Nationals right-hander Erick Fedde left in the second inning of his start against the Boston Red Sox after throwing just 25 pitches.

Training staff and manager Dave Martinez went to check on Fedde after he allowed a single to Rafael Devers to lead off the second on Wednesday. After a long conversation [url=http://www.eaglescheapshops.com]Eagles Cheap Jerseys[/url] , Fedde walked off the field and was replaced by lefty Matt Grace.

The 25-year-old was coming off his first major league victory last weekend in Philadelphia.

Fedde entered the game 1-3 with a 6.00 ERA in five starts this season. His 2017 season ended in early September with a right forearm flexor strain.

Washington’s 2014 first-round pick had Tommy John surgery after being drafted. He’s 1-4 with a 7.23 ERA in eight starts during his career with the Nationals.

—

At a time when the Arizona Diamondbacks‘ rotation is in flux, left-hander Patrick Corbin could do well to give them a good start Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

Arizona expects several injured starters to return soon, and roster decisions are coming. Corbin’s spot would not seem to be in jeopardy, but he is coming off some inconsistent performances.

In early May, he was 4-0 with a 2.12 ERA. He goes into Friday’s start with a 6-3 record and a 3.48 ERA and is expected to be matched against Pittsburgh’s Ivan Nova (4-5, 4.42).

Corbin has given up at least five runs in three of his past four starts [url=http://www.newyorkjetsteamonline.com/customized]Customized New York Jets Jerseys[/url] , including five against the Pirates at home on June 11.

In his most recent outing, a 5-1 loss to the New York Mets on Saturday, he gave up all five runs on eight hits in six innings.

“Just a couple mistakes there,” Corbin said of the game against the Mets. “If I locate better, different outcome.”

Corbin, who is 1-2 with a 5.90 ERA in five career starts against Pittsburgh [url=http://www.ramsfootballauthentics.com/john-franklin-myers-jersey-authentic]Youth John Franklin-Myers Jersey[/url] , hasn’t been completely off lately. He has 19 strikeouts in his past 16 2/3 innings.

But against the Mets he could not pinpoint his curveball or his fastball.

“I just thought the pitch sequencing was a little bit off, and I thought there were a lot of fastball mistakes out over the plate that were hit, and they were handled by the Mets,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “Didn’t really get to the secondary stuff the way he typically does, and I think it’s more a product of the game plan and sequencing.”

Lovullo hasn’t lost confidence in Corbin.

“Worrisome? No. Not an issue for me whatsoever. We know that the season is going to have good and bad moments,” he said.

The Diamondbacks (41-33) cruised to a 9-3 win in the series opener Thursday as the Pirates (36-38) lost for the third time in four games.

Pittsburgh dropped two of three last week at Arizona.

Nova was initially scheduled to start Thursday [url=http://www.oaklandraidersteamonline.com/customized]Customized Oakland Raiders Jerseys[/url] , but the Pirates opted to move everyone back a day when Wednesday’s game against Milwaukee was rained out, rather than do any shuffling with his rotation.

“This group right here has shown the ability to be flexible, to be resilient and also shown some benefits from an extra day (of rest) every now and then,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.

It didn’t pan out that way. Chad Kuhl, who started the opener against Arizona after warming up several times Wednesday when there was false hope that the game against Milwaukee would be played, got rocked by the Diamondbacks for eight runs in two-plus innings.

Nova is coming off two good starts [url=http://www.philadelphiaeaglesteamonlines.com/customized]Customized Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys[/url] , going 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA since he was removed from the disabled list (sprained finger).

On Saturday, he struggled with his curveball, but it didn’t stop him from allowing just one run and five hits in six innings of a 6-2 win over Cincinnati.

“Even though I walked a couple guys, the fastball command is better than what it was before I hit the DL,” Nova said. “I think I’ve been able to control it a bit better. I think that’s been the key.”

Nova is 1-1 with a 4.00 ERA in three career starts against the Diamondbacks.

Indians starting first baseman Yonder Alonso will miss at least three games after being placed on the family-medical-emergency list.

Cleveland made the move Friday before opening a three-game series against Minnesota. The AL Central-leading Indians also activated center fielder Tyler Naquin from the disabled list. He had been sidelined with a hamstring injury since May 11.

