Atomic RoadRunners

Up:

• OF Lastings Milledge
• 3B/U Casey Blake
• P Matt Lindstrom

Down:

• OF Jody Gerut
• OF Chase Headley
• P Mike Gonzalez

Matt Lindstrom notched his second relief victory in three days after John Baker hit a game-winning sac fly in the bottom of the ninth Monday against the Braves. Lindstrom pitched a scoreless top of the ninth in a 3-3 game before the Marlins won it in the bottom of the inning. He’s yet to get a save chance since Kevin Gregg went down, but the wins are more valuable anyway. (Rotoworld)

Jody Gerut was out of the starting lineup Monday for the fourth straight game because of a sore middle finger. According to manager Bud Black, Gerut is still at least a few days from returning. With Scott Hairston out for the season, rookie Will Venable has replaced Gerut in center field. (Rotoworld)

Chipper Jones rejoined the starting lineup on Monday and had an RBI single in four at-bats. He also stole his third base of the year. Jones didn’t play Sunday because of congestion caused by allergies. (Rotoworld)

Brewers purchased the contract of third baseman Mat Gamel from Triple-A Nashville. Gamel gets a callup despite struggling over the last couple of months. He still ended up hitting .329/.395/.537 in Double-A. He only moved up to Triple-A at the very end of the year and went 5-for-21. The Brewers will probably give him a fair number of at-bats as a pinch-hitter. He’s not reliable enough defensively to be used as a starter at third base. He’ll get a chance to swing the bat mostly as a pinch-hitter for manager Ned Yost, although it’s possible that he’ll get a chance to start at third base down the stretch if Bill Hall slumps or if Yost realizes that his lineup is much stronger offensively with Gamel on the lineup card instead of Craig Counsell. (Rotoworld, Rotowire)

Mike Gonzalez walked three batters in the ninth (one intentionally) and got the loss against the Marlins when the first batter scored on a sacrifice fly on Monday. Gonzalez has been mostly excellent this year, but had a similar bad outing against the Cubs three weeks ago where his lack of control came back to haunt him. “I just wasn’t throwing strikes,” Gonzalez said. “It gets harder when you know they’re not swinging and looking for a walk. The strike zone just becomes so much smaller. I beat myself in this situation. When you lose for walking three guys, that’s where it hurts.” (Rotowire, CBS Sports)

Brandon Lyon got the save on Monday, throwing a scoreless inning despite allowing two hits. While Lyon has been in a bit of a drought, he still has 26 saves on the season. Lyon had only two saves in August. He struggled some in his own right, but the Diamondbacks haven’t offered as consistent opportunities as some contenders. Think of him as just a No. 2 Fantasy option. He’s this year’s Joe Borowski – a low-cost (on Draft Day) closer providing a decent number of saves despite mediocre component stats. (Rotowire)

Jose Reyes felt pain in his neck after colliding with Rickie Weeks as he legged out a double to lead off Monday’s game. Reyes was visited by Jerry Manuel and trainer Ray Ramirez but remained in the game, the Westchester Journal-News’ Mets blog reports. Reyes said after the game he was fine. With the Mets in a pennant race, look for him to play Tuesday, unless the neck stiffens over neck. With two hits Monday, Reyes is riding an 11-game hit streak and also sits just one steal shy of tying Mookie Wilson’s team record of 281 steals. Reyes has a 10-game hitting streak and is enjoying an MVP-like second half. (Rotowire)

Giants 1B Pablo Sandoval led all rookies with a .393 average in August. Sandoval has a great bat and some versatility for the Giants and the deepest of NL-only leagues down the stretch. He is a great sleeper if you can sneak him in at the catcher position in deeper formats. (CBS Sports)

