Playoff hopefuls have stood up over the past weekend, including sweeps for each of the top two AL East competitors. Some have been able to be successful with their bats, while others have had stellar pitching performances. One standout pitching performance and one at the plate will open this daily update for August 31, 2015.
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Recap
Jake Arrieta throws a no-hitter for the Cubs
Arrieta threw the first no-hitter for the Cubs since 2008, walking only one batter and striking out 12 batters. Arrieta has been devastating this season, posting a 2.11 ERA and 0.94 WHIP, and he now has 43 strikeouts and 10 walks in 42 1/3 August innings, pitching five scoreless outings in his six starts. Kris Bryant earned the only RBIs in the game, finishing 1-for-5 with a two-run home run, his seventh home run of the month. Bryant has elevated to a top-five 3B this season, posting 48 extra-base hits and 12 stolen bases, and has a .320 batting average in August. Starlin Castro finished 3-for-5 with a double against the Dodgers, seeing his August batting average rise to .299. Castro has lost his starting SS job to Addison Russell, but does have four extra-base hits in his last six games.
Alex Wood had only his second quality start in six starts with the Dodgers, pitching six innings and allowing only Bryant’s two-run home run among his seven hits and striking out seven batters. Wood has a decent 3.67 ERA this season, but has a 1.41 WHIP this season and only has struck out 118 batters in 154 1/3 innings.
Yankees maul Braves in 20-6 rout
Jacoby Ellsbury has hits in eight of his last 10 games, finishing 2-for-6 with a home run, a walk, two runs scored, and three RBI against the Braves. Ellsbury has 14 runs scored and 12 RBI for the month, posting four multi-hit games in his last seven contests. Stephen Drew finished 4-for-4 with a home run, two walks, three runs scored, and four RBI, seeing his seasonal batting average (.201) jump over .200 for the first time all season. Drew has 16 home runs for the season, three in August, and has 12 runs scored and 11 RBI for the month as well. Chase Headley finished 3-for-3 with a double, home run, two walks, three runs scored, and four RBI in his best game of the season. Headley has a .297 batting average with 12 extra-base hits in August, posting 14 runs scored and 14 RBI for the month.
Adonis Garcia finished 3-for-5 with a home run and three runs scored for the Braves, who moved a 7-0 deficit to 8-5 before being outscored 12-1 over the last three innings. Garcia has three multi-hit games in his last four games, posting extra-base hits in five of his last seven games.
Derek Holland tosses complete-game shutout
Holland pitched a complete-game three hit shutout against the Orioles, striking out 11 batters without a walk, lowering his ERA to 2.53 for the month. Holland returned from the disabled list on August 19 and has pitched at least six innings in his three starts, posting 20 strikeouts and only one walk in 21 1/3 innings. Delino DeShields Jr. finished 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI, posting his fourth straight multi-hit game. DeShields Jr. only has a .248 batting average in August, but has scored seven runs in his last 10 games and has scored 16 runs for the month. Elvis Andrus finished 2-for-3 with a walk, run scored, RBI, and two steals for the Rangers. Andrus has four multi-hit games in his last 10 games, but his three steals in his last four games are his only steals since July 30.
Adam Jones was the lone offensive bright spot for the Orioles, finishing 1-for-4 with a double. Jones has only two extra-base hits in his last 10 games, but does have 12 extra-base hits in August, even though he has a .241 batting average for the month.
Cardinals bats stand up in NLCS rematch with Giants
Jason Heyward finished 3-for-5 with a double, triple, RBI, and two runs scored for the Cardinals, who won 7-5 over San Francisco. Heyward has a .311 batting average, 17 runs scored, and nine extra-base hits in August and has hits in seven of his last 10 games. Matt Carpenter finished 2-for-4 with a walk, double, home run, run scored, and RBI for the Cardinals, moving his extra-base hit total to 53 for the season. Carpenter has a five-game hitting streak and has 19 runs scored and 16 RBI for the month of August. Yadier Molina finished 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI for the Cardinals, who hold the best record in baseball. Molina has RBI in seven of his last 10 games, moving his total to 20 for the month, and has regained top-10 fantasy catcher value with hits in seven of his last 10 games.
Marlon Byrd finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, and four RBI for the Giants and has hits in six of his nine games with the Giants. He has seven extra-base hits for the Giants, and 43 for the season, improving on his .219 batting average for August.
Ervin Santana fires Twins past Astros
Santana threw seven scoreless innings, allowing only six hits and striking out 10 batters without a walk for his third win of the season. Santana had allowed 25 earned runs in 24 2/3 innings in August coming into Sunday’s start, but now has three scoreless appearances in his last nine starts. Miguel Sano finished 1-for-2 with a home run, two walks, two runs scored, and two RBI for his third multi-RBI game in his last six games. Sano has a .278 batting average this month and has 26 extra-base hits in the first 171 at-bats in his MLB career. Brian Dozier finished 1-for-4 with a triple, a walk, and two runs scored for the Twins and now has 16 runs scored this month. Dozier only has a .216 batting average in August, but has scored 16 runs this month and 90 runs for the season.
Jose Altuve finished 4-for-5 with a double, home run, run scored, and two RBI for the Astros, moving his August batting average to .365. Altuve has hits in eight of his last 10 games, stealing a base in two of his last four games, but only has six extra-base hits this month and 38 for the season.
What to watch for
The best matchup of the evening sees David Price facing Danny Salazar in Blue Jays/Indians. Price has a 1.98 ERA in 36 1/3 innings since being acquired by the Blue Jays at the trade deadline, earning a quality start in of his five starts while striking out at six batters in each start. Salazar allowed five runs (4 earned) in this last start, ending a five-start streak where he allowed two runs or less and he has a 1.08 WHIP in 144 1/3 innings this season. Chris Archer and John Lackey will also pitch today.
Chris Zolli is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Chris, check out his archive and follow him @thezman2010.