Author: @Ryan_Humphries on Twitter & LineStar Chat

The Rangers put three runs on the board in the 3rd inning and that was all they needed to secure a 3-1 victory and gain a 2-1 advantage in the series. The D-Backs will now turn to their relievers to try to stitch together a successful bullpen game on the mound tonight. This approach proved successful for Arizona in game four of the NLCS when they defeated the Phillies 6-5 in what was also a bullpen game. Meanwhile, the Rangers will deploy lefty Andrew Heaney as their starter tonight. Heaney has pitched sparingly this postseason, combining for 6.0 IP across four appearances (two starts) while putting up a 6.00 ERA. We can expect a short leash on Heaney tonight as well (maybe 3-4 innings). The Rangers’ starting lineup has not been posted at the time of this writing, but there is a massive injury impact to monitor with OF Adolis Garcia, who exited yesterday’s game with left-side tightness. It would be a significant blow to the Rangers’ offensive firepower if he is unable to play tonight. With all of that said, let’s gear up for game four of the World Series!

For a quick rundown on MLB showdown tips and strategy, feel free to refer back to the top segments from the game one newsletter.

Note: These WS newsletters will be geared towards DraftKings MLB single-game DFS contests – GPPs, specifically. Plenty of information below should be helpful for building FanDuel lineups as well, but the overall format and pricing differences between FD and DK simply don’t allow for an all-inclusive article to cover the single-game slate for both sites sufficiently.

Two major differences exist between DK and FD single-game MLB contests:

1. FanDuel doesn’t include pitchers within the player pool, DraftKings does (both starting pitchers and relievers).

2. FanDuel doesn’t adjust salaries for its “MVP (2x Points)” and “Star (1.5x Points)” roster positions. DraftKings does adjust salaries by 1.5x for its “Captain (1.5x Points)” roster position.

Let’s quickly look back at the perfect (DraftKings) lineups from the first three games of this World Series:

I believe we can chalk the game three perfect lineup as a bit of an outlier. Jon Gray ended up as the optimal captain play, but no one would have had any logical reason to play him in DFS yesterday. Rangers’ game three starter Max Scherzer had to exit the game unexpectedly after three innings due to back spasms, and Gray came in and pitched three excellent relief innings. While I am a proponent of taking some dart throws on relievers for some single-game MLB lineup builds, Gray was priced as a traditional starter (which is what he was in the regular season), and there was zero reason to think he would have made an appearance in yesterday’s game, much less turn out to be an optimal play. We’ll still want to lean toward hitters as our captain plays, and that will certainly be the case today since the D-Backs are going with a bullpen game and, as mentioned in the intro, Rangers’ starter Andrew Heaney will probably have a short leash (though, I wouldn’t rule Heaney out as a potential FLEX play in case this is another low-scoring game).

Captains & Core FLEX Plays:

Corey Seager, TEX | $10,000 (CPT: $15,000)

We’ll continue to roll Seager out as a go-to captain candidate. He provided the biggest hit of the night in yesterday's game with a two-run homer in the 3rd inning -- his third homer in the last four games. Seager’s postseason numbers across 14 games now consist of a .298 AVG, .444 OBP, .450 wOBA, .351 ISO, and 190 wRC+ with five HRs, 10 RBI, and 16 runs scored. He is also striking out just 13.9% of the time while earning a walk on 19.4% of plate appearances. Unfortunately, his first plate appearance may be a wash against D-Backs’ opener LHP Joe Mantiply. Mantiply hasn’t necessarily been lights out, but he’s extremely tough on lefty hitters (like Seager). Against LHBs this season, Mantiply has allowed just a .185 AVG, .195 wOBA, and a 0.78 WHIP. But Seager can crack the optimal lineup with one swing of the bat tonight.

Ketel Marte, ARI | $9,200 (CPT: $13,800)

Marte extended his MLB record postseason hitting streak to 19 games with a 6th-inning single yesterday. He’ll now lead off in the D-Backs lineup with a lefty on the mound for Texas. Marte has been consistently better when batting righty against lefties and, as noted yesterday, he’s generally much better at the plate at home as well. Against LHPs at home this season, Marte owns a .373 AVG, .443 wOBA, .253 ISO, 1.055 OPS, and 182 wRC+. Heaney owns traditional splits so he allows more production and power to RHBs, including a .221 ISO and 1.64 HR/9 Rate this season. Marte may only see Heaney in two at-bats tonight but he’s a great bet to either do some damage against him or one of the Rangers’ relievers.

