Alonso hits 23rd homer of season in win over Phils

He also struck out six and walked four while throwing 55 of his 89 pitches for strikes. Smith-Shawver was used as the 27th man in the Braves’ doubleheader last week, which meant he headed back to the minors after the game. The Braves kept him on schedule during a trade deadline in which they tried to trade for Jacob deGrom and Logan Webb. Considering the Braves only came away with Tyler Mahle, Smith-Shawver still has a clear path to a rotation spot. The expectation is that he may make one more start in Triple-A to continue shaking some of the rust, and then he should be up in the big leagues for the remainder of the season.

Luzardo allowed one or no runs for the sixth time in seven starts and the 12th time this season. He’s probably about due to go on one of those runs in which he allowed six runs in three of four outings, but through 23 starts this year, he’s 10-5 with a 3.36 ERA and 164 strikeouts, which ranks sixth in the majors. He’ll face the Blue Jays on Sunday.

Palmquist flopped as an opener, retiring just one of the four batters he faced, and the Nationals never made a game of it after Littell entered. The loss went to Palmquist, so Littell remains 7-8 with a 4.97 ERA. He’ll face the Reds on Sunday.

Perfect. This is what cleanup Arraez was always supposed to do and always why Arraez was also supposed to bat cleanup. He’s not an OBP guy while hitting singles or doubles every third at-bat. He’s an RBI guy.

Turner has 11 hits in his last six games to raise his average to .252. We’re not testing any theories here, but his average hadn’t been this high since he went 0-for-4 on 4/20.

X-rays after the game proved negative. Bogaerts was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk before departing Tuesday.

Durbin has 11 homers and 13 steals on the year, so a 20/20 season is in play in spite of his rough start. He’s up to .247/.318/.405 in 392 plate appearances, and he’s probably the favorite to claim the American League Gold Glove at third base.

It’s the first win credited to Sandoval, but the Red Sox have gone 5-0 in his starts since he was activated last month, with Sandoval amassing a 3.38 ERA and a 25/10 K/BB in 24 innings. He has another kind matchup coming up against the A’s at home on Sunday.

Bello needed just 28 pitches to get nine outs to finish off a 14-2 game. He’s certainly making a case for getting more work in close games while having allowed only one run in 16 2/3 innings over four appearances since returning to the majors on July 12. But at least he’s taking some pressure off Boston’s bullpen as is.

That’s more runs than he allowed in six starts in March and April (eight in 37 innings) or in five starts in May (seven in 30 2/3 innings). Martin opened the year 8-1 with a 2.00 ERA, but since the beginning of June, he’s 1-5 with a 6.79 ERA. His peripherals aren’t as bad as his ERA, so maybe he deserves to keep his rotation spot for now. He’s on thin ice, though. He’ll face the Guardians on Sunday.