Nationals claim Justin Lawrence off waivers

Griffin was a bit fortunate to allow just the one run, as he gave up eight hits and a walk in the contest, and he didn’t miss a ton of bats as seen in just two strikeouts. Still, it’s another effective outing for the 30-year-old in his breakout campaign, and it improves his record to a deserved 11-2. Griffin is currently the subject of trade rumors — it’s worth noting that he’s signed to just a one-year contract right now — but for now, he’s set to face the Diamondbacks on Sunday.

Lopez wasn’t terrible, but not good enough to qualify for a win. The left-hander gave up a run on a fielder’s choice in the third, and a double from Harry Ford in the fourth. He was able to strike out six against two walks in what was one of his better starts of the year, which is more insult than compliment. Lopez still has a 6.64 ERA on the season and will try and build on effort over the weekend against the Twins.

Abrams also drew a walk. The 25-year-old budding star has homered 21 times in 2026, and the double was his 19th. He’s also driven in 70 RBI over the Nationals’ first 100 games, and there’s a real shot he’ll reach triple digits for the first time in his young career. There’s been some suggestion the Nationals could move Abrams in a blockbuster package, but it seems more likely he’ll continue to contribute in all five categories as a member of the Nats for the foreseeable future.

Crews also drew a walk and scored a second run. The homer is the seventh for the former second-overall pick, and it improves his slash to .210/.279/.355 over 50 games and 186 at-bats. Crews can’t be trusted in redraft leagues, but there have been just enough good moments to suggest he can be a fantasy regular in the coming campaigns.

King gets the boot after giving up a run in the loss to the Orioles on Sunday. The Astros will announce who will replace King in the bullpen before Monday’s game against the Marlins.

Nuñez continues to pile up the steals, and the pair today give him 37 on the season with five of those coming in the month of July. They unfortunately come with a slash of .246/.330/.293, so unfortunately Nuñez is very much a one-category player. That one category does keep him on the radar, at least.

The Padres scored 11 times in the final two innings, with the last six runs coming off position player Tyler Tolbert in the ninth. France’s slam came off Lucas Erceg in the eighth. It was his second career slam. He’d been without one in 78 career plate appearances with the bases loaded coming into the season, but he’s had two in 11 chances this year. He also now has three two-homer games this year after racking up just two in his first seven seasons. He mostly just started against lefties initially, but it’s now been a month since he was left out of the Padres’ lineup as a healthy scratch. He’s batting .275/.335/.537 in 243 plate appearances.

It was hardly his fault, as Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts messed up on consecutive groundballs, but Márquez left with the bases loaded and none out in the fourth, only for Yuki Matsui to come in and get a strikeout and a double play afterwards. Márquez allowed five hits, walked two and struck out two before being lifted. He’s held it together with a 4.20 ERA in four starts this month, but he’s completed five innings just once and has an ugly 11/10 K/BB in 15 innings. He doesn’t seem like a lock to get a start next weekend against the Marlins.

Instead of giving Vásquez a start against the Braves this week, the Padres decided to have him piggyback with Germán Márquez today. Vásquez definitely put together the better performance of the two, so maybe he’ll start next time through, assuming that he isn’t needed in relief again before then.

At least that’s better than the 12 runs the Royals gave up in four innings after Cameron departed. Cameron, who fanned 16 over 12 innings in his final two starts of the first half, struck out just one of the 26 batters he faced today. He’s given up at least five runs and taken a loss in four of his last five starts, leaving him 5-8 with a 5.27 ERA this season. Still, his rotation spot is most likely safe. He’ll face the Tigers next weekend.