Yoshinobu Yamamoto fans nine, earns 12th victory

Vargas’ home run was his eighth of the season. He hit a three-run shot off Braves reliever Danny Young in the ninth inning. Vargas was hitting .404 on the season after a four-hit game on May 1 against the Cubs, but is 55-for-255 (.215) with two home runs, 38 RBI, 28 runs scored and three stolen bases in 84 games since. It turns out that spending a significant amount of FAAB on Vargas, a 35-year-old journeyman, early in the season was a complete waste. He’s hitting .266 with a .720 OPS and 59 RBI on the year.

Misiorowski struck out only six tonight, one more than his season low, but he did generate 17 whiffs. His 14 sliders on the night produced nine swings, which turned into eight whiffs and a 71-mph groundout. We assume he would have thrown more, but John Smoltz kept telling him not to. Misiorowski moved to 12-5 with a 1.75 ERA. He’ll face the Braves next weekend.

Ashby has been the Brewers’ win specialist in relief, of course, but it’s still rather surprising that this is his very first save. He got the call tonight with Trevor Megill due another day off and Abner Uribe on the IL. He’s probably looking at more eighth-inning duty and fewer wins while Uribe is out.

It’s not saying much, but this was Wrobleski’s best start in his last four. He was an All-Star a month ago, but since moving to 11-2 with a 2.63 ERA on July 21, he’s gone 0-3 with an 8.69 ERA since. He should face the Pirates next week, but at this rate, he might not finish the season in the rotation.

Contreras hit the ball in excess of 100 mph all four times up tonight, which is the kind of performance that suggests his slump really is over. Not only was he 0-for-20 in his last six games, but he was hitting just .146 with two RBI in his last 22 contests.

Acuña’s home run was his 13th of the season. He hit a solo shot off Eduardo Rodriguez in the first inning. Acuña is 14-for-53 (.264) with five home runs and eight RBI in 13 games so far in August. He’s hitting .244 with a .791 OPS and 31 RBI.

Arenado now has 20 home runs this season. It’s the ninth time in his career that he’s hit at least 20 home runs in a season. The last time he hit at least 20 home runs was in 2023, when he hit 26 for the Cardinals. Arenado is hitting .243 with a .768 OPS and 62 RBI this year.

Holmes gave up six hits, walked three and struck out three. He fell to 7-5 with the loss. Holmes retired the side in order in the first inning before allowing three runs in both the second and third innings. Holmes hadn’t allowed a run in 12 innings over his last two starts entering play Saturday. His ERA is 3.82. Holmes is lined up to face the White Sox on the road next weekend.

Rodriguez gave up five hits, walked none and struck out five. He improved to 12-4 with the win. Rodriguez allowed two runs on three hits in the first inning before settling in to blank the Braves for the next five innings. After posting a 5.03 ERA in 39 starts with the Diamondbacks over the last two seasons, Rodriguez has been excellent this year with a 2.71 ERA. He’s lined up to face the Reds at home next weekend.

Abreu’s home run was his 22nd of the season. He hit a solo shot off Jared Jones in the second inning. Abreu now has seven home runs in his last 15 games. He’s hitting .259 with an .811 OPS and 65 RBI on the season.