Erik Gonzalez started the opener at first in place of Alonso [url=http://www.newyorkgiantsteamonline.com/customized]Customized New York Giants Jerseys[/url] , who is in his first season with Cleveland.

By major league rules, Alonso will have to miss a minimum of three days and a maximum of seven.

Alonso is batting .248 with 11 homers and 37 RBIs in 65 games.

Naquin was hurt running the bases in Kansas City last month. He’s batting .333 (25 of 75) with two homers and 11 RBIs in 30 games. He recently appeared in six games on a rehab assignment at Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus.

Aaron Altherr got his first lucky break in a while.

Left fielder Marcell Ozuna dived for and missed Altherr’s two-run double with two outs in the 10th inning, allowing the Philadelphia Phillies to rally for a 6-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night.

Altherr had been hitless in his last 12 at-bats and 1 for 20 before the hit.

”The way things have been going, I thought he was going to catch it,” Altherr said. ”Thankfully he dove for it and it got by.”

Tommy Pham hit a solo homer in the top of the 10th, one inning after a wild pitch on a strikeout kept the game going. But the Phillies rallied.

Rhys Hoskins hit a bloop single to start the bottom of the 10th off Matt Bowman (0-2). Odubel Herrera dived headfirst into first to seemingly beat out an infield single, but the play was overturned by a video review. After Carlos Santana was intentionally walked [url=http://www.giantscheapshops.com]Giants Cheap Jerseys[/url] , Bowman struck out Jesmuel Valentin.

Altherr then hit a sinking liner that appeared to skip off Ozuna’s glove before bouncing to the wall.

”It was so nice to see a ball bounce in his direction,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said of Altherr.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny tried to explain the unusual strategy to put the winning run on base.

”Wanted to avoid their best hitter,” he said of Santana, who is batting .226.

On a day former closer Hector Neris was sent to the minors, Kapler’s aggressive use of the bullpen nearly cost him. Seranthony Dominguez – the team’s best reliever – wasn’t available after pitching 2 1/3 innings in the previous two games. So Kapler turned to Victor Arano and Adam Morgan in the ninth to protect a 4-2 lead. Neither pitcher has ever earned a save.

Yadier Molina hit a one-out single in the ninth off Arano, and Jedd Gyorko followed with a double. Arano struck out Harrison Bader and fanned Yairo Munoz, but Munoz reached when catcher Andrew Knapp failed to block the wild pitch and a run scored.

”I have to make that play. I have to block it [url=http://www.jetscheapshops.com]Jets Cheap Jerseys[/url] ,” Knapp said.

Morgan came in and allowed a tying single to Kolten Wong.

Pham hit a deep drive off Jake Thompson (1-1) for his 11th homer.

Matt Carpenter and Molina also hit solo homers for St. Louis. Molina caught his 1,757th game with the Cardinals, passing the Cubs’ Gabby Hartnett for the most games caught with one team.

Herrera hit a three-run homer for Philadelphia.

The Phillies’ bullpen wasted a strong start from Nick Pivetta. He had a career-high 13 strikeouts, allowing two runs and four hits in 7 1/3 innings in his best outing since May 21. Pivetta lost his previous four starts, posting a 7.11 ERA in those games.

Pivetta left after Carpenter hit a double high off the fence in right to put runners at second and third. Right fielder Nick Williams exited with a bloody face after the ball hit him on the carom.

Edubray Ramos entered and struck out Pham and Jose Martinez swinging at sliders.

The Phillies have won six of eight games while the Cardinals have lost six of eight.

Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas gave up four runs and six hits in five innings.

EXTRA WORK

The Phillies are 5-1 in extra innings while the Cardinals are 5-6.

ROSTER MOVE

Neris was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, and lefty Austin Davis was recalled. Neris had a 6.00 ERA in 30 appearances, going 1-3 with 10 saves in 13 chances.

TRAINER’S ROOM

CARDINALS: 1B Martinez returned to the lineup after missing three games on paternity leave. 1B Luke Voit was optioned to Triple-A Memphis.

PHILLIES: RHP Jerad Eickhoff (right hand) is set to throw a bullpen session Tuesday. … Righty reliever Pat Neshek is scheduled to throw live batting practice Wednesday in the minors.

