Boston’s bullpen woes continue to sting the club as a 6-3 loss to Baltimore leaves the Red Sox tied for second in the AL East. The bullpen blew a 3-1 lead on Sunday and surrendered four in three on Monday, and Jordan Hicks remains a lightning rod after a costly ninth-inning collapse. Dustin May delivered six innings of two-run ball in the later start, giving Boston a glimmer of stability. The big news is the Rafael Devers trade to San Francisco for Hicks, Kyle Harrison, James Tibbs III, and Jose Bello, with the Giants picking up the remaining eight years of Devers’ contract. The package shifts cost/benefit calculations for both teams and reshapes the fantasy landscape around Devers’ bat, Hicks’ role, and the Sox’ bullpen volatility. Online chatter is loud about the trade’s value and Boston’s budgeting on Hicks, but the on-field ripple is real: bullpen reliability remains the fulcrum of the team’s standings and fantasy upside.

Yankees and Red Sox renew their Bronx showdown as New York rides a five-game win streak into a four-game weekend at Yankee Stadium. Giancarlo Stanton fuels the surge with more of the jaw-dropping power that has critics and fantasy folks buzzing about his late-season window.

Boston arrives two games back in the wild-card race after a chaotic midseason reboot that still produced real upside, with Rafaela and Roman Anthony emerging alongside veterans as Rafael Devers shifts to a Giants roster that suddenly looks deeper on offense.

Four pitching bouts headline the weekend: Giolito vs Gil, Bello vs Fried, Crochet vs Warren, May vs Rodon. The Fried-Bello duel stands out as a potential fantasy pivot, while Rodon’s steady, high-leverage presence for the Yanks adds intrigue to a critical stretch run.

Across the weekend, expect decisions on rostering Stanton, Devers, Rafaela, and Rodón to ripple through fantasy lineups, as both clubs chase playoff positioning and a better head-to-head stance in the crowded AL pennant chase.

Boston’s postseason pursuit has re-ignited after a rough start and a big Devers-era trade reshuffle. Bill Simmons’s buoyant, tweet-driven optimism has collided with a string of swings and misses, turning the Sox’s second-half run into a social-media weather vane. The drama centers on a lineup recalibrated by the Devers trade, a surge-and-slump rhythm against AL East rivals, and several late-inning flashes from young talent that hint at more upside down the stretch.

As the calendar pushes, the Sox sit in a murky mix of power and patience, chasing the Blue Jays and Yankees while dodging a string of tough defeats. Roman Anthony’s moments and the looming return of Boston’s veterans feed fantasy intrigue: who benefits most from the latest tweaks, and who might break out in a pennant-chase environment? The Dodgers, Phillies, Padres, and Astros serve as benchmark antagonists, while the Orioles and Marlins add to a crowded, high-stakes landscape. The core question for fantasy managers: can Boston sustain this momentum behind a steadier bullpen and a deeper, more adaptable lineup?

Padres host Giants at Petco Park with Nick Pivetta taking the mound after a season of elite strikeouts and solid run prevention, while Kai-Wei Teng looks to rebound from a rough prior start against San Diego. The night opened with a three-homer charge from the San Francisco lineup—Heliot Ramos, Rafael Devers, and Wilmer Flores—spotting the Giants an early cushion that San Diego could not fully erase. The betting edge leans toward the home club, who combine recent August splits against righties with a favorable park factor that boosts their lineup’s upside in fantasy lineups and daily bets.

Fantasy angles center on Pivetta’s high strikeout ceiling (7+ Ks in six of his last eight) and Teng’s shaky form, which could yield a short leash if the innings slip again. The Padres’ offense has shown life at home and against right-handed pitching, while the Giants’ reverse splits and early power provide potential for sneaky fantasy value from Ramos, Devers, and Flores if they stay hot. The Padres are favored to win, with the -1.5 line offering a slate-ready avenue for stacking Padres bats alongside Pivetta’s punchouts.

In DFS and betting terms, target Pivetta for strikeouts and a probably clean line, and consider Padres stacks if you expect Teng to yield loud hits early. Watch for late bullpen leverage and park-driven runs, which can swing a tight game in either direction. The Padres' home prowess and San Francisco’s occasional fatigue in this venue favor a smoother Padres win and a higher-probability pass for the -1.5 play.