• Jeremy Guthrie, SP—BAL (UP) I am usually hesitant to write anything positive about Jeremy Guthrie after his unsuccessful time as a first-round draft pick of my Cleveland Indians, but Guthrie has really found himself in Baltimore. He threw his first career complete game against the Mariners on Saturday night and has been a fairly consistent pitcher over the past two seasons. At his current pace, Guthrie will finish with back-to-back seasons with an ERA under 4.00, even though fielding-independent statistics say he should be above that. Guthrie has developed into a groundball pitcher, currently with 44.5 percent of balls on the ground, which is a necessity for one whose strikeout rate is just barely average. For the season, Guthrie is 8-8 with a 3.35 ERA, but is 3-1 with a 2.38 ERA over his past five starts.

• Jon Lester, SP—BOS (UP) Lester keeps improving as the season rolls along. I wouldn’t have believed you if you told me at the beginning of the season that he’d be 10-3 after his first start of August. He has certainly improved upon his skills this year. His walks allowed and home runs allowed per flyball have significantly decreased, while he has significantly increased the number of groundballs induced. Add these together and it is no wonder that his ERA is 3.14. I still wouldn’t expect him to sustain his ERA at this level, but even if he backtracks a bit, while his innings count gets into career-high levels, his ERA should sustain around 3.75, which, on the Red Sox, will give him plenty of opportunities for wins.

• Francisco Liriano, SP—MIN (UP) Welcome back to the bigs, Francisco! The Twins released veteran starting pitcher Livan Hernandez last week to make room for the talented lefty. Liriano made his first start since April 24 on Sunday against the Indians. Liriano went six shutout innings, giving up just three hits while striking out five. He looked at times like the dominant starter of his rookie season. Including the minor leagues, Liriano has now won 11-straight decisions.

• Clay Buchholz, BOS (DOWN)

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