UP NEXT

RHP Luke Weaver (3-6 [url=http://www.raiderscheapshops.com]Raiders Cheap Jerseys[/url] , 4.52 ERA) starts for the Cardinals and RHP Vince Velasquez (5-7, 4.74) goes for the Phillies on Tuesday night. Weaver has lost both of his career starts vs. Philadelphia. Velasquez is 1-1 vs. St. Louis, including a victory earlier this season.

—

It’s important to consider the opposing bullpen when selecting hitters in daily fantasy leagues [url=http://www.redskinsfootballauthentics.com/geron-christian-jersey-authentic]Youth Geron Christian Jersey[/url] , both the quality of the team’s bullpen as a whole and the differences in quality between its individual pitchers.

The best bullpens in the league, like the Astros, have very little drop off in quality from their best relievers to their worst. That means whether a game is competitive or not, Houston’s opponents are facing high-end relief pitching. The Astros have five relievers with expected fielding independent pitching (xFIP) below 3.00, a measurement similar to ERA that strips away defense and some luck.

This isn’t the case with the bullpens in the middle of the league’s rankings. Some are top heavy while others are balanced. In daily fantasy baseball, top-heavy bullpens are the ones to take advantage of when they are large underdogs. The hope is that if your offense plays from ahead, you will avoid the elite relievers in a top-heavy bullpen. A balanced opposing bullpen won’t have as much of a difference in quality of reliever based on the game situation.

Take for example the Reds bullpen, which diminishes quickly. The Reds bullpen xFIP is 4.16 but when they play from ahead opponents will often see some combination of Amir Garrett (3.10 xFIP), Jared Hughes (3.41 xFIP), and Raisel Iglesias (3.30 xFIP). However, if they get behind the bottom of the bullpen contains Wandy Peralta (5.83 xFIP) and Michael Lorenzen (4.34 xFIP).

On the other hand, the Angels have a team bullpen xFIP of 4.15 but maintain a much more balanced bullpen. Their top six relievers all have xFIPs between 3.42 and 4.22. That makes it less important to identify game situations against the Angels.

Let that difference play to your advantage when top-heavy bullpens are underdogs – that improves your odds of facing the weakest relievers.

GOLF

TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm is this year’s host for the Quicken Loans Invitational, hosted by Tiger Woods. TPC Potomac also hosted the 2017 version of this event, while previous years it was held at the nearby Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. Because of the limited sample size, fantasy players shouldn’t put much weight in course history this week.

Last year, the Quicken Loans Invitational played as the fourth most difficult event on tour and played harder than the U.S. Open and Players Championship, so birdies will be hard to come by. When courses feature few birdies, the finishing position makes up more of the fantasy scoring and paying up for the tournament favorites can be a profitable strategy. Last year, strokes gained tee-to-green was the biggest differentiator between players as 22.5 percent of strokes were gained off the tee and 36.6 percent of strokes were gained on approach compared to tour baselines of 15 percent and 34.8 percent, respectively.

While Woods headlines the field for public rooting interest, Rickie Fowler is the class of the field with a 42 percent chance to finish inside of the top 10 this week. Fowler is ranked first in the field in strokes gained total, 10th in strokes gained tee-to-green and first in DraftKings scoring. On a week where capturing the top end of the leaderboard will prove critical, Fowler will anchor many winning DraftKings lineups.

In order to have the salary cap space to pay for Fowler, finding a cheap complementary player is required. Adam Hadwin is our favorite value selection this week on DraftKings and his $7 [url=http://www.redskinsfootballauthentics.com/troy-apke-jersey-authentic]Youth Troy Apke Jersey[/url] ,300 price lets you comfortably roster Fowler. There are 40 golfers priced more expensive than Hadwin, whose 75 percent odds to make the cut are inside of the top 20 made cut probabilities. While Hadwin is ranked outside of the top 50 in strokes gained off the tee, he rates inside of the top 20 in strokes gained approach and 10th in total strokes gained over the last 50 rounds.

—

This column was provided to The Associated Press by DailyRoto, After a slow start, Giancarlo Stanton has been on a roll for the Yankees.

