USA TODAY Sports Weekly

ROYALS FLUSH WITH HOT PLAYERS

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Your latest risers and falls in the fantasy baseball ranks:

Sizzlers

OF Yasmany Tomas, Arizona Diamondbac­ks: Tomas has posted eight home runs and 13 RBI through 15 August games with a .724 slugging percentage. He’s up to 58 runs, 25 homers and 57 RBI for the season.

SP Ian Kennedy, Kansas City Royals: Kennedy has won his last two outings and has allowed three earned runs through 34 innings with 28 strikeouts in his last five games. He looks the part of a mid-rotation arm for your virtual staff going forward.

OF Alex Gordon, Royals: While his 11-game hitting streak was snapped Sunday, Gordon had 13 runs, five home runs and eight RBI through his past 12 games with a .386 batting average. He’s worth adding in the majority of leagues.

OF J.D. Martinez, Detroit Tigers: Since returning from his Ian Kennedy has allowed three runs over his past five games.

elbow injury earlier this month, Martinez has 14 runs, six home runs and 11 RBI over 18 games with a .469 batting average View him as a high-end outfielder going forward.

FIZZLERS

SP Aaron Sanchez, Toronto Blue Jays: After his shortest outing of the season (four in-

nings) Saturday, Sanchez was optioned to high Class A Dunedin (Fla.) and will have his next start skipped. His 1561⁄ innings are a career high, and Sanchez’s workload will be monitored closely down the stretch.

OF Miguel Sano, Minnesota Twins: The second-year player, who missed half a week with an elbow injury, is on a 0-for-16 run. The power is legit (20 home runs in 376 plate appearance­s), but Sano’s inconsiste­ncy makes him a frustratin­g own. He is batting .241 this year.

OF Jason Heyward, Chicago Cubs: The veteran outfielder was rested for a four-game stretch with the hope he breaks out of his season-long funk. In August, Heyward had gone just 9-for-48 (.188 batting average) with two runs, one RBI and a .229 slugging percentage. He’s not startable in most settings.

SP Danny Salazar, Cleveland Indians: In his first start back from the disabled list, Salazar lasted an inning and was pulled after allowing three walks and three runs. He had allowed 25 runs — 24 earned — over 25 innings through his past six outings. While Salazar had 27 strikeouts during the stretch, it’s tough to start him confidentl­y given his recent run on the bump.

Neil Parker

 ?? RICK OSENTOSKI, USA TODAY SPORTS ??
RICK OSENTOSKI, USA TODAY SPORTS

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