Gusto back up with the Marlins

After retiring the side in order in the first inning, Miles got knocked around by the White Sox in the second inning. Three straight hits to start the inning, followed by a fielder’s choice by Braden Montgomery that drove in Andrew Benintendi, put the White Sox up 2-0, and a two-run homer by Sam Antonacci a few batters later extended their lead to 5-0. It was only the fourth start of the season for Miles, who got the nod as the opener coming out of the All-Star break, but this was his worst outing of the season regardless of when he entered the game. He’ll likely be moved back to the bullpen rather than start another game next week.

Kay kept the Jays off the board for the first two innings of this one, but saw his first earned run come across to score in the third inning on a fielder’s choice by George Springer. In the fourth inning, Kay would allow a solo homer to Luis Urías in the second inning and left the game to start the fifth inning while holding onto a 5-2 lead. The lone run he allowed in the third inning was a sign of good fortune, as Kay allowed four batters to reach base in the frame, but the Jays were unable to capitalize with runners in scoring position. Kay’s next start is scheduled for Wednesday against the Rangers.

On a quiet night for both offenses, Muncy’s homer was the difference in this game. He stepped up to the plate with the Dodgers down 1-0 in the seventh against Gerrit Cole and Mookie Betts on first base. It took a seven-pitch battle, but Cole eventually hung a slider and Muncy sent it a long way over the right field fence. That was his 18th home run of the season to go along with an .853 OPS in an excellent season so far for the left-handed slugger.

It took Scott just 11 pitches to dispatch the Yankees and earn the save here. His fastball was a tick harder than average and he made it look easy. He’s now converted nine of 10 save opportunities since the start of June and has performed like one of the best closers in the league. Just keep an eye on Edwin Díaz who’s currently out on a rehab assignment and will likely siphon off some save chances from Scott upon returning.

This was a very encouraging start to the second half for Sasaki. First off, he was pumping gas. His fastball averaged a shade over 100 mph and in total, he threw 21 pitches in triple digits and topped out at 102 mph. In his career to date before this start, he’d never topped 101 mph and had only thrown 15 pitches at or above 100 mph. His command was also much better than usual. There were a few more fastballs that caught corners and his splitter was consistently diving low and below the plate. Similarly, his slider was abnormally lethal. When Sasaki has his whole repertoire working like he did here, he’s a scary pitcher. The problem is that when something goes wrong, he struggles to get over that hump. That’s how he’s wound up with a 4.98 ERA through 86 2/3 innings on the season with this kind of stuff. The roller coaster will continue next Friday against the Mets.

Domínguez was solely responsible for the Yankees only run against Roki Sasaki and the Dodgers’ bullpen in this one. He smoked a double to right-center in the fourth inning that Andy Pages bobbled, which let Domínguez get to third. Then, Dalton Rushing let a forkball clank off his glove and Domínguez scampered home on the pass ball. He’s played everyday for a month straight and has four home runs and six stolen bases despite a lowly .679 OPS over his last 30 games.

For six innings, it seemed as if Cole was going to start the second half with a statement. It took him just 90 pitches to get through those six innings and he was in complete control throughout. Then, he walked Mookie Betts to start the seventh and missed with a few fastballs during that at-bat which he wasn’t missing with earlier. Max Muncy came up next and launched a two-run homer after a seven-pitch battle that sullied Cole’s outing and put him in line for the loss. There’s still a ton to be positive about after this start, like Cole’s thirteen total swings-and-misses with his fastball, slider, changeup, and curve each forcing multiple. It just sullied his outing when manager Aaron Boone tried to push him through that seventh inning. He’s scheduled to face the Pirates at home next time out and it’s likely he pitches better than his 3.93 ERA from this point forward.

Quantrill pitched himself out of a tough situation in the first inning when he got Mauricio Dubón to fly out with runners on second and third to end the frame. He was less fortunate in the second inning, as the Braves slapped four singles and drove in two runs to give them an early 2-0 lead, and by the fourth inning, the Braves had increased their lead to 6-0 thanks to homers by Drake Baldwin and Matt Olson. Quantril would make it out of the frame but was pulled to begin the fifth inning, bringing an end to his worst start of the season. He only allowed one free pass, but the six runs and 11 hits he surrendered were both season-highs. Hopefully, this is just a one-off for a pitcher who entered the day with a 3.11 ERA. His next start is scheduled for Wednesday against the White Sox.

Baldwin got the scoring going for the Braves in the second inning when he singled to drive home Dominic Smith to put his team up 1-0. He would break things open for the Braves in the fourth inning when he blasted a three-run homer off of Cal Quantrill to give the Braves a 5-0 lead, and drove in one more run in the fifth inning to cap a stellar performance. Baldwin is now sitting on 16 homers for the season and is well on pace to crush his rookie total of 19.

It was business as usual for Sale, who allowed just two baserunners on the evening in a game where his offense gave him an early 6-0 lead that proved to be more than enough for him to pick up the win. Sale needed only 89 pitches to get through seven innings and was pitching on somewhat extended rest after his last start was shortened by a two-hour rain delay in St. Louis. He has allowed three earned runs or fewer in every game this season and will make his next start on Wednesday at home against the Padres.