No longer on Holliday

Matt Holliday is showing signs of coming out of his early-season slump. The Athletics outfielder goes 4-4 with four singles and steals a base in an 11-7 loss to Detroit. Holliday's power numbers still lack (4 HR/.394 SLG entering Sunday), but his average is on a slow climb at .267.

Fantasy Impact: Holliday's numbers took a hit leaving Coors Field and switching leagues. He's adjusting to new pitchers and a tougher park in which to hit, but he's still an accomplished outfielder. We're expecting a .285 average with 25-30 homers by season's end, leaving him in the top tier of fantasy outfielders.

Cards bats, not Wainwright, beat Cubs

Despite the loss of Chris Carpenter, the Cardinals continue to make one of the best starts in the majors. With a 7-4 win over the Cubs, St. Louis improves to 8-3 on the year.

They got it done with hitting on Thursday with Chris Duncan, Khalil Greene and Brian Barden all going deep. Then again, the Cardinals were facing Cubs fifth starter Sean Marshall while the Cubs dealt with St. Louis ace Adam Wainwright.

Fantay Impact: Wainwright actually didn't pitch very well, giving up four runs in six innings while still earning a win. He's giving up a lot of base runners but keeping them from scoring. He'll need to right that ship if he wants to maintain a 3.31 ERA.

Duncan is hitting .389, and Tony La Russa's faith in him against lefties like Marshall is paying off. He picked up three hits today in four at bats.