Dean Kremer settles down after leadoff homer

He took Kyle Backhus deep in the ninth inning to extend a 5-1 lead, on a breaking ball that he just nudged over the left-field fence in Citizen’s Bank Park. Gonzales just keeps hitting -- he’s batting .322 in his last 30 games -- and while he isn’t generating a ton of speed, he’s got four homers over that span to go along with 22 runs scored and 16 RBI. Gonzales remains a fringe starter in most leagues, but if he’s going to hit this well going forward there are going to be fantasy teams he can help.

Valdez’s single up the middle in the first got the Pirates on the board, and his triple scooted under Justin Crawford’s glove in center and pinballed around, staking the Pirates to a 2-1 lead in the fifth. He added a sacrifice fly later in the contest. His expected batting average so far is just .258 -- so his .316 average will likely come down a bit -- but the power is absolutely real and has given him some real fantasy value so far.

Harper slashed an opposite-field burner past Bryan Reynolds in left field to get the Phillies on the board in the third inning -- it would be the only run they’d score today against the Jared Jones/Carmen Mlodzinski piggyback. Harper’s bounced back strong from his 2025 season with a .274 average, 20 homers, and five stolen bases in his first 88 games of the season.

Jones was pulled at 73 pitches in a tie game, so Don Kelly does not care about our wins column. Jones allowed just three hard-hit balls and touched 100 with his fastball, while he generated 11 whiffs on 31 swings. The lone run scored on an RBI double by Bryce Harper. Everything looks good under the hood for Jones to be a dynamite pitcher down the stretch in fantasy leagues, but it’s hard to trust him on this current pitch count. He’ll draw the Braves in his final start before the All-Star break next week.

The Pirates went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Rangel actually had pretty decent secondary stuff, as both his slider and changeup drew 38 percent whiff rates, so he wound up giving up just five hard-hit balls. Rangel lowered his ERA to 3.38 with this outing but isn’t pitching deep enough into games to be a real threat for wins. He’s not a recommended start next week against the Reds in Cincinnati.

The 25-year-old will likely remain in the organization and try to generate a second chance in the bigs this year after giving up five runs in two innings in June.

Barlow carried a 6.48 ERA and 1.35 WHIP across 33 1/3 innings with the Athletics this year. The Royals pen has been rough enough that we suppose anything is on the table eventually for Barlow, but the 33-year-old wouldn’t seem to have an easy path to a roster spot just yet.

Núñez is in the middle stages of his comeback from Tommy John surgery. He was shut down last July and doesn’t figure to rejoin the Mets until the latter two months of the season, assuming his rehab goes well.

After sending Connelly Early to the IL, the Red Sox won’t need a fifth starter until July 11, so this may only wind up being a one-game trial for whoever gets the elevation. Tracy said the team would choose either Sandoval or Brayan Bello. That said, the context of Sandoval nearing the end of his 30-day rehab window for players on the IL sure makes it seem like Sandoval will be the first choice if he escapes his Saturday start feeling well.

Jeffers is reportedly getting close to a rehab assignment. His return will be one to monitor even in shallow leagues, as Jeffers was hitting .295/.408/.541 before going down with the injury in late May.