Fantasy Today: June 2nd

We are starting a new feature on the Random Musings blog.  It will not be very random because it will be a daily entry.  We will look at fantasy sports from a daily perspective: the games last night, the games tonight, and the news along the way.  As we settle in and find our rhythm, we'll add new features.  Please send your feedback in the Comments section below on the day in fantasy, what you like or don't like about the column, and any ideas for new features on the blog.

So, let's get started:

YESTERDAY'S NEWS

Congratulations to Johan Santana, who became the first pitcher in Met history to throw a no-hitter last night against the Cardinals.  In Game number 8,020, Santana did what many Mets fans thought would never happen.  The Mets have pitched 35 one-hitters and the Mets are a franchise built around pitching: Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack, Dwight Gooden, David Cone.  Now, the Padres are the only franchise without a no-hitter and the all-time longest no-hitter drought still rests with the Phillies franchise (8,945 games from 1906-1964 - h/t nonohitters.com).

YESTERDAY'S BEST (June 1st)

HITTERS

RF Michael Cuddyer COL: 2-4, HR (7), RBI (36), 4 R, BB, SB (7) (13 pts)

2B Gordon Beckham CHW: 2-5, 2 HR (7), 3 RBI (17), 2 R, K (12 pts)

CF Curtis Granderson NYY: 2-5, HR (17), 4 RBI (33), 2 R, K, SB () (12 pts)

Honorable mention: C Wilin Rosario COL, 2B Jason Kipnis CLE (12 pts each)

PITCHERS

SP Johan Santana NYM: No-hitter (1st), shutout (2.38 ERA), 5 BB, 8 K (68), W (3-2) (44 pts)

SP David Price TBY: 7.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER (2.44 ERA), 2 BB, 5 K (62), W (7-3) (29 pts)

SP Madison Bumgarner SFO: 8 IP, 8 H, 2 ER (3.04 ERA), 0 BB, 11 K (58), W (6-4) (28 pts)

BY POSITION

C: Rosario COL (12)

1B: Cooper TOR (8)

2B: Beckham CHW/Kipnis CLE (12)

3B: Chisenhall CLE (11)

SS: Santiago DET (6)

OF: Cuddyer COL (13)

SP: Santana NYM (44)

RP: Ottavino COL (15)

YESTERDAY'S GAMES

And now, a note or two on yesterday's games:

NY METS (29-23) 8, St. Louis (27-25) 0

• SP Johan Santana's scoreless streak has reached 18 innings, but that is not what New York is talking about today. In what may be the best sequel in a long time, Santana followed up his four-hit shutout of San Diego with a no-no against St. Louis.  Santana has had seven quality starts in his last eight tries, striking out at least seven in five of those eight starts.
• OF Lucas Duda (1-3, HR (8), RBI (30), 8 pts) homered for the second straight game, following his two-homer game against the Phillies on Wednesday with a homer to support Santana's effort.

NY Yankees (28-23) 9, DETROIT (24-28) 4

• OF Curtis Granderson hit his 3rd homer in 4 games and his third multi-hit game in his last four. The homer was a grand slam against his former team, so there was a little extra on the swing. He is continuing his homer-happy ways that led him to 41 jacks last year, as he is on pace for 54, and his sabermetric slash line for the season is very similar to last year (.263/.360/.561 in 2012, .262/.364/.552 in 2011), but one big difference is his lack of stolen bases.  He has 2 swipes in 5 tries this year after getting into double figures in each of the last five seasons.

Boston (27-25) 7, TORONTO (27-25) 2

• Is SP Clay Buchholz turning a corner?  He has allowed 4 earned in his last 2 starts, totaling 15 innings. In fact, he has allowed 3 runs or less in 4 of his last 5 starts (2-1, 3.98 ERA, 31.2 IP, 11 BB, 20 K). He has a lot to go to be a dependable starter in any fantasy league, as his season totals are still terrible (5-2, 6.58 ERA, 1.73 WHIP in 11 starts).

PHILADELPHIA (28-25) 6, Miami (29-23) 4

• OF Hunter Pence was 3-for-4 and homered (12) in the win, pushing his modest hitting streak to 7 games. The performance has given him 10 or more points in five straight fantasy weeks, as the main power bat in the Phillies lineup.

