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Find fantasy baseball sleepers with First Pitch! You can use our starting pitcher rankings and bullpen notes to set your season-long lineup or create a winning lineup in daily fantasy baseball contests, too.   Here's a look at pitcher rankings, saves sleepers and weather warnings. Today's action gets underway at 6:10 p.m. ET in Cleveland with the  Cardinals-Indians . READ MORE: SN Fantasy  | Daily lineup splits SP RANKINGS 1.    Chris Sale, CWS at MIL 2.    Stephen Strasburg, WAS at ARI 3.    Chris Archer, TB vs. NYY 4.    Collin McHugh, HOU vs. SF 5.    A.J. Burnett, PIT at PHI 6.    Jake Arrieta, CHC vs. NYM 7.    Lance Lynn, STL at CLE 8.    Carlos Carrasco, CLE vs. STL 9.    Dan Haren, MIA at LAD 10.    Ian Kennedy, SD at SEA 11.    Edinson Volquez, KC at TEX 12.    Anthony DeSclafani, CIN vs. ATL 13.    Alfredo Simon, DET vs. MIN 14.    Mike Fiers, MIL vs. CWS 15.    Nathan Eovaldi, NYY at TB 16.    Noah Syndergaard, NYM at CHC 17.    Carlos Frias, LAD vs. MIA 18.    Drew...

Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant entered Saturday's game against the Brewers batting .278 with a .422 OBP and 14 RBIs in just 20 career games — a solid debut for the much-hyped rookie. But he had yet to hit the big one: the first career home run. Now, the wait is over. MORE: Harper hits walk-off, gets showered in chocolate | Pirates turn historic triple play Bryant came to bat in the bottom of the third inning against the Brewers, his team down 2-0, and proceeded to give the Cubs a lead with a three-run shot to left-center. The rookie clearly struggled to contain a smile as he smugly rounded the bases. Even in Milwaukee, a strong contingent of Cubs fans stood and cheered the milestone. But his teammates, well, they were a little less vocal in their celebration of Bryant's big moment. In fact, they weren't even visible.  Luckily, the Cubs' players returned to finish the game. A Bryant boycott did not ensue. And the rookie got his due after a dose of tough love. Welcome to...

Each night we'll provide you with the nine top story lines from the day's action, beginning with the stars of the day, and look ahead to the next day's matchups. It's safe to say Bryce Harper is on fire. The Nationals outfielder hit six home runs in his last three games, but possibly none bigger than the walkoff bomb he dropped on the Braves Saturday. Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant may have been batting .278 with a .422 OBP and 14 RBIs in his first 20 games. But until Saturday, he'd yet to hit the all-important first career home run. The rookie connected on a three-run shot to left-center for what was likely the first of many for the Cubs' expected star. MORE: Bryant's teammates disappear after rookie's first HR | Harper gets chocolate syrup shower Here are more highlights from Saturday's games: Impact players: C — Jose Lobaton, Nationals: Lobaton was stellar once again, hitting 3 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs. 1B — Edwin Encarnación, Blue Jay...

It wasn't pretty, but the Pirates completed the first 4-5-4 triple play in MLB history Saturday against the Cardinals.  Pirates second baseman Neil Walker caught Yadier Molina's line drive before throwing to third for the second out. Jung Ho Kang then threw back to Walker to get the slacking Jason Heyward out at second base for a triple play. Certainly an atypical route for a baseball to take on a single play. MORE: Harper hits walk-off, gets doused in chocolate | Athletics' Parker suffers scary injury Watch the crazyness unfold. View the original article here

Find fantasy baseball sleepers with First Pitch! You can use our starting pitcher rankings and batter vs. pitcher stats to set your season-long lineup or create a winning lineup in daily fantasy baseball contests, too.   Here's a look at key stat splits, pitcher rankings, saves sleepers and weather warnings. Today's action gets underway at  1:05 p.m. ET in Washington with the  Marlins-Nationals , and it's highlighted by a doubleheader in Denver between the  Diamondbacks  and  Rockies . READ MORE: Sporting News Fantasy - Victor Martinez is 15-for-32 (.469) with three homers and three doubles against Chris Sale . - Kyle Seager is just 3-for-36 (.083) with 15 Ks against C.J. Wilson . - Buster Posey is 15-for-37 (.405) against Ian Kennedy , while Brandon Belt is slugging .600 in 25 at-bats against the righthander. - Despite the lefty/lefty matchup, Brett Gardner (1.007 OPS), Brian McCann (1.078) and Stephen Drew (1.134) have crushed Mark Buehrle . - Carlos Santana is 7...

Tony Allen is one of the best defensive players in the NBA. The Grizzlies guard is a two-time member of the NBA's All-Defense first team, and in case any Warriors players forgot that, he was more than happy to remind them during Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinals series. MORE: Draymond's dirty play? First team all-defense is the NBA equivalent of Ball So Hard University. View the original article here

Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau sat on the bench late in Game 1, his coach fed up with how the bigger Ducks forwards were having their way with the 5-9, 150-pound rookie. In fact, Anaheim beat up on Calgary in winning the first two games of the teams' second-round Stanley Cup playoff series by a combined 9-1. All of that changed Tuesday in Game 3.  MORE: Must-see photos | Wednesday betting preview | Flames don't mind burning year of Bennett's rookie deal After it appeared Calgary may have been wrongly denied a goal by the officials, Gaudreau found redemption and tied the game with 19.5 seconds remaining in regulation. Mikael Backlund followed up with a goal 4:24 into overtime to cap a Flames comeback and give the Ducks their first loss of the playoffs. Elsewhere in the Western Conference, Corey Crawford and the Blackhawks shut out the Wild and moved one win away from a sweep. Takeaway:  The consensus heading into Game 3 was the Flames would need more production out of their...

Team Africa will tip-off against Team World and will feature two-time NBA All-Star Luol Deng, born in South Sudan, as its captain. The Miami Heat star will lead a roster made up of first and second generation African players. Team World will be led by eight-time NBA All-Star Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers. Here's what Team Africa captain, Luol Deng, had to say on Twitter. The game will be hosted in aid of Boys & Girls Clubs of South Africa, SOS Children's Villages Association of South Africa and the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Ticket details and full player rosters are yet to be announced. Click through the gallery above to see some of the greatest NBA players from Africa. More from African Voices View the original article here