Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Chris Ellis turned in a middling start in Thursday's 3-2 extra-innings win over the Yankees. Ellis pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits (including a solo home run) and four walks with three strikeouts. While he hasn't pitched deep into games, Ellis has pitched well for the O's, going 1-0 with a 2.39 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. His next matchup won't be great at the Phillies, but fantasy managers should not be trusting Ellis this late into the season, regardless of matchup.

New York Yankees outfielder Joey Gallo belted his 35th homer of the year in Thursday's loss to the Orioles. Gallo gave New York a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a 101.8 MPH, 363 MPH blast, which was a bit muted by his Statcast standards. Still, the slugger has now homered four times in the last week and seems poised to finish the season strong for both the Yankees and his fantasy managers. Up next is a favorable matchup against Cleveland. Gallo owns a 1.023 OPS with six homers in 13 career games against the Indians.

New York Yankees starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery dominated the Orioles in a no-decision Thursday. Montgomery went 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run on six hits while issuing one walk. The left-hander struck out a career-high 12 batters. Montgomery generated a very impressive 22 whiffs, 18 of them on his curveball-changeup combo. The 28-year-old continues to have rotten luck in the win department, as this was his second performance of the year where he allowed one run or fewer over at least five innings of work with 11 or more punchouts- and he doesn't have a win to show for either outing. Montgomery will have a great chance to keep rolling in his next outing against the Rangers, who own baseball's lowest team OPS.

Detroit Tigers third baseman Jeimer Candelario went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in the team's 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday. The home run was his 15th of the year and his fifth already this month. The 27-year-old has been swinging a hot bat so far in September. He had his first two-homer game of the year last Sunday and he's slashing .283/.345/.679 overall this month. Over 137 games on the year, he has a .273/.349/.450 slash line with 62 RBI and 71 runs to go along with his 15 home runs. He has limited upside for fantasy purposes, but he can help out fantasy managers in deep leagues and AL-only leagues who need a boost in batting average.

Detroit Tigers infielder Niko Goodrum was one of the lone offensive standouts in the team's 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday. He went 2-for-3 with a solo home run in the game and he was also caught stealing in his only attempt. The home run was his seventh of the year and his first since July 10, though he missed over a month due to injuries from mid-July to early September. Goodrum has been really struggling at the plate in September. He had gone just 4-for-34 through his first 12 games of the month before breaking through on Thursday. He was a solid source of stolen bases earlier this year, tallying 12 steals from April through June. However, he hasn't managed to steal a single base since the start of July.

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tyler Alexander was tagged with his third loss of the year as the team was defeated 5-2 by the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday. He pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed five hits, two walks and four runs (three earned) while striking out four. The 27-year-old lefty is now 2-3 on the year with a 4.13 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. He's made 38 appearances and 12 starts on the season. Thursday's outing was his second-longest outing of the year as he's typically been held to five innings or less in his starts. He'll look to bounce back from Thursday's start in his next trip to the mound against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.

Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Alex Cobb (8-3) showed that his month-and-a-half stint on the injured list didn't keep him from staying in form, securing the win in the 9-3 game against the Chicago White Sox. He threw five innings, allowed no runs on two hits and two walks while striking out five. He now has a 3.59 ERA with 89 strikeouts over 82 2/3 innings in 16 starts. If Cobb is on the waiver wire, fantasy managers in need of a starting pitcher should look his way. The Angels will likely keep the rotation intact upon his return, especially after it was announced that starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani might not pitch again this season.

Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez homered for the third consecutive game on Thursday. This one was a particularly notable homer as it was his 45th of the year. He is now tied with Reds legend Johnny Bench for the most home runs by a catcher in a single season. Bench set the mark over 50 years ago in 1970. Perez has been absolutely on fire over the last two months. 24 of his 45 home runs on the year have come since July 24. He's tied with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the MLB lead in home runs and he leads the majors in RBI with 112.

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco (hamstring) could be activated off the injured list at some point over the team's current 10-game homestand. Manager Kevin Cash told the media he hasn't ruled out activating Franco on his first day of eligibility next Tuesday, but that he also thinks that would be too soon. The 20-year-old rookie has found his groove at the big-league level, slashing .285/.347/.463 with seven home runs, 36 RBI, two stolen bases, and 49 runs scored on 70 hits. Fantasy managers should keep an eye out for updates as the homestand progresses.

New York Yankees relief pitcher Jonathan Loaisiga (shoulder) will start throwing on Friday, manager Aaron Boone told reporters on Thursday. The 26-year-old right-hander was placed on the injured list on September 5 with a strained rotator cuff. There is still no exact timeline set for when he will return, so fantasy managers should keep an eye out for updates. Loaisiga is having his best season at the major league level, tallying a 9-4 record with a 2.25 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and 66:15 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 68 innings pitched.

