Roto Rush: Patriots' Day Struggles

Monday morning's Patriots' Day game was a microcosm of Boston's season thus far. Highly-paid pitcher John Lackey served up eight earned runs in 3.1 innings, highly-paid catcher Victor Martinez went 0-3 to drop to .212 on the season, and the ghost of David Ortiz also went 0-3 to drop to .158 on the season. Combined with Kevin Youkilis' .217, the middle of the Red Sox order is pathetic right now. Jeremy Hermida (yes, that Jeremy Hermida) was the offensive star for Boston on Monday.

Conversely, the Rays are flying high right now. Vastly underpaid Jeff Niemann pitched seven strong innings of two-run ball to take his first victory of the season. He has a sub-3.00 ERA and a WHIP of 1.11, making him way better than Lackey right now. Carl Crawford went 2-for-2 with a walk, two sacrifices, and a stolen base, while B.J. Upton clubbed his fourth homer of the season. It looks like Upton is finally turning the corner on his potential, and if he continues to get better, that Rays lineup become all the more deadly.

After the win, the Rays are 10-3 and look like playoff contenders, while the Red Sox are 4-9 and seriously need to step their game up.

Bits from the Box Scores:

• Highly-touted prospect Ike Davis made a triumphant debut with the Mets yesterday, going 2-for-4 with an RBI as the No. 6 hitter in the lineup. He has a real chance to stick in the lineup with a good performance while Daniel Murphy heals, so NL-only owners should be all over him. Mixed leaguers shouldn't bother, as Davis isn't expected to bring a lot of power to the 1B position this year.

• Talk about a crazy statistical game in San Diego. Juan Uribe takes Heath Bell deep to tie the game in the ninth inning, giving Bell his first blown save of the season. Not to be outdone, David Eckstein hits a walk-off homer in the 10th to win the game for the Padres. If that's not enough, Kyle Blanks recorded a triple. What's going on here? Matt Cain is still looking for his first win of the season despite a very good 3.86 ERA and 1.12 WHIP.

• Ivan Rodriguez continued his early-season tear with a 2-for-4 game, boosting his average to .450. That's his fourth multi-hit game in a row. Matt Capps saved his sixth game of the season, and although he has a 1.64 WHIP, he's managed to walk a thin line by posting a 1.23 ERA. Just goes to show you that you can always find saves late in the draft.

• Big day in Toronto for the Blue Jays. Jose Bautista hit two homers and collected five RBIs, while Travis Snider may finally be getting the bat going, as he went 2-for-5 with his third HR of the season. Mike McCoy went 3-for-4 with two SBs, making him just what the doctor ordered for AL-only league owners that were wise enough to grab him when Aaron Hill went down. Hill should be back this week.

• Brad Penny served up two runs in the first inning, thanks to a Mark Reynolds double, but he worked in and out of trouble the rest of the game, pitching seven strong innings along the way. That makes three consecutive good starts from Penny to open the season, and he should definitely be added at this point if you need pitching help. Ryan Franklin notched his fifth save of the season, while Matt Holliday went yard for the fourth time.

• From the latest Cardinals reclamation project to a former one. Joel Pineiro gave up nine hits to Tigers batters, but not one of them crossed the plate. With 7.1 innings of shutout ball, Pineiro is down to a 1.77 ERA this season. Fernando Rodney saved his fourth game, but with Brian Fuentes close to returning, the curtain could be closing on Rodney's ninth inning gig.

• Doug Fister worked six no-hit innings on Monday, which tells you more about the Orioles offense than it does about Fister. Matt Wieters finally got to him in the seventh inning with a single, and a Luke Scott double put the Orioles on the board. Ty Wigginton homered in the ninth, but it was too little too late for the Orioles, who drop to 2-12 on the season. Casey Kotchman smacked his third HR of the season for the Mariners.

The Afflicted: Lance Berkman is on his way back to the Houston lineup today. He should be back in yours immediately, unless your team is coasting without him. Ted Lilly is expected to return to the Cubs this weekend, and if he pitches like he did the last few years, he made for great value in your draft.

Locking Your Lineup: First pitch is at 7:05 PM ET today.