Julian Garcia notches save as Pagán sits

Entering the ninth inning trailing 6-2, Aranda would single to drive home Taylor Walls and Richie Palacios to cut the O’s lead to 6-4. Aranda has enjoyed a hot start to August and is now slashing .306/.358/.388 with two extra-base hits and 10 RBI.

Campusano’s two doubles both came at great times for the Padres here. His first brought home two runs with the bases loaded in a tie game in the fifth and knocked out Guardians’ starter Gavin Williams. Then, after the Guardians scratched across a run in the sixth, Campusano’s next two-bagger gave the Padres another insurance run. He lost two months of his season to injury, but has been highly productive otherwise with a .317 batting average and .935 OPS in 145 plate appearances.

Rodriguez would have the chance to be a closer on most teams in the league if he didn’t share a bullpen with Mason Miller, Adrián Morejón, or Jeremiah Estrada. Alas, Miller pitched in three games in six days entering play today and threw about 20 pitches in each, so Rodriguez got the opportunity to save this one and did so with ease.

The 33-year-old has been shelved since undergoing surgery to repair a sports hernia in late May. It’s unclear how many games exactly of live at-bats he’s going to require before he’s ready to join the Red Sox, but he should be able to make it back at some point before the end of August.

This was another one of those starts where King simply wasn’t sharp. Facing an all left-handed lineup, far too many of what were meant to be front-hip sinkers bled over the heart of the plate and were tattooed. The home runs he allowed to Nathaniel Lowe and Brayan Rocchio each came off sinkers that wound up right down the middle and of the five batted balls off that pitch three were hard-hit. He also only forced four total swings-and-misses and only got through the middle innings because of all the weak contact his changeup induced. Yet, he completed six innings for the sixth time in eight tries since the start of July and continues to be the horse the Padres need him to be. He’ll take a 3.41 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 124 strikeouts, and 56 walks through 142 1/3 innings into his next scheduled start in New York against the Mets.

Lowe was an offensive engine for the Guardians here. He got them on the board with a solo home run in the second, drove home another run with a single in the third, and scampered home to score on a wild pitch as they tried to mount a comeback in the eighth. In eight games since being acquired at the trade deadline, he’s gone 8-for-27 with two home runs and eight RBI.

Williams was in trouble from the get-go in this start. The Padres put runners on the corners in each of the first two innings, but he found a way to wriggle out of each jam. Then, Xander Bogaerts finally got his squad on the board in the fourth when he launched a hanging sweeper from Williams for a two-run shot. Chaos followed in the fifth when Williams gave up a home run, two singles, and a walk to the first four batters and was pulled after a two-run double that came shortly thereafter. He struggled to command his fastball as that pitch had just a 39% zone rate and was forced to rely on his breaking stuff more than often. Knowing that, the Padres began to sit on those pitches and made him pay. One of the hottest pitchers in the league entering this start, let’s hope it’s merely a bump in the road. He’s scheduled to face the Giants at home next time out.

Batting out of the five hole for the first time since 2023, Henderson had one of his best nights of the season in Friday’s win. Henderson singled in his first two at-bats of the night and came around to score in the seventh inning after leading off the frame with a double. In the eighth inning, Henderson blasted a two-run homer off reliever Kevin Kelly to push the O’s lead to 6-2. Henderson has now homered 20-plus times in three of his last four seasons, and could see more opportunities lower in the order after tonight’s performance.

He’ll presumably head for X-rays to see if he sustained any fractures. Expect the Athletics to provide more information as soon as they get the results of those exams. Alika Williams replaced him at shortstop on Friday and would be in line for extended action there if Wilson is forced to miss any time.

Making his first start since June 3rd, Bassitt had a solid return against the division rival Rays. The righty showed good command of the strike zone and did a nice job of neutralizing a potent Rays lineup. He surrendered an RBI double to Richie Palacios in the second inning to give the Rays their first run of the night and later gave up an RBI single to Victor Mesa Jr. in the third inning to give the Rays their second run. After those two innings, Bassitt settled in to pitch 2 1/3 innings of scoreless ball, allowing just one baserunner over that span. He’ll draw a tougher start in his next outing, which is scheduled for Wednesday at home against the Yankees.