Braves send Connor Thomas back to minors

X-rays were negative. Waldschmidt made no reaction to pull back his bunt as a 100-mph sinker from Edgardo Henriquez got in on him and took the pitch off the hand. He should consider himself very fortunate not to have suffered a break.

Brayan Bello will remain in Triple-A for now. Rivera made his MLB debut in April, pitching 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief in his one appearance. He’s been working in relief in Triple-A, so he’ll likely throw only a couple of innings in his start. Brett Harris figures to be sent down.

Home-field advantage. In the top of the eighth, Michael Harris II hit a flyball to right that would have been a homer in 26 ballparks, only to see it caught by Jordan Walker. In the bottom of the inning, Crooks sent one to right-center that was a homer in 24 ballparks, and in this case, Busch was one of them. In the top of the ninth, Drake Baldwin hit a ball to center that was a homer in 12 ballparks, but again, it was an out in St. Louis. Crooks’ homer was his second in 66 plate appearances since being called up. Having fallen back behind Pedro Pages on the depth start, Crooks has started just one of the last nine games, leaving his roster spot in doubt heading into the second half.

Leahy allowed one hit, walked none and struck out two before the nearly three-hour delay. He ends the first half 7-4 with a 3.86 ERA and a 73/33 K/BB over 86 1/3 innings. He spent the previous three years pitching in relief, so in order to keep his workload in check, the Cardinals might return him to the pen down the stretch. He figures to remain a starter for at least the next several weeks, though.

O’Brien has bounced back with six scoreless innings in a row over the last couple of weeks. He posted a 6.88 ERA with 10 walks and four hit batters in 17 innings from the beginning of May through June 21.

The delay was two hours and 44 minutes, which was longer than the actual time of the game (two hours and 23 minutes). Sale was cruising before play was halted, striking out five and throwing 30 his 43 pitches for strikes. His next appearance should come in the All-Star Game. It’s his third All-Star nod as a Brave, but this is the first time he’ll be pitching (we assume).

Tawa is going to be getting more time at first base with Pavin Smith off the roster, and while we’re not sure that’ll work out particularly well for the Diamondbacks, he was certainly helpful tonight. The homer was his second in 90 plate appearances this season. The 27-year-old is batting .187/.279/.307 at the moment and .197/.275/.336 in 315 plate appearances since debuting with Arizona last year.

Rodriguez struck out five and walked one, making for one of his better K/BBs of the year. He’s actually had just one start this season with more than four more strikeouts than walks, yet that was in one of his three losses; he struck out six and walked none while giving up three runs in 5 1/3 innings versus the Rockies at Coors Field back in May. With the win, the first-time All-Star closes out the first half 8-3 with a 2.29 ERA.

Pages immediately followed Shohei Ohtani’s leadoff homer in the first with a second solo shot. It was his 17th homer of the year, though just his second in a month, and his 65th RBI, which is tied for eighth in the majors.

Of course he did. It was one of those pretty much only he can hit, too, as he took a fastball low and a few inches inside from Eduardo Rodriguez and somehow sent it out of the opposite field. He also had a 370-foot flyout in the fifth. Ohtani has 21 homers this season. Unfortunately, with Ohtani unable to take the mound tonight, seven Dodgers relievers combined to five up nine runs in 9-3 loss.