Ryan Helsley dealing with elbow discomfort

The 25-year-old shortstop was held out of Wednesday’s lineup due to left knee discomfort. He appears to be doing much better after Thursday’s off-day though and is back in there at shortstop and batting fifth for the O’s against Blue Jays’ righty Max Scherzer.

The home run was a two-run shot off Khristian Curtis in the fourth. Bregman had seven homers and 11 doubles in 84 games through the end of June. He has 18 homers and 19 doubles in 61 games since.

Imanaga is back to even at 10-10 after allowing five hits, walking two and striking out four today. Bryan Reynolds homered off him in the sixth. Imanaga’s one start next week will come at home against the Braves, making him a middling play in mixed leagues.

The Pirates lost 12-2, but at least they got through the game using only three pitchers in what was supposed to be a Braxton Ashcraft start. After Dotel departed, Khristian Curtis gave up six runs in three innings and then Antwone Kelly allowed three runs in three innings. At least one and maybe two of today’s pitchers will likely be swapped out for fresh arms on Saturday.

Suzuki’s triple, his first of the year, came on a fly to deep right that saw Billy Cook struggle with the wind. Suzuki has four three-hit games and three games with three runs scored in his last 14 games, and he’s sitting at .270/.369/.480 for the season. That .849 OPS would ever so slightly best his previous high MLB marks of .848 from 2024 and .842 from 2023.

If all goes well in his next outing, it sounds like the Dodgers will be ready to activate the 32-year-old hurler off of the injured list. What remains to be seen is if he is thrust right back into a high-leverage role in the Dodgers’ bullpen or if they’ll gradually ease him back into it.

The 24-year-old right-hander has been shelved since late August due to a blister on his right middle finger. he faced live hitters in a simulated game on Wednesday though and it sounds like he’s ready to return. Before landing on the injured list, Sasaki had posted a 4.60 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and a 117/48 K/BB ratio over 119 1/3 innings in 23 starts for the Dodgers.

Dodgers’ skipper Dave Roberts told reporters that after a long travel day on Thursday, the club wanted to give him an extra day of rest to ensure that his right knee was feeling better. He is tentatively expected to return to the lineup on Saturday.

This doesn’t come as a major surprise as Buxton was always expected to require the procedure, though the Twins were holding out hope that he could return and contribute at some point down the stretch. The details of the procedure are not yet known, but Buxton should have plenty of time to recover before the start of the 2027 campaign.

The 29-year-old slugger has shouldered a heavy workload this season, so getting him a day off against tough right-hander Drew Rasmussen isn’t the worst idea in the world. Alvarez is just 7-for-33 (.212) in the month of September and has hit just three home runs over his last 38 games. He also had a minor injury scare with his ankle on Thursday, so it’s possible that played into the decision as well. Jose Altuve will function as the team’s designated hitter while Nick Allen starts at second base and will bat ninth for the Astros.