Luis García Jr. homers twice, plates five in win

The 27-year-old hurler will take the place of the injured Carlos Rodon in the Yankees’ rotation for the time being. Beck sports a 3.07 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and a 91/28 K/BB ratio over 88 innings in 16 starts at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on the season. He could be worth a look as a streaming option in deeper mixed leagues on Saturday.

The Yankees needed to clear a spot on their roster for Brendan Beck to start on Saturday, and with Trent Grisham back from the injured list Jones became expendable. The dynamic 25-year-old hit .233/.317/.370 with two homers, seven RBI, one stolen base and a 34/9 K/BB ratio over 82 plate appearances during his time with the Bombers.

In a game that featured a nearly two-hour-long rain delay and an extra frame to decide the winner, Watson finally sent fans home happy in the bottom of the 10th inning when he slapped an RBI single up the middle to drive in Steven Kwan for the game-winning run. Watson came on as a pinch hitter for David Fry in the bottom of the eighth inning and is slashing a respectable .271/.300/.396 over his first 15 big league games.

Williams was solid in this one, keeping the White Sox off the board through the first four innings. In the top of the fifth inning, however, he ran into a bit of trouble. Williams allowed singles to the first two batters he faced in the frame, but retired the next two on a sacrifice fly and a fielder’s choice. With runners on first and third and two outs, Williams nearly escaped the frame, but a three-run homer by Miguel Vargas broke things open for the White Sox in the inning and gave them a 3-1 lead. The game would then go into a rain delay shortly after Vargas’ homer, which ended Williams’ night. He’s now allowed three earned runs or fewer in each of his last three starts and is next scheduled to toe the rubber on Thursday against the Twins.

Vargas blasted a three-run homer off Guardians starter Gavin Williams in the fifth inning to give the White Sox a 3-1 lead. It was the 20th homer of the season for Vargas, who continues to put together a career year as he’s now sitting on 20 homers and 54 RBI with just over a week to go before the MLB All-Star break.

Kay’s solid start was cut short by a rain delay in the top of the fifth inning that ended up forcing both starters from the game by the time play resumed. The lefty was putting together a nice outing before the delay, allowing just three batters to reach base, with the lone hit he allowed coming on an RBI single by Travis Bazzana. Kay has faced the Guardians in two of his last three starts and has allowed just one earned run over 10 innings pitched to his division rival. He’ll look to build on this outing in his next start, which is scheduled for Thursday at home against the Red Sox.

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.