Edward Cabrera has moderate hamstring strain

The Astros stormed back with an eight-run sixth inning here after an early five-run deficit. Smith had the biggest hit in that inning with a two-run shot off reliever Bryan Hudson to give Houston their first lead of the contest. It was his 13th home run of the season and came as he was mired in a brutal 1-for-28 slump heading into this game and had been riding the bench since last Sunday seemingly to clear his head. The tools remain loud though and Smith remains the type of player who you could catch lightning in a bottle with.

Things looked great for Antonacci and the White Sox early in this one. He singled to start the game, stole second base, and came around a few batters later as part of a three-run first inning. Eventually, they opened up a 5-0 lead before letting up nine unanswered runs from the sixth inning on to let this game slip away. Regardless, Antonacci continues to be productive. That stolen base was his 14th on the season as that mark continues to climb and he was also hit by his 19th pitch, second-most in the league. In all, he has a .281 batting average and .373 on-base percentage as a perfect spark-plug out of the lead-off spot.

Martin breezed through the first five innings here and it seemed like he was on his way to putting his recent cold stretch behind him. Then, he lost it in the sixth inning. Starting the frame with just 75 pitches and having allowed only four base runners to that point, he gave up three hits, hit a batter, was pulled, and all of the runners reliever Bryan Hudson inherited came around to score. Martin threw a first-pitch ball to all four batters that inning and only threw a first-pitch strike to seven of the 23 batters he faced in this game. His star is fading fast with a 5.82 ERA since June 1st and it’s difficult to trust him moving forward. Next up is a meeting with the Yankees at home.

Lopez had a bit of a funny game here. The Twins sent up a lineup of nine right-handed hitters to face-off with the lefty, which is never an easy task. His five scoreless innings were great as were his 14 swings-and-misses, just one off his season-high that he set last time out. On the flip side, he barely threw one-third of his pitches in the strike zone and relied on some poor swing decisions to get in and out of at-bats. Otherwise, he walked four and hit another batter in what could politely be described as an erratic night for his slider. Still, it’s easy to see the flashes that have made him effective in the past and it’s not hard to see him putting together a solid stretch run this season. He’s scheduled to face the Red Sox at home next time out.

Soderstrom was the only person to drive home a run with a hit in this game as the Athletics outlasted the Twins 2-0 and scored their other run via a sacrifice fly. He’s quietly had another strong season with 16 home runs, 49 RBI, a .248 batting average, and .819 OPS in 91 games. His play has been especially strong lately with eight homers and a .964 OPS over his last 30 games as he’s put an ice cold start to his season far in the rear view mirror.

The Twins were blanked by Jacob Lopez and the Athletics’ bullpen here, but Lewis showed off his speed by stealing two bases. He’s now 9-for-9 as a base stealer this season with three in his last two games and six since returning from a short stint at Triple-A in early June. He’s also enjoyed a serious uptick in bat speed since coming back up and has seven home runs in 39 games.

Matthews got off to an incredible start in this game by facing the minimum 12 batters over the first four innings. Then, he labored through both the fifth and sixth and was fortunate to escape both of those jams with just one run scored in each. He did not miss many bats and struggled to locate most of his pitches, but did see a nearly two mile per hour velocity bump across the board. Still, he’s not a trustworthy option with a 5.21 ERA, 59 strikeouts, and 24 walks through 76 innings this season. He’s scheduled to face the Mariners in Seattle next time out.

Latz allowed a one-out double to Colt Emerson, but that would be the only baserunner he would allow in the inning. Emerson would eventually come around to score on a wild pitch, giving Latz his first earned run since June 25th, but the lefty still managed to secure the save. He is now a perfect 13-for-13 in save opportunities since June.

Canzone came up big in the fifth inning when he doubled off MacKenzie Gore to drive in Randy Arozarena and Colt Emerson to tie the game at 3-3. Canzone’s double marked just his third extra-base hit of the month, as the lefty has found himself in a bit of a slump this month. While we don’t expect him to consistently be the player who hit .314 in June with six homers, there’s room to improve on his current .200/.279/.327 line for this month.

Burger blasted his 18th homer of the season off Bryce Miller in the fourth inning to put the Rangers up 3-1, and singled in the sixth inning to drive home Brandon Nimmo for his third RBI on the night. He’s only slashing .175/.224/.381 this month, but Burger’s power makes him capable of big nights like this even if he is in a slump. He’s hit safely in five of his last six games, so hopefully he’s on the verge of digging himself out of this hole.