Kyle Schwarber crushes three home runs Saturday

Mitchell was the hero in this extra-innings affair. He delivered the game-winning hit with two-strikes in the 10th inning and made two other fantastic plays in center field to keep this game going just beforehand. It’s just more great baseball for Mitchell who’s in the midst of the best stretch of his career with a .323/.381/.563 slash line over his last 30 games. Also very importantly for Mitchell, his strikeout rate has held firm below 30% over the span which doesn’t sound great, but is lower than his season average by a few percentage points.

It’s so easy to be bullish on Henderson. As usual, his changeup was lethal in this start, forcing five of his six total swings-and-misses while forcing plenty of weak contact. His cutter was also great in terms of generating strikes and quality fastball command kept the whole thing rolling. The Marlins rarely challenged him and he was cruising right along, but the trainers came out to check on him during the fifth inning. He’d stay in to finish that frame which wound up being his last after just 73 pitches. After the game, he mentioned dealing with a forearm cramp and that the team felt it was best to play it safe. Keep an eye on his status ahead of his next scheduled start against the Mets at home.

Conine’s solo home run in the fifth inning stood firm as the Marlins’ only run here. It looked like he’d have another chance in his next at-bat, but was lifted for a pinch-hitter with left-handed Aaron Ashby on the mound. The Marlins have been steadfast with their lefty, righty decisions all season and Conine was a casualty of it here. Alas, he has six home runs and a .909 OPS in 93 plate appearances on the season, almost entirely against right-handed pitchers.

This version of Alcantara is a total bulldog. Sure, he’s not missing bats at a prolific rate anymore and his command in this start was pretty all over the place. Yet, he never gave an inch. The Brewers very rarely squared him up and had 19 total foul balls while Alcantara continued to pepper them with sinkers, four-seamers, and cutters. Also a lost art in this day and age, Alcantara has now at least pitched into the sixth inning in 13 consecutive starts dating back to early May. He’ll take a 3.90 ERA, 107 strikeouts, and 37 walks through a league-leading 136 2/3 innings into his next start against the Astros in Houston.

Springer hit into a fielder’s choice in the third inning to drive in the Blue Jays’ first run of the game. In the fifth inning, he would homer off of White Sox reliever Trevor Richards for his 10th big fly of the season. It’s still hard to imagine that this is where we are a year after Springer slugged 32 homers and drove in 88 runs, but he remains a shell of the player we saw last season.

The Rangers lost this one by a score of 15-1 and were held to just five hits on the night. Lopez’s RBI single to drive home Cam Cauley in the eighth inning was all the Rangers could muster on the evening as Chris Sale was masterful through seven innings of shutout ball.

Gómez walked the first batter he faced of the inning, but was able to retire the next three batters he faced to end the game and any hope the Cubs had of a comeback. The righty is a perfect 12-for-12 in save opportunities this season and has allowed just one earned run in the month of July.

Steer broke the game open as he tagged Jimmy Herget for a 404-foot (103.5-mph EV) two-run blast in the sixth inning that gave the Reds a 3-1 advantage. He then ambushed a first-pitch fastball from Jeff Criswell for a 421-foot (102.4-mph EV) solo shot in the eighth. For the season, the 28-year-old is now slashing .250/.330/.441 to go along with 16 homers and 40 RBI through his first 362 plate appearances.

The 24-year-old superstar led off the top half of the first inning with a single and raced around to score the game’s first run on an RBI double off the bat of Sal Stewart. He then put the cherry on top of the victory with a 434-foot (105.8-mph EV) solo shot off of Jeff Criswell in the ninth inning. With his four-hit attack, De La Cruz is now slashing an impressive .282/.354/.506 with 16 homers, 45 RBI and 14 stolen bases (in 20 attempts) on the season.

Suárez smacked a one-out double off of Gabriel Hughes in the fourth inning, but he wound up being stranded there. He then clobbered a 415-foot (98.6-mph EV) solo shot off of Jimmy Herget in the sixth inning, going back-to-back with Spencer Steer to increase the Reds’ advantage to 4-1. On the season, the 34-year-old slugger is hitting a disappointing .213/.288/.406 with 12 home runs and 36 RBI.