There’s a fun weekend ahead of us with some interdivision rivalries and some non-division rivalries taking place as well. The wild card race is heating up and there are some sneaky crucial matchups happening that could impact playoff seeding down the road. The Astros and Yankees continue their blood feud in the Bronx and the Dodgers travel down the highway to continue their own blood feud in San Diego. Two of the hottest offenses in the league face off in Braves-Cubs, although the return of Max Fried stifled the Cubbies and their red hot offense in an early game on Friday.

This is for the 8/4 4:05 PM PST classic slate on Draftkings.

Writer’s Record

41-22-1

Colorado ML (+158) @ St Louis Cardinals

With Adam Wainwright on the mound for the Cardinals, the Rockies will not have a better opportunity to pull out a victory in St Louis. Waino has a 7.18 ERA this season and in his last eight starts, the Cardinals have only won two of them.

DFS Pillar Plays

Merrill Kelly

Position: P

Salary: $8,800

Merrill Kelly has been steady Eddie for the Diamondbacks this season. While Zac Gallen has been receiving all the praise this year, Kelly has been almost as reliable with 11 quality starts out of 18. His ERA is even lower than Gallen’s at 3.23 vs. 3.41 for the Cy Young candidate. The matchup tonight comes against the Minnesota Twins, the team that leads the league in total strikeouts. The Twins are 2-6 in their last eight games. Kelly is averaging 18.9 FPPG this year and has gone at least five innings in every start except his first of the season, which came against the high-powered Dodgers.

Yordan Alvarez

Position: OF

Salary: $6,000 

The Yankees and the Astros continue their series in the Bronx with Luis Severino taking the mound for the home team. Severino has struggled in a big way, as indicated by his 7.49 ERA this season. His July was even worse than his June as he allowed 29 runs in only 21.2 innings throughout the month. The left-handed hitting Alvarez will be licking his chops against Severino, who has given up a .360 batting average to lefties this year. Yordan has gotten a hit in every game since he returned from injury seven games ago. 

Ryan McMahon

Position: 3B

Salary: $4,400

The Rockies sold off a bunch of guys at the deadline and with Charlie Blackmon and Kris Bryant injured, Ryan McMahon has become the most dangerous hitter in this Colorado lineup. Adam Wainwright will be starting for the Cardinals tonight and in his two games since rejoining the roster, he has given up a combined 12 hits and six runs. Ryan McMahon hits lefty and lefties have a .390 batting average against Waino this season. The Rockies could be in for a big night and if that happens, McMahon should be at the forefront of Colorado’s offense.

DFS Value Plays (<$3000 Salary)

Josh Bell

Position: 1B

Salary: $3,000

The switch-hitting power man was just acquired from the Guardians and he announced himself in a big way in his first game for the Marlins. In that game, Bell went 4-for-5 with a crucial 11th inning RBI to tie the game. In his second game as a Marlin, he was able to draw a walk and score a run. He’s confirmed to be hitting third for Miami tonight and the Marlins will be facing another player who was acquired in a trade, Jordan Montgomery for the Rangers. Montgomery was an average starter for St. Louis and will be making his home debut tonight against a Marlins team who continues to hang around in the wild card race. 

Brendan Rodgers

Position: 2B

Salary: $2,400

Rodgers has only been back for three games since returning from the IL. He will be hitting cleanup tonight for the Rockies and with struggling veteran, Adam Wainwright, starting for the Cardinals, you’ll want to fit as many Colorado bats as you can in your lineup. 

Anthony Volpe

Position: SS

Salary: $3,000

The game between these two cross-division rivals should be decently high scoring. Hunter Brown will be starting for Houston and his ERA in July was at 5.92. Volpe had the go-ahead RBI single in yesterday’s game, which the Yankees won 4-3. Volpe is fifth on the Yankees with 39 RBIs this season and fourth in home runs with 14.