Brandon Lowe connects on 19th homer in victory

De La Cruz did what he could to try and get the Reds on the board, reaching base in three of five trips to the plate while also swiping second base twice. Despite his best efforts, the Reds just couldn’t get any runs across on a night where the Orioles combined to walk six batters while giving up just four hits. These are the first steals for Elly since May 31st, and should serve as yet another sign that he is good to go after last month’s injuries.

It’s the first save for Wells since the 2023 season. The righty was called on to shut the door on the Reds in the ninth inning after the team again lost Ryan Helsley (elbow) to the IL. We’ll see if the Orioles look to deploy Wells as the closer more frequently while Helsley is on the mend, but this could very well be a committee situation.

In his first game since returning from the paternity list, Bednar was sharp. He needed 17 pitches to get through his lone inning of work and retired all three batters he faced via strikeout. Bednar’s scoreless inning streak now sits at 15 innings, as he has not allowed a run since May 18th.

Clemens put the Twins on the board early on Friday when he sent a curveball from Gerrit Cole 423 feet into left-center to give his team a 1-0 lead. Clemens would later double in the fourth inning and came around to score on an RBI single by Victor Caratini. Clemens has now hit safely in three-straight games and in six of his last seven while smacking four homers over that span.

Paredes took the mound with a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but gave up a solo homer to Trent Grisham with two outs in the frame to draw things back to even. He would retire Austin Wells on the next at-bat to end the inning, and returned to pitch a scoreless second inning. After a brief rain delay, Paredes returned to toe the rubber in the third inning and was again taken deep. This time, it was Ben Rice who got the best of Paredes, as Rice’s two-run homer put the Yankees up 3-1. Paredes would make it through the fourth inning without giving up a run, but was pulled after throwing 81 pitches. He’ll be hard to trust in fantasy for his next start which is scheduled for Thursday against the Guardians.

Rice blasted his 24th homer of the season into the right-field stands in the third inning to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead. It was a much-needed bright spot for the slugger who is slashing a measly .175/.230/.386 over his last 15 games and has cooled off significantly after a blistering start to the season that saw him slashing .306/.397/.658 after May. He’s homered twice in his last two games and hit safely in each of his last three, so hopefully Rice is beginning to turn a corner and find his way out of this slump.

Cole retired the first two batters he faced on Friday, but gave up a solo homer to Kody Clemens with two outs in the first to give the Twins an early lead. He would later allow another run to come around and score in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Victor Caratini, but Cole was solid despite the brief four-inning appearance. The righty didn’t allow a walk all night and threw 71.8 percent of his pitches for strikes while striking out seven batters. He’ll draw a tough start next Wednesday on the road against the Rays.

As anticipated, the prized 23-year-old right-hander will be shelved until at least mid-August due to his shoulder issue. At that stage, it wouldn’t be surprising if it winds up costing him the majority of what’s left in the minor league season.

Reynolds hit his 12th homer of the season off Nationals starter Foster Griffin in the third inning to give the Pirates their first run of the night. Later, as the Pirates attempted to come back from an eight run deficit in the ninth inning against the Nationals bullpen, Reynolds would double to drive home Brandon Lowe from second to cut the Nats’ lead to 9-3. Reynolds has now hit safely in three-straight games and is slashing a respectable .288/.373/.475 over his last 15 games.

García put the Nationals on the board in the first inning on Friday when he sent a solo homer 410 feet into deep right-center off of Mitch Keller. He would homer again in the seventh inning, this time sending a two-run blast into the night sky at Nationals Park, pushing his team’s lead to 7-1 in a game that featured five homers by the Nats offense. García has been on some kind of tear as of late, slashing .396/.453/.1.021 overr his last 15 games with nine homers and 17 RBI.