But he also said there’s another gear he can kick into, too.

Stanton hit a three-run homer, CC Sabathia pitched six effective innings, and the Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves 6-2 on Wednesday.

Rookie second baseman Gleyber Torres left the game in the top of the fifth inning because of tightness in his right hip and afterward was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a right hip strain.

”We’re hoping it’s a short stint. But we think we’ve got to deal with it this time because there is a small strain there,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said outside the home clubhouse after the game.

”Hopefully it won’t be something that it’s too long. Probably take us up to the All-Star break.”

After struggling in his first two months of his debut season in the Bronx, including three games at the end of March, Stanton managed just 11 homers and hit .245.

He settled in and improved in June with eight homers and a .298 average.

”Yeah I can always get better. So yeah, I got to put it together but there’s some balls that I’ve hit hard that could have been in the air, been better,” said Stanton, who’s 6 for 18 (.333) with two home runs and five RBIs through the first four games of July.

”But that’s talking millimeters of (a) difference here. But in terms of in the box, I feel very close.”

Aaron Judge added his 24th homer of the season in the seventh inning. He’s now homered in three of his past four games.

Catcher Kyle Higashioka also homered for the Yankees, becoming the ninth player since 1920 whose first three hits were home runs. Colorado’s Trevor Story homered for his first four big league hits on April 4-6, 2016.

The 28-year-old, who’s spent most of his first 10 professional seasons in the minors, except for a nine-game hitless stint last season, was surprised at what he’s been able to accomplish since his promotion June 25.

”I wouldn’t have thought that my first three hits in the major leagues would be homers, but the most important thing here is winning,” Higashioka said.

Sabathia (6-3) followed his impressive showing last Friday against Boston, the team with the best record in baseball, working out of a couple of jams for the Yankees [url=http://www.carolinapanthersteamonline.com/customized]Customized Carolina Panthers Jerseys[/url] , who have won six of their past eight after getting swept in three games at Tampa.

National League East-leading Atlanta loaded the bases with two outs in the first, but the 37-year-old struck out 20-year-old phenom Ronald Acuna Jr. on an 88 mph cutter.

”That’s a good lineup. They have a very good team, some good hitters,” Sabathia said. ”Even when I felt I was in control I still had to make pitches. They made me work today.”

The Braves have lost their past two games.

New York took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Greg Bird’s RBI single off Atlanta starter Julio Teheran (6-6), who lasted just five innings, allowing five hits and five runs. He walked four and struck out 10.

The Yankees got to Teheran again in the third.

With a runner on first and two outs, Aaron Hicks walked. Stanton then fell behind 0-2 before hitting a line drive to the right field bleachers for his 21st homer of the season to make it 4-0.

After retiring the first two batters in the fourth, Teheran fell behind 2-0 against Higashioka before the rookie connected to the left field stands, extending the lead to 5-0.

”You can’t make mistakes to this team,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. ”The way that ball flies around in right center and over, it’s just dangerous. That’s why they are who they are. In spurts, he threw the ball really well.”

The Braves cut the deficit to 5-1 on an RBI grounder from Danny Santana with one out in the fifth. Johan Camargo hit his ninth home run of the season with two outs in the sixth that made it 5-2. But Sabathia limited the damage by retiring Dansby Swanson on a grounder to second with a runner aboard.

Atlanta failed to take advantage in the seventh inning against reliever Chad Green when its first two batters reached on a pair of singles. Green then got three fly outs to end the threat.

PUT ME IN COACH

With New York set to play 11 games in 10 days, beginning Friday at Toronto, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he wanted to be ”greedy” with Thursday being their only day off, and held Austin Romine out of the starting lineup for the fourth consecutive day. Higashioka started for the fourth straight time behind the plate.

The Yankees have been short-handed at catcher since Romine left the game on June 29 against Boston in the seventh inning because of a tight left hamstring. Gary Sanchez has been on the 10-day disabled list since June 25 because of a strained right groin.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Braves: 1B Freddie Freeman, who was hit by a pitch in the third inning, left the game after the fourth because of a contusion in his right upper arm. He expects to be back in the lineup Thursday in Milwaukee.