New York Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu is not in Thursday's lineup against the Baltimore Orioles. The team has made no indication that the 33-year-old veteran is injured, so he is likely getting a scheduled day off. LeMahieu has been solid at the plate as of late, slashing .320/.379/.440 through his last seven games with one home run, two RBI, and five runs scored on eight hits. Hopefully, for fantasy managers, he can keep this streak alive to finish off the season.

Houston Astros starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi (foot) has been diagnosed with a mid-foot sprain. He told reporters on Thursday that he was optimistic he'd be able to return to the rotation after the minimum 10 days. He landed on the injured list this past Tuesday, so he'll be first eligible to return on Friday, September 24. The initial fear was that he could have suffered a Lisfranc injury, which would have sidelined him for the rest of the year. Based on the encouraging news Thursday, there's a chance Odorizzi could still make two starts before the season is over. He currently has a 4.22 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP over 22 games (21 starts) on the year.

Detroit Tigers outfielder Akil Baddoo is heading to the bench for Thursday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Robbie Grossman is leading off in the game and starting in the outfield alongside Derek Hill and Eric Haase. Baddoo has been the team's primary leadoff hitter for a big chunk of the season, but he hasn't been producing much over the past few months. He slashed .200/.200/.280 in August and has a .239/.340/.435 slash line so far in September. The 23-year-old rookie has 14 stolen bases on the year, but he hasn't so much as attempted a stolen base since late July.

Tampa Bay Rays pitching prospect Shane Baz could make his MLB debut in Friday's game against the Detroit Tigers, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Topkin also suggested that the Rays could roll with a bullpen game on Friday or move Luis Patino up a day from Saturday to Friday. Baz is the team's top overall prospect based on MLB.com's prospect rankings. The 22-year-old right-hander has split the 2021 season at Double-A and Triple-A. Over 78.2 innings, he's posted a 2.06 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP while averaging 12.9 K/9. If the Rays do indeed call him up, he likely wouldn't pitch too deep into Friday's game, but he could very well deliver some strong ratios against a weak Tigers lineup.

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Austin Meadows is out of the starting lineup for the second consecutive game on Thursday as the team prepares to face Tyler Alexander and the Detroit Tigers. Kevin Kiermaier, Manuel Margot and Randy Arozarena are manning the outfield for the game. It's a bit surprising to see Meadows sitting out two consecutive games without any news of an injury. He's certainly been struggling a bit lately as he's slashed just .206/.200/.500 over his first nine games of September. We'll see if he's back in the lineup for Game 2 of the team's series against the Tigers on Friday.

Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (arm) is not going to make his scheduled start against the Oakland Athletics on Friday. Ohtani reportedly felt sore after playing catch on Wednesday. According to beat reporter Jeff Fletcher, the team still hopes that he will pitch again this year. There have been no talks of shutting him down at this point. Additionally, Angels manager Joe Maddon stated that Ohtani isn't scheduled to see a doctor due to the soreness. Maddon believes that it could just be late season fatigue. The Angels' two-way star has made 21 starts on the year and has gone 9-2 with a 3.36 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP.

Baltimore Orioles first baseman/outfielder Trey Mancini (oblique) and catcher Pedro Severino (leg) are out of the starting lineup once again on Thursday. Mancini is dealing with oblique and abdominal injuries. He was originally slated to start Wednesday's game, but was eventually scratched. This will be his third time out of the lineup over the past four games. Severino, meanwhile, injured his leg in Tuesday's game and this will be his second straight game on the bench. Austin Wynns is catching on Thursday while Cedric Mullins is slotting in at designated hitter and Ryan McKenna is manning center field.

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Daniel Lynch (calf) was removed from his start against the Oakland Athletics after two innings due to left calf tightness. Joel Payamps entered the game in the third inning to take over. Lynch struggled over the two innings he was able to pitch on Thursday, allowing two hits, one walk and three runs (one earned) while striking out one. We don't know anything about the severity of the injury at this point, but we should get an update from the team after the game. Going into Thursday's game, the rookie left-hander had started 12 games on the year, posting a 5.37 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP.

Houston Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez (hand) has been scratched from his start against the Texas Rangers on Thursday. Luis Garcia, who was originally slated to pitch on Friday, will now start Thursday's game instead. Valdez reportedly suffered a small cut on his left hand (his throwing hand) on Wednesday. He is being considered day-to-day. The 27-year-old left-hander has struggled so far in September, giving up eight earned runs over 11 innings. He has a 3.26 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP over 19 starts on the year.

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Brandon Marsh is batting leadoff against the Chicago White Sox and right-hander Reynaldo Lopez on Thursday. It'll be a tough matchup with Lopez on the mound, but Marsh is hitting .333 with a .362 on-base percentage, two home runs, and a stolen base in his last 69 plate appearances dating back to August 24. If this becomes a regular occurrence and Marsh hits leadoff on a daily basis, it'll only boost his fantasy value and upside down the stretch as hitting leadoff for the Angels generally means hitting in front of Shohei Ohtani.