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It’s not too often a line in baseball gets so skewed that it becomes an out of hand underdog. Today I believe that to be the case with the Marlins against the Reds. Johnny Cueto has been a dominant pitcher all season but also has had very little run support in games that he has started.

Just last week against the Marlins, Cueto had pitched 7 innings before the Marlins finally got things going in the top of the 8th with three runs.

Miami had some decent hits off of Cueto early in the game with a couple of doubles by Casey McGhee and Marcell Ozuna. They just couldn’t muster anything beyond the early innings.

Brad Hand for Miami has showcased to be a bright spot amidst the Marlins never ending issues with pitching. He should be able to pitch six solid innings against a Reds team that struggled to get hits and advance runners off of Brad Penny yesterday.

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It likely won’t get talked about in high regard, but Brad Penny’s performance tonight deserves to be the star of the night. A pitcher that seemingly only got another chance because the manager, Mike Redmond, was his catcher in the early 2000’s.

Penny hadn’t pitched since 2012 on the big league level and that was in a reliever role. It’s not often you see a pitcher get another chance after nearly two and a half years from a big league start.

His night wasn’t terrific, but he got the job done. In the first inning he gave up a solo home run that was right over the plate. He also got saved in a one out situation with runners on 2nd and 3rd. After a gap hit by Todd Frazier, Billy Hamilton scored with ease, but Jay Bruce was gunned out at the plate by outfielder Marcell Ozuna.

In the fourth Penny had a tough time drawing outs and was running the count too high for walk situations. The fifth he had a 1, 2, 3 inning in which would be his last of the night.

Credit this Marlins team for pulling together in a catastrophic situation with their pitchers. Everyone knows about Jose Fernandez being out for the year. The Marlins also have Henderson Alvarez on the 15-day DL, and their newly acquired pitcher in Jarred Cosart missed a start with a minor oblique strain.

Added to that was the scary situation of their relief pitcher in Dan Jennings getting drilled by the baseball. He seems to be okay but is not available for use currently.

This Marlins team has been resilient through many tough instances. In June and the early part of July they were in countless scenarios of extra inning games that they couldn’t pull off. If they had won only a handful of those they’d be near the top of the NL East.

We’ll see how far this team can go in the last stretch of the season. But tonight the star of MLB goes to Brad Penny.

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Look no further than Philip Rivers a year ago on how reduction of turnovers can help a team transfer to a higher result of wins. San Diego barely made the playoffs and needed every win they got in 2013 to do so. It was done by the Chargers changing their offense to more of a ball control style, and having Philip make quicker decisions.

Rivers raised his touchdown numbers to 32 from 26 while reducing his interceptions from 15 to 11.

Other quarterbacks that had improvement were Cam Newton and Jay Cutler.

Here are some quarterbacks this season that could propel their team from a near .500 team to playoff bound with improvement in the turnover department.

Ryan Tannehill
Tannehill now in is third year has to alleviate the mistakes from his week to week performances. Miami lost a couple of games because of Tannehill’s ill-advised decisions scrambling that led to a fumble or poor throws. He did improve as a passer last year with 24 touchdowns, but cannot have 17 interceptions this season. Miami expects to have an offense that involves quicker decisions to help Tannehill out.

Matt Ryan
Expectations fell way short in Atlanta a year ago, and hit the team performance wise all over the roster. Ryan threw for a four year low of just 26 touchdowns, while having a career-high in interceptions at 17. It’ll be interesting to see if the Falcons are healthy enough to keep Ryan from having another tailspin season.

Eli Manning
Manning has always had a “Brett Favre” affect on the football field. In 2013 it was an eyesore to watch on a weekly basis. The Giants did not have a running game. It got to the point they had to sign a retired Brandon Jacobs and Peyton Hillis. Manning is not going to change the way he throws the football, but the Giants need to provide him with ample talent to keep him from those mistakes. I doubt we will see 27 interceptions from Manning this season. From a fantasy football standpoint Manning never has been a top twelve starter. He is a suitable backup for occasional use. From a handicapping standpoint, Manning and the Giants could be ready to repeat their magic and get back into the playoffs.

Others: Joe Flacco, Matthew Stafford, and RG3

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I find it funny how running backs and quarterbacks get the bulk of discussion in terms of age and performance. Speculation of their jobs being overtaken appear continuously throughout their tenure as a professional. For a wide receiver though it’s the opposite and downplayed. When a receiver diminishes it’s like saying goodbye to a common worker in a regular job field.

