Mariners activate Brendan Donovan from injured list

Matthews re-aggravated a previous left knee injury while making a sliding catch during Tuesday’s game against the Mariners. He’s done for the rest of the regular season and won’t be able to return until the AL Division Series, if the Astros manage to get that far.

It’ll be Lucas Spence taking over in center field after Brice Matthews was hurt during Tuesday’s game in Seattle. Varsho remains out for the third consecutive contest due to an ongoing left wrist issue.

It’s a significant loss for the Astros after Peña was drilled by a pitch on the right wrist during Tuesday’s series-opening win over Seattle that put them back in the driver’s seat in the AL West division race. The positive news is that X-rays came back negative for any fractures. Peña appears to have avoided a serious injury, but he’ll likely need some time off for the pain and swelling to subside before he’s ready to return. It’ll be defensive specialist Nick Allen taking over at shortstop and hitting ninth in his absence.

The declaration comes just a few days after Judge was placed on the injured list with a right calf strain last weekend. It’s a notable statement considering Yankees manager Aaron Boone said earlier on Wednesday that he does not expect to have Judge available for the Wild Card Series without ruling him out entirely. The 34-year-old franchise cornerstone’s status for next week’s Wild Card Series, which is a near-lock to be against the division-rival Red Sox, will be the biggest storyline in baseball leading into the postseason. It goes without saying that Judge will probably be on New York’s roster as a DH option for the three-game series, but it’s fair to question how ready he’ll be from a physical standpoint.

He briefly had a HBP, too, but it was overturned on replay because the pitch, which was actually in the strike zone, hit the knob of his bat, rather than his hand. That made it a foul tip, which was caught by the catcher for a strikeout. Keaschall’s homer was his 10th. He’s cooled off some in September, but he’s still hitting an exceptional .302/.394/.453 since the break.

The runs both scored in the fourth on a Shay Whitcomb popup down the right field line that no one could get to. Prielipp allowed four hits, walked two and struck out three before exiting a tie game. He ends his rookie season 6-7 with a 4.87 ERA and a fine 128/44 K/BB in 125 2/3 innings. He might have a little edge on Zebby Matthews and Mick Abel for a spot in the Twins rotation next spring, but that’s assuming that they leave an opening with Pablo López coming back.

Yoendrys Gómez got a win today after recording five outs between the sixth and seventh innings, and A.J. Minter notched a hold with a scoreless eighth. Morris’s save was his first since Aug. 24, when he got one out in relief of an ineffective Gómez, and second of the second half. Jeff Hoffman, who got a save last night, is probably the best bet in the Twins pen for saves this weekend.

Perdomo struck out two and walked none. He ends his late-season audition with a 3.65 ERA and a 14/7 K/BB in 24 2/3 innings over four starts and one relief appearances. He’ll still likely head back to Triple-A to start next year, and he could wind up as a reliever in the long run.

Whitcomb drove in both Giants runs today and still got criticized; his big hit was a popup 208 feet down the right field line that should have been a double, but since he didn’t run initially, he ended up at first. Whitcomb is hitting .207/.233/.310 in 92 plate appearances for the Giants. He’ll almost certainly be dropped from the 40-man roster early in the offseason.

Giants manager Tony Vitello told reporters Davidson was lifted from Wednesday’s game against the Twins after fouling a ball off his right foot in the same spot that he did a couple weeks ago at Triple-A Sacramento. The 24-year-old rising prospect was 1-for-3 with a run scored prior to departing in the ninth inning. He’s hitting .300 (3-for-10) with one stolen base through three games since being promoted to the majors earlier this week. He’s presumably day-to-day heading into Friday’s series opener against the Dodgers.