Roto Rush: Six Hits for Adrian Gonzalez

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

Mired in the middle of a quite reprehensible offense, Adrian Gonzalez had been struggling at the plate for quite a while. Sure, he was still hitting home runs and drawing walks, but his batting average from May 1 to August 9 was an atrocious .228 in 298 at-bats. He hadn't had a multiple hit game since July 29 and hadn't had more than two hits in a game since June 18.

Tuesday night, Gonzalez went 6-6, giving him more hits in one night than the rest of August combined.

It's not easy to raise your batting average 11 points in one night on August 11, unless you are a part-time player or have missed significant time with injury, but that's what Gonzalez did.

The problem is you can't expect anything of the sort to continue. There's simply not enough supporting cast for opposing pitchers to allow him anything decent to hit. He's an elite power hitter and his supporting cast is either incredibly inexperienced or just plain sucks. The 6-hit night was a nice reprieve, but it was far from a harbinger of a future hit parade.

For the rest of the year, you can count on some more homers, but, mostly, his positive outcomes are going to be bases on balls (he already has a career-high 89, and his previous high was 74).

Bits From the Box Scores:
- Tommy Hanson throttled the Nationals, which wouldn't have meant much earlier this season. Tuesday night, though, the 22-year-old phenom broke the Nats' league-best 9-game winning streak. He's 7-2 with a 3.05 ERA and 1.30 WHIP. The strikeouts will come more consistently as he continues to flourish in his rookie season.

- Nyjer Morgan is running wild in Washington. He was 18 of 28 in stolen base attempts for the Pirates in 106 times on base. In Washington? How about 20 of 26 in 60 times on base. Unless you have a hefty cushion in steals and/or desperately need power, there's no reason to leave Morgan on the waiver wire.

- A just-for-fun oddity: The Marlins and Astros combined for 27 hits Tuesday night, zero of which were home runs.

- Milton Bradley is really starting to swing it. Since July 17, he's hitting .364 with a .488 on-base percentage. During his current 6-game hitting streak, he's hitting .478 with a .556 OBP, and he's hitting everything on the screws. In fact, he nearly ended the game Tuesday night in extra innings, flying out against the center-field wall with the wind blowing in from dead-center. He even stole a base.

- Another blown save for Brad Lidge, and this time it really hurt. He seemed to be getting things figured out. He hadn't blown a save since June 6, which was before his disabled list stint. Granted, he was allowing hits, runs, and couldn't throw a strike -- but he was getting the job done when it mattered. A few more outings like Tuesday night, and the Phillies should seriously consider what Brett Myers can bring to the closer's role once he returns from injury (thus, it can't hurt to stash Myers in really deep leagues where you need save help).

- How about Justin Lehr? He's now made two starts in August, against the Cubs and Cardinals, respectively. He's hurled 15 innings and allowed only 1 earned run (0.60 ERA). You won't get strikeouts from him, but it looks like he needs to be taken seriously as a stream teamer.

- Aaron Laffey's only 24, and he's getting a chance to show his improvement since last year as a starter. Thus far, he's passing the test. As a starter this season, he's now 5-2 with a 3.17 ERA. His last two starts have been 14 2/3 shutout innings with only 16 baserunners (1.09 WHIP). Definitely take a look in large leagues.

- Jim Johnson is a perfect example of why you don't waste high draft picks on saves or trade for them midseason. They always come into the league (like David Aardsma, Leo Nunez, Andrew Bailey, C.J. Wilson, J.P. Howell, Mike MacDougal, LaTroy Hawkins, Scott Downs and many others have already shown). Starting July 29, Johnson has pitched five times, garnering 3 saves and sporting a 1.50 ERA. He's struck out 6 batters in 6 innings in that time. The bottom line is that if you need saves, they are always out there.

- When Kevin Youkilis got tossed for his part in the brawl with Rick Porcello, Mike Lowell stepped right in and became the hero -- hitting 2 bombs and driving home 3 runs. Still, let's be aware he's not going to be playing close to everyday from here on out and he had only a single home run in his past 104 plate appearances before Tuesday night.

- Alex Avila is off to a nice little start to his big-league career. The Tigers 22-year-old rookie catcher has started three games. He's accumulated 2 hits in each game, including 4 doubles and a home run. So, he's hitting .545 with a ridiculous 1.765 OPS. Cue up the small-sample-size police: He was only hitting .264 with an .814 OPS in Double-A before being recalled. Ignore for now.

- Andrew McCutchen just keeps finding ways to impress the masses. He hadn't had a multi-steals game yet this season, so he went out Tuesday night and swiped 3 bags. He'll be a superstar in no time.

- Rough debut as a major league starter for Jhoulys Chacin, as the talented, young fireballer lasted only 2 2/3 innings against the Pirates. His issue was control, as he walked 6. He's only 21 and the sky is the limit down the road, but we'll need to see much better results before trusting him in fantasy this season.

- Max Scherzer had a nice outing. I guess we can expect a few bad ones before another good one again, huh?

- Bobby Jenks seems to be feeling OK after returning from his bout with kidney stones. He worked his second consecutive scoreless outing, this time picking up his first save since the dreaded stones. Proceed with him in your starting lineup with confidence.

- As Jeff Fletcher writes, Manny Ramirez is really locked in right now. Here comes an extended hot streak.

- Finally, Ervin Santana, where you been all my life? He had a pathetic 8.31 ERA in his previous four games, but Tuesday night looks like a turning point. Shutting out the Rays -- facing two more than the minimum and needing only 97 pitches to complete the thing -- is a sure sign he's finally healthy and ready to be a big-time contributor down the stretch for the Angels. I'd grab him if you can.

Coming Back: It appears Ian Kinsler will be ready to rejoin the Texas Rangers Friday. If you don't know he's a must-start second baseman in all formats, why are you here?

The Afflicted: Miguel Cabrera had to leave the game Tuesday night with a bruised hand after getting hit with a pitch, which could have caused the brawl that claimed Youkilis and Rick Porcello. A rhetorical question, so answer however you wish: Why are the Red Sox seemingly always involved in HBP wars? Can it just be a coincidence?

Lineup Lock Time: The Yanks and Jays gets things started for us on hump day at 1:05 PM ET.