Betting

Ozuna signed a one-year, $12 million contract this offseason, but has only hit .203/.286/.327 with eight home runs, 29 RBI, and a 28.6 percent strikeout rate in 280 plate appearances. It was an interesting swing for the Pirates in free agency, but it just didn’t work out.

Soroka struck out one and walked two while throwing 37 of his 57 pitches for strikes. Before this start, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said his “gut feel: was that Soroka would only need one rehab start, so that would potentially mean the right-hander could return on Monday to face the Rockies at home. Given that Soroka was only at 57 pitches in this game, we wouldn’t expect much more than 70 in that start against Colorado.

Snell also struck out three and threw 41 of his 73 pitches for strikes. It was clearly not his best outing, but we don’t want to read too much into starts in the PCL. Seeing better command would make us feel a little better about Snell’s immediate results when he returns from elbow surgery, but his velocity looked good, and he was up to 73 pitches, so he should be good to rejoin the Dodgers’ rotation. There may be some command bumps in the early going, but Snell figures to be an impactful fantasy starter down the stretch.

Kikuchi struck out four but walked five and threw 30 of his 57 pitches for strikes. His four-seamer touched 96.5 mph but was mainly around 94 mph, which is not far off from what we see when he’s 100 percent. The command was obviously rusty in this one, and we’d expect him to make at least two more rehab starts with the Angels having no incentive to rush him back to the big leagues this season.

He also struck out six and walked four while throwing 55 of his 89 pitches for strikes. Smith-Shawver was used as the 27th man in the Braves’ doubleheader last week, which meant he headed back to the minors after the game. The Braves kept him on schedule during a trade deadline in which they tried to trade for Jacob deGrom and Logan Webb. Considering the Braves only came away with Tyler Mahle, Smith-Shawver still has a clear path to a rotation spot. The expectation is that he may make one more start in Triple-A to continue shaking some of the rust, and then he should be up in the big leagues for the remainder of the season.

Luzardo allowed one or no runs for the sixth time in seven starts and the 12th time this season. He’s probably about due to go on one of those runs in which he allowed six runs in three of four outings, but through 23 starts this year, he’s 10-5 with a 3.36 ERA and 164 strikeouts, which ranks sixth in the majors. He’ll face the Blue Jays on Sunday.

Vásquez has been alternating in and out of the rotation over the last several weeks. Tuesday’s start was an excellent one for him as he held the D-backs scoreless over six frames. He scattered just two hits and one walk, relying on weak contact as he struck out one batter. The 27-year-old right-hander ends the day with a 4.19 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, and a 65/31 K/BB ratio across 101 innings. With Casey Mize and Robbie Ray now in San Diego, there’s a good chance Vásquez returns to a long relief role in the bullpen.

Melton completely dazzled on Tuesday in Seattle, holding the Mariners scoreless over seven innings. He scattered three hits and two walks while collecting four strikeouts. The 25-year-old right-hander has been incredible for the Tigers this season, posting a 1.59 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, and a 64/23 K/BB ratio across 73 2/3 innings. He’ll look to keep it going against the Giants in San Francisco on Sunday.

Peralta’s Rays debut didn’t go quite as he’d hoped, drawing a road matchup in Colorado. He gave up a run on two hits in the first inning, then ran into more trouble in the third. Peralta opened the inning with three straight hits that drove in a run and put two runners on for Mickey Moniak, who took him deep for a three-run blast. Willy Castro would add a two-run homer in the fourth. Peralta’s day would be done with two outs in the fourth inning at 71 pitches. He struck out three. The 30-year-old right-hander sees his ERA balloon to 5.37 with a 1.52 WHIP and 116/49 K/BB ratio across 117 1/3 innings. Still, we should give the Rays the benefit of the doubt in their ability to get Peralta right and chalk this one up to Coors Field. He’ll look to bounce back against the A’s in Sacramento, another hitter-friendly environment.

Duran drove in a run on a base hit in the first inning and swiped second base for his ninth steal of the season. He then drove in two more runs in the eighth on a double to break a tie game. Duran came through in a clutch moment again in the ninth, driving in the winning run with a walk-off double. The 27-year-old infielder is hitting .278/.329/.463 with 13 homers, 51 runs scored, and 63 RBI across 399 plate appearances.