Ketel Marte out of D-backs’ lineup with stiff back

Diaz hit a 425-foot homer off Grayson Rodriguez in his first at-bat and then added three singles afterwards for third career four-hit game. His last came almost exactly two years ago on July 30, 2024 against the Pirates. Diaz is batting .286 with four homers in his last 13 games. He hasn’t been playing quite enough lately to reemerge as an option in mixed leagues, but that could change if he stays hot.

Wesneski struck out four and gave up nine hard-hit balls, so this wasn’t a dominant effort. The Astros, though, had to be pretty pleased. Wesneski was quite efficient, throwing first-pitch strikes to 19 of 25 batters and getting 17 outs on 79 pitches. His sweeper, thrown slower and with more break than it had been previously, had a 43 percent CSW with no hard-hit balls the five times it was put into play. It’s possible the Astros could go away from Wesneski if they acquire a starter before the deadline, but the rotation doesn’t seem to be the team’s priority. He’ll likely face the Blue Jays next Tuesday.

Josh Hader had this one off after pitching the previous two days and four of the last five. Fortunately, though, Abreu is back in pretty good form now after his horrendous start to the year. He has a 2.20 ERA in 30 appearances since the beginning of June, though his 32/13 K/BB in 28 2/3 innings still isn’t quite reminiscent of how he performed the previous four years.

Rodriguez struck out six and left with a one-run lead, though that didn’t even survive the sixth. It’s his best outing in the four since he came off the IL and right there with his top performances in 10 tries on the season. Next up for Rodriguez will be his first start against his old friends in Baltimore. It’s doubtful he’ll offer any mixed-league value the rest of the way on an Angels team that’s bad and probably getting worse, but he’s showing enough to make the Taylor Ward trade look like a clear win. The Angels will have him under control through 2029, and he’ll make close to the minimum again next year.

This was an unbelievable baseball game. Tied 0-0 after nine, Pete Crow-Armstrong swatted a two-run home run in the top of the 10th to give the Cubs a commanding lead. Facing a sweep and swirling rumors about teammates being traded, the Cardinals rallied for three in the bottom of the inning with Herrera’s walk-off double landing the final blow. It was his second of two doubles – with the first being hit 111 mph – and saved the day. Herrera himself has been at the center of some recent rumors and hopes to get off the schneid after putting up a .545 OPS over his last 30 games.

May put together a solid start here while it was obvious that the Cardinals were trying to protect him. He got through his five scoreless innings, but didn’t face a single batter for a third time and was yanked at just 70 pitches. His fastball also trended down closer to 95 mph from his usual 97 in that fifth or final inning. To further defend that decision, May’s command was all over the place and he only forced three total swings-and-misses. In the end, May has faltered over the last month, was wild again here, and the Cardinals did well to quit while they were ahead. May is a trade candidate ahead of Monday’s deadline, so keep an eye out for where and when his next start is.

Crow-Armstrong came to the plate in the 10th inning with this game still tied at 0-0 and launched a 424 foot, 109 mph home run. He celebrated like he’d just won them the game and for a moment it felt like they had, until the Cardinals rallied for three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. Nevertheless, Crow-Armstrong is putting together a MVP-worthy campaign with 24 home runs, 26 stolen bases, and a .284/.382/.538 slash line on the season.

Boyd and Cardinals’ starter Dustin May traded zeroes in this pitcher’s duel that went to extra innings scoreless. Boyd was the better of the two though with his second straight seven inning start. In fact, he completed at least six innings in all five of his July outings and has put a long trip to the injured list through May and June behind him. His command wasn’t even great in this game, but his trusted changeup got him out of trouble when he needed a boost and he now has a 3.41 ERA through 66 innings on the season. Next up is a two-start week against the Dodgers and Royals.

Passan added that Detroit will begin to engage with interested teams in the next day or two. Skubal recorded his 1,000th career strikeout while punching out six and allowing three runs over 6 2/3 innings against the Orioles on Wednesday in what appears to be his final start in a Tigers uniform. The back-to-back Cy Young Award winner left the game with Detroit ahead 7-0, but they still wound up losing to drop four and a half games out of the final AL Wild Card spot. The general consensus, according to Passan, is that the Dodgers and Brewers are the clear frontrunners in the Skubal sweepstakes since they have the volume of prospects and big-league talent to facilitate a deal. Every contending team in baseball should be reaching out to try to land Skubal.

This was a box score gem when in reality, Twins’ fans were pulling their hair out watching it. Dobnak let up 11 hard-hit balls and only four turned into hits. To be fair, most of them were hit on the ground as he did an excellent job of keeping his sinker, sweeper, and changeup down. It’s been a great five-game run for Dobnak in his return to the bigs with just three earned runs across 26 innings, just gear up for some regression.