Braves to skip Bryce Elder’s next start on Friday

Tawa is going to be getting more time at first base with Pavin Smith off the roster, and while we’re not sure that’ll work out particularly well for the Diamondbacks, he was certainly helpful tonight. The homer was his second in 90 plate appearances this season. The 27-year-old is batting .187/.279/.307 at the moment and .197/.275/.336 in 315 plate appearances since debuting with Arizona last year.

Rodriguez struck out five and walked one, making for one of his better K/BBs of the year. He’s actually had just one start this season with more than four more strikeouts than walks, yet that was in one of his three losses; he struck out six and walked none while giving up three runs in 5 1/3 innings versus the Rockies at Coors Field back in May. With the win, the first-time All-Star closes out the first half 8-3 with a 2.29 ERA.

Pages immediately followed Shohei Ohtani’s leadoff homer in the first with a second solo shot. It was his 17th homer of the year, though just his second in a month, and his 65th RBI, which is tied for eighth in the majors.

Of course he did. It was one of those pretty much only he can hit, too, as he took a fastball low and a few inches inside from Eduardo Rodriguez and somehow sent it out of the opposite field. He also had a 370-foot flyout in the fifth. Ohtani has 21 homers this season. Unfortunately, with Ohtani unable to take the mound tonight, seven Dodgers relievers combined to five up nine runs in 9-3 loss.

Bogaerts gave the Padres an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when he sent a fastball from Shane Bieber 422 feet into deep left-center for his ninth homer of the season. Bogaerts had a chance to be the hero with two outs in the ninth inning when he stepped to the plate with runners on first and second. Unfortunately, a softly hit grounder to third ended the Padres’ hopes of a comeback. Friday marked the first homer of the month for Bogaerts, who continues to struggle at the plate. It’s still early in the month, but after a down June that saw him slash .211/.355/.237, the veteran shortstop has followed that up with a .152/.222/.303 line this month.

Sears was gifted a two-run lead in the first inning thanks to a homer by Xander Bogaerts, but in the fifth inning, he turned that lead back over to the Blue Jays. Sears allowed two of the first three batters he faced in the inning to reach base and was relieved by Jhony Brito, who immediately gave up an RBI single to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who drove in Myles Straw to tie the game at 2-2. In the next at-bat, Brito would allow a three-run homer to Kazuma Okamoto, putting the Blue Jays up 5-2, with two of those four runs charged to Sears. During his brief stint in the Padres’ rotation, Sears has allowed three earned runs or fewer in three of his four starts. For now, we assume he’ll remain in the rotation after the All-Star Break.

Varland had to work to pick up his 19th save of the season on Friday. After retiring the first two batters he faced, the righty allowed three straight hits, with the third being an RBI single by Jackson Merrill that drove in Luis Campusano to cut the Jays’ lead to 5-3. Varland would get Xander Bogaerts to ground out to end the threat, but the three hits he allowed are the most he has given up in any game this season. It wasn’t a pretty outing, but we’ll assume this is a one-off for Varland, whose ERA on the season now sits at 1.10 after being charged with the lone earned run.

Okamoto came up big for the Blue Jays in the top of the fifth inning, blasting a three-run homer off Padres starter J.P. Sears to put his team up 5-2. It was the 22nd homer of the season for Okamoto, who has now homered in two-straight games and in three of his last four. The rookie slugger also upped his RBI total to 62 on the season, as he continues to string together a solid first half before the All-Star Break.

Bieber got off to a rough start in this one. After walking the second batter he faced on the night, the righty then gave up a two-run homer to Xander Bogaerts to immediately put his team down 2-0. He would settle in after that, scattering just four hits and one walk over his next 3 2/3 innings of work before being pulled with two outs in the fifth inning to give the Blue Jays the left-on-left matchup with Gavin Sheets coming to the plate. Despite the rough start, it was a relatively solid outing for Bieber, who needed a bounce-back after allowing seven earned runs in his previous start. Bieber is still rounding into form after missing nearly three months due to injury. He’s allowed two earned runs in two of his four starts this season and should be poised for a strong second half of the season.

Meant to be tired after the Red Sox’s travel woes between Thursday and Friday, Gray lulled the Mets to sleep here. He didn’t have anything close to his best swing-and-miss stuff and only forced two whiffs, but showed great command of his sinker and used it to wriggle out of a few jams with some timely double plays. After this excellent start, he’ll close the first half with a 2.54 ERA, 85 strikeouts, and 24 walks across 95 2/3 innings. That is the lowest ERA by a qualified pitcher that did not make either All-Star team.