George Lombard Jr. hitting eight against Cards

The Phillies don’t appear to be overly concerned about the issue, but they’ll play it safe and skip his start this time through the rotation. It doesn’t sound like there are any immediate plans to place him on the injured list, though that could always change.

As expected, the 31-year-old right-hander is back on the open market after refusing an outright assignment to Triple-a Gwinnett. Expect him to re-sign with the Braves on a new minor league contract in the coming days.

Setting an MLB record with their second 20-run shutout win this season, the Brewers clinched their eight playoff berth over their last nine seasons in this onslaught. Turang was at the middle of it all, falling just a triple short of the cycle and he broke this game open early with a three-run home run in the second inning. Besides him, Garrett Mitchell also had three hits plus a grand slam, Jackson Chourio and Joey Ortiz had four hits apiece, and every member of their starting nine reached base safely at least twice. This lineup is certainly clicking as the playoffs approach.

Talk about pitching with a lead. The Brewers scored two in the first, six in the second, one in the fourth, and eight in the fifth to give May all the run support he’d need. Funny enough, he didn’t need any of it with six scoreless innings. Nasty from the jump, May forced multiple whiffs with five different pitches on his way to 12 total swings-and-misses. He tossed a very even amount of cutters, curveballs, sweepers, and fastballs behind his trusted sinker and to cruise given the circumstances. A bit off since being drilled by a line drive in his start on August 26th, this was a huge step in the right direction for May who’s scheduled to face the Orioles on the road next time out if the Brewers stick with their six-man rotation for another turn.

This was a game the Red would rather forget. They got destroyed 20-0 by the Brewers and only mustered two measly singles along the way. Funny enough, both of those singles belonged to Stewart who’s putting together a great close to his rookie season with a .316/.356/.544 slash line, four home runs, and three stolen bases over his last 15 games.

Right away it was obvious that Abbott did not have it here. Jackson Chourio laced a double off a hanging curveball on the third pitch of the game and the Brewers never stopped making consistent hard contact after that. Abbott held them to two in the first, but three singles, a double, and two home runs turned into six more runs in the second as the rout was on. His fastball was especially tattooed allowing two doubles, one of the home runs, five hard-hit balls, and didn’t force a single whiff. He’s scheduled to face the Dodgers next time out in a matchup that should be avoided at all costs.

Ford felt something during his final at-bat which prompted his removal and he went for testing after the ballgame. No word yet on the results of that imaging. The Nationals’ depth behind the plate is very thin at the moment so if Ford lands on the injured list, it could lead to chaos. Expect the Nats to have an update on his status prior to Saturday’s game.

Sanoja’s first hit of the night came in the sixth inning when he singled off of Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips. Sanoja would then swipe second base and later came around to score on an RBI double by Augustin Ramírez to cut the Dodgers’ lead to 2-1. Sanoja would lead things off with a triple in the eighth inning and came home to score on a sacrifice fly by Owen Caissie, but that would be all the runs the Marlins would muster despite the offense tallying 10 hits and drawing three walks. Sanoja is now sitting on an 11-game hitting streak and is slashing a blistering .416/.442/.683 in September.

Beeter worked a scoreless inning against the Angels on Friday night, but has struggled recently, which likely explains his demotion. Expect them to add another fresh arm to the bullpen prior to Saturday’s battle against the Angels.

Abreu entered the game in the ninth inning to try to force the Rays into extra innings. After striking out Yandy Díaz to start the inning, Abreu walked Jonathan Aranda to bring Junior Caminero, the go-ahead run, to the plate. Abreu made only one pitch to Caminero, but it was one he would live to regret. Caminero blasted the first-pitch fastball from Abreu 434 feet into deep left-center to give the Rays the walk-off win. It was an unfortunate turn of events for Abreu, who had allowed just one earned run over his last 13 appearances entering Friday.