BY ADAM RONIS
Glen Perkins has been quietly having a very good start for the Twins. The lefthander went 7 2/3 innings and allowed seven hits, one run, two walks and struck out four against a Tigers team that scored 19 runs yesterday. His success has been helped by just four walks in 26 innings. He is 2-1 with a 2.77 ERA and should be owned in AL-only leagues.
Justin Verlander is issuing too many walks, but he pitched well for the third straight start. He went seven innings, allowing five hits, one run, four walks and struck out three in a no-decision.
Dan Uggla hasn't slowed down yet. He hit his 16th homer and has 36 RBIs with a .320 average. Uggla will cool off, but he likely will set a career high in homers. He has struck out 50 times in 175 at-bats, though. I'd still sell high because his average will decline and it's difficult to envision him having higher value than he does right now.
C.J. Wilson was on the precipice of losing his job as the closer, but he has pitched well in his last two appearances. He pitched a scoreless 10th innings for his 10th save. He walked one and struck out two.
The chance to buy low on C.C. Sabathia is long gone. He is back to his Cy Young form. He allowed five hits, one run, two walks and struck out five in seven innings against a hot Rangers team. He took a no-decision and his ERA is down to 4.74.
The perfect remedy to get things going in the right direction? Play the Mariners, who are playing awful baseball. J.J. Putz blew his third save of the season. The Mariners brought him in for a six-out save and he allowed two hits, one walk and two runs.
Hold off on annointing Chien-Mien Wang with the Cy Young award. He went 6 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits, five runs, four walks and struck out two and was bailed out from taking the loss by a Yankees comeback in the eighth. His ERA is 3.82. As usual, Mariano Rivera had an easy ninth for his 12th save.
The low average hurts, but Chris Young is a very productive fantasy player. He is hitting .249, but hit his 11th homer and has 29 RBIs. He stole his fourth base and that number will rise.
Micah Owings got off to a rough start, but bounced back to go six innings and improve to 6-2. He has a 3.73 ERA. He allowed six hits, three runs -- two earned -- two walks and struck out three.
Tom Glavine had a flashback and thought he was pitching for the Mets in September. He went 4 2/3 innings and allowed five hits, six runs, six walks and struck out two. He is 2-2 with a 4.76 ERA.
Dustin McGowan has been hurt by walks this season. He didn't issue any against the Royals, but allowed nine hits. He still picked up the win and is 3-4 with a 3.90 ERA.
He allowed one run and struck out seven.
B.J. Ryan picked up save No. 11 by striking out two in a scoreless inning. He has a 0.56 ERA.
Alfonso Soriano hit his 11th homer.
"The Tease" Daniel Cabrera probably sucked a lot of you in after a good stretch. He went back to his ways of walking everyone. He walked six, allowed nine hits, four runs and struck out one in 5 2/3 innings in a no-decision. Play him at your own risk.
Chase Utley has been quiet lately. He hit a three-run homer against the Astros, his 15th of the season. Pat Burrell hit his 13th.
Carlos Lee hasn't been getting much fantasy attention. He has 11 homers and 43 RBIs.
Cole Hamels had a rare bad start by allowing seven hits, six runs, one walk and struck out none in four innings. The Phillies bullpen threw five scoreless innings.
John Maine has been able to overcome walks this season, but didn't today behind an inept offense. A potential double-play ball that would have ended the inning turned into a Jose Reyes error and resulted in a three-run homer for Seth Smith. Maine allowed just three hits, three earned runs, walked four and struck out eight. He is 5-4 with a 3.41 ERA.
Aaron Cook used his sinker very well against the Mets and threw a four-hitter. He allowed one run, one walk and struck out three. He is 7-3 with a 2.82 ERA. He is an underrated fantasy option. He doesn't strike out many, but he induces a lot of groundballs which is a good thing in a spacious outfield. He'll have games where he allows a lot of hits, but is a good option in deep mixed leagues.
John Smoltz had tightness in his shoulder after a rehab appearance on Saturday. He doesn't consider it a setback, just the normal soreness. He will throw on the side tomorrow.