Aranda homers, drives in three vs. Nationals

Merrill’s hit was just a little 76-mph grounder against a shifted infield, but it knocked in the first of three runs the Padres scored in the fourth. The others came on a groundout and a sac fly. Merrill made much better contact in his first at-bat, but his 395-foot barrel to center went for naught then. Merrill is batting .364/.370/.750 with five homers and nine RBI in 11 games during the second half.

Canning struck out four in his first scoreless performance of the year. Obviously, the competition had something to do with that, but Canning’s stuff was a little better than usual in the short outing today. He had been 0-4 with a 6.60 ERA in two starts and two bulk relief appearances this month and 1-9 with a 6.97 ERA in 15 outings overall. He’ll probably face the Diamondbacks on Monday, perhaps again as a bulk guy, but he remains a candidate to be bumped from the roster if the Padres add before the deadline.

Miller got a victory Tuesday, giving him three saves and a win over the last six days. The Padres have used him on three straight days once this year, that happening back in April, so maybe they’d be willing to have him close Thursday against the Giants. If not, then Adrian Morejon could get a chance.

Hughes’s fastball and sinker were down 1.5-2 mph today, with his hardest pitch of the game checking in at 93.1 mph. He still managed to hold his own against the Padres, but he wound up with just two strikeouts and a poor 18 percent CSW. Let’s hope that isn’t a sign of things to come, because he’d been quite impressive since arriving at the beginning of the month. He’s due to face the Rays at Coors next week.

Tommy Edman has been moved up another spot as a result. With the exception of a two-homer explosion against the Phillies last week, Betts has been a complete non-factor at the plate in the second half, hitting .184 (7-for-38) in 10 games since the Midsummer Classic. It’s admittedly a small sample size, but Betts has gone through some ice-cold spells at the dish over the last two years. It’s a frustrating situation for fantasy managers to navigate, but the Dodgers can afford to let him continue tinker and work on things until the playoffs roll around.

The positive news is that he didn’t suffer any ligament damage, according to Reds manager Terry Francona. Technically, Franco won’t be placed on the injured list since he got hurt while he was with Cincinnati as an extra player during Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Guardians. The 25-year-old figures to get a more extended look with the Reds at some point later this season, but he’s going to be down for a couple weeks.

Woodford rejoins Chicago’s relief mix after spending a couple weeks back in the minors. The 29-year-old journeyman allowed three runs over two innings during his lone relief appearance for the Cubs earlier this month. He’ll operate in low-leverage spots as a multi-inning reliever.

Wantz has been booted from Chicago’s bullpen after allowing six runs over 3 2/3 innings across a pair of relief outings. The well-traveled 30-year-old was brought up after the Cubs designated veteran starter Jameson Taillon for assignment earlier this week.

Gray gets the nod to replace an injured Byron Buxton (hip) on Minnesota’s active roster. The versatile 30-year-old has hit .232/.271/.333 with four homers and two steals in 182 plate appearances over a career-high 63 games in the big leagues this season.

Buxton has been battling a lingering hip ailment for the last couple months and didn’t look right at the dish after coming off the injured list last week, hitting just .160 (4-for-25) with zero extra-base hits in seven games. It’s challenging to forecast exactly when Buxton will return since the Twins would probably prefer that he finally put the hip issue to bed once and for all. Fantasy managers should anticipate a multi-week absence. There should be a definitive return timetable at some point in the near future.