It’s an after thought and the next young performer steps in without a discussion to the level of a quarterback or running back.

I’m ending that buck with this column. The focus is on wide receivers on the downside of their pro careers and fantasy football success.

Reggie Wayne
As dynamic as Wayne’s career has been you have to wonder if this comeback is truly in the best interest of the Colts organization or Wayne. I’m going to lean to Wayne. He has had a heck of a career that actually started off slow during Marvin Harrison’s heydays. The descent is inevitable. You just hope that Wayne ends on good football grounds and not the way a receiver like Torry Holt did. In fantasy football rankings he is sitting in the later 20’s. That may be too high until we see how he responds from injury and adapting back to full game speed.

Vincent Jackson
By all means Jackson probably has another year or two as a starting wide receiver left in him. But I’m discounting the high value he is receiving for fantasy football this season. Jackson lacks break away speed as evidenced by him getting tracked down several times last year. 80 percent of receivers would have scored on the touchdowns he was tracked down on. His size and knack to catch the ball in traffic for touchdowns keeps the fantasy radar locked on him. Look for Jackson’s numbers to diminish from a year ago.

Marques Colston
By the drafting of Kenny Stills last year and Brandin Cooks this year the Saints are preparing for the end for Colston. Injuries have taken their toll on Colston but he has still managed to be a solid WR3/WR4 in fantasy football. If Colston had to learn a new system or play with another quarterback he likely wouldn’t be even a top 50 wide receiver. His rapport with Brees allows him to maintain credible fantasy status.

Others: Greg Jennings and Hakeem Nicks

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Yesterday both the Phillies and Mets had their half inning of explosion. The Mets scored four runs early on and the Phillies 3 in the bottom of the 9th. Those are the type of innings that drive total bettors crazy. Especially when it’s two teams that have shown to be struggling teams at the plate this season.

Today Dillon Gee and Cole Hamels head to the mound for their respective teams. The total is set at a modest 7 runs with the juice leaning on the over at -105. That’s where I’m headed with today’s free play.

Gee has been up and down over the last month. With as many times as the Mets and Phillies have played this season, you’d expect the Phils to have a solid green light on Gee’s pitches. In two starts this season against the Phillies, Gee, has given up three home runs. The latest outing was July 29th in which Gee gave up five runs and three walks. Over his last three starts he has struggled with his control. He has walked eight batters over those three starts and this while averaging just five innings on the mound.

Opposing pitcher Cole Hamels has been spectacular and is why he is a -165 favorite. But that’s too high of a price to pay on the Phillies. Hamels has had four consecutive great starts after a poor stretch of five games before the All-Star break.

Something happened for the better for Hamels during the All-Star break. But even with the great pitchers a poor outing is bound to happen.

The Phillies have had all types of issues with their pitching staff. Cliff Lee is back on the DL and they just traded Roberto Hernandez. That has to play some sort of psychological affect for this Phillies team.

This will be the fourth start this season for Hamels against the Mets. He was roughed up back in May for six runs, but in his last two starts he has only given up a run a piece.

Count on getting 3-5 runs from the Phillies off of Gee, and a run or two off their bullpen. Hamels has been going deep into games over his last four starts and I just don’t see him doing it a 5th time.

Play the over.

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Friday night is in the books for week one of the preseason. Here are a few quick notes on fantasy worthy contributors to this upcoming season.

Nic Foles
Ouch. While most starting quarterbacks either sat out or had minimal affect in short stints, Nic Foles put out a dud performance. Two interceptions are not what fantasy owners want to see on nine attempts. I’ll fade this output and look for Foles to put his 2014 early jitters away.

Bryce Brown
Brown had a few opportunities as an Eagle and flourished for a couple of games there. Now he is in Buffalo where a role could open up in similar fashion. Fred Jackson is up there in age and CJ Spiller is not a high carry back. Brown ran the ball for 64 yards on 11 carries Friday night against the Panthers.

Mark Ingram
Ingram was probably the most impressive fantasy worthy player Friday night. He looked leaner overall and took advantage of his eight carries on the night. In all he totaled over 80 yards and scored a touchdown on a nifty 22-yard run. Ingram became a bigger part of the Saints offense during the latter part of 2013. He’ll need to showcase a continuation of a solid effort in the preseason before he gets moved up to RB2 consideration.