• C Carlos Ruiz was back in the starting lineup for the Phillies and doubled in his 3-for-4 game. Ruiz is now batting .381 and slugging .626 on the season.

LA ANGELS (27-26) 4, Texas (31-21) 2

• OF Mike Trout put his mark on the game with a 2-for-4 day including his 3rd triple, 3 RBI (19), and scored a run to play a part in each of the 4 runs for the Angels.

• SP Jerome Williams has won each of his 5 home starts this year, adding a 2.17 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. His road numbers are at the other extreme (1-2, 5.65, 1.60), but he likes pitching at the Big "A".

• Does RP Ernesto Frieri have the closer job? Manager Mike Scioscia's blueprint for the late innings had Scott Downs in the eighth (1 H, 1 K) and Frieri to nail down the ninth. Frieri set the Rangers down in order, striking out 2 in the process for his 3rd save.

CLEVELAND (28-23) 7, Minnesota (18-33) 1

• 2B Jason Kipnis smacked a grand slam to lead the way, hitting his first homer since a 2-dinger outburst last week against the White Sox. He has put up back-to-back 20-point weeks (23, 28) and he is up to .283/.344/.463 for the year.

TAMPA BAY (30-22) 5, Baltimore (29-23) 0

• Is the worm about to turn for SP Wei-Yin Chen? The Oriole righthander (5.2 IP, 5 H, 4 BB, 5 K, L (4-2)) has lost 2 of his last 3 starts, even though the teams he lost to are good teams in Washington and Tampa Bay.  In those 2 starts that were sandwiched around a good start against Kansas City, he allowed 11 runs in 10 innings to put his ERA at 3.75 after his first 10 ML starts.

CHI WHITE SOX (30-22), Seattle (23-31) 4

• 2B Gordon Beckham (2-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 12 pts) continued his hot hitting, extending his hit streak to 8 games to boost his average from .204 to .229. After the White Sox signed Orlando Hudson, Beckham heard the footsteps, but he is finally producing.

OTHER SCORES

KANSAS CITY (22-28) 2, Oakland (22-30) 0

Cincinnati (29-22) 4, HOUSTON (22-30) 1

Pittsburgh (26-25) 8, MILWAUKEE (23-29) 2

COLORADO (22-29) 13, LA Dodgers (32-20) 3

SAN DIEGO (18-35) 7, Arizona (23-29) 1

SAN FRANCISCO (28-24) 4, Chi Cubs (18-33) 3

Atlanta (28-24) at Washington (29-21) - POSTPONED

TONIGHT'S GAMES

Cole Hamels (8-1, 2.43 ERA, 1.01 WHIP) and Lance Lynn (8-1, 2.54, 1.07) try to be the first to 9 wins in separate games. Hamels faces Ricky Nolasco and the Marlins at home while Lynn goes up against the Mets and R.A. Dickey in New York. Dickey (7-1, 3.06, 1.10) will try to join Hamels and Lynn atop the leaderboard in wins. The Braves and Nationals will try again after last night's rainout. Stephen Strasburg (5-1, 2.64, 1.10) will be on the mound for Washington.

In the Rangers-Angels game, C.J. Wilson (6-4, 2.77, 1.11) will face his old mates for the third time already this year and had his worst start of the season against the Rangers on May 11th and faced them again the next night. Yu Darvish (7-2, 3.25, 1.46) goes for Texas and would rather duplicate April (4-0, 2.18 ERA, 1.42 WHIP) than May (3-2, 4.50, 1.50).

MY PICK 6:

SP Shaun Marcum MIL (vs PIT) (last start at LAD: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, W)

C Wilin Rosario COL (vs LAD) (2 HR in last 4 games, HR and 3 RBI last night vs LAD)

CI David Wright NYM (vs STL) (currently .366/.469/.570 despite 3-for-24 slump)

MI Jason Kipnis CLE (vs MIN) (grand slam last night to start June, .295/.351/.459 in May after .256/.330/.436 April)

OF Carlos Gonzalez COL (vs LAD) (6 straight multi-hit games, going 15-for-26, 6 HR, 11 RBI)

RP Francisco Liriano MIN (at CLE) (back in starting rotation after holding A's to 3 hits in 6 innings last time out (2 BB, 9 K))