Hunter Goodman (hand) remains out Wednesday

Griffin allowed five hits, lowering his ERA to 2.77. The lefty has been a strike-throwing machine in his return to the majors, though his peripherals suggest he hasn’t been quite as good as the surface numbers indicate. Still, it’s been an incredible first half for fantasy managers who scooped him up early. He has now allowed one run or less in six consecutive starts. This was his final outing before the All-Star break. A difficult matchup awaits after the midsummer classic if Griffin winds up pitching in Sacramento.

García became just the fourth National since the team moved to Washington in 2005 to hit 11+ homers in 18 games. He’s been sensational lately, and the Nats now have three hitters with 20 homers, tied with the White Sox for the MLB lead. The lefty-swinging first baseman regularly bats second against righties, cementing a strong lineup position for one of the highest-scoring offenses in the league.

Arrighetti walked six, struck out two, and allowed two homers in the ugly performance. It isn’t a surprise given it came on the road against one of the highest-scoring lineups in MLB, but he has scuffled badly lately. He now has an 8.74 ERA over his past seven starts. This was his final outing of the first half. The Astros host the Orioles coming out of the All-Star break.

Abrams’ 20th homer of the year ties a career high, a mark he’ll likely blow past given we haven’t even reached the All-Star break. Washington now has three hitters with 20 homers, tied with the White Sox for the most in the majors. The star shortstop also has 67 RBI this season, tying Yordan Alvarez for the third-most in MLB.

Ewing set the tone as the lead-off hitter in this one with a 420 foot shot on the third pitch of the game. It was nice to see him lay off two fastballs outside the zone before unleashing a huge swing for his second home run in as many days. He’s also now hit five homers in the last two weeks and two of those were hit at least 420 feet. That’s not too bad for a player who’s still just 21 years old and was meant to not have much power. He’s officially been installed as the Mets’ lead-off hitter against right-handed pitching and now has seven home runs, nine stolen bases, and a .279 batting average since being called-up in mid-May.

Scott provided some quality innings for a Mets team that desperately needed it after allowing 45 runs in their last four games. His fastball and sweeper were electric as usual, forcing eight of his 10 total swings-and-misses while working mostly to right-handed batters. It’s also worth noting how comfortable he was with his cutter against left-handed batters. A bit of a problem spot for him this season, he crowded them with it, got a handful of called strikes, and forced soft contact every time it was put into play. He’s thrown it at least 20% of the time to lefties in four straight outings and its 35% usage rate in this game was his highest since May 1st. He’ll close a solid first half with a 3.17 ERA, 65 strikeouts, and 26 walks across 54 innings.

Caglianone laced a 113 mph double here as he prepares for next week’s Home Run Derby and sent another ball to the warning track in his next at-bat. It’s been nice to watch him break out over his last 30 games with eight home runs and an .887 OPS. Overall, he has 13 home runs and a .257/.321/.455 slash line with a few games left in the first half.

Dobnak put together an old-school start working the edges with his sinker and deep array of secondary pitches to keep the Mets off the board here. Mets’ announcer Keith Hernandez was particularly impressed by a 10-pitch battle with Juan Soto in the fifth inning where Dobnak easily could’ve walked him with two outs and nobody on, but kept going after him and eventually forced a pop up. He’s now put together consecutive quality outings and it’s nice to see him back in the big leagues.

Melton allowed four hits and one walk. His nine Ks were a career high, as he’s been excellent since returning from an elbow issue earlier this season. He now has a 22:2 K/BB over his past three starts, and he’s allowed more than two earned runs in just one of his eight outings on the year. Melton likely won’t carry an ERA this low for long, but he’s a must-start fantasy option heading into the second half.

Springs struck out four, raising his ERA to 6.08. The lefty has now given up five or more runs in five of his past six starts. He wasn’t great in his first season with the A’s last year, but his performance lately has been much worse. The A’s host the Nationals coming out of the All-Star break. That makes Springs an easy sit for any deep-league managers desperate enough to consider him.