Atomic RoadRunners | Andrew Flynn’s High-Energy Fantasy Baseball

Brandon Webb surrendered three runs over six innings against the Giants to become the majors’ first five-game winner on Tuesday. Webb was down 3-0 entering the bottom of the second, but he shut the Giants down from there and contributed to his cause with a two-run double. It was his sixth career extra-base hit in 332 at-bats. He already has four RBI on the season, matching the second-highest total of his career. He drove in three runs in 73 at-bats last season. The Giants managed to pick up nine hits, but Webb scattered them and limited the damage. With the offense showing signs of improvement over last season, Webb is well on his way to winning 20-plus game for the D-Backs this season. Webb, off to the best start of his career, beat San Francisco’s Barry Zito (0-5) for the second time in six days. Webb’s five victories match the total of the Giants’ rotation.

Webb might have fell behind early Tuesday, but like a true Cy Young candidate, he battled back and moved to 5-0. He has allowed a total of nine earned runs through his first 35 innings. He is doing some of the best work of his career and could win 20 games for the first time in his career. Need any more reasons to start him in all Fantasy formats? Webb will look for win No. 6 Sunday against the Padres at Petco Park. In three road starts this season, Webb is 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA. He was 1-2 with a 3.18 ERA in five starts against the Padres last season and was 1-1 with a 3.10 ERA at Petco.(Rotoworld, Rotowire, CBS Sports)

Diamondbacks RP Brandon Lyon allowed a leadoff single to Bengie Molina in the ninth inning Tuesday against the Giants, but retired the next three hitters for his fifth save in seven chances. Lyon struck out two in a 5-4 win. He also picked up a save Monday against the Giants. Lyon has allowed just one earned run over his last eight innings and has worked his ERA down from 27.00 to 4.00. Perhaps he was made for the closer’s role after all. He is not yet in jeopardy of losing his ninth-inning job and Lyon can be treated as a No. 2 Fantasy closer. (CBS Sports)

Tony Pena gave up a run on two hits while working the eighth inning in Tuesday night’s win over the Giants. Over his last five appearances, Pena has now allowed seven earned runs on nine hits, while watching his season ERA balloon up to 6.75. The D-Backs still have him working the eighth inning, which is a pretty good indication that he’d get the nod if anything were to happen to Brandon Lyon, but with Lyon pitching well right now, Pena is simply good insurance for Lyon owners to stash away in most formats. (Rotowire)

Braves 3B Chipper Jones, the NL’s leading hitter with a .430 average, went 0-for-4 on Monday against the Nationals. Jones had hit safely in 13 straight games and in 18 of 19 this year. Jones has a pair of strained quadriceps, but he plans to play through the pain, determined to play 150 games this season. When healthy, he’s one of the best third basemen in Fantasy, as evidenced by his great batting average, but you have to expect him to miss time to rest his quads at some point. (CBS Sports)

Andruw Jones is out of the lineup for Tuesday’s game because of allergies. A direct result of him dispersing so much pollen with his swings lately. Juan Pierre is getting a start tonight. Jones pinch-hit in the eighth and struck out for the ninth time in his last 17 at-bats. “Andruw’s fighting it a little bit,” manager Joe Torre said. “He’s had a little bit of a flu bug, and we’ve got that long flight (home) tonight. We’ll get him back in the lineup.” You can’t really blame the flu bug on Jones’ problems as he has been in a funk for most of the season. He has really struggled with his swing the last two seasons and you have to start wondering if thr 13-year veteran is breaking down? (Rotoworld, CBS Sports)

Also, Seamless Baseball ran their early-season obituaries, and Andruw’s Hope, RIP:

Hope for Andruw Jones, 2, Dies
The hope for a return of Andruw Jones to something resembling a serviceable major league hitter died Monday. It was two years old.

The death was reported only minutes after Jones’ last fumbling at-bat against the Reds, a game in which he was demoted to the eighth spot in the order for the first time since 1998. He returned his manager’s confidence in suit, going 0-for-4 against such past Cy Young winners as Matt Belisle and Josh Fogg. More impressively, he did it while his slumping team scored 9 runs and smacked 15 hits.

After he single-handedly proved the contract year theory wrong last year, he was doing even worse this year, his batting average sinking to a lowly .156. He is survived by his ridiculous contract, his middle name (Rudolf), and his frequently awkward ass-out, knee-in-the-dirt swings.

