Justin Smoak played hero twice on Tuesday night
Every MLB team was in action on Tuesday and, after a small slate of games on Monday, fantasy owners were able to employ all of their fantasy stars. Although there have been many good pitching performances to open the 2016 season, the top pitcher of 2015 is in similar form in 2016. Another masterful pitching performance in Pittsburgh will open this daily update for May 4, 2016.
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Recap
Cubs’ ace continues his assault of the National League
Jake Arrieta moved to 6-0 on the season with seven shutout innings in a 7-1 win over the Pirates on Tuesday night. Arrieta now has a 0.84 ERA this season and allowed only two walks and two hits against Pittsburgh, while Anthony Rizzo’s two doubles were a key part of the Cubs’ offense. Sean Rodriguez finished 2-for-3 with a run scored last night, but Jonathon Niese allowed six runs in five innings against Chicago.
Braves shut down Mets
Matt Wisler allowed only one hit over eight shutout innings in the Braves’ 3-0 win over the Mets on Tuesday night. Wisler allowed two walks while striking out four batters and Mallex Smith hit his first career home run and stole his fourth base of the season. Matt Harvey allowed three runs in five innings to move his record to 2-4 on the season, and Asdrubal Cabrera had the only hit of the evening for New York.
Blue Jays walk-off against Rangers
The Rangers held the Blue Jays off the board for eight innings before Toronto found just enough offense to beat Texas 3-1 on Tuesday. Justin Smoak hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth to open the scoring before homering again in the 10th to earn the walk-off win. Rougned Odor hit a home run for the Rangers, his fourth of the season, and Martin Perez pitched five shutout innings for Texas.
Phillies have another fantastic pitching performance
Aaron Nola allowed two hits and one walk while striking out seven batters in seven shutout innings, earning his second win of the season in a 1-0 victory over the Cardinals. Ryan Howard hit his sixth home run of the season for the only run of the game. Nola now has a 2.93 ERA this season. Michael Wacha allowed one run on five hits in eight innings, striking out eight batters, and Matt Carpenter had a double in the Cardinals’ loss.
Indians bombard Tigers
The Indians hit Justin Verlander hard and often on Tuesday night, getting seven runs in five innings off the former Tigers’ ace in their 7-3 win. Francisco Lindor hit a three-run home run in the second inning off Verlander, one of his three hits, as he scored three runs as well. Josh Tomlin allowed two runs over six innings to move to 4-0. Ian Kinsler was the major offensive factor for Detroit, as he finished 2-for-5 with a two-run home run. Nick Castellanos added his 19th RBI of the season.
What to Watch For
The Pirates-Cubs battle is the best of the early part of the week and will continue with Jon Lester and Juan Nicasio facing off in Pittsburgh. Lester has allowed one run in four of his five starts this season and has a 0.97 WHIP for the Cubs. Nicasio is fresh off a performance where he struck out eight in seven shutout innings. He has 29 strikeouts in 27 innings this season, posting a 3.33 ERA. Jose Fernandez, Stephen Strasburg and Felix Hernandez will also pitch today.
Chris Zolli is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Chris, check out his archive and follow him @thezman2010.
