Penny pushed back

It sounds like Brad Penny's setback on Saturday has given the Dodgers an interesting decision with regard to their pitching staff. Clayton Kershaw, who was recently sent down to the minors with the return of Nomar Garciaparra, Andruw Jones and Hiroki Kuroda from the DL, could get a recall to Los Angeles, but Jason Schmidt is also getting close to ready.

"I think then, we would certainly look at (Kershaw), and of course, (Jason) Schmidt, who is going to start again on Tuesday (for Triple-A Las Vegas) rehab-wise," Torre said. "We'll be having to make a decision in the next two and a half to three weeks on him."

Fantasy Impact: This all hinges on Brad Penny's delayed return, but those who were disappointed in Kershaw probably don't want to drop the young flamethrower just yet. He's got some seasoning under his belt now, and could develop into something special for the stretch run. Schmidt is a risky option because of his health, but could be a sleeper as well

Beantown's back end

Boston's Justin Masterson did everything he could on Saturday to help his team against the hometown Yankees, and still came up short. The Red Sox rookie tossed six innings, giving up six hits and two runs. He falls victim to a dominant Mike Mussina, who gave up no runs in six innings to earn his 11th win. Masterson falls to 4-3 this season.

There's no clear indication from the Red Sox whether Masterson is earning his spot in the back end of the rotation.

“I didn’t really know what to expect from him, because I hadn’t seen him pitch much,” Francona said before the game. “You hear the reports, but I guess he got here a little quicker than I probably thought.

“We had a lot of meetings in the spring about guys who could help us, and his name certainly came up,” Francona added. “But to put a guy in there every five days and have him hold his own, that’s a lot.”

Bartolo Colon is on the mend, and Clay Buchholz continues to dominate in the minors. Masterson threw just 58 of his 100 pitches for strikes. He's certainly a work in progress and Saturday helps the cause more than it hurts, but whether Masterson's the best Boston option as the team's fifth starter has not yet been answered.

Fantasy Impact: Masterson is the only one of three pitchers name who is pitching in the majors right now. That's the good news. The bad news is he might be the third best option once Colon is healthy. Buchholz is the more heralded prospect, which means Boston may feel obligated to try him again if Masterson can't dominate at the big league level and Colon can't get his health in order.

Neato, Zito

Once again it looked like bad news for Giants starter Barry Zito on Saturday. Zito gave up two first-inning runs to the sometimes offensively challenged Los Angeles Dodgers, including an RBI to feckless five-hole hitter Andruw Jones. Then something inexplicable occurred; Zito shut the Dodgers down the rest of the way. Not the entire way, but for six solid innings, Zito dominated. He struck out ten batters, walked one and gave up six hits on his way to hits first home win.

The Giants cruise, 5-2 as Zito improves to 4-12 on the year.

Fantasy Impact: It's a step in the right direction, but it's not the first. Zito has shown glimpses of effectiveness before, but not for more than a couple or three starts before suffering another meltdown. His ERA is just 5.73 even after a brilliant outing. Jones ended up going 0-4, but at least he didn't strike out four times like the night before.