Jackson Holliday delivers three RBI off the bench

Shelton added that Ryan is headed back to Minnesota due to back and glute issues, which puts his availability for Sunday’s start against the Brewers in obvious jeopardy. The ongoing physical issues, which are impacting his ability to repeat his delivery, certainly explain his recent struggles as he’s allowed a staggering 17 runs — 16 earned — over 15 1/3 innings across three starts since the All-Star break. There should be some much-needed clarity on his status and outlook later this week.

Freeman isn’t completely out of the woods, but it sounds like early indications are that he managed to avoid serious injury after being hit by a pitch, which led to his removal from Wednesday’s game against the Cubs. The 36-year-old veteran should benefit from an off-day before the Dodgers kick off a three-game series against the division-rival Diamondbacks on Friday.

The Astros might have pulled it out afterwards in the bottom of the 10th, but Yordan Alvarez, who slowed up thinking there wouldn’t be a play, was thrown out at second on his inning-opening RBI hit into the corner in right. Clement’s homer off Bennett Sousa was his first of the second half and ninth of the year. It was just his second hit in his last six games.

Taillon showed some extra velocity today, particularly on his secondary pitches; while his fastball was up 0.7 mph from his season average, he was 2.1 mph higher with his cutter and 2.9 mph better with his curve. It didn’t stop him from giving up eight hard-hit balls, including a Jose Altuve homer, but he probably needs to keep throwing harder if he’s going to have a chance of being useful. His current 91.8 mph average on his fastball is down from 92.3 mph last year and a peak of 95.3 mph from his second big-league season with the Pirates in 2017. If Taillon remains in the rotation, he’ll likely face the Red Sox on Monday.

The Jays went on to win in 10, with Chase Lee, who benefitted from a big baserunning error, picking up his first save. Varland was pitching for the first time since throwing 31 pitches and taking a loss to the Cardinals on Sunday.

Brown had a no-hitter going until the sixth, when he gave up a double, a single and a homer. That put him up to 93 pitches for the day, so he didn’t come back out for the seventh. Still, this was an encouraging showing. He averaged a season-high 96.8 mph with his sinker, continuing a trend that’s seen him gain velocity in each of his four starts since the All-Star break. He’ll get the Giants next.

The homer was on a 3-0 pitch that was up and out of the strike zone, but it seems he knew what he was doing. Sánchez is batting .270/.313/.438 with eight homers through 246 plate appearances. He’s going to need to stay healthy and put together a nice finish here to avoid being non-tendered this winter.

The two hits checked in at 109.2 and 108.3 mph. Walker hit sixth today after batting fifth the previous two days. He was batting cleanup previously, but the newly acquired Daulton Varsho has taken over that spot, at least against right-handers.

Lombard put together a memorable debut in Yankee Stadium, making a couple flashy defensive plays in addition to launching his first career home run. The 21-year-old top prospect offers enough over-the-fence pop to be interesting in deeper fantasy leagues, but his stellar defense is the primary reason why New York is rolling with him for the final two months. He’s worthy of a speculative roster spot, but fantasy managers should keep their expectations in check since he’s still developing as a hitter at this early stage of his career.

Bauers takes a seat for the second straight contest as he continues to deal with abdominal soreness. It’s possible he’ll wind up requiring a trip to the injured list if he’s not feeling better in a couple days. It’ll be Andrew Vaughn handling the cold corner in his absence.