Wilyer Abreu hits two homers against to lead BoSox

De La Cruz got the scoring started with a solo homer off of Luis Castillo in the first inning. He later drew a walk in the eighth and was thrown out at home. The 24-year-old shortstop is hitting .280/.354/.509 with 17 homers, 55 runs scored, 46 RBI, and 15 steals across 362 plate appearances.

Rodríguez was left out of the starting lineup after exiting Monday’s game against Cincinnati with a leg injury. So, it was an excellent sign when he came off the bench as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning before taking over in center field. It was an even better sign when he took Julian Garcia deep for a solo homer to lead off the eighth inning. The 25-year-old outfielder is up to 15 homers, 48 runs scored, 43 RBI, and 12 steals while hitting .258/.321/.426 across 393 plate appearances.

Pagán was summoned in the bottom of the ninth to close out the game against the Mariners with a two-run lead. He tossed a scoreless inning, striking out the final batter to lock down his eighth save with a 5.89 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, and 19 strikeouts over 18 1/3 innings.

Making his first start since signing a seven-year, $105 million deal with the Reds, Burns shut the Mariners down over five scoreless frames. He scattered three hits and two walks while striking out six batters. The 23-year-old right-hander ends the day with a 2.42 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and a 124/39 K/BB ratio across 107 2/3 innings. He’ll take on the Guardians in Cincinnati on Monday.

Castillo served up a leadoff homer to Elly De La Cruz in the first inning. After two scoreless frames, Eugenio Suárez got to him for a solo shot in the fourth. The Reds added a third run on a walk, single, and sacrifice fly in the fifth. Castillo would give the Mariners two more scoreless innings, ending with a quality start. He struck out three. The 33-year-old right-hander will take a 4.85 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, and an 84/30 K/BB ratio across 94 2/3 innings into a start against the Dodgers in Los Angeles next week.

Muncy’s 421-foot homer was his 19th of the year and 228th as a Dodger. That ties him with Ron Cey for fifth place on the franchise’s all-time list. Next up is Roy Campanella at 242. Duke Snider (389), Gil Hodges (361) and Eric Karros (270) make up the top three.

Wrobleski has turned in five quality starts and gone 5-0 in his last seven outings. He might wear down as he enters uncharted territory in terms of workload, but he’s just crushing it right now, and as much as his strikeout race has increased, there’s no writing it off as a fluke. He’ll face the Mariners next week.

Scott had no problems getting the final two outs in the eighth, but he allowed a leadoff single to Justin Crawford and then a one-out double to J.T. Realmuto in the ninth, putting runners at second and third. Brandon Marsh then hit a grounder to third. Crawford hesitated at third and eventually took off before getting caught in a rundown. That should have been the end of it, but Realmuto decided to retreat from third to second towards the end of the rundown and was thrown out to end the game. It was one of the worst baserunning calls all of the season, and it was hard not to wonder if Realmuto getting jarred by a foul tip earlier in the game might have had something to do with his decision making. Thanks to the abrupt ending, Scott threw just 18 pitches to get his five outs. He should be good to go again on Wednesday.

Max Muncy’s two-run homer in the fourth doomed Wheeler in another otherwise exceptional performance. It’s just Wheeler’s second loss to go along with 10 wins this year. The Phillies are 13-3 when he pitches, and Wheeler has a 3.32 ERA in the three losses. He’ll make his next start Monday versus the Marlins.

Bohm is 7-for-21 with a homer and three RBI in five games to start the second half. He’ll probably break the .230-average, .650-OPS barrier at some point here, but it’s been rough sledding so far. He definitely will need to step it up in order to avoid taking a pay cut as a free agent this winter; he’s making $10.2 million right now, but no one is going to want to pay him that much this winter unless he rakes for a couple of months.