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Daily Dime: Coors Field, Mad Max, Niese Day

Here are ten recommended DFS plays for Tuesday evening, and yes, Virginia, they collectively fit under the Yahoo Daily cap. Be sure to double-check on lineups and weather before you make your final commitments.

The first thing we see on the Tuesday slate is a game at Coors Field with non-aces on the mound. It’s imperative to attack that matchup first.

Nelson Cruz, OF, at COL (Gray), $21: Okay, Jon Gray is a hot prospect and all that, I get it. But Coors Field is where so many of these young arms go to die. And with Cruz on a home-run bender (four in four days), how can you look away?

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Jesus Montero, 1B, at COL (Gray), $7: It’s a fun post-hype story, a trimmed-down slugger who’s forced to play as the team figures out what’s what. Montero has taken plenty of good swings over the last few days, might be building some confidence.

Brad Miller, SS, at COL (Gray), $12: Generally he’s an ordinary shortstop, though he does bring some category juice to the equation. He homered in the series opener and has nine dingers and 10 steals (on 11 attempts) for the year.

Nolan Arenado, 3B, vs. SEA (Nuno), $18: Keep in mind with Vidal Nuno, he’s been in relief all year. His sterling ratios can’t be taken at face value. Arenado actually prefers the tilt of a righty, which he’ll probably see eventually in this game. Mostly, it’s taking a star cornerman in the ultimate hitting environment.

As for everyone else at regular sea levels, let’s complete the lineup.

Max Scherzer, SP, vs. ARI (Corbin), $63: The pricing in the Yahoo game makes it difficult to buy two aces - you’ll be left with offensive crumbs. Unless the hitting pool is filled with bargains I like, I tend to pay up for one ace and then go thrifty on the second spot. I’d feel an eyelash better about Mad Max if he didn’t draw the comebacking Patrick Corbin, but we’re still looking at a Top 5 ace in a pitcher yard, and a healthy Vegas favorite (-179). That works for me.

Jon Niese, SP, at MIA (Hand), $40: I’ve had some fun at Niese’s expense this year, but hey, a 3.63 ERA is perfectly serviceable. I expect the surging Mets offense to say “Aloha, Mr. Hand” from the opening pitch, which puts Niese in line for a likely eight win points.

Chris Young, OF, vs. BOS (Owens), $8: Perhaps Henry Owens will hit the ground running and be another young pitcher who takes our breath away. In the meantime, I’ll focus on Young’s tidy price and his monster slash against opposing southpaws (1.122 OPS).

A.J. Pierzynski, C, vs. SF (Peavy), $13: He’s batting third against an ordinary Jake Peavy, I can sign off on that. AJP is one of those players who might be good until the day he retires - he’s carrying a .311 average and .476 slugging against right-handers this year. (If you wanted to upgrade to Nick Hundley at $15, that's reasonable, you just have to trim two bucks elsewhere.)

Omar Infante, 2B, at DET (Verlander), $11: Did you know this guy almost made the All-Star team? Okay, there’s nothing pro-Infante to offer you, we just need to punt somewhere. As for Justin Verlander, I don’t take his last start at face value, and I suspect the contact-heavy Royals will give him fits Tuesday evening.

Darin Ruf, OF, vs. LAD (Wood), $7: And here’s our outfield punt. What does Ruf do well? All together class: “hit lefties.” His career slash in the platoon advantage is .285/.377/.515, and the OPS climbs over 1.000 this year...