”I tried to go down in the cage and swing and pretty much topped the ball off the tee,” Freeman said. ”I couldn’t really extend the arm going through the zone. I had no strength. It just kind of swelled up and it looks like a baseball on my tricep right now.”

WELCOME BACK

LHP Luiz Gohara, the No. 3 prospect in the Atlanta organization, arrived about 90 minutes before the first pitch after he was called up from Triple-A Gwinnett for the second time this season. RHP Evan Phillips, who threw 2 1/3 innings Tuesday night, was sent down to Trip

LOS ANGELES — The Pittsburgh Pirates headed north by bus Sunday evening to see if the roller-coaster ride will continue.

Fresh off a series victory at San Diego [url=http://www.seahawksfootballauthentics.com/alex-mcgough-jersey-authentic]Youth Alex McGough Jersey[/url] , capped by a 7-5 victory Sunday, the Pirates are now in Los Angeles for the first of three games Monday, having won four of their last six games.

That winning run came after a five-game losing streak. The five games before that? The Pirates won four of them.

The Dodgers have been a bit steadier of late, going 17-9 in June to keep pace with the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West. But the end of June was a bit of a struggle as the Dodgers lost four of their last five before the calendar flipped. They opened July with a 6-4 win over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday.

Not only did the Dodgers’ offense take off in June, to the tune of 55 home runs to set a franchise record for a month, the pitching staff got healthy again … literally.

Alex Wood (4-5, 4.00 ERA) will take the mound Monday, looking and feeling much better after nagging leg cramps early in the year.

Wood went seven innings against the Chicago Cubs in his last outing Wednesday, his longest start since his season debut on March 30 when he worked eight innings against the San Francisco Giants.

An All-Star for the first time last season, Wood is once again starting to look like the pitcher who can rise to the occasion on a nightly basis.

“I’m still looking for consistency out of my sinker [url=http://www.seahawksfootballauthentics.com/sebastian-janikowski-jersey-authentic]Youth Sebastian Janikowski Jersey[/url] , but the breaking ball was a lot better,” Wood told reporters after his most recent start. “Overall, it was pretty good.”

The Dodgers also have Clayton Kershaw back recently from a lower back injury and Rich Hill returned from a blister on his left middle finger. Both left-handers will face the Pirates this week.

Pittsburgh announced Sunday that Nick Kingham (2-3, 3.82) will start the series opener at Dodger Stadium. He will take the spot of Chad Kuhl, who is on the DL with a forearm strain.

The Pirates (40-43) know that getting some length on their current winning ways can get them to .500 soon, possibly by the All-Star break that starts in two weeks.

“We’re starting to show a little bit of resiliency here the last week or so,” Pirates infielder Josh Harrison said, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “A team that (is) not making any excuses, which is refreshing because at the end of the day we know what we have to do and that’s come to show up every day.

“It’s been some ups and downs, but every team goes through ups and downs [url=http://www.seahawksfootballauthentics.com/byron-maxwell-jersey-authentic]Youth Byron Maxwell Jersey[/url] , and a lot of guys here are riding that wave of knowing that any day can be that day that we turn it around.”

Wood is 2-2 with a 2.86 ERA in eight career games (seven starts) against the Pirates. He has not faced Pittsburgh since last season. Kingham, a rookie, has not pitched against the Dodgers in any of his first six appearances.

Yovani Gallardo is back with the Texas Rangers for the first time in three years.

The right-hander who grew up in nearby Fort Worth was selected from the Triple-A Round Rock roster. He was set to start Sunday at home against the Colorado Rockies.

The 32-year-old Gallardo went 13-11 with a 3.42 ERA for Texas in 2015, and signed a free-agent contract with Baltimore in 2016.

Cincinnati released him this April after three appearances with a 30.86 ERA. Texas then signed Gallardo to a minor league contract, and he went 2-1 with a 3.81 ERA in 10 starts at Triple-A.

Manager Jeff Banister said Gallardo could remain in the rotation.

”He’s one of five starters for us now, but we’ll let him get through today first,” he said.

The Rangers optioned left-hander Brandon Mann to Round Rock. They opened a spot on the 40-man roster by placing right-hander Doug Fister, who’s out with a strained right knee, on the 60-day disabled list.