Aaron Judge went 3-for-3 with two homers, three runs, three RBIs, and a walk against the Red Sox on Saturday. Judge paced New York's 14-1 massacre of Boston with his MLB-leading 32nd and 33rd dingers of the season. He also singled and walked to round out a virtually perfect night at the plate, breaking out of his recent slump in massive fashion. Judge had managed just two homers and a .184 batting average while striking out 18 times in his last 13 games, enduring a rare slump for the AL MVP frontrunner. He's started to get back on track with three big flies in his last three games, setting him up for a big second half and a potential run at 60 homers if the towering outfielder stays healthy.
Miles Mikolas cruised to an easy win over the Reds on Saturday afternoon, firing seven innings of one-run ball with three hits and one walk while striking out four. Mikolas served up a leadoff homer to Jonathan Indian to open the game but immediately settled down, not allowing any more runs from that point forward while St. Louis exploded for 11 runs. As usual, a good chunk of his outs came on the ground, as he induced 10 groundouts compared to just two flyouts. He was also economical with his pitches, throwing 66 of 95 for strikes. The sharp outing improved his ERA to 2.54, so it's surprising that his record is only 7-7 (especially considering that he often pitches deep into games). The veteran righty now has seven quality starts in his last eight outings, continuing what has been a quietly outstanding and underrated campaign for him. He'll look to pick up where he left off after the All-Star break.
Paul Goldschmidt went 2-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs vs the Reds, powering the Cardinals to an 11-3 victory. Goldschmidt went deep in the bottom of the second for the 20th time this year, taking Nick Lodolo yard for a two-run shot. He added an RBI single in the third for good measure, raising his RBI total to 70. The 34-year-old first baseman is having an MVP-caliber season for St. Louis, leading the National League in runs (64), average (.330), and OPS (1.004), to name a few. It's even more impressive that he's still leading the league in so many categories after a quiet July thus far, as Saturday's long ball was his first dinger since June 27. Goldschmidt was bound to cool off eventually, but hopefully some time off at the All-Star break can help him get back on track and recharge for the second half.
Matt Carpenter continued his resurgence with the Yankees by socking a pair of homers against the Red Sox on Saturday, going 2-for-4 with two homers, three runs, seven RBIs, and a walk against Boston. Carpenter knocked in half of New York's 14 runs, raising his average to .360 and his OPS to an even more absurd 1.406. Carpenter has been hitting the cover off the ball with the Yankees this year, crushing 13 homers with 31 RBIs in just 30 games. The 36-year-old has found new life in the Bronx after 11 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, turning his career around after several seasons of declining performance. He's become a must-start in all fantasy formats again until he cools off.
Jose Ramirez popped a pair of homers on Saturday, going 2-for-4 with five RBIs while leading Cleveland to a 10-0 win over Detroit. Ramirez enjoyed his second multi-homer game of the season and first since April 27, giving his fantasy managers some much-needed pop after slugging just one home run in his last 32 games. Ramirez did club 15 doubles during that span, however, so it's not like he wasn't hitting the ball hard. He's now up to 19 homers on the year alongside an AL-leading 75 RBIs. Throw in his 30 doubles, 13 steals, and .944 OPS, and Ramirez is having another MVP-caliber season for Cleveland. He's also driven in seven runs over his last three games combined.
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