Anthony Banda perfect in ninth for rare save

López was in complete control during this outing. After letting up two hits and one run through the first four batters of the game, he retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced. His fastball was up a tick, sitting just above 95 mph and still stretching to 97 mph in his fifth and final inning of work. His slider had great bite too, forcing six swings-and-misses. He also worked up to 69 pitches, his most in a single outing since April 14th and overall, he looked much sharper than in his return to the rotation last Friday. Next up is a two-start week against the Mets and Cardinals.

Betts was scratched from the game against the A’s because of right wrist soreness, but he’s already feeling better. According to Roberts, there was no clear incident which led to the soreness.

The Braves only mustered three hits and two runs off Cardinals’ starter Michael McGreevy, and Albies was responsible for both runs and two of the three hits. He’s had a tremendous bounce back season thus far with 13 home runs and a .769 OPS as we approach the All-Star Break.

Walker hit a hot-shot single that brought a run home in the first inning and then stole a base. That was his 59th RBI – third-most in the National League – and 11th stolen base of the season. He later chipped in an impressive throw from right field to nail a runner at home plate. It’s also worth noting that he struck out twice in this game, which gives him 32 punch outs since the beginning of June. That’s a scary trend given his lackluster last month of play compared to how he started the season.

If not for Ozzie Albies, McGreevy would’ve turned in an even better start here. In the first inning, Albies doubled on the fifth pitch of the game to drive home Drake Baldwin who’d just singled. Then, he homered in the third. Besides those three batted balls, just one other Braves batter reached base against McGreevy. He worked his cutter beautifully at the letters for whiffs and showed good command of the rest of his secondary pitches as well. On the season, he has a 3.12 ERA, 60 strikeouts, and 22 walks through 95 1/3 innings. He’s scheduled for a two-start week against the Brewers and Braves to close out the first half.

Walker struck out in both of his at-bats before being lifted in the sixth, but he said his exit was only precautionary.

Grisham completed seven innings in center field and appears poised to return to New York’s lineup for Friday’s series opener against the Twins. The 29-year-old has been on the shelf with a hamstring strain since mid-June.

Although he wasn’t dominant in finishing with four strikeouts and seven whiffs, this seems like a good sign that McClanahan’s July will more closely resemble his May (4-0, 1.41 ERA) than his June (0-3, 5.79 ERA). McClanahan walked none for the fourth time this year, leaving him with a 77/28 K/BB through 79 2/3 innings. His next start will come at home against the Yankees.

Kelly came into a 4-0 game with two out in the eighth inning, creating the save chance. If it had been a three-run game, one imagines Bryan Baker would have gotten the ball, but since there was no save chance at that point, the Rays let Kelly finish it. After a nightmare of a 2025 season, Kelly has a 2.52 ERA in 39 1/3 innings this year.

Lugo gave up two homers, two doubles and five singles, but he was able to limit the damage by walking none (though he did hit a batter) and striking out seven. He still hasn’t fanned more than seven in a game this season, but he has now reached that total four times. The quality start tonight was his 10th, yet he has a 3-6 record to show for it. He’ll face his old friends the Mets in New York next week.