Shota Imanaga strikes out eight in loss to Cards

Jump was bad from, well, the jump; allowing a homer in the first and two more runs in the second. He gave up three more in the third, and to say he didn’t match the effort of Eury Pérez — who threw seven perfect innings — is quite the understatement. Jump has struggled in his last two outings while allowing 11 runs, and will try and rebound from those disappointing efforts against the White Sox in Chicago this weekend.

Well, this one won’t be controversial at all. The Marlins made the decision to pull Pérez at 92 pitches despite those seven perfect frames. The decision — from a baseball perspective, at least — almost immediately backfired, as Lake Bacher had the opposite of a perfect game while giving up five runs without getting an out. The controversy aside, Pérez was sensational; striking out eight and allowing just three baseball that registered as hard contact. Assuming all is ok, he’ll be back on the bump against the Guardians over the weekend.

Bauers’ homer off left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez made it 2-1 in the seventh, and the Brewers added one more later in the inning before holding on to win. Bauers got the nod over Blake Perkins today, starting against a lefty for the 13th time in 29 chances this year. His 16 homers, 51 runs scored and 54 RBI are all career highs, though he still has fewer plate appearances this season (314) than he did in 2018 (388), 2019 (423) and 2024 (346). His .861 OPS is nearly 200 points better than his career mark of .672 from 2018-25.

Nothing came easy for Sproat today. He threw at least 19 pitches in all four of his innings, totaling 92 in all, while giving up five hits and walking three. It’s the eighth time in 15 starts that Sproat has failed to last five innings, though he did complete five in four of five starts while going 2-0 in June. His stuff and his strikeout rate have ticked up a bit as the season has gone along, and he’s pretty intriguing in fantasy leagues right now even with all of the quick hooks. He’ll face the Pirates in his final start of the first half.

Megill turned in his 12th consecutive scoreless appearance. Abner Uribe has remained very good as well, but Megill just isn’t opening the door for the Brewers to switch closers again.

Rodriguez kept the Brewers scoreless until a giving up a single and a homer to Jake Bauers to begin the seventh, ending his day at 102 pitches. One inning earlier, he gave up a 423-foot double to Jackson Chourio that likely would have been a homer in 29 ballparks. Other than that, Rodriguez was quite good, even though his velocity was down a tad. He struck out just three, but then, he’s averaging only four strikeouts per start on the season. He walked none for a second straight outing, which is nice from a guy who had a 10 percent walk rate previously. Rodriguez was named to his first All-Star team on Saturday. His peripherals suggest that he’s due to regress, but he’s 7-3 with a 2.25 ERA right now. He’ll likely face the Dodgers on Friday.