MacKenzie Gore strikes out seven in win Saturday

The Dodgers still want Smith getting plenty of rest after his long IL stint with a neck injury. He’ll get two days off with the off day Thursday and then play two out of three this weekend.

Kent was only on the roster for Tuesday’s game, when he pitched two scoreless innings against the Padres.

Flores had four hard-hit balls tonight, including a barrel that turned into a flyout. His ability to help the Pirates as a catcher remains in question, but his bat is pretty potent. He’s hitting .243/.318/.525 in 110 plate appearances.

The Pirates led 5-0 after one and 7-0 after two, and Chandler did an unusually nice job staying around the zone afterwards, walking none and allowing only four hits. It’s the first time in 28 starts this year that he’s gone without walking a batter. The win makes him 7-9 with a 4.25 ERA. He’s slated to face the Cubs on Sunday.

Pitching on six days’ rest did Burke no good. The average ball in play against him tonight left the bat at 100.1 mph. Unfortunately, Burke’s stuff peaked in June and July, and he a 5.68 ERA in seven starts since the beginning of August. He’s due to make his next start Sunday against the Cardinals, but we’ll have to wait and see if that ends up happening. José Urquidy would be lined up to pitch then if the White Sox want to back off Burke.

Teel topped out at 113.7 mph in exit velocity as a rookie, but his previous high in 22 games during his injury-riddled sophomore year was just 108.2. He’s hitting .200 with four homers and 31 strikeouts through 82 plate appearances.

Murakami is still getting his homers and walks, but since returning from the injured list in June, he’s totaled 34 hits and 87 strikeouts in 52 games. If not for his absence, he’d probably be pushing the major league record of 223 strikeouts established by Mark Reynolds in 2009. He’s at 167 through 109 games. If he’d maintained that rate, he’d have recorded his 224th strikeout in his 147th game played.

Langford led off the second inning with a walk and stole second before scoring on a base hit. He then took Eduard Bazardo deep for a two-run homer in the fifth, his first home run since August 24. The 24-year-old outfielder came into this one hitless in four of his last five games. He’s slashing .245/.332/.442 with 16 homers, 57 runs scored, 38 RBI, and 12 steals across 401 plate appearances.

Montes put the Mariners on the board in the fourth inning with an absolute blast off Cal Quantrill for a three-run homer. It came off the bat at 116.1 mph and traveled a majestic 474 feet for his second career homer. The 21-year-old slugger is starting in a strong-side platoon and is worth streaming for power in deeper leagues against right-handed pitching.

Quantrill had gotten through three scoreless innings until Lazaro Montes tagged him for a three-run blast in the fourth. He’d recover with two more scoreless innings, ending his day after six with a quality start and in line for the win while collecting four strikeouts. The 31-year-old right-hander will take a 2.89 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, and a 77/25 K/BB ratio across 102 2/3 innings into a start against the Diamondbacks in Arizona on Sunday.