Funkerstation » be easy. USC held Washington to 17 rush

Another Thursday, another ugly slate. And dare I say it, this one is uglier than most. There are no elite options to speak of, and the middle tier is filled with question marks. Alas, those cash-game lineups still need to get filled out, so lets wade into the muck and try to make sense of it all.PitchingEliteKeep moving. Nothing to see here.SolidIts a sad day when Jaime Garcia tops the rankings. The left-hander owns a 5.09 ERA since the All-Star break and has allowed five or more runs in three of his last four starts. Not exactly what youre looking for from your cash-game anchor. On the bright side, a home matchup against Milwaukee is prime. Garcia has been much more effective at Busch Stadium (3.87 home ERA versus 5.16 road ERA), and the Brewers whiff 25 percent of the time against lefties. Its also worth noting that Garcia has dominated the Brewers this season in three starts, allowing just three runs over 22 innings (1.23 ERA) with 22 Ks. On a normal day, I wouldnt even consider Garcia in cash. Then again, this isnt a normal day.Trevor Bauer draws a home date with the Astros. Despite a lineup that features plenty of young talent, the Astros have been just middle-of-the-road against right-handed pitching this season while whiffing at an inflated 24 percent clip. Bauer has delivered four straight quality starts and has registered a Game Score of 68 or above in three of those outings. The fact that he has whiffed more than four batters just once in his last eight starts throws some cold water on his upside, but he still has three double-digit K games this season and we already discussed the Astros swing-and-miss tendencies, so this is still a high-upside matchup. The only catch is that Bauers DFS availability will be limited, considering hes pitching in the days only afternoon game.In another high-upside matchup, CC Sabathia gets the Rays at home. While the Rays have been average against southpaws this season, theyve also whiffed at a 26 percent clip. Sabathias K/9 sits at just 7.6 for the season, but he has fanned seven or more in four of his last five starts, including whiffing 12 against Toronto in mid-August, his first double-digit whiff performance since 2013. Its true that the leftys 4.82 second-half ERA doesnt give much confidence, but he has settled down of late, notching three straight quality starts.The Pirates offense has collapsed since the break (87 wRC+). Meanwhile, Dan Straily has been pitching some of his best ball since the Midsummer Classic (2.93 ERA). This puts the Reds righty in an appealing spot on Thursday. He belongs in the cash-game discussion due to the abbreviated slate.Strailys opponent, Ivan Nova, also finds himself in an appealing spot, matching up against a Reds team that does little damage against righties (89 wRC+) and strikes out 21 percent of the time. Not only does the right-hander hold a 3.13 ERA since the All-Star break, but he owns a 2.89 ERA and 1.00 WHIP since joining the Pirates. Like Straily, Nova is cash-game viable on Thursday.A matchup against the Cardinals, who sport an NL-best 109 wRC+ against right-handed pitching, has Junior Guerra in a tough spot. Then again, what Guerra has done this season has largely gone under the radar. In 18 starts, the right-hander sports a 2.85 ERA, and he has allowed more than three earned runs in a start just twice since early May. The strikeout upside is limited, and, again, the matchup isnt ideal, but Guerra still provides a nice floor in cash games.I generally dont like relying on a guy like A.J. Cole, who has minimal big-league experience. That said, he misses bats and gets a Phillies team thats one of the worst in baseball against righty pitching (82 wRC+) and strikes out 22 percent of the time. His 57 Game Score is the second-highest of the day.Hes a GPP play only, but rookie Jeff Hoffman has nice upside in a cake matchup against San Diego. The fact that the young righty owns a 6.60 ERA and more walks than strikeouts in three career starts is tough to ignore. However, he held a 9.4 K/9 in Triple-A and is facing a team thats striking out a whopping 27 percent of the time in the second half.StreamersClayton Richard has made just four starts since stepping into the Padres rotation, but the results have been good (1.17 ERA). A home matchup against the Rockies, who are unimposing away from Coors Field, should lead to more success for the San Diego righty. A 5.6 career K/9 tells use the upside is nonexistent, though he should still rack up a handful of whiffs against a team that strikes out 24 percent of the time on the road. Richards ESPN ownership sits at just two percent.Alex Cobb is set to make his second start since returning from Tommy John surgery. The first went rather well, as he held the Blue Jays to two runs in five innings while striking out seven and walking one. He finds himself in an even better matchup Thursday, facing a Yankees team thats well below average against right-handed pitching. Cobb is a free agent in 83 percent of ESPN.com leagues.Its hard to recommend rookie David Paulino against an Indians team thats tough on right-handed pitching, but he gets a mention here because of the 2.00 ERA and 10.6 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 he posted in 90 combined innings between Rookie ball, Double-A and Triple-A. Hes worth keeping tabs on.AvoidEven on a short slate, Im not sure how you can feel comfortable rolling Taijuan Walker out there on Thursday. Since being recalled from Triple-A, the right-hander has allowed at least four runs in each start, and he didnt even make it out of the first inning his last time out, as the Angels pummeled him for six runs in just two-thirds of an inning. Im steering clear in a matchup against a Rangers team that ranks second in the AL in runs scored.HittingAs discussed above, Walker has been throwing batting practice of late. With the Rangers coming to town, the right-hander could be in long for another long night. Walker has actually had more trouble with right-handed batters, so Ian Desmond, Adrian Beltre and Jonathan Lucroy are the targets here, though