Foster Griffin holds Pirates to one run in win

He will not stop. After his six-game home run streak was snapped on Thursday, he may have started another one here with his 25th home run on the season. This now makes it 10 homers in 10 games for the 22-year-old phenom just one day shy of his 23rd birthday. The ‘must watch’ label isn’t thrown around too often in baseball, but Caminero with his prodigious power, infectious energy, and demonstrative celebrations is absolutely a must watch player right now.

Baker keeps on rolling. It took him just 12 pitches to dispatch the Astros here and he pushed his ERA down to 1.83 in what’s been a breakout season. He trails only Cade Smith in saves and hasn’t blown a chance since May 13th. That’s a tier-one closer.

Martinez cruised through five scoreless innings before his third battle with Yordan Alvarez. In his first two at-bats, it took Martinez seven pitches to retire him. That third time, Alvarez homered on the fifth pitch he saw, a sinker that missed its spot and wound up belt high. Then, Isaac Paredes reached on an infield single and Martinez was pulled at just 85 pitches. That means that nearly one quarter of all the pitches Martinez threw in this game were to Alvarez. That’s baseball at its best. No other hitter gave him trouble and he left the game with a 2.61 ERA through 100 innings this season. He’ll close out his first half with a start against the Yankees at home.

Alvarez was quite literally the extent of the Astros’ offense here. His solo home run accounted for their only run and one of their three total hits. That was his 27th home run and 61st RBI of the season as he further positions himself for a triple crown pursuit in the second half. Also, it didn’t show up in the box score, but had a 118.5 mph groundout in the eighth inning. That was the hardest hit ball of his impressive career.

Michael King allowed Mookie Betts and Max Muncy to reach to start the seventh in a 3-0 game, resulting in Morejon’s entrance. Jake Cronenworth then botched a potential double play, loading the bases with no outs, and Hernández hit the next pitch 419 feet. Hernández has started four out of five games since coming off the IL and gone 3-for-16 with a couple of walks. The slam tonight was his first since 2024 and sixth of his career.

Scott struck out Samad Taylor on nine pitches, Miguel Andujar on three and Fernando Tatis Jr. on six. In his last eight appearances, he’s allowed three hits, walked none and fanned 13 over eight scoreless innings. The Dodgers did need him to finish up Thursday as well, so he’ll probably be unavailable Saturday. Edgardo Henriquez has also worked back-to-back days, so perhaps Alex Vesia could wind up with a save.

This was the fourth time in Arrighetti’s last five starts where he wasn’t super curveball dependent. It was also just the fifth time in 14 starts this season where he threw more fastballs than curves. That usage pattern wasn’t consistent here though. After throwing it sparingly the first time around the order – and almost exclusively trying to land it in the zone early for strikes – he went to it more heavily the second time around and was more hunting for whiffs. It helped him be more efficient, but he missed fewer bats and was pulled after just 73 pitches before he had to see Junior Caminero and Jonathan Aranda for a third time. Funny enough, Caminero homered in the seventh off a reliever. Still, Arrighetti pitched well and left this outing with a 3.81 ERA, 79 strikeouts, and 38 walks through 78 innings this season. He’ll close out his first half with a start against the Nationals next week.

King had a 3-0 lead after six, but he then walked Mookie Betts and gave up a single to Max Muncy to open the seventh. He was pulled in favor of Adrian Morejon at this point, and Morejon went on to give up a grand slam to Teoscar Hernández. It was the first runs allowed by Morejon in a month and the first homer he’s given up since May 3. At least it still qualified as a bounce-back outing for King. Throwing a little harder than usual, he allowed just three hard-hit balls and finished with a 32 percent CSW. King will next pitch at home against the Braves on Wednesday.

Merrill hit a 423-foot homer off a 99.5-mph Shohei Ohtani fastball in the fourth inning tonight. Merrill’s OPS has held very steady in the .600-.620 range for a couple of months, but he’s actually been worse than ever from an xwOBA standpoint of late. Maybe things are turning around now, but it’s going to take more than two games to make anyone believe it.

The triple was a liner in front of Jose Siri in center that should have been caught or turned into a single at worst. Instead, it skipped past him and went all of the way to the wall. Both RBI came on a single through the right side of the infield an inning later. Gonzalez has started four of five games since coming off the IL, though three of those have come versus lefties. If he plays regularly against righties, he could have some mixed-league value, but that both Caleb Durbin and Anthony Seigler are swinging it well could limit Gonzalez’s at-bats somewhat. He probably will have a little runway when Willson Contreras serves his suspension.