Slumping Drake Baldwin hits fifth versus righty

Bachar allowed two hits and one walk while filling in for Paul Skenes, who was pushed back to Wednesday. This was Bachar’s fifth start of the season, with the other four coming as a bulk opener for the Marlins before he was dealt ahead of the deadline.

Montgomery needed just 11 pitches to retire the side, striking out two. He now has 41 strikeouts in his last 19 2/3 innings, a stretch in which he has allowed four earned runs. Pittsburgh made several notable bullpen additions at the trade deadline, but the club hasn’t had many save opportunities lately. Montgomery has three of the team’s five saves in the second half, including each of the past two. His strikeout potential gives him the highest fantasy upside if the Pirates hand him the majority of ninth-inning chances.

Sandoval struck out six and walked three as his ERA ballooned to 4.76. This was only his seventh start since returning from a multi-year absence due to elbow surgery. It was also the second straight in which his velocity was down. Brayan Bello has thrown well out of the bullpen lately, which could put pressure on Sandoval to pitch well enough to stick in the rotation. His next start lines up at home against the Giants.

Reynolds got the scoring started in the first inning, driving in Esmerlyn Valdez with a double before coming around to score on a Brandon Lowe hit. The Pirates went on to total nine hits against Boston starter Patrick Sandoval and took the series after dropping their previous seven. The 31-year-old has had a strong campaign, but he’s scuffled a bit in the second half. A big series against the Red Sox has helped get his numbers back on track.

Valdez doubled in the first inning and came around to score when Bryan Reynolds followed with a double of his own. He doubled again in the third, this time scoring on a Brandon Lowe groundout. The 22-year-old was off to an electric start in his big league career, but he has slumped in August with a strikeout rate pushing 40%. The slump coincides with a stretch in which the entire Pittsburgh lineup has struggled to produce. Valdez will ultimately be a streaky hitter with big power and big swing-and-miss.

Devers also hit a double. The homer was his 25th of the season in his first full year with the Giants, and it gave San Francisco a 5-4 lead. It wasn’t close to enough as the Rockies scored another nine in a blowout win. Devers now has 69 RBI on the season, and has an outside shot of reaching 100 for the fifth time in his career.

Sullivan took advantage of a start with Hunter Goodman (shoulder) out of the lineup again, and he made the most of it with a three-run homer off Keaton Winn. The 32-year-old has homered seven times as the backup backstop, and he’s driven 26 runs over 53 games.

Amador also drew three walks on a day where the Rockies were able to compile a whopping 10 of them. It’s the first MLB homer of the season for Amador in his second game of the season, and just his second in 53 career games. Amador is not long removed from being a top prospect and is still just 23 until next April, but obviously fantasy managers should remain skeptical until he can do this on a more consistent basis.

That makes back-to-back starts that Hughes has given up seven runs. The right-hander allowed six hits, a walk and struck out a pair in another ineffective outing for the former first-round selection. It doesn’t help that Hughes has to pitch in Coors Field, but his 7.80 ERA away from Colorado tells the story. He faces the Guardians at home Saturday.

Tidwell, 25, allowed only three hits, but he walked five and only whiffed a single hitter in an ugly outing for the right-hander. He had walked just four hitters in his previous four appearances, so this appears to just be a one-off of bad control for Tidwell. He’ll get a chance to rebound in Boston next weekend.