Hurston Waldrep to start Thursday vs. Cardinals

The homer was his 13th, so power production hasn’t really been his issue. However, Duran came into this one hitless in his previous four games. It was his first multihit game since June 16 and his first time reaching base safely three times in a game since May 30. His OBP is sitting at .259, compared to .346, .342 and .332 the previous three years.

Chapman gave up a solo shot to Zach Neto while pitching with a three-run lead. He struck out two of the other three batters he faced. Chapman, who was picked for his ninth All-Star team on Saturday, has a 2.36 ERA and a 35/12 K/BB through 26 2/3 innings.

Johnson gave up a two-run homer in the second and a three-run blast in the third, but the runs from the latter were all unearned after a Zach Neto error extended the inning. It brings Johnson’s total of homers allowed to eight in 28 1/3 innings this season and 12 in 43 innings total as a major leaguer. He’s definitely throwing better now than he has at any other point since debuting with the Angels, but he remains far away from contributing in fantasy leagues. He’ll likely face the Twins on Saturday.

Contreras’s 20th homer came in his 86th game of the season. Last year, he hit 20 in 135 games for the Cardinals. He’s now just four shy of his career high from 2019, when he hit 24 in 105 games for the Cubs. Unfortunately, this might be Contreras’s last action for a bit. MLB is expected to hand down a decision on his appeal of a seven-game suspension on Monday. Even if it’s dropped to six games, that’d still put him out until after the break.

Neto hit the first homer allowed by Aroldis Chapman this season, sending a 96.5-mph fastball 396 feet to left. It was his 19th homer, which is second behind Colson Montgomery at 23 among those who primarily play shortstop. He’s hit nine in his last 27 games.

None of Adell’s hits left the bat at over 84 mph, but he managed a couple of liners that dropped in front of infielders and a groundball single. Adell had been in a 1-for-21 slump that dropped his average to .239.

One imagines Suarez will be placed on the IL prior to Tuesday’s game. Even if this is minor, a 15-day IL stint would cost him just one start next weekend and allow him to return the fifth day after the All-Star break.

Machado was intentionally walked with two on and two out in the fifth, after which Jack Dreyer got Gavin Sheets to ground out. He came up again with two on in the seventh, but this time there was a righty in the game, no base open and one out. He was pitched to, and he homered just over the wall in center on an 0-2 middle-middle fastball from Kyle Hurt. It was Machado’s fourth homer in eight games and sixth in 14 games.

Sears gave up six hard-hit balls but just one hit, which was a single from Miguel Rojas in the fifth. He also threw first-pitch strikes to only eight of 17 batters. Still, he was very successful, obviously. The victory makes him 2-1 with a 4.70 ERA in his three starts for the Padres this year. He’ll probably stay in the rotation for now and face the Blue Jays next weekend.

Miller got one strikeout tonight, which was actually his first in three appearances. He averaged 102.1 mph with his 10 fastballs. Miller has pitched on back-to-back days now, so he might be iffy for Monday. The Padres did use him three straight days once back in April.