Clay Holmes (fibula) to throw bullpen this week

Chaparro was unable to continue after being hit in the head by a pitch in the loss. While he doesn’t appear to have a concussion, Chaparro should still be considered day-to-day as the Nationals wills take precaution with a head injury.

Scherzer struck out five and walked one, throwing 69 percent of his pitches for strikes and posting an 11 percent swinging-strike rate. The 42-year-old averaged 93.3 mph on his four-seam fastball and missed plenty of bats with his slider. This Cardinals offense has been reeling, so we don’t want to put too much stock in this, but it was a nice start for Scherzer, who has lowered his season ERA to 7.92 in 30 2/3 innings. He’ll face the Phillies, Red Sox, and Rays in his next three starts and should probably be left on waiver wires.

Skubal will make his debut with Los Angeles against one of the teams that will be competing with the Dodgers for the National League pennant. Fantasy managers were going to have the 29-year-old ace in their lineup, anyway, but it’s nice that they won’t have to wait too long to see him back on the bump.

Rojas suffered an ankle injury against the Red Sox on Saturday, and already underwent X-rays which came up negative. Consider Rojas day-to-day.

The story from Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon suggests that Stowers and Hicks are more likely that Otto Lopez or Xavier Edwards to get traded prior to Monday’s deadline. With his strikeout rate up to 32 percent, Stowers is hitting .237/.322/.465 this season, a big drop from last year’s .288/.368/.544 line. Still, he generates excellent bat speed with a rather short swing, and he’s currently making the minimum while not being eligible for free agency until after 2029.

Rodriguez was in the original lineup and then scratched, with led to some trade speculation, but his absence is due to issues with the left thumb he had surgery on back in May. Today’s game was supposed to be the fifth on his rehab assignment before rejoining Triple-A St. Paul.

Nothing has changed in the prognosis for the 33-year-old southpaw, who is currently shelved with a moderate flexor tendon strain, this was done as a procedural move to free up a spot on the Giants’ 40-man roster for the addition of Buddy Kennedy on Sunday. The Giants have yet to provide a clear timeline for Gage’s return.

Contreras was pulled from Friday’s game after being hit in the back of the helmet by a pitch and was then held out of Saturday’s lineup as a precautionary measure. He’s right back in there at first base on Sunday night and will bat cleanup against Dodgers’ right-hander Emmet Sheehan.

García was scratched from the Nationals’ lineup on Sunday, presumably as the two sides were getting deeper into discussions. Sherman also notes that Yankees’ Double-A starter Jack Cebert has been included prominently in those discussions. Stay tuned, as when there’s this much smoke, there’s usually fire.

Chaparro was hit by the pitch with the bases loaded in the fourth inning, bringing in the Nationals’ first run. He remained in the game to run the bases for himself and manned his position in the field during the home half of the fourth inning but was ultimately replaced when the Nats took the field in the fifth. He’ll likely have to pass through the concussion protocol before he’s cleared to return.