Gunnar Henderson crushes 18th home run in win

Tucker homered off Nolan McLean in the third and made a bid for another in the fourth, hitting a 361-foot fly that was caught in left field. Both were barrels, so he now has 19 of them and nine homers for the season. He still hasn’t gotten hot at any point, but that his strikeout rate is down this month can’t be bad news; he’s fanned just eight times in 69 plate appearances while hitting .250/.333/.383 in July.

Yamamoto allowed five hits, walked three and struck out five in earning his 11th victory. It was his 15th quality start, which is tied with Sandy Alcantara for most in the majors. He’ll face the Red Sox for the first time next weekend.

Tanner Scott came in during the eighth for what looked like it might be a five-out save. However, the Dodgers instead decided to go to Stewart in the ninth, probably because Scott also threw 16 pitches last night. Stewart got through the inning easily, striking out Francisco Lindor and Carson Benge while also getting Bo Bichette to ground out. His previous saves came with the Dodgers in 2017 and the Twins in 2023. The oft-injured Stewart has a 2.03 ERA in his 13 appearances when he’s been able to pitch this season.

McLean struck out seven and generated 16 whiffs on 40 swings. The unearned runs came in the third after a Brett Baty error, with a Francsico Alvarez passed ball also hurting the cause. However, McLean could have spared himself the unearned runs had he gotten to first just a little quicker on a potential 3-6-1 double play. He did make a good effort, but he was a tad slow to get off the mound at the start of the play. McLean dropped to 7-7 with a 3.32 ERA. He’ll face the Marlins on Thursday.

Unless Early is damaged goods — and he obviously currently is on the IL with elbow inflammation — this seems like a pretty weak return for the Red Sox. Mead has broken out nicely with a .256/.351/.505 line this year, but not with the kind of exit velocity numbers that suggest he’s going to be an above average regular going forward, especially given his lack of defensive value. The Red Sox figure to use him a lot at DH for now and then mix him at third and first if Roman Anthony gets healthy and the outfield gets overcrowded again. Masataka Yoshida will lose at-bats in Boston. The Nationals will recall Brady House to replace Mead, according to Spencer Nusbaum.

Montgomery finished his at-bat in the ninth despite again getting himself in the same area of the shin that cost him Tuesday’s game. “It was just above where it got him the other day, so pretty sore,” manager Will Venable said. “Obviously was able to finish that at-bat. He’ll get treatment and see where we’re at tomorrow.”

Gómez tossed a perfect ninth inning, recording a strikeout and his 13th save of the season in the process. He lowered his ERA to 3.40. Gómez remains perfect in save opportunities this year and has helped stabilize the ninth inning for Minnesota.

Barnett gave up four hits, walked one and struck out two. The 25-year-old had been starting exclusively at Triple-A, but the Athletics opted to have him follow an opener against the Twins on Saturday. Barnett came in during the third inning. He was able to hold the Twins off the scoreboard until the sixth inning when a two-out two-run Alan Roden single accounted for the only runs in the game. Barnett is lined up to face the Red Sox at home next Thursday.

Rojas gave up one hit, walked one and struck out five. Mike Parades was scratched with a left oblique strain that he suffered while warming up in the bullpen. Rojas stepped in and provided four scoreless innings in spot duty. It was his fourth start and 10th appearance overall this season. Rojas has a 2.81 ERA as a swingman for the Twins.