Brandon Sproat lifted after four against D-backs

Yelich got the Brewers on the board with an RBI double in the third inning that helped set up a three-run inning against Pirates’ starter Paul Skenes. He chipped in a stolen base too, his fourth in 15 games since the All-Star break. His bat has been ice cold since then with a .646 OPS, so it’s nice to see him contribute in other ways and hopefully get himself off the schneid.

It took Megill just 12 pitches to breeze through this ninth inning and earn the save. Of those 12 pitches, 11 were fastballs and they averaged just a shade under 99 mph as he overwhelmed the heart of the Pirates’ order. After a rocky start to the season, he’s converted 12 consecutive save opportunities and has only allowed one earned run over his last 21 outings.

Rodríguez was the Pirates’ offense in this one. His two-run shot in the seventh accounted for their only two runs and came one inning after they snapped a stretch where nine consecutive batters struck out. As for Rodríguez, he’s now homered in consecutive games and has gone 9-for-30 with two home runs and four stolen bases in eight games since coming off the injured list.

Once again, Skenes was simply not sharp here. His command was a mess as he walked four batters for the second straight start. Those woes were most apparent with his fastball. He simply could not find the zone with it and missed too many of his spots by a wide margin. In turn, he threw his second-lowest rate of fastballs in any start this season. Yet, it was only the second time over the last two months where that pitch’s average velocity stretched back above 97 mph. It was also his first time in 10 starts where he threw multiple pitches above 98 mph. Is his arm tired? Are his mechanics out of whack because he’s trying to reach back and find more velocity? We simply don’t know, but this is more than just a poor stretch now. Skenes has a 6.14 ERA over his last seven starts and the Pirates are an unthinkable 3-12 in his last 15. He’s scheduled for a two-start week coming up against the Marlins and Pirates as he desperately tries to get back on track.

Cameron was simply masterful here. He mixed his changeup, slider, fastball, cutter, and curveball nearly evenly and all five of those pitches forced multiple swings-and-misses. His slider was especially lethal with seven whiffs of its own as he located beautifully running inside on right-handed batters. With that pitch and his cutter brushing righties back, changeups falling away from them on the outside, curveballs attacking their back foot, and elevated fastballs forcing them to respect the heat you could see how beautifully Cameron’s different pitches play off each other when everything’s clicking. And things are clicking lately as Cameron has allowed just one run over his last three starts spanning 23 innings with 24 strikeouts and six walks. He has a tall task up next though heading to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers before taking on the Angels in the second leg of a two-start week.

There were some long at-bats, but Cruz managed to work a clean ninth inning for his third save of the season. All three of those saves have come in the last two weeks and he seems to have unseated Alex Lange for closing duties in Kansas City. Cruz seems up for the task with a 100 mph fastball and cutter that has some serious bite to it.

Massey delivered the big blow in this game with a solo home run in the seventh inning off newly acquired Twins reliever A.J. Minter to break a 1-1 tie. That was enough to push the Royals to a victory and put starter Noah Cameron in position for a well deserved win. The left-handed Massey doesn’t get many chances against left-handed pitchers, but made the most of this one with his ninth home run of the season.

The Twins could only muster two hits in this game as Royals’ starter Noah Cameron tossed an eight inning gem and Jeffers accounted for exactly half of them. He also had the two hardest hit balls Cameron allowed and seemed to be the only guy who consistently got good swings off against him. Since coming off the injured list, he has a .259 batting average and three home runs in 16 games as he tries to regain his first half form.

Kremer was solid in his Twins debut. He drastically pushed up the usage of his four-seam fastball and kept it elevated consistently. That usage especially spiked against left-handed batters where he threw it 54% of the time against them here compared to 27% while he was with the Orioles. That came while he almost completely trashed his curveball and sinker against them. We like that decision for the sinker and also spiked a few curveballs early and floated one in late, so this could have been more about feel than a conscious adjustment. Still, he was effective and is scheduled for a two-start week against the Orioles and Phillies coming up with both starts at home.

Kevin Ginkel lost the shutout bid in the ninth, but this was still a rout. It’s Bratt’s first major league victory. He was 0-1 with a 5.23 ERA and a 12/15 K/BB in five starts before this gem. We wouldn’t trust him based on this outing alone, but he does have an awfully favorable matchup Monday against the Rockies. The risk there in weekly leagues is that he’ll also probably face the Braves in Atlanta next Sunday.