Tulo's woes continue

The Rockies' Troy Tulowitzki is back on the D.L. after a freak injury suffered from a broken maple bat. It was certainly one of the more bizarre injuries from a bat. Tulowitzki sliced his hand open after he pounded the bat into the ground in frustration. Like so many maple bats before it, this one splintered and cut him badly enough to require surgery.

"Yeah, it's tougher to take," Tulowitzki said Saturday of his return to the DL. "The other injury was baseball-related. You're out there on the field, going all out. And this one's kind of a stupid injury that I could have prevented."

Stupid or not, the incidents with maple bats are piling up, and a player finally going down might kick MLB into gear in terms of solving the problem.

Fantasy Impact: Tulowitzki is having one of those snake-bitten seasons. Nothing is going right. He already missed a month and a half with a quad injury, and now he's sidelined again. Hope you have other options, although his late-season return could still help you down the stretch.

Roger 3,000

Exactly 10 years ago today, Roger Clemens recorded his 3,000th career strike out pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Below-average Jones

This Andruw Jones story is borderline unbelievable. The Dodgers centerfielder always struck out a alot, but never like this. In his return from the disabled list (he hadn't played since May 23rd) Jones struck out four times in five at bats, lowering his average to .159. Jones has 49 strike outs in 139 at bats, meaning he's striking out almost 36 percent of the time.

Fantasy Impact: Jones looks like he has a long way to go in his return to form. Last year he struggled the entire season, and this year is looking far worse. The L.A. Times called his return "rocky," but Jones has been on the rocks for a while now.

Trib: Brewers in front for C.C.

The Brewers might be behind both the Cubs and Cardinals in the standings, but apparently they have the best opportunity to make the biggest splash in the trade market. The Chicago Tribune reports that Milwaukee's minor league talent allows them to make the best offer for C.C. Sabathia, even if the Brewers won't admit to it right now.

Saturday games

Cubs @ Cardinals - Lilly vs. Lohse doesn't overwhelm, but Lohse owns 10 victories, and Lilly is attempting to equal him as the top two teams in the N.L. Central attempt to close out the first half with a series win.

Red Sox @ Yankees - Masterson vs. Mussina looked like a better matchup two weeks ago when both guys were flying high. Now Masterson is fighting for his roster spot with Clay Buchholz making a case to return to the majors.

Athletics @ White Sox - Smith vs. Floyd may be the pitching matchup of the day. Smith dominated the Sox earlier this year.

Blue Jays @ Angels - Halladay vs. Lackey is the pitching matchup of the day. Halladay (9-6, 2.90) deserves to be on the A.L. All-Star team, while Lackey (6-1, 1.44 would be there if he had pitched enough.

Quality Arroyo

Give credit to Reds starter Bronson Arroyo. After giving up 10 earned runs in one inning at Toronto on June 24th he's posted back-to-back quality starts. The latest is a borderline gem: six innings, five hits, no runs. He's the winner in Cincinnati's 3-0 shutout of the Nationals.

Fantasy Impact: Washington's offense is not the toughest Arroyo will face, but he's clearly not washed up. Arroyo did walk three batters and only threw 54 strikes out of 95 pitches, but this is very acceptable after what could have rattled him for a while. He's a ho-hum starter for your fantasy team that will turn into trouble from time to time.

Bombs away

The Marlins and Rockies put up some fireworks of their own Friday, combing for 35 runs on 43 hits. The Marlins outhit the Rockies by one, but the Rockies outscored the Marlins by one. Six different players hit home runs. There were eight home runs total with Ryan Spilborghs and Matt Holliday both lauching a pair. We should have expected a big night when Hanley Ramirez led things off with a home run to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.

Fantasy Impact: Don't look now, but demoted Rockies closer Manny Corpas was the only pitcher to go at least two innings and not allow a run, dropping his ERA to 5.23. He's now spotless in his last seven outings. Last year he stole the closer job from Brian Fuentes. After losing the job back to Fuentes this year he might put pressure on him again down the stretch.