Fernando Tatis Jr. homers versus Brewers

The Brewers got one in the top of the 11th, but it wasn’t enough. It initially looked like Jackson Merrill hit the game winner with one out and runners on first and third in the bottom of the inning, but right fielder Luis Lara made a fantastic leaping catch to turn it into a sac fly. After a stolen base put the winning run on second, Campusano hit a low liner to right for a clean single. Lara’s throw home seemed to be in time to retire the runner, but Gary Sánchez jumped to catch the ball when it really didn’t seem like he needed to and then couldn’t get the tag down in time. It gave the Padres a three-game sweep with two one-run victories and an 11-2 blowout.

Ray’s first two starts with the Padres have seen him increase his changeup usage at the expense of his curve and sinker. It’s not working out so far, but that might be primarily because of how wild he’s been; he’s allowed six runs and walked eight over nine innings for his new team. It’s worth sticking with him for his start against the Mets next week, but he might be droppable in shallow leagues if he doesn’t show some improvement then.

May was tested in the fourth, when he walked the leadoff man and gave up a single with one out. He then induced a double play ball, only for David Hamilton to botch it at short and get no outs. So, May just went and got another double play ball, and the defense converted it this time. It was the third time this year that May completed seven innings. The first time, in May, he was facing the Brewers team he pitched for today. The second time was his one-hit shutout in June against the team he faced today. He’ll take on the Mariners next.

Megill entered with the winning run on second in the ninth and preserved the tie with some help from a diving Garrett Mitchell on a sinking liner to center. He then worked a scoreless bottom of the 10th after the Brewers failed to score in the top of the inning. Megill was put in line for the win in the 11th, but Antonio Senzatela went on to give up two runs in the bottom of the inning to take the loss. Megill threw just 15 pitches to get his five outs, so he should be fine to close on Thursday.

The three balls in play in the 108-110 mph were all grounders and actually produced four outs, since one turned into a double play. But hitting the ball that hard still works to Machado’s advantage, since he’s usually only jogged three or four steps out of the box when he’s retired and thus has a shorter trip back to the dugout.

The double with the automatic runner on base put the Brewers ahead in the 11th. Sánchez has made a case for more playing time at DH (or at catcher with William Contreras DHing) by hitting .230/.379/.473. He has two more homers than Christian Yelich (10 to 8) in 156 fewer plate appearances (206 to 362).

Effross heads to Seattle as emergency organizational depth after posting a pedestrian 4.46 ERA across 36 1/3 innings for Triple-A Toledo. He was in Tigers camp as a non-roster invitee back in spring training. The 32-year-old reliever has made 88 career appearances in the big leagues dating back to 2021.

Ornelas predictably went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. The 26-year-old infielder went 2-for-12 during a six-game stint with the Athletics earlier this month. He’s likely to elect free agency and pursue an opportunity elsewhere.

Only promoted yesterday, Veen made his presence known early on in his first game back up with a long home run. He blasted it 104.7 mph off the bat and it traveled an estimated 407 feet, landing directly in the pool at Chase Field in Arizona. There’s no question that he has game-breaking power after smashing 24 home runs in 100 games at Triple-A this season plus he had a 113 mph max exit velocity. He also stole 18 bases, but has bulked up a good bit since being known as more of a speedster a few years back. The question with Veen is more so how the Rockies are going to get him in the lineup every day. In this came, they shifted Cole Carrigg from center field to shortstop to make it work. Then, Veen was pulled from this game in just the sixth inning so Ezequiel Tovar could go in to shortstop and Carrigg back to center. There’s still more to learn about how this situation will shake out.

Romano just keeps stacking up the saves. This was his eighth since being claimed by the Rockies in early July and he’s only blown one in that span. It’s not exactly pretty – he didn’t throw a single pitch that reached 95 mph in this outing and forced just one swing-and-miss – but being the closer counts for something, right? Proceed with caution.