Houston Astros vs. Boston Red Sox
Moneylines: Astros +105 / Red Sox -125
Total: 9.5 Runs
Pitching Matchup
Framber Valdez, SP HOU – Valdez has not pitched well in the playoffs as he has scored fewer than 8.5 points on DK in both of his starts. He probably has the second longest leash on tonight’s slate behind Urias, but I still don’t see him pitching deep in this game at all.
Chris Sale, SP BOS – Sale has pitched a whopping total of 3.2 innings in his two playoff starts, scoring -6.8 and 3.8 points on DK, giving him an average in the negatives. The only thing to like about Sale is his strikeout upside. You can play him and hope he’s on top of his game, but regardless I don’t see him pitching very deep in this game.
Atlanta Braves vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Moneylines: Braves +180 / Dodgers -220
Total: 8.0 Runs
Pitching Matchup
Huascar Ynoa, SP ATL – Ynoa has only pitched once in the playoffs thus far and he scored 0.5 points on DK, pitching one inning and giving up two runs while striking out two against the Brewers. His leash is going to be extremely short and I don’t really see any path to him being a successful DFS play tonight. UPDATE: Chavez is opening for the Braves. He is not DFS viable.
Julio UrÃas, SP LAD – Urias is still tapped as the starter tonight, despite pitching an inning in relief in Gme 2. He is probably the only starter that I have any confidence in pitching more than two innings today. He had a great year, going 20-3 with a 2.96 ERA and 195 strikeouts. He pitched twice in the series against the Giants and scored 20.9 and 15.2 points on DK and has averaged 19.6 points on DK for the season.
| Yahoo | Top Tier | Mid Tier | Value Tier |
| PITCHING | Julio Urias - SP | Framber Valdez - SP | Chris Sale - SP |
| HITTERS | Will Smith - C | Trea Turner - 2B | Justin Turner - 3B |
| HITTERS | KikeHernandez - OF | Mookie Betts - OF | Cody Bellinger - OF |
FD | Position | Top Tier | Mid-Tier | Value-Tier |
|---|
DK | Position | Top Tier | Mid-Tier | Value-Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pitchers | Julio UrÃas | Framber Valdez | Chris Sale |
| Hitters | Enrique Hernández | Will Smith | Yuli Gurriel |
| Hitters | Mookie Betts | Kyle Tucker | Cody Bellinger |
Player News
Justin Martinez exited Monday’s game against the Mariners with right elbow tightness.
Tightness doesn’t sound bad, but that’s pretty much always the initial diagnosis these days, and we’re assuming there’s a good chance Martinez, who was on the IL last month with shoulder inflammation, will land back on the injured list. Shelby Miller will be the clear favorite for saves in the Arizona pen while Martinez is sidelined, and he’s worth picking up in most leagues.
Alejandro Kirk finished 4-for-5 with a homer and two doubles to lead the Jays past the Cardinals 5-4 in 10 innings Monday.
The second double plated the go-ahead run in the 10th inning. It’s his seventh career four-hit game and first ever with three extra-base hits. All four of Kirk’s balls in play tonight left the bat at over 95 mph, upping his hard-hit rate to 57.3 percent. That puts him fifth place in the majors, right in between Kyle Schwarber and Aaron Judge. Alas, he’s much further down on the barrels list, which is why he has only four homers.
José BerrÃos shut out the Cardinals for 6 2/3 innings in a no-decision Monday.
BerrÃos left with a 3-0 lead that went to 4-0 before the bullpen wiped it out by giving up four runs in the bottom of the eighth. It’s pretty remarkable that he has recorded just two wins while giving the Jays nine quality starts and a 3.38 ERA over 82 2/3 innings this season. He’s pitching a little better than he did last season, when he finished 16-11 with a 3.60 ERA in 32 starts. If he matches up with Paul Skenes at any point, the score might go into the negatives. Next up, though, is a matchup with the Phillies and probably Zack Wheeler on Sunday.
Jeff Hoffman earned his 10th save with a perfect 10th inning against the Cardinals on Monday.
Hoffman had just one run to work with, so he had to prevent the automatic runner from scoring, which he accomplished by retiring the side on nine pitches. Although he’s given up a couple of homers along the way, Hoffman has converted six straight save chance since May 26.
Andre Pallante gave up two runs in six innings Monday in a no-decision against the Blue Jays.
Even if’s not a win, Pallante needed to show some improvement tonight and did so in lowering his ERA to 4.75. It’s Pallante’s first quality start in his last four tries and fifth in 13 outings overall. He’s set to pitch in Milwaukee this weekend.
Ryan Helsley took his fifth blown save after giving up a homer to the Jays’ Jonatan Clase in the ninth inning Monday.
It’s Helsley’s third straight blown save, though the previous two both still turned into Cardinals wins. This one didn’t, as Toronto prevailed in 10. We still can’t imagine his job is in jeopardy at the moment, though one more blown save might change that. Helsley has a 3.75 ERA, with three homers allowed and 28 strikeouts in 24 innings. It doesn’t seem like he’s far off at all.