Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor went 1-for-5 with a solo homer Saturday against the Tigers. Lindor kicked off Cleveland's 15-0 rout with his 8th leadoff homer of the year in the bottom of the first, setting a new franchise record. The long ball was also his career-high 35th of the year, six of which have already come in September. The Indians' talented leadoff man is pacing the Major Leagues in runs this year with 120 after scoring 99 in each of the past two seasons. With 86 RBI, 23 steals and a .282 batting average, he's developed into a five-category monster in his age-24 season.
Indians righty Mike Clevinger won after allowing one hit and three walks with five strikeouts over six shutout innings Saturday vs. the Tigers. Clevinger cruised to his 12th win of the year as Cleveland crushed Detroit, 15-0. The only hit off Clevinger's 91 pitches (55 strikes) was a fourth-inning single by Christin Stewart. The 27-year-old's sixth straight quality start lowered his ERA to 3.06 while improving his WHIP to 1.17. He's now at 196 strikeouts on the year, making him likely to reach 200 for the first time during his next start vs. the Red Sox at home on September 21.
Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius went 2-for-4 with two solo homers and a walk Saturday vs. the Blue Jays. Gregorius got the Yanks on the board with his sixth-inning solo shot before clubbing another one in the seventh, giving him a new career high with 26 homers this season. The slugging shortstop has now topped 20 homers in three straight seasons and has a chance to reach 30 homers for the first time this year after going deep four times in his last four games. While he flies under the radar due to New York's other stars, Gregorius has established himself as one of the premier offensive talents at the position.
White Sox righty Reynaldo Lopez won after allowing four hits and one walk with six strikeouts over seven shutout innings Saturday against the Orioles. Lopez only got one run of support while he was in the game, but he made it stand up during Chicago's 2-0 victory over Baltimore. Lopez did not allow an extra-base hit and threw 73 of his 104 pitches for strikes en route to his fourth straight quality start. The 24-year-old has now allowed two earned runs or less in five straight starts, lowering his ERA to 4.05 and his WHIP to 1.29. He's racked up 35 strikeouts in 32 2/3 innings during that span -- a notable improvement for someone who averaged 5.7 K/9 in 47 2/3 innings last year. Lopez has broken out in his third season and will look to keep rolling vs. the Cubs at home on September 21.
Blue Jays outfielder Randal Grichuk went 3-for-5 with a double, two solo homers and three runs scored Saturday against the Yankees. Grichuk powered Toronto to an 8-7 win at Yankee Stadium with solo homers in his first two at-bats, giving him 23 long balls on the year. He later added a double for good measure, raising his average to .247 and pushing his OPS to .802. The 27-year-old is now one shy of his career high in homers from 2016, while his OPS is the second highest of his career. Grichuk is streaky but went deep twice last Saturday as well, making him a high-risk, high-reward fantasy option in daily leagues.
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