Fletcher exercises opt out, becomes free agent

Astros’ fans and fantasy managers can breathe a sigh of relief. Peña was hit on the knuckles of both his pinkie and ring finger on his left hand with a 96-mph fastball from Gerrit Cole. While he’s dealing with a bit of swelling and soreness, he shouldn’t require any sort of extended absence from the lineup. He’s considered day-to-day.

The 32-year-old backstop has appeared in 43 games at the Triple-A level for the Tigers this season, slashing .236/.317/.368 with three homers and 10 RBI. He’ll add quality catching depth for the Red Sox.

Chourio led off the game by lining the first pitch Sean Manaea threw for a leadoff single. He then raced around to score the game’s first run on an RBI single by Andrew Vaughn. The 22-year-old outfielder then clubbed a 389-foot (104.2-mph EV) two-run shot on a first-pitch fastball in the second that extended the Brewers’ lead to 4-0. He also started the fifth inning with a single, swiped second base and scored on a ground out off the bat of William Contreras. Chourio finished his glorious night with a 380-foot (102.8-mph EV) two-run shot off of Xzavion Curry in the eighth that capped off the scoring in the game. He’s now slashing a healthy .283/.345/.477 with 19 homers, 54 RBI and 14 stolen bases in 447 plate appearances on the year.

Ortiz led off the sixth inning with a triple off of left-hander Sean Manaea then scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Cooper Pratt. He also singled in the ballgame. The 28-year-old infielder is having a solid, if unspectacular season at the plate, slashing .250/.316/.382 with seven homers, 38 RBI and nine stolen bases across 336 plate appearances.

Vaughn got the scoring started in the ballgame with an RBI single off of Sean Manaea in the first inning, giving the Brewers an early lead that they’d never relinquish. The 28-year-old has been swinging an extremely hot bat as of late and is now slashing a robust .310/.399/.452 on the season with five homers and 38 RBI in his 288 plate appearances.

Misiorowski punched out six batters on the night while issuing a pair of walks. All of the damage done against him came in the fifth inning as Jared Young smacked an RBI double and scored on an RBI single off the bat of Christopher Morel. The 24-year-old right-hander generated 12 swings and misses on 89 pitches in the ballgame — half of those on his fastball — while posting a CSW of 26 percent. Now 14-5 on the season, he’ll carry a pristine 1.73 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and a 222/35 K/BB ratio (151 innings) into Wednesday’s divisional showdown against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

The versatile 27-year-old served as the Mets’ designated hitter in this one. He delivered a run-scoring single off of Jacob Misiorowski in the fifth inning that pulled the Mets to within three runs at 5-2, that would be as close as they would get though. For the season, he’s slashing a pitiful .167/.235/.205 with zero homers and two RBI in 85 plate appearances between the Mets and Marlins.

Manaea struck out three batters during the uneven performance while issuing one base on balls. The Brewers jumped on him early in this one, scoring twice in the first inning and adding another pair in the second on a two-run blast by Jackson Chourio. They tacked on additional runs in the fifth and sixth while chasing Manaea. The 34-year-old southpaw got seven swings and misses on 95 pitches on the evening, posting a CSW of 24 percent. He’ll look to bounce back and improve upon his 4.55 ERA and 1.32 WHIP when he does battle against the Rays in Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

Caglianone singled in the first inning and was left stranded. He then smacked a two-run single in the second that extended the Royals’ early lead to 4-0. The 23-year-old slugger added an RBI single in the sixth and rode home on Vinnie Pasquantino’s two-run shot. He then doubled in the eighth and scored on an RBI single by Pasquantino before crushing a 409-foot two-run shot of his own off of Myles Straw in the ninth inning. With the monstrous performance, he’s now hitting an impressive .282/.332/.500 with 23 homers and 66 RBI on the season.

The 23-year-old backstop started the game with a bang, crushing the second pitch thrown by Spencer Arrighetti for a 421-foot (107.5-mph EV) solo shot. He then walked in the sixth inning and scored on a run-scoring single off the bat of Jac Caglianone. Jensen is now hitting .224/.310/.410 to go along with 18 homers, 59 RBI and two stolen bases over 497 plate appearances on the season.