Fantasy Today: June 6th

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 BEST (June 5th)

HITTERS

2B Dan Uggla ATL: 4-5, 2 HR (10), 5 RBI (37), 2B, 3 R (40) (19 pts)

LF Mark Trumbo LAA: 4-4, 2 HR (12), 4 RBI (31), 2B, 2 R (25) (17 pts)

CF Colby Rasmus TOR: 5-5, HR (7), 3 RBI (24), 2B, 4 R (25) (16 pts)

PITCHERS

SP Andy Pettitte NYY: 7.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER (2.78 ERA), 2 BB, 10 K (32), W (3-2) (36 pts)
SP Tim Hudson ATL: CG 5-hit shutout (3.83 ERA), 3 BB, 3 K (31), W (4-2) (36 pts)

SP Ian Kennedy ARZ: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER (3.93 ERA), 1 BB, 12 K (71), W (5-5) (32 pts)

BY POSITION (where they played yesterday)

C: Martin NYY (11 pts)

1B: Adams STL (10)

2B: Uggla ATL (19)

3B: McGehee PIT (10)

SS: Simmons ATL (9)

OF: Trumbo LAA (17)

SP: Pettitte NYY/Hudson ARZ (36)

RP: Hanrahan PIT (14)

YESTERDAY'S GAMES

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

Cleveland (29-25) 4, DETROIT (25-30) 2

NY YANKEES (30-24) 7, Tampa Bay (31-24) 0

Baltimore (31-24) 8, BOSTON (28-27) 6 (10)

KANSAS CITY (24-30) 1, Minnesota (21-34) 0

• A pitcher's duel was fought in Kansas City last night between two lefties: SP Bruce Chen KCY (7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 30 pts) and SP Francisco Liriano MIN (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 17 pts). A C Brayan Pena 2nd-inning single (0 pts) was Liriano's only mistake, but otherwise, it was a pitching night all around. Greg Holland (10 pts) struck out the side in the 8th and Jonathan Broxton (9 pts) earned his 14th save, navigating around a hit and a walk in the 9th.

Toronto (29-26) 9, CHI WHITE SOX (31-24) 5

• This just in: OF Colby Rasmus TOR is streaky. Rasmus was 5-for-5 last night to break an 0-for-7 mini-slump, but that is small potatoes. Rasmus was 0-for-17 and then 15-for-45 (3 HR, 7 RBI, .689 SLG) before the latest 0-for-7.  Fantasy baseball's enemy is inconsistency and Rasmus has it in spades. But, look a little closer into the splits and you might find some common threads, albeit in small sample sizes. Rasmus hits 40 points better on the road and has an OPS 170 points higher away from Rogers Centre (Home: .224/.302/.365, Road: .267/.325/.514). Rasmus hits .287 in 115 nighttime at-bats and .187 in 75 daytime at-bats. He handles righthanded pitchers a lot better than lefties (vs. RHP: .277/.344/.504, vs. LHP: .170/.237/.302). He is a poster child for daily leagues...and for night games on the road against righties.

LA ANGELS (29-28) 6, Seattle (25-33) 1

• OF Mark Trumbo LAA had a 1-for-16 start to June, but he homered twice and drove in 4, providing more than enough for Garrett Richards in his first start of the season (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 28 pts). Richards is in the rotation for Jered Weaver, who is on the DL, and he looks to start next over the weekend against the Dodgers. Back to Trumbo, the 4-for-4 day moved him to 17-for-41 over his last 10 games (.414 AVG, .976 SLG, 6 HR, 12 RBI). There is no sophomore jinx for Trumbo, following a .254/.291/.477, 29 HR, 87 RBI season with a more complete first 2 months of this season (.337/.384/.634, 12 HR, 31 RBI).

LA Dodgers (35-21) 2, PHILADELPHIA (28-29) 1

• Both starters pitched very well, but it was SP Chad Billingsley LAD with his first win in 10 starts (7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 22 pts) instead of SP Cliff Lee PHL (7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 12 K, 21 pts), who is winless in 9 starts this year. Billingsley allowed a run in the first and Lee had a 1-0 lead into the 8th, but Elian Herrera doubled in 2 runs with 2 out, putting Lee on the hook for the loss.

• Billingsley has walked one or no hitters in each of his 3 wins and has walked at least 2 hitters in each of his 4 losses.  Meanwhile, all that is missing for Lee are the wins. His ERA dipped under 3.00 (2.92), his WHIP shrunk to 1.01, and his K/BB ratio rose to an even 6-to-1 (66 K, 11 BB).

OTHER SCORES

Texas (33-23) 6, OAKLAND (24-32) 3

WASHINGTON (31-22) 7, NY Mets (31-25) 6 (12)

Atlanta (30-25) 11, MIAMI (31-24) 0

Pittsburgh (28-26) 8, CINCINNATI (30-24) 4

HOUSTON (24-31) 9, St. Louis (28-28) 8

Chi Cubs (19-36) 10, MILWAUKEE (24-31) 0

ARIZONA (26-30) 10, Colorado (24-31) 0

SAN DIEGO (19-37) 6, San Francisco (31-25) 5

TODAY'S GAMES

After last night's pitching display in Philadelphia, SP Chris Capuano LAD (7-2, 2.50 ERA, 1.08 WHIP) takes the hill looking for his 8th win against SP Kyle Kendrick PHL (in 7 starts: 2-3, 3.27 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 41.1 IP, 26 K), who is now a rotation mainstay.  SP Zack Greinke MIL (6-2, 3.46, 1.32) looks to continue his dominance at Miller Park (20 home starts at Miller Park lifetime: 14-0, 2.64 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 129.2 IP, 159 K), as Greinke and the Brewers face the Cubs and Paul Maholm (4-4, 4.82, 1.32).

Three pitchers in the "are they for real?" category are going tonight. SP Felipe Paulino KCY (3-1, 1.70, 1.22) has pitched "lights-out" for 4 of his 6 starts, only surrendering earned runs in the other 2 starts.  For the season, Paulino has 39 K in 37 innings and 5 of his 6 starts were against above-.500 teams.  The 28-year-old is 13-32, 4.94, 1.51 in his career.  SP Wade Miley ARZ had a 4.30 ERA in the minors last year and a 4.50 ERA in 40 innings with the big club.  This year, though, Miley is 6-2, 2.72, 1.19 and he is 3-1 in his last 4 starts (3-1, 2.67 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 27 IP, 14 K).  SP Wei-Yin Chen BAL started like a house afire in April (2-0, 2.22, 1.32 in 4 starts), but since then, the league has caught up to Chen, going 0-3, 7.48 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, 21.2 IP, 20 K in his last 4 starts.

MY PICK 6:

SP Madison Bumgarner SFO (at SDG)

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia BOS (vs BAL)

CI Mark Trumbo LAA (vs SEA)

MI Jose Altuve HOU (vs STL)

OF Ryan Braun MIL (vs CHC)

RP Aroldis Chapman (vs PIT)