Eduardo Rodríguez takes home spotlight honors with a dominating performance in a win over the Giants. He tossed six shutout innings and only gave up two hits while striking out 10. He led all players in DFS scoring on both DraftKings and FanDuel. It was his fourth straight start in September with one or fewer runs against and he has a 0.70 ERA across 25.2 innings pitched this month. It was his second start in a row with double-digit strikeouts and he has four straight outings of at least eight punch-outs. He will carry an 18-6 record and 3.53 ERA into his next outing.

Strong Outings

  • Mike Soroka pitched solid in a win over the Phillies, tossing five innings of two-run ball. He gave up five hits while striking out five. It was his second good outing in a row, as he tossed six shutout innings in his previous start. Unfortunately for him, he is likely looking at a second place finish in the NL ROY voting, despite the great season. He will carry a 13-4 record and 2.60 ERA into his next start.
  • Jordan Lyles continues to pitch well as a member of the Brew Crew. He hurled 4.2 innings of one-run ball in a no-decision against the Padres. He only gave up three hits while striking out nine (yeah I don’t understand the early yank out of the game either). He is now 6-1 with a 2.35 ERA across 10 starts since being traded to Milwaukee. Overall for the year he is 11-8 with a 4.17 ERA.
  • Jack Flaherty continued his ridiculous run, hurling eight innings of one-run ball in a no-decision against the Cubs. He gave up just three hits while striking out eight. It was his fourteenth straight start of giving up three or fewer runs. He has had at least eight strikeouts in all four of his September starts. He will carry a 10-8 record and 2.96 ERA into his next outing.
  • Mike Clevinger pitched six shutout innings in a win over the Tigers. He gave up seven hits while striking out six. He has now gone seven straight starts of allowing two runs or fewer. He has at least six strikeouts in 18-of-19 starts this season. He will carry a 12-3 record and 2.54 ERA into his next outing.
  • Masahiro Tanaka tossed seven innings of one-run ball in a win over the Angels. He gave up four hits while striking out six. It was a nice bounce back outing for Tanaka, as he had given up four runs in both of his two prior outings. He will carry an 11-8 record and 4.47 ERA into his next outing.

Hitter Highlights

Ronald Acuña Jr. only had one hit, but it was his 40th home run of the year. He also walked, had two RBI, and a pair of runs scored. He is now three stolen bases away from a 40-40 season. He is hitting .279 with 99 RBI and 123 runs scored to go along with those dingers and swipes. The 21-year old will likely finish fourth in the NL MVP voting.

Cavan Biggio stayed hot last night, going 2-5 with a home run, three RBI, and a pair of runs scored. He has multi-hit games in three straight and in six of his last seven. In that seven game span he has two dingers, 15 hits, 10 RBI, 11 runs scored, and three stolen bases. He now has 15 home runs and 13 stolen bases on the year.

Nelson Cruz had a big night at the dish, going 2-4 with a pair of dingers and five RBI. He is now hitting .299 with 39 home runs and 102 RBI. Even in his age 39 season, Cruz continues to rake and prove to be a great fantasy value based on what his ADP was.

Francisco Lindor went 3-5 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored. He is now hitting .292 with 31 home runs, 95 runs scored, 70 RBI, and 21 stolen bases. He has hit at least 30 home runs in three straight seasons and has gone for 30-20 in back-to-back years.

What to Watch for Today

Jacob deGrom (9-8, 2.61 ERA) vs. Luis Castillo (15-6, 3.22 ERA) is our top pitching matchup of the day. DeGrom should be considered the front-runner for NL Cy Young and a good outing today could seal the deal. Castillo has had a fantastic season in his own right and will look to finish it out strong.

Michael Wacha (6-7, 4.76 ERA) and Alec Mills (1-0, 3.42) will go to battle in a crucial division matchup between the Cardinals and Cubs. Wacha has pitched to a 1.64 ERA across 11.0 September innings and Mills has given up just one run across six innings in September.

Mike Foltynewicz (7-5, 4.80 ERA) will have a good chance to keep his recent surge going when he takes on the Giants. He hasn’t given up more than one run in any of his three September starts and is 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA for the month.