Today’s brief has a waiver pickup with an .832 OPS, a Giants pitcher with his eyes on The Count, a player responding to a benching, the new walk-off kings and a lot more.

Indians pitcher Jeremy Sowers out-craftied Angels pitcher Joe Saunders.  The two lefties combined for four strikeouts in 11.2 innings, with Sowers fanning two in 6.2 innings.  It was the second win in eight decisions this year for Sowers.

Orioles third baseman Melvin Mora had five hits, two doubles, two homers, four runs and six RBIs.  Since the All-Star break, Mora is batting .384/.415/.646 in 99 at-bats.  Too bad he batted .233/.301/.387 in the first half of the season.

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter had four hits and a stolen base and raised his average to .295 for the season.  Here’s hoping he finishes the season batting over .300 so someone out there will waste a high pick on him in one of your leagues next season.

Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez pitched seven scoreless innings to win his 15^th game of the season.  Josh Hamilton may be a top-five MVP candidate but I still think the Reds won this trade as it’s harder to win 15+ games in Cincinnati than it is to hit 30+ homers in Texas.

Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum fanned 10 batters in 7.2 innings and won for the 13^th time in 16 decisions.  It was the sixth time this season he fanned double-digit batters.  The San Francisco Chronicle notes that only three SF Giants pitchers have turned the feat more in one season: Jason Schmidt (9 in 2004), Ray Sadecki (8 in 1968) and John Montefusco (7 in 1975).

Cubs outfielder Reed Johnson had four hits, two doubles, a run and three RBIs.  Johnson has a .314/.372/.460 line in 261 at-bats since being acquired on waivers before the start of the season.  You know it’s your year when you pick up a guy for nothing and he gives you an .832 OPS.  If the Cubs go to the World Series will they have Bartman throw out the opening pitch in a game?

Blue Jays outfielder Alex Rios had a five-hit game with four doubles, three runs and two RBIs.  He raised his average to .289, the highest it’s been since May 5^th, when he was batting .300.  Rios was the future star headed into the season but I think Adam Lind will be the better fantasy player in 2009.

Rockies third baseman Ian Stewart had a homer, two runs, three RBIs and two walks.  Stewart appears to be having a fine season, but he has a .405 BABIP and a 69.05 contact percentage.

Mets starter Johan Santana pitched a three-hit shutout for his second complete game of the season.  Both have come in his last five outings.  In between, the bullpen blew two leads.  Overall, Santana has left six games in which the bullpen could not preserve a win.  While it’s unrealistic to expect the bullpen to be perfect, what would we think of both Johan and the Mets if they had held on in those six outings and he was 17-7 and the Mets had an eight-game lead in the division?

Astros starter Roy Oswalt allowed just one hit in eight shutout innings and fanned 10 batters.  Oswalt has won five consecutive decisions and has 41 strikeouts in his last 40 innings pitched.  If only he wasn’t pitching with your grandfather’s hip…

Twins first baseman Justin Morneau had two hits, a homer, two runs, two RBIs and two walks.  A hot finish that propels the Twins to the playoffs could result in another MVP vote for Morneau.  Hey, it worked for him one time, why wouldn’t it work a second?

White Sox infielder Alexei Ramirez hit a grand slam home run.  He’s listed as 26-years old but if you take a look at his profile picture on ESPN he could pass for 12.  Ramirez is on pace to finish the season with 17 home runs.

Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier had three hits, a double, two home runs, three runs and three RBIs.  He also provided the game-winning homer in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Dodgers are the new walkoff kings, with Ethier winning two games himself in the past six days.

Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels allowed one run in eight innings to pick up his first win since the All-Star break.  In his five previous outings after the break, Hamels was 0-2 with a 4.07 ERA.

Rays outfielder B.J. Upton had three hits, a home run, two runs and three RBIs.  Upton was pulled from the lineup Friday for a lack of hustle, was not in the lineup Saturday and when he returned on Sunday he was installed as the team’s leadoff hitter.  May his real manager do a better job motivating him than I did as his fantasy manager until a week ago when I finally dealt him.