Gavin Williams delivered 5 1/3 scoreless innings, fanning five and walking one, as the Cleveland Guardians snapped a three-game skid with a 3-1 win in Phoenix against the Arizona Diamondbacks. CJ Kayfus produced two hits, including a 406-foot homer in the second that gave Cleveland a 1-0 lead, and Brayan Rocchio connected for a homer in the fifth to push the cushion to 3-0. Cade Smith closed it out with a save, striking out Ketel Marte to cap the victory.

Arizona stranded 10 and went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, while Zac Gallen allowed three runs on five hits, including both homers, with three strikeouts and no walks. Gallen’s season has seen a career-high in homers allowed. Cleveland closed within three games of the AL wild-card cutoff. Rocchio has been heating up, hitting safely in 14 of his last 16 games with a .315 clip and nine RBIs in that span, while Kayfus has homered in both road trips since his Triple-A promotion.

Guardians visit the Diamondbacks in a Monday night showdown at Chase Field, hoping to snap a two-team skid after both were swept in their latest three-game sets. Cleveland sends Gavin Williams (7-4, 3.38 ERA) to oppose Zac Gallen (9-12, 5.31 ERA), in a game that also marks the lone 2025 regular-season meeting between the clubs. Williams has shown mixed results, with a recent 12.00 ERA showing the volatility of a young arm, while Gallen looks to stabilize after a tougher stretch. The public lines lean Arizona’s way: Diamondbacks around -116 on the moneyline, spread at -1.5 for Arizona, and the total set at 9.0.

Historically, Gallen has owned the Guardians in recent head-to-heads, with Arizona cashing in as the starter age in three straight matchups. The betting model favors the D-backs on the moneyline, Guardians +1.5, and the under, highlighting a matchup where pitching and park factors at Chase Field could tilt toward low-scoring proceedings. For fantasy players, Williams’ ceiling against a slumping Arizona lineup and Gallen’s potential bounce-back performance are the key levers to watch.

In daily fantasy terms, this is a spot to weigh Williams’ maturation against a Diamondbacks lineup that’s cooled off, while Gallen’s command will be tested by Cleveland’s patient approach. The game flow—offense, bullpen usage, and late-inning leverage—will determine if this one stays below nine runs and whether DFS stacks should lean toward the Guardians or Diamondbacks midgame opportunities.

Two-start week preview for Aug 18 tightens the fantasy edge as rosters juggle rotations. Philadelphia shifts to a six-man rotation for Aaron Nola, limiting Suarez to one turn. Cubs face an eight-game week due to a Monday doubleheader, with Cade Horton highly parked for two starts; Jameson Taillon could join at least one game in Monday’s swing. Rays play five games, reducing two-start chances; Jays’ Bieber plan is still in flux. Amid the shuffle, target elite volume: Joe Ryan, Logan Gilbert, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Spencer Strider and Cade Horton stand out as must-starts, with Eury Pérez, Gavin Williams, Jack Leiter and Spencer Arrighetti offering strong secondary paths. Streaming options like Victor Mederos and Jake López (Athletics) provide portable upside. The overarching strategy: maximize two-start weeks by leaning into teams with robust schedules, while exploiting waiver-wire edges to secure high-floor arms.

Top options are grounded in recent form: Ryan’s Minnesota slate (Athletics then White Sox) looks as favorable as any two-start week, while Yamamoto’s Dodgers two-step (Rockies then Padres) carries obvious upside even in Coors. Horton’s late-season surge makes him a plug-and-play in all formats, and Pérez’s Miami schedule arms a high-strikeout week with reasonable win potential. Strider remains a high-risk/high-reward asset in two-start windows, and Leiter’s recent consistency supports aggressive use in routine leagues. Williams and Leiter broaden the two-start map, while others like Rodón, Pivetta and Kelly round out a deep pool of streaming and contingency options that fantasy managers should monitor through the weekend.

Jakob Marsee staged a career night for the Miami Marlins, collecting four hits, including two home runs and a double, while driving in seven in a 13-4 drubbing of the Cleveland Guardians. The first-inning burst featured a three-run homer that kick-started the scoring, followed by a go-ahead two-run shot in the fifth and a sixth-inning two-run double that padded the lead. It was his first 4-hit game and first multi-homer effort, underscoring a season where he’s already batting .436 with three homers and 13 RBIs. The night also highlighted Xavier Edwards’s early spark and Eury Pérez’s win, with Cleveland’s Gavin Williams saddled by a rough start as Miami’s lineup exploded behind a bullpen that ceded nine runs after three innings. Marsee, a Dearborn, Michigan native and Central Michigan alum, debuted Aug. 1 against the Yankees and has hits in 10 of his first 13 games, signaling a potential breakout spark for Miami.

Edwards helped ignite the rally to start the night, while Pérez steadied Miami on the mound to secure the win. Cleveland mixed in a rough run of outs and misplays as the Marlins continued to surge, turning a midseason stretch into a moment of promise for a club counting on its young core. The performance reinforced Marlins fans’ optimism about a young nucleus that could keep producing when the lineup stacks up well and the confidence within the clubhouse remains high.