Casey Blake made it 4-1 in the third Monday with his 18th home run and seventh since coming to the Dodgers in a trade with Cleveland on July 26. Manny Ramirez added a sacrifice fly in the seventh for his 26th RBI in 30 games with Los Angeles. Blake has been a monster of late and is too good to sit in any Fantasy format right now. He is notoriously a streaky player and is performing like a top mixed league option. His versatility certainly helps, too. (CBS Sports)

Cubs SP Jason Marquis allowed five hits and two runs with a season-high eight strikeouts during a 3-0 loss to the Astros Monday. Marquis went opposite Roy Oswalt, who threw 8 1/3 scoreless innings. Marquis allowed both of his runs in the fourth inning on a Geoff Blum sac fly and Hunter Pence RBI single. Marquis walked three as he lost for the first time since Aug. 1. Marquis won his previous three decisions coming into Monday despite not being overly impressive. He has allowed two runs or fewer in three of his last four starts and pitching for the contending Cubs does make him a viable SP in larger Fantasy formats. His next scheduled start is for Sunday against the Reds. (CBS Sports)

Marlins SP Josh Johnson pitched six innings Monday against the Braves, allowing three runs and nine hits while striking out eight, tying his career high. He didn’t factor in the decision. “This win is a big lift,” Johnson said. “Everybody’s got smiles on their faces, and that’s what we want right now.” Johnson has a 2.70 ERA over his last six starts, which isn’t all that surprising considering he has a 3.25 mark on the season. He went the distance in his last start and looks plenty recovered from Tommy John surgery. Take a flier on him in all leagues. (CBS Sports)

Overall Standings

Rank Team                Batting Pitching Total Dif  Behind
---- ------------------- ------- -------- ----- ---- ------
 1   Atomic Roadrunners  43.0    37.5     80.5  -2.0 0.0
 2   X-Men               33.0    38.0     71.0  -2.0 9.5
 3   Shoeless Jews       31.0    33.0     64.0  3.5  16.5
 4   Goodfellas          37.0    21.0     58.0  1.5  22.5
 4   Stanimals           22.0    36.0     58.0  1.0  22.5
 6   The Pi Train        25.0    27.5     52.5  -0.5 28.0
 7   Uncle Lester        12.0    38.0     50.0  0.5  30.5
 8   Cover Zero          27.0    16.0     43.0  -1.0 37.5
 9   Get Off Kong!       26.0    13.0     39.0  -1.0 41.5
 10  Misogynistic Padres 19.0    15.0     34.0  0.0  46.5

Yesterday's Stats

Atomic Roadrunners Players Yesterday (9/1/08)
Player                       BA HR R RBI   SB
------------------------ ------ -- - --- ----
Dickerson, Chris OF CIN  0.0000  0 0   0    0
Fielder, Prince 1B MIL   0.2500  0 1   0    0
Gerut, Jody RF SD        0.0000  0 0   0    0
Hart, Corey C. RF MIL    0.5000  0 0   0    0
Headley, Chase 3B SD     0.2500  0 0   1    0
Iannetta, Chris C COL    0.0000  0 0   0    0
Jones, Chipper 3B ATL    0.2500  0 0   1    1
Moss, Brandon OF PIT     0.0000  0 0   0    0
Phillips, Brandon 2B CIN 0.0000  0 0   0    0
Reyes, Jose B. SS NYM    0.5000  0 0   0    0
Sandoval, Pablo C SF     0.0000  0 0   0    0
Teixeira, Mark 1B ANA    0.0000  0 0   0    0
Theriot, Ryan SS CHC     0.3333  0 0   0    0
Victorino, Shane CF PHI  0.2500  0 1   0    1

Atomic Roadrunners Players Yesterday (9/1/08)
Player                      ERA  K S   W WHIP
------------------------ ------ -- - --- ----
Ayala, Luis RP NYM         0.00  1 1   0 0.00
Johnson, Josh SP FLA       4.50  8 0   0 1.50
Lyon, Brandon RP ARI       0.00  1 1   0 2.00
Marquis, Jason SP CHC      3.00  8 0   0 1.33