Nelson Figueroa took his first loss on Tuesday after allowing three runs in five innings against the Cubs. It could have been a lot worse. The Cubs loaded the bases with no outs against him in the second, but he struck out Ronny Cedeno and got a double-play ball from Henry Blanco to escape the jam. He ended up allowing seven hits, walking five and striking out just two.Despite the loss Tuesday, Figueroa did keep New York in the game and only had one really bad inning. But for the second straight day, the Mets’ bats were idle. Figueroa has done a decent job through three starts and this is what New York is hoping for — a guy that can be a band-aid until Orlando Hernandez or Pedro Martinez returns from the DL. Figueroa remains just a NL-only Fantasy option at this time. His next scheduled start is for Sunday against the Braves. (Rotoworld, CBS Sports)

Garrett Atkins had staked Colorado to a 6-4 lead Tuesday when he sent Phillies SP Brett Myers’ 100th pitch into the left-field seats for a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the seventh. However, Myers was off the hook when Philadelphia rallied for a 8-6 win. Myers was tagged for six runs and 11 hits in seven innings. He walked two and struck out three while allowing two homers — including a solo home run by Matt Holliday to dead center at Coors Field. The no decision snapped a two-game winning streak for Myers. He had allowed just four earned runs in his previous two starts and Tuesday was by far his worst outing in five appearances. The high-end Fantasy SP will look for better results Sunday against the Pirates. (CBS Sports)

Brewers 1B Prince Fielder was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate Tuesday against the Cardinals with all three of his base knocks being singles. He drove in one run and also walked twice. Fielder now has four hits in his last 14 at-bats. He doesn’t have a homer in five games and has just two RBI in that span. Fielder really got Fantasy owners excited with a home run last Thursday against the Cardinals, but it has been almost a week since he went yard. It’s kind of frustrating to see him struggle for homers so early in the season, but his power swing should come with time. Keep the hefty slugger active in all Fantasy formats. (CBS Sports)

Brandon Phillips homered off Esteban Loaiza with one out in the fifth inning of Tuesday’s 8-1 win against the Dodgers. Phillips finished the game 1-for-4 and has just four hits in his last 30 at-bats. The homer Tuesday ended a 17-game home run drought for Phillips. Phillips is off to a slow start and as a consequence has been moved all around the batting order, but on Tuesday he was back in his original cleanup spot. (Rotowire, CBS Sports)

Ryan Theriot (lower back) was not in the lineup Tuesday, the Cubs’ web site reports. Theriot told reporters that his back has been an issue for some time: “Eventually, it will never be 100 percent because that’s just the way I was born. It’s been something I’ve dealt with forever and played with.” Theriot, who’s riding a seven-game hitting streak and batting .481 (13-for-27) on the soon-to-be completed homestand, could be back in the lineup on Wednesday. (Rotowire)

Overall Standings

Rank Team                Batting Pitching Total Dif  Behind
---- ------------------- ------- -------- ----- ---- ------
 1   Shoeless Jews       47.0    27.0     74.0  1.5  0.0
 2   The Pi Train        32.5    36.5     69.0  -2.5 5.0
 3   Goodfellas          29.0    39.0     68.0  -4.5 6.0
 4   X-Men               25.5    37.0     62.5  0.5  11.5
 5   Uncle Lester        14.0    37.5     51.5  1.0  22.5
 6   Atomic Roadrunners  19.0    32.0     51.0  -2.5 23.0
 6   Stanimals           36.0    15.0     51.0  6.0  23.0
 6   Misogynistic Padres 33.0    18.0     51.0  5.0  23.0
 9   Get Off Kong!       22.0    24.0     46.0  -1.5 28.0
 10  Cover Zero          17.0    9.0      26.0  -3.0 48.0  

Yesterday's Stats

Atomic Roadrunners Players Yesterday (4/22/08)
Player                        BA HR R RBI   SB
------------------------- ------ -- - --- ----
Blanco, Gregor M. OF ATL  0.0000  0 0   0    0
Bowker, John OF SF        0.4000  0 0   0    0
Dewitt, Blake 3B LA       0.0000  0 0   0    0
Fielder, Prince 1B MIL    1.0000  0 0   1    0
Hart, Corey C. RF MIL     0.3333  0 0   1    0
Iannetta, Chris C COL     0.0000  0 0   0    0
Jones, Chipper 3B ATL     0.0000  0 0   0    0
Murton, Matt LF CHC       0.0000  0 0   0    0
Phillips, Brandon 2B CIN  0.2500  1 1   1    0
Reyes, Jose B. SS NYM     0.0000  0 0   0    0
Ruiz, Carlos C PHI        0.0000  0 0   0    0
Spilborghs, Ryan CF COL   0.0000  0 0   0    0
Teixeira, Mark 1B ATL     0.0000  0 0   0    0
Theriot, Ryan SS CHC      0.0000  0 0   0    0

Atomic Roadrunners Players Yesterday (4/22/08)
Player                       ERA  K S   W WHIP
------------------------- ------ -- - --- ----
Figueroa, Nelson RP NYM     5.40  2 0   0 2.40
Lyon, Brandon RP ARI        0.00  2 1   0 1.00
Myers, Brett SP PHI         7.71  3 0   0 1.86
Webb, Brandon SP ARI        4.50  7 0   1 1.83