Reds option down Ivan Johnson

Eldridge should be back in time for the start of a series against the D-backs on Thursday. Shay Whitcomb or Nate Furman could be called up to help fill in until then.

Triples are easier to come by in Arizona than other parks, but it’s still pretty impressive that Vargas now has five of them in 375 at-bats at the age of 36. The veteran infielder has put together easily his best season of his career with an OPS of .714 and an RBI total of 65 that doubles any previous campaign.

Brandyn Garcia was given the first crack at the save, but after Garcia gave up a single and another runner reached via error, the Diamondbacks turned to Ginkel to get the final out, and he did just that. It’s just the second save for Ginkel, and it’s probably one of the last.

The boxscore here is a little misleading, at least in terms of how well Abbott pitched for most of the game. He blanked the D-backs for the first five innings, and gave up just a sac fly in the sixth. Unfortunately, the seventh was a disaster that saw Abbott charged for three runs without getting an out. The line is what the line is, but this was more encouraging than you might think if you just saw the stats. He’ll face the Cubs next weekend and take a 4.15 ERA into that outing.

Bratt looked like he was going to pick up a loss Sunday, but the Diamondbacks were able to score five unanswered to prevent that from happening. Another mediocre — at best — outing wasn’t prevented, however, and that’s the second straight outing that Bratt has gone three innings and given up as many runs. He has a friendly matchup on paper next weekend against the Giants, but he’s pretty hard to trust in redraft leagues right now.

Lee was responsible for the only run for the Twins as Minnesota was swept by San Diego over the weekend. The 25-year-old is now up to 21 homers on the season with 69 RBI and a relatively-solid .735 OPS.

A monster game for Tatis, who also singled twice and drove in four runs in the blowout victory. After struggling — struggling is an understatement — to get the power going, the 27-year-old now has 17 homers on the season, and nine of those have come in August. The steal was his 29th, and Tatis now has an OPS of .814 on the year. These are all impressive numbers, but more impressive when you remember his scuffles to begin 2026.

Buehler has now gone three-straight outings with six innings, and appears to be getting hot at the right time. The right-hander allowed just a solo homer to Brooks Lee, and outside of that was outstanding while limiting Minnesota to four hits and whiffing four without issuing a walk. Because Buehler no longer has elite stuff there’s as much risk as there is reward when being used, but it wouldn’t be crazy to ride the hot hand when he faces the Rays in Tampa Bay next weekend.

Ober did his job. The Twins’ bullpen did not, giving up seven runs after he exited the game. His only blemish in run prevention was a solo homer from Fernando Tatis Jr. — one of two that Tatis hit in the game — and he gave up just three singles outside of that roundtripper. Ober will take a 4.49 ERA on the year into a scheduled start next weekend against the White Sox.

The homer gives Crow-Armstrong 33 on the season, and nine of those have come in his torrid August. The 24-year-old MVP candidate also singled and walked while scoring a second run. A remarkable season for Crow-Armstrong that has shown that 2025 wasn’t just not a fluke, but a mere appetizer of what he’s capable of.