te: The Sun Devils were basically a no-show in its first ga

The weekend is here, and with it we get a decent Saturday slate. Its a little light on top, with only two hurlers qualifying for elite status, but there are multiple options in the middle and lower tiers worth building around. Only five games are eligible for late-slate action, so if you dont like playing short slates, youll want to focus on the early or all-day contests.PitchingEliteSaturdays slate is anchored by Max Scherzer, who draws a favorable road matchup against the Mets. The right-hander has whiffed 10 or more batters in four of his past five starts, and he has a good chance to make it five of six against a Mets team that strikes out at a 23 percent clip. Hes also allowed two or fewer runs in nine of his past 11 outings. In other words, the Mets, who are middle-of-the-road at best against right-handed pitching, will find themselves in an uphill battle Saturday. Scherzer will cost a premium, but you get what you pay for.Lets get it out of the way: Jon Lester was bad his last time out. Really bad. Eight-earned-runs-while-getting-only-four-outs bad. Dont let one awful outing cloud your judgment, though. Lester is still a stable DFS play. That said, a road tilt against Pittsburgh will present its challenges. While the Pirates 24 percent whiff rate versus lefties makes them a high-upside opponent, they are also an above-average offense against southpaws (108 wRC+) and have been on a roll, winning seven of their past eight. Lester has handled the Pirates well this year, posting a 1.97 ERA in three starts. Still, Id rather roster him in GPPs than cash games Saturday.SolidCarlos Martinezs matchup against Milwaukee is enticing, to say the least. Not only are the Brewers punchless against righty pitching (88 wRC+), but they strike out at a whopping 26 percent clip against righties, by far the worst mark in baseball. Martinez hasnt been a strikeout machine this season, netting a K/9 rate of just 7.0. However, he has a history of missing more bats (9.2 K/9 in 2015), and he whiffed a season-high eight hitters (to go along with eight scoreless innings) when he last faced Milwaukee in late May, so theres still decent upside here. With Scherzer pitching in the evening, Carlos Martinez, who owns a 1.46 ERA in his past seven starts, should be one of the early slates more popular cash-game options.Danny Salazar gets a home date with the Yankees. Its a matchup with limited upside considering the Yanks strike out just 18.5 percent of the time versus righties. However, its also a matchup with limited downside, as the Yankees have largely been dormant against right-handed pitching this season (88 wRC+). While much of Salazars value comes from his strikeout potential (10.3 K/9), he owns a 2.05 ERA at Progressive Field this season, and, more importantly, hes been able to hold his walks in check at home (2.6 BB/9, compared to 5.3 BB/9 on the road).Jose Quintana frequently makes this list as a quality cash-game play when his turn in the rotation comes up, and thats certainly the case Saturday when the Braves come to town. The Braves have arguably the worst lineup in baseball. Its particularly brutal against left-handed pitching, as the teams 67 wRC+, .273 wOBA and .090 ISO all rank either worst or second-worst in baseball. Quintana is coming off a rough June (5.51 ERA), but he twirled seven innings of one-run ball his last time out and owns a 2.92 ERA at home this season. He should have little trouble carving through this Braves lineup.Theres been lots of discussion recently about how long Aaron Sanchez will remain in Torontos starting rotation, as the Blue Jays want to keep his innings in check. Hes still in the rotation now, though, and thats what matters to DFS players. Saturdays matchup against Detroit is far from ideal, as the Tigers feature a dangerous lineup that has done plenty of damage to right-handed pitching this season (.331 wOBA). Then again, its hard to ignore what the 24-year-old righty has done of late. He sports a 2.45 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in his past seven starts, and that includes starts at Coors Field (1 ER in 8 IP), Cellular Field (2 ER in 6 IP) and Camden Yards (1 ER in 6 IP), three of the most hitter-friendly venues in baseball. Its also worth noting that Sanchez hurled eight innings of two-run ball with a season-high 12 Ks when he faced the Tigers in early June. There are other pitchers in this tier that I prefer over Sanchez, but the Toronto righty at least deserves some consideration.Start-to-start consistency has been an issue for Adam Conley this season. However, a quick glance at his game log shows that hes generally had success against weak opponents, and his opponent on Saturday, the Reds, certainly qualify. Cincinnati has not been much of a threat to southpaws this season (87 wRC+), and they strike out a healthy 23 percent while not generating many walks (7.1 percent). That sets up nicely for Conley, who misses a decent number of bats (8.4 K/9) but can get in trouble with free passes (3.8 BB/9). The left-hander is in the conversation as a cost-effective SP2.StreamersThe Rays have hammered left-handed pitching this season. But right-handed pitching? Not so much. They currently sport an 88 wRC+ versus righties with a bloated 25 percent strikeout rate. That puts Rick Porcello in a nice spot Saturday.Jake Peavys 5.14 ERA is ugly. His 2.45 ERA in his past eight starts, however, shows why theres some streaming appeal here for his home matchup against Arizona. The Diamondbacks are below-average against right-handers and dont make a ton of contact (23 percent whiff rate), so this is a favorable spot for the veteran righty to continue providing value. Hes available in 82 percent of ESPN.com leagues.Brandon McCarthy thrived in his first start of the season after returning from elbow surgery, tossing five shutout innings against the Rockies while striking out eight and walking one. He gets an even more favorable matchup Saturday, as he squares off against a Padres team thats one of the worst in baseball against right-handed pitching (82 wRC+, 24 percent K rate). McCarthy is currently owned in only 20 percent of leagues.With the As coming to town, Lance McCullers finds himself in a very appealing spot. The As dont strike out much, but they also dont generate much offense, as they rank worst in the American League with an 84 