lefty swingers Nomar Mazara?and?Rougned Odor and switch-hitter Carlos Beltran are in play, too.Paulino has plenty of potential, but I dont have high hopes for a rookie hurler facing a tough Indians lineup in his first major league start. Look at switch-hitters Carlos Santana and Francisco Lindor and the left-handed Jason Kipnis in this one.Garcia is one of the days top-ranked pitchers, but on a slate like this, I have no problem stacking against him. Despite the favorable matchup, he has struggled mightily in the second half and the Brewers lineup is predominantly right-handed. Sluggers Ryan Braun and Chris Carter are the upside plays here.Alec Asher is set to make his first start since serving an 80-game suspension for PEDs. My bet is that hes going to be a little rusty. With the Nationals on tap, lefty swingers Daniel Murphy and Bryce Harper are the top targets, though the Nats right-handed hitters are also worth consideration.Most likely to go yard: Evan LongoriaIm not a believer in batter versus pitcher data being predictive, but sometimes its too hard to ignore. Longoria is a career .400 against Sabathia (28-for-70) with nine doubles and seven homers. Hes my pick to go yard again on Thursday.Most likely to swipe a bag: Elvis AndrusWalker has not done a great job keeping baserunners honest this season, making Andrus a great bet to build on his team-leading 21 stolen bases.Brian Dumoulin Jersey . LOUIS -- Rookie Tavon Austin has missed another day of practice, lessening the odds hell be ready for the St. Paul Coffey Jersey . 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This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season.Before the season, UCLA had the young, hot-shot quarterback that had the college football world -- and NFL scouts -- buzzing.Now, USC does.Redshirt freshman Sam Darnold is at the forefront of a Trojans resurgence that reached a peak with Saturdays 26-13 victory at previously undefeated Washington, which was No. 4 in the country. Darnold completed 22 of 33 passes for 287 yards -- the most allowed by the Huskies this season -- and two touchdowns.Darnold gets a different kind of stage this Saturday night.USC (7-3, 6-2 Pac-12) has its first six-game winning streak since 2008 as it heads into a game against struggling crosstown rival UCLA (4-6, 2-5) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. The 10:30 p.m. ET kickoff makes it just the 11th night game in the history of the series.The Bruins are without sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen, the former No. 1 quarterback recruit who has missed four games because of a shoulder injury and wont return this season. Darnold has replaced him as the L.A. star.USC coach Clay Helton inserted Darnold as the starter, replacing Max Browne, for the fourth game of the season. The Trojans lost that day, 31-27 at Utah when the defense allowed a touchdown in the final minute, but it has been all victories since then, riding the spark that Darnold provided.He is the reigning Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Huskies, who have one of the top defensive backfields in the country. Darnold is eighth nationally in passer rating with a rating of 165.8.He has just unbelievable game maturity, Helton said.The Bruins, who are still pushing for a bowl, did end a four-game skid by beating visiting Oregon State last weekend 38-24.Its good to get a win, said Bruins coach Jim Mora. They have been hard to come by this year. These guys have stayed together and have kept a great attitude. So, they got rewarded for it. That was great.Mora said he has given away only two game balls in his nearly five seasons at UCLA. The second went to quarterback Mike Fafaul on Saturday.Fafaul, starting his fourth game in place of Rosen, completed 25 of 47 passes for 281 yards. Mora praised the fifth-year senior for sticking it out and not transferring as a graduate student.He played behind Brett (Hundley), and then Josh got the job, and he has hungg in there, Mora said.dddddddddddd Hes everything that you want in a quarterback in terms of studying the game and it being serious to him. Its just great.Fafauls challenge this week against USC will be much more difficult than it was against Oregon State. The Trojans held Washington quarterback Jake Browning to 17-of-36 passing with a pair of interceptions by cornerback Adoree Jackson.Fafaul has thrown 10 interceptions in 198 attempts, and if the Trojans could fluster Browning, what will they do to Fafaul?Darnold has had the advantage of a supporting run game -- Ronald Jones II has 487 yards on the ground in the past three games -- an All-American talent at wide receiver in junior JuJu Smith-Schuster and a veteran offensive line that has begun to play to its potential.Fafaul has had none of that. UCLAs young line has struggled, there is no game-breaker on the outside and the Bruins are second-to-last nationally in rushing at 87.2 yards per game. UCLA gave carries to five scholarship running backs last week and will try to find hot feet this week from among Bolu Olorunfunmi, Soso Jamabo, Jalen Starks, Nate Starks and Brandon Stephens.It wont be easy. USC held Washington to 17 rushing yards.Big men win the game, Helton said. On both sides of the ball, our big men are really excelling these last six weeks.UCLAs hopes rest with a solid defense that has allowed only one opponent (Utah) to score more than 27 points in regulation. Defensive end Takkarist McKinley leads the nation with 2.0 tackles per loss per game.The rivalry game wraps up the conference season for USC, which finishes at home against Notre Dame. The Trojans are a half-game behind Colorado and hold a head-to-head tiebreaker. The Buffaloes, 6-1 in the league, finish with two games against ranked teams -- Washington State and Utah.USC needs to win Saturday and have Colorado lose to have a chance to win the Pac-12 South. Utah, which is 5-2 in the Pac-12 with games left against Oregon and Colorado, holds the tiebreaker over USC.The Trojans have won 13 of the past 17 games against UCLA, although two of the victories were vacated due to NCAA sanctions. USC won 40-21 last season. ' ' '