K/9 - A Siren's Song For Fantasy Baseball General Managers

A simple strikeout per inning. That's all we ask. There are currently 15 starting pitchers in the major leagues who average at least one strikeout per inning pitched. Justin Verlander, Felix Hernandez, Clayton Kershaw, Cliff Lee and other notable pitchers have not reached that mark. This is the Siren's Song for fantasy baseball general managers. We want that next great fireballer. But too often it leads us to Max Scherzer. Or Francisco Liriano.

As a beginning general manager, Elizabeth thought she could add Scherzer to her team and harness that 95 mph heater. Silly, silly woman. Scherzer coughed up five runs in four innings, walking as many batters as he fanned. Her team ERA and WHIP are in tatters and she trails HUMA 7-5 in this week's series. The only saving grace was she wasn't tethered to Scherzer for two starts this week.

In other news:

The Vicious Fishes are tied 5-5-2 with the Cys thanks to the hot bat of Bryan LaHair, who homered for the second consecutive day. Mike Moustakas and Paul Konerko also homered for the Fishes while David Price struck out six in a quality start, Rafael Betancourt earned a save and Pedro Strop had a hold. Meanwhile, the Cys saw ace CC Sabathia give up four runs over six innings while Melky Cabrera, Jason Kipnis, and Kendrys Morales all fell into a funk. They are a combined 3-for-26 in the series. The Cys will try to rebound behind Yu Darvish tonight.

While Scherzer, Tim Lincecum, and Bartolo Colon were getting slapped around for the Menehunes, young Henderson Alvarez was turning in a quality start for HUMA, allowing just two runs over 6.2 innings. The Menehunes will send Johan Santana and Jaime Garcia to the mound tonight as they seek that elusive first quality start in this series.

The bats have been silent this week for Give it a Yankee and the team now trails Scully's Slammers 6-3-3. Cory Hart, Mike Napoli, Alexis Rios, Gordon Beckham, Erick Aybar and Adrian Gonzalez are a combined 4-for-40 with no home runs and two RBI in this series. The pitching for both teams has been sensational and that was evident again Tuesday. Josh Beckett struck out nine in seven scoreless innings for Give it a Yankee and Zack Greinke fanned seven in seven scoreless innings for the Slammers. Mark Buehrle will try to maintain the momentum when he starts today for the Slammers.

Bacon at Mile 11 holds an 8-3-1 lead over Twinkle Toes thanks to two quality starts Tuesday from Cliff Lee and Ervin Santana. They combined to give up one run in 15.2 innings while striking out 19. A quality start from Tim Hudson wasn't enough to offset a blown save by Brett Myers as Twinkle Toes tries to make up ground in ERA/WHIP. Offensively, home runs from Brian McCann and rookie Mike Trout were the difference for Bacon. Tonight could be a turning point in the series for Twinkle Toes as Madison Bumgarner, Ubaldo Jimenez, and Jeremy Hellickson all start.

The bullpen has been the difference for the Machine, as they've taken a narrow 6-5-1 lead over High Cheese in their Week 7 series. Setup man Joel Peralta earned the Machine's third hold Tuesday. The 'pen has now pitched 4.2 scoreless innings while earning three holds, a save, and six strikeouts. Neither team has earned a quality start but both will send pitchers to the mound Wednesday. High Cheese sends ace Gio Gonzalez while the Machine counters with Gavin Floyd.

Pitchers continued to cough up runs for A-Rod's Mirrors on Tuesday as the team ERA has bloated to 9.87 and the WHIP is 2.54 this week. Stephen Strasburg allowed four runs in four innings, Kevin Correia gave up six in 3.2 innings, while relievers Jose Valverde and Chad Qualls each allowed a pair of runs. The lack of pitching by the Mirrors has helped Los Coche Bomba build an 8-3-1 lead in this series. Matt Garza takes the mound today for Bomba as the team tries to build on its quality start and strikeout advantage.

The bats erupted Tuesday for both the Jersey Boys and Bulls. The two teams combined for eight home runs, 15 RBI, and 13 runs scored. When the dust settled, the Bulls emerged with a 7-4-1 lead thanks to a quality start from a Korean import and a hold from Scott Downs. Wei-Yin Chen was masterful for the Bulls, giving up just two runs over seven innings to a strong Yankee lineups. The Jersey Boys will send Hiroki Kuroda to the mound Wednesday while the Bulls throw Chris Capuano.

Home Run 101 earned quality starts from Josh Johnson and Wade Miley, giving the team a narrow 6-5-1 advantage over the Lower Haighters, but now they must watch as the Haighters send their starting pitchers to the mound. It starts Wednesday when Felix Hernandez pitches. The Lower Haighers still have five starts remaining while Home Run 101 has just one. Neither team is showing much offense, with one home run between them.