Bo Bichette hits season-long homer in victory

Cowser sent one for blast-off in the second inning, as it traveled 441 feet to the batter’s eye in center field. It was first homer since way back on June 21. He was later credited with an RBI on a bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning, but it was his fifth-inning single off Jordan Montgomery which was more intriguing. He entered Sunday’s action just 5-for-32 (.156) against southpaws this season.

Nimmo drew the Rangers closer by taking Cade Povich deep in the third inning but the Orioles pulled away in the middle innings. While the homer was his only hit on the day, it continues a strong start to August for the veteran outfielder. He’s hitting .414 (12-for-29) this month.

Melton struck out five and walked one while throwing 65 percent of his pitches for strikes and posting a 15 percent swinging strike rate. Melton missed plenty of bats with his four-seamer and splitter and has allowed more than one run once in a start since June 9th. He’s become one of the more reliable starters in fantasy this season and has a 1.46 ERA in his 80 innings.

With Bryan Baker, Kevin Kelly, and Garrett Cleavinger unavailable after pitching on both Friday and Saturday nights, the Rays called on Matz to nail down the win. He didn’t allow a baserunner (or notch a strikeout) en route to his first save of the season. We would not assume there will be many more.

Simpson came into the day hitting .375/.376/.446 in 30 games since July 1st with 14 runs scored and 12 RBI. He did hit third in this game, with Junior Caminero moving down to clean up. If that sticks, Simpson could see a nice bump in runs and RBI as well.

Over the last 25 games, Young has the second-best wRC+ on the Mariners. He’s slashed .280/.333/.460 in those games, with four home runs, 12 runs scored, and nine RBI. He needs to be rostered in more fantasy formats, especially if you need batting average.

Hancock struck out three and walked one while throwing 64 percent of his pitches for strikes and posting a 10 percent swinging strike rate. The swings and misses have dried up a bit for Hancock, and his four-seamer continues to lose vertical movement, posting just 8.3 inches of vertical break in this one. This is his third straight relatively average start in a row, and you have to wonder if Kade Anderson would be more impactful for Seattle down the stretch.

Susac stayed in initially, but the Giants had Drew Cavanaugh hit for him in the seventh. X-rays were negative, so Susac is probably day-to-day.

Seymour struck out seven and walked two while throwing 66 percent of his pitches for strikes and posting a 16 percent swinging strike rate. His changeup is starting to get back to previous levels and registered a 29 percent swinging strike rate and 32 percent CSW in this one. Seymour is scheduled for just one more start, next week against Baltimore, but with Griffin Jax (elbow) heading to the injured list, you’d have to assume that Seymour will remain in the rotation even when Shane McClanahan returns.

Bauers also walked twice. The homer was a solo shot off Connor Prielipp in the fifth. In the 10th, he lined a ball to left to score automatic runner Brice Turang from second just ahead of the throw from Kody Clemens. Bauers is hitting .271/.376/.506 with 21 homers in a career year at age 30. He’s going to be a fascinating free agent case this winter.