Astros to start Cristian Javier against Rangers

Wetherholt, who really ought to have gone to the All-Star Game as a rookie, homered off Merrill Kelly in the fifth and also singled during a ninth-inning rally in which the Cardinals scored the go-ahead run on an Iván Herrera sac fly. He has 14 homers on the season, and he leads all rookies with 59 runs scored.

Pitching on eight days’ rest, McGreevy averaged 92.7 mph with his fastball, matching his season high. He still gave up 11 hard-hit balls, including a homer to Tim Tawa and a 420-foot double to Gabriel Moreno that would have been out of 25 ballparks, but he walked just one and never gave up a hit with a runner in scoring position. It’s his 13th quality start in 19 tries this season, but after another no-decision, he still has just a 4-7 record to show for it. He’ll face the Angels on Wednesday.

O’Brien walked Nolan Arenado to open the bottom of the ninth, only to pick off pinch-runner Jorge Barrosa afterwards. He later gave up a double to Tim Tawa with two outs, but it proved harmless. It goes as O’Brien’s eighth straight scoreless appearance.

The two runs in the first came after a Ketel Marte error, making them unearned. Kelly struck out three and walked two on the night. He gave up 10 hard-hit balls but only four hits. It’s just the second time in 17 starts this year that he hasn’t been involved in the decision. He remains 7-8 with a 5.20 ERA ahead of a start next week against the A’s.

The rally started because Sewald couldn’t handle a little grounder right back to him, resulting a single. He went on to walk a batter, give up another single and surrender a go-ahead sac fly before being lifted. The hook came after only 17 pitches, so he should be available to close Saturday if a save situation arises. He fell to 2-5 tonight, but he’s still 22-for-23 in his save chances.

Jason Foley and Caleb Kilian finished up with hitless frames. Roupp recorded just two strikeouts and five whiffs on 44 swings, but aside from Luke Raley’s 400-foot flyout in the second, he gave up little loud contact. After going 0-7 between May and June, Roupp has opened July with consecutive wins, allowing just one run over 15 innings in the process. He has a favorable matchup in Kansas City next week.

Miller left a splitter up to Bryce Eldridge in the fifth, and Eldridge drilled it out to center for a two-run homer. The unearned run came after he exited in the sixth, an inning that featured an error by Colt Emerson before Miller departed and an error by Cole Young afterwards. Even though he was on seven days’ rest, Miller’s velocity was again down tonight; he averaged 95.1 mph, matching his season low from his final start before the break. 95.1 mph was also his career average through the end of 2025, so it doesn’t spell doom. Still, there’s less reason for excitement now than when he was averaging 96.4 mph in his first nine outings. Miller will likely make his next start Friday against the Rangers.

Adames’ shot to right center in the seventh inning was the first homer allowed by Nick Davila in 20 1/3 innings since he debuted in May. It’s his seventh career grand slam. He’s driven in nine runs in 11 games this month.

Not only did Cavanaugh stick around over veteran Eric Haase with Daniel Susac coming off the IL today, but he got the start over Susac to open the second half. The 24-year-old is hitting .265/.390/.265 in 42 plate appearances since joining the Giants on June 26. He’ll probably spend the rest of the year dueling with Susac for playing time

Emerson is 3-for-28 with no extra-base hits and 13 strikeouts this month, dropping his OPS from .749 to .658. That’s still not a disaster, but Statcast thought he was awfully lucky during his first six weeks in the majors, and he has one of the league’s lowest xwOBAs since arriving. With Brendan Donovan on the way back, it’s possible Emerson could be in line for additional Triple-A time at some point.