Framber Valdez strikes out eight in win vs. NYY

Culpepper was placed on the injured list about two weeks ago with a hip strain, and, at the time, had appeared close to a promotion. There are no longer any service time issues that the Twins need to worry about, and Luke Keaschall has begun playing the outfield, so Culpepper could be called up after the All-Star break if he gets back to producing at Triple-A. Before suffering the injury, he had gone 14-for-38 (.368) with two homers and three steals in 10 games in June.

Sandoval struck out three and walked one while throwing 40 of his 60 pitches for strikes. He sat 92.8 mph on his four-seam fastball, which is about a tick below where we saw him last, and he had just one whiff on nine swings on his changeup. That being said, he commanded the zone well with most of his six pitches and allowed an average exit velocity of 82.8 mph on balls in play. He hasn’t pitched in an MLB game since 2024, but it’s looking like he will be ready to join the Red Sox in some capacity around the All-Star break.

Canning only recorded two outs in his last start, so it was unclear when he would get the ball next. The Padres announced that Canning, JP Sears, and Walker Buehler would be the three starters for their series against the Cubs. We’d prefer to avoid all three in fantasy leagues if possible.

Henderson allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out seven batters. He threw 32 of his 50 pitches for strikes and sat 92.9 mph on his four-seam fastball, which is essentially where he was earlier in the season. He did struggle with his command on that pitch, posting just a 48 percent zone rate and 56 percent strike rate on his fastball, but he induced plenty of whiffs when it was in the zone, and his secondaries were commanded better. He’ll likely need at least one more rehab start, probably two, before he returns to the Brewers’ rotation, but now would be a good time to stash him if he was dropped in your league.

The Mariners had an open spot on the 40-man, so there’s no need for a move there. He’s out of options, so he’ll presumably be added to the active roster, most likely in Weston Wilson’s place. Kennedy will be a bit rusty. Before being DFA’d today, he spent four weeks on the Giants’ active roster. He went 0-for-7 during the first 10 days of that stint and then never got into another game after June 10. The 27-year-old journeyman hit .321/.424/.543 in 48 games for Triple-A Sacramento prior to his callup.

The Red Sox blew a masterful performance from Sonny Gray by giving up two runs in the ninth and then gave up two more on Wilyer Abreu’s second mistake in two innings in the 10th. However, the offense came through against Fernando Cruz in the bottom of the 10th. Anthony Siegler singled even after taking an automatic strike at the beginning of his at-bat, and pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida followed with a double that gave him just his second RBI of the month. Tseng-Che Cheng then tied the game with a sac fly, and Duran followed with a liner to right with no one home, as the Yankees had gone to a two-man outfield. It was Duran’s second at-bat off the bench, as he didn’t start against lefty Carlos Rodón. He’s hitting just .156/.181/.244 with 33 strikeouts this month.

Gray was removed immediately after Amed Rosario’s single up the middle with one out in the eighth. Tyron Guerrero replaced him and got out of the inning from there. It’s the deepest Gray has ever carried a no-no, and his ninth and final strikeout of the night gave him 2,000 for his career. He’s tied with Andy Benes on the all-time list there, having passed Billy Pierce and Kevin Appier tonight. He’s seventh among active pitchers in strikeouts and fifth with 134 victories. He’ll face the Angels next weekend.

We thought Chapman might have this one off after 23 pitches on Thursday and 20 pitches on Saturday, but manager Chad Tracy trotted him back out to try to complete a four-game sweep. Chapman went on to give up a single and a walk before getting Ben Rice to fly to right. Unfortunately, Wilyer Abreu had eyes on throwing out the runner tagging up from second and made a horrible throw that allowed one run to score and put the tying run on third. Paul Goldschmidt then hit a little chopper to tie the game. Chapman looked fine, even while losing a couple of strikes because the Red Sox were out of challenges. He’ll definitely get Monday off now, so Garrett Whitlock might get a save chance.

The one hit, a little liner from Caleb Durbin that dropped in front of the center fielder, unfortunately followed a walk and an Oswaldo Cabrera error in the fourth. Rodón did walk four batters in all and threw 96 pitches in five innings, so even after a quick fifth, he didn’t come back out for the sixth. He still hasn’t thrown more than six innings in any of his nine starts this year, but he also hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of them. He’ll take a 4-2 record and a 3.30 ERA into a home start against the Twins next weekend.

Durbin plated the game’s only two runs through eight innings with his single to center off Carlos Rodón in the fourth and then stole both second and third afterwards. He finishes the rather low-scoring four-game sweep of the Yankees having gone 6-for-15 with a homer and three RBI, and he’s up to nine steals in 12 attempts on the season.