Jared Jones shaky over four in loss to Pirates

Fantasy managers can go ahead and mark another square on their Willson Contreras early-exit bingo cards for the season. It’s a relief that he isn’t dealing with any additional physical issues after being replaced at first base in the fifth inning after going 1-for-1 with an RBI. He also drew a walk. The 34-year-old should be ready to return to Boston’s lineup once he’s feeling better. It’s entirely possible he’s ready to play in Thursday’s series finale at Fenway Park.

Painter threw just 63 pitches over four innings during his second start back in the majors. He finished with four strikeouts and allowed one run on three hits over four frames. The 23-year-old former top pitching prospect will undergo further evaluation to determine the severity of the issue and whether he’ll require a trip to the injured list. There should be a decision on his status later this week.

Gomber heads to the Motor City as organizational depth at Triple-A Toledo. The 32-year-old southpaw hasn’t pitched in the big leagues this season and has spent time with the Rangers and Braves at the Triple-A level where he’s compiled a 6.01 ERA across 82 1/3 innings.

Devenski was jettisoned from Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster after spending three months on the injured list with an undisclosed illness. The 35-year-old journeyman reliever made three appearances for the Pirates earlier this year.

Velazquez passed through waivers unclaimed after being removed from Kansas City’s roster earlier this week once Bobby Witt Jr. made it back from the injured list. The 32-year-old middle infielder went 1-for-15 at the plate during his time with the Royals.

Trivino passed through waivers unclaimed after being removed from Philadelphia’s roster at the trade deadline. The well-traveled 34-year-old wound up making only three relief appearances for the Phillies.

Laweryson went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment last weekend. The 28-year-old made 15 relief appearances for Minnesota earlier this season.

Nimmo’s homer off Carson Seymour didn’t even rate as a hard-hit ball, leaving his bat at 94.0 mph, but it got over the wall down the left field line. It was his 12th of the year. He’s up to .329/.397/.543 in 19 games since the break.

It’s good to have Bradford back from elbow surgery. Despite averaging just 90 mph with his fastball, he had a 3.03 ERA in 13 starts for Texas in 2024. Today, he averaged 88.8 mph with his fastball, but he had his changeup working and racked up five strikeouts and a 40 percent CSW. He was, however, quite lucky to get outs on long flies from Buddy Kennedy and Bryce Eldridge that would have been homers in 26 and 16 ballparks, respectively. He’s probably not a mixed-league starter right now, but he might be once he gets back to throwing 90-100 pitches. He’ll face the Angels next week.

Whisenhunt has lost all three of his starts since his recall, giving up 14 runs and walking nine in 11 2/3 innings. The Giants intended to give him a long look, so he’ll probably stay in the rotation for now and face Houston next week. There isn’t much here to be optimistic about, though.