Pete Fairbanks awful again in ninth vs. A’s

It appears to be nothing more than a routine night off for the 27-year-old slugger. Josh Lowe will slide over to cover right field while Wade Meckler starts in left and will bat seventh against Rangers’ veteran right-hander Nathan Eovaldi.

The Brewers continue to mix in plenty of off days for their 34-year-old slugger to make sure that he stays healthy for the duration of the season. Jake Bauers will serve as the designated hitter in his place on Thursday while Andrew Vaughn draws a start at first base and will bat sixth against Cardinals’ right-hander Andre Pallante.

The good news is that the All-Star backstop is not dealing with any fractures after being struck on the hand by a foul tip during Wednesday’s game. The Tigers did add an extra catcher to the roster on Thursday to help add depth behind the plate, but Dingler wasn’t placed on the injured list which is very encouraging. He’s considered day-to-day.

The A’s appear to be easing Soderstrom back into action in his return from the injured list, so he’ll take a seat against Tigers’ southpaw Framber Valdez on Thursday evening in Motown. Nick Kurtz will function as the club’s designated hitter on Thursday while Jonah Heim draws a start at first base and will bat cleanup for the A’s.

The 26-year-old hurler was torched for six runs with two outs in the ninth inning on Tuesday against the Phillies and he appears to have injured more than his ERA in the process. He’ll miss at least a week on both sides of the All-Star break as he recovers from the side issue. A corresponding move will be made prior to Friday’s contest.

The Red Sox still probably shouldn’t have given up Kyle Harrison for him, but Durbin has essentially the same WAR (2.1 entering the day) and OPS (.684) as Alex Bregman (2.2 and .681, respectively). Durbin has nine homers, six of which have come in his last 20 games. He’s also swiped five bags during those 20 games. It’s not assured that he’ll last as mixed-league option during the second half, but he’s certainly worth playing right now.

Sandoval got through four scoreless before giving up a single to Luisangel Acuña to start the fifth. Drew Romo tried to bunt him over afterwards, only to pop it up foul for an out. Acuña went on to advance to second on a wild pitch and steal third while Sandoval was walking Chase Meridoth. Sandoval was pulled at that point, and Acuña went on to score on a swinging bunt. Sandoval struck out five and walked just the one. He averaged a rather stunning 94.3 mph with his fastball. That’s an improvement on his career-best 93.7 mph from 2024, before he hurt his elbow, and a big step forward from the 92.8 mph he averaged in six outings in Triple-A. If he keeps that up, he could be at least a streaming option in mixed leagues. There’s a good chance we’ll see him again in the series against the Rays after the break.

What a find Guerrero has been for Boston. In his first MLB action since 2019, he has a 2.45 ERA and a 23/2 K/BB in 18 1/3 innings since being called up in late May. The walk rate is simply astounding. Guerrero has always had a great arm, but he couldn’t establish himself in the majors previously because of control issues. He improved there during his time in Japan, but even so, he still walked nine percent of the batters he faced for Chiba Lotte last year. Right now, he’s at three percent. Guerrero is 35, but if he keeps throwing strikes, he could well help the Red Sox beyond 2026.

Braden Montgomery nearly had a hit on a fly to left-center, but Ceddanne Rafaela ran it down and made a diving catch. Chapman threw just nine pitches, eight of them strikes. After a shaky June in which he was dealing with a hamstring issues, he’s 3-for-3 saving games this month.

The runs scored on a Caleb Durbin homer in the fourth. Kay got into trouble in the second, hitting the first batter of the inning and then, on a soft grounder to the first baseman, getting to the base just a tad too late to retire Connor Wong. At that point, though, the Red Sox opted to bunt for some reason. Anthony Seigler got down the sacrifice, but Boston failed to score from there. Kay dropped to 6-4 with a 4.23 ERA. The White Sox are surely still pleased with his first half, but his 17.6 percent strikeout rate, combined with average-ish walk and groundball rates, doesn’t bode particularly well for the second half.