Tommy Pham, ARI | $6,600 (CPT: $9,900)

Pham is the only player who has cracked the optimal lineup in all three games of this World Series. He hasn’t been an optimal captain yet, but were it not for a dominating performance on the mound by Merrill Kelly in game two, he likely would have been (the optimal captain) since he scored the most fantasy points of any hitter in that contest. Pham is a bit of a streaky hitter but when he’s locked in, as he seems to be now, he’s one of the more dangerous bats in the D-Backs lineup. Across his last five postseason games, Pham is hitting for a .400 AVG with eight hits. Five of those hits have gone for extra bases (three doubles, two HRs). After going quiet at the plate for much of the NLCS, Pham has now increased his postseason AVG to .291 and he’s snagged a couple of stolen bases as well. If you’re looking for a cheaper captain, Pham makes plenty of sense. He has a strong .219 ISO against LHPs this season and will bat 5th as the D-Backs’ DH tonight.

Other Captains & Core FLEX Plays to Consider

Adolis Garcia, TEX | $9,800 (CPT: $14,700) -- If he’s starting, of course.

Corbin Carroll, ARI | $9,400 (CPT: $14,100)

Evan Carter, TEX | $8,600 (CPT: $12,900)

FLEX Plays & Leverage Captain Options:

Mitch Garver, TEX | $7,000 (CPT: $10,500)

Garver went 0-for-4 with a strikeout yesterday but it was just the second game where he failed to get on base this postseason (12 games). Before yesterday, Garver had hit a pair of home runs and scored at least 9 DKFP in three-of-four games. Five of his 11 postseason hits have gone for extra bases and he’s accounted for 13 RBIs. He’s also hitting .750 with a 1.164 wOBA+ISO against LHPs in his last 20 games. If Adolis Garcia is unable to play tonight, Garver would be a candidate to move up in the order but he should not be batting lower than 5th tonight. His home run power combined with his modest DFS salary makes him a strong target this evening.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr., ARI | $6,400 (CPT: $9,600)

Gurriel has either multiple hits or an extra-base hit in five of the last eight games. He has scored at least 11 DKFP in four of those games. Despite going o-fer yesterday, he’ll stand out as one of the more appealing value plays in this game. Gurriel hit .324 with a .397 wOBA, .221 ISO, and 151 wRC+ against LHPs at home this season, so he’s another favorable candidate to do some damage against LHP Andrew Heaney tonight.

Emmanuel Rivera, ARI | $4,400 (CPT: $6,600)

Rivera is the cheapest hitter on the board today and he’s slotted in the starting lineup after coming up with some clutch pinch hits in the last couple of games. This will only be Rivera’s fourth start of the postseason but he has hit .286 in 14 postseason at-bats. It seems like a smart move by the D-Backs to put him in the starting lineup in hopes of getting some added production from the back end of their order. I don’t expect him to see Heaney more than twice, but Rivera is another D-Backs hitter who has posted his best splits at home versus LHPs. He’s not a power bat but he has hit for a strong .318 AVG against LHPs at home this season. Given his low-end salary, he won’t need a huge game to crack the perfect lineup as an optimal FLEX play.

Other FLEX/Contrarian Captain Plays to Consider

Andrew Heaney, TEX | $10,000 (CPT: $15,000)

Gabriel Moreno, ARI | $7,200 (CPT: $10,800)

Geraldo Perdomo, ARI | $6,000 (CPT: $9,000)

Note: If Adolis Garcia is unable to play tonight, either Robbie Grossman or Travis Jankowski would likely earn the start. Either guy would make for a decent FLEX value play.

Relief Pitcher Dart Throws (GPP FLEX Plays Only):

As mentioned above, it’s not uncommon for a relief pitcher to show up as an optimal FLEX play in the perfect lineup, especially in the postseason where bullpens are often used judiciously and with more consistency than the regular season. You may only hope to get a handful of fantasy points out of a relief pitcher, but given their lower DFS price points and the potential for lower-scoring games in a World Series atmosphere, that may be all you need in order for them to come away as an optimal play.

This is obviously very risky and probably not an approach that should be utilized if you’re only rolling out one or two lineups.

Note: You will need to unselect “Remove Non Probables” to view relief pitching options on DraftKings.

Game Four Bullpen Notes: The D-Backs will utilize their bullpen heavily tonight but RHP Ryne Nelson is expected to serve as the long reliever behind opener Joe Mantiply. Since Nelson is priced as a traditional starter ($10,000), I won’t have any interest in him for DFS tonight. The Rangers will also likely burn a few relievers since Andrew Heaney has not pitched more than 3.2 innings in any of his four postseason appearances, however, they did utilize their top relievers (Sborz, Leclerc, Chapman) yesterday, so it’s unclear if those guys will be available today (my guess is Sborz and Leclerc will pitch if needed).

Top D-Backs Relievers

Kevin Ginkel, ARI | $4,000

Paul Sewald, ARI | $4,000 (Closer)

Ryan Thompson, ARI | $4,000

Joe Mantiply, ARI | $4,000 (Opener -- and the only RP guaranteed to pitch tonight)

Top Rangers Relievers

Josh Sborz, TEX | $4,000

Jose Leclerc, TEX | $4,000 (Closer)

Chris Stratton, TEX | $4,000

Good luck and enjoy the World Series!