wRC+ against right-handers. For his part, McCullers sports elite strikeout (11.2 K/9) and ground ball (58 percent) rates, and his ERA in his past five outings sits at 2.78. Yes, McCullers 5.1 walk rate is an issue, but it helps that the As sport the second-lowest walk rate in the AL (6.9 percent). Hes still a free agent in nearly half of ESPN.com leagues.AvoidMatt Moore has looked good of late, holding a 2.43 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in his past five starts. With a matchup against Boston coming up, however, it might be best to give the left-hander a breather and stick him on the bench. The Red Sox have mashed lefties this season, putting up a .349 wOBA against them. It also doesnt help that Moore has posted a 6.43 ERA away from Tropicana Field this year.HittingLeft-hander Matt Boyd will have his hands full Saturday. Not only has he allowed a career .375 wOBA to right-handed bats, but hes heading to Toronto to face the right-handed heavy Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. Although you wont be able to afford them all, Josh Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion, Troy Tulowitzki, Russell Martin and Devon Travis are all highly desirable.John Lamb has had a tough go of it this season. He holds a 5.43 ERA and 1.56 WHIP in 12 starts, hes been hit hard by both right- and left-handed hitters, and hes really struggled away from home (8.51 ERA). Giancarlo Stanton, who has rediscovered his groove, is an elite play, while righties Marcell Ozuna and J.T. Realmuto are top plays, as well.Cardinals hitters are a popular target in this space, and thats the case again Saturday with right-hander Chase Anderson on the mound. Anderson has shown reverse splits in his career, and thats been even more amplified this year, as righty swingers have battered him to the tune of a .418 wOBA. Take a long look at Aledmys Diaz, Matt Holliday, Stephen Piscotty and Jhonny Peralta in this one.With Joel De La Cruz drawing his third career starts for the Braves, White Sox hitters should be on the radar. The 27-year-old was underwhelming at Triple-A this year (4.68 ERA), and hes looked overmatched at the big leagues so far, allowing 11 extra-base hits, including three homers, in just 12 innings. All White Sox bats are in play here regardless of platoon advantage.Kendall Graveman has been drilled by lefties this year, allowing a .368 wOBA against them along with a 4.5 walk rate. With the Astros on the schedule, Colby Rasmus, Luis Valbuena and even rookie A.J. Reed are in play.Most likely to go yard: Giancarlo StantonStanton is crushing again, and lefty John Lamb, sporting a 17.1 percent HR/FB, figures to be his next victim.Most likely to swipe a bag: J.T. RealmutoWere doubling up on Marlins here, as Lamb also has trouble keeping baserunners honest. Hes allowed 10 stolen bases in 12 starts. Realmuto, who leads the team with seven swipes, will be off to the races if he gets the chance. Chris Conley Womens Jersey .Y. -- Jayna Hefford scored the winning goal Friday as Canada survived a scare with a 4-3 win over Sweden at the Four Nations womens hockey tournament. Josh Allen Jersey . It might not have mattered. While the Dodgers are preparing for the playoffs, the Padres showed their future has promise behind two rookies. http://www.officialjacksonvillejaguarspro.com/Jalen-ramsey-jaguars-jersey/ .S District Court against Major League Baseball, the Office of the Commissioner and his own union, the MLBPA. Jawaan Taylor Youth Jersey . Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on the indoor hard-court at Belgrade Arena. The victory improved the Czech pairs impressive cup doubles record to 14-1. Jawaan Taylor Womens Jersey . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Torian Graham scored 22 points and Shannon Evans II had 21 to lift Arizona State to an 80-71 victory over Tulane in the losers bracket of the Tire Pros Invitational.Sam Cunliffe scored 10 for the Sun Devils who pulled away from Tulane in the final seven minutes to improve to 3-1. ASU lost its first game in the tournament by 19 points to Northern Iowa.We showed up ready to play today, ASU Coach Bobby Hurley said. I dont want to make excuses, but that game (Northern Iowa) wasnt our best effort. We were lethargic the whole time. I thought we were much more aggressive defensively and when a couple of shots fell, we settled down to play pretty good offensively.Tulane (1-3) got 22 points from Melvin Frazier Jr. and 17 from Cameron Reynolds, but the Green Wave offense fizzled in the final seven minutes when the game was still within reach.We had a nice run where we got defensive stops and were taking our time on offense, Reynolds said. But as soon as we started rushing things, we let them push it back at us and didnt defend like we should.ASU had an 11-point lead at halftime, but couldnt shake the Green Wave until late in the second half.Tulane found some room taking the ball to the basket against ASUs man-to-man defense and cut their deficit to just 61-58 when Von Julien scored on a driving layup with 7:02 left in the game.ASU center Ramon Villa woke up the Devils offeense with a follow-shot jam and Graham scored five straight points to push the lead back to a more comfortable 68-58 with just under five minutes left.ddddddddddddThe Green Wave never got closer than seven the rest of the game.BIG PICTUREArizona State: The Sun Devils were basically a no-show in its first game of the tournament, losing 82-63 to Northern Iowa, so the win over Tulane was a huge lift. The game against Northern Iowa didnt feel good at all, Graham said. We were much better at executing today. It feels good to come back and get a victory after the way we played.Tulane: Green Wave coach Mike Dunleavy was impressed with his teams effort as well. In that second half, we ran some nice sets, but they hit some shots at crucial times and that was the difference, Dunleavy said. Our guys played hard, but we missed some shots at the rim and they hit at the other end.THREE INSTEAD OF TWOTulane was six of 14 on 3-pointers in the first half, but only 2 of 9 from inside the arc. Cameron Reynolds, who missed his first five shots, hit three straight 3-pointers in a 2-minute stretch late in the half.UP NEXTArizona State will play Davidson Sunday in the fifth place game.Tulane, which has lost twice in the tournament, will play Missouri in the seventh place game Sunday. ' ' '