored. That gives him three home runs in the past two games and he has racked up six RBI in that span. Molina is currently hitting .268 with seven home runs and 46 RBI, in what has been a big drop-off from last year’s production.

Nick Senzel had the only bash-and-dash of the night, finishing 2-3 with a home run, a walk, a steal, three RBI, and two runs scored. It was his second straight game with a steal and his fourth in the last six games. He is now hitting .267 with 11 home runs and 14 steals across 93 games.

Javier Báez went a perfect 3-3 with a home run, a walk, two doubles, and three RBI. He isn’t quite having the stellar season that he had last year, but he is still having a great season. He is hitting .285 with 29 home runs, 85 RBI, 86 runs scored, and 10 stolen bases.

Christian Walker finished 2-3 with a walk, a steal, a RBI, and a run scored. Walker has been really good at swiping bases, as the big first baseman now has eight steals on nine tries. It’s been a big breakout campaign for him, as he has a .266 average and 23 home runs to go along with those eight steals. A 25-10 season is a real possibility, that no one saw coming.

Nolan Arenado went 3-5 with a home run, a double, and three RBI. Arenado is having a ridiculous month of August, hitting .326 with 12 home runs and 22 RBI. The great month has his average up to .308 with 34 home runs and 103 RBI. It is his fifth straight season with at least 34 home runs and 103 RB.

Franmil Reyes had a nice night at the dish, going 2-3 with a home run, a double, a pair of walks, and three RBI. He now has four home runs in his last three games with 10 RBI in that span. He is up to 33 home runs and 63 RBI to go along with a .244 batting average for the year.

What to Watch for Today

Jack Flaherty (8-6, 3.32 ERA) vs. Jordan Lyles (8-8, 4.69 ERA) give us a pitching duel of two pitchers who have found a groove recently. Flaherty hasn’t given up more than two runs in any of his last nine starts and he has a 0.80 ERA in that span. Lyles has a 2.67 ERA and 3-1 record across five starts since joining the Brewers.

Max Scherzer (9-5, 2.41 ERA) will take on the Orioles in his second start since coming off the IL. He fired four innings of one-run ball in that previous start and should have a bit of a longer leash this time around. He can be started with confidence in all formats.

Noah Syndergaard (9-6, 3.71 ERA) vs. Kyle Hendricks (9-9, 3.20 ERA) give us our top pitching duel of the night. Thor has a 1.82 ERA across eight starts (54.1 innings) since the All-Star break. Hendricks has given up just six hits and one run in his last two starts (14.0 innings pitched).