AJ Smith-Shawver “possibility” for Thursday’s game

Lowe blasted a two-run homer off Royals starter Randy Dobnak in the bottom of the third inning. It was the 32nd homer of the season for Lowe, who has now homered in three of his last four games and four times in the month of September. Lowe’s homer extended his hitting streak to six games, and he has now driven in at least one run in five-straight games.

De La Cruz is just two homers and three steals shy of his first career 30-homer, 30-steal campaign. He continues to be one of the hottest hitters in baseball down the home stretch, reaching base safely in all four of his plate appearances in this one. The dynamic fantasy superstar shortstop is hitting an absurd .421 (24-for-57) with seven homers, 14 RBI and three steals over his last 15 games.

Skenes made it through the first two batters of the game without any issue, but grooved a first-pitch fastball to Vinnie Pasquantino over the heart of the plate, which Pasquantino drove 410 feet for a home run to put the Royals up 1-0. The Brewers would add to their lead in the third inning when they strung together four hits, with Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia both driving in runs to push the Royals’ lead to 4-0. Skenes would allow a solo homer to Michael Massey in the top of the fourth inning for his fifth and final earned run of the night but would settle in to pitch two more scoreless innings before being pulled at the start of the seventh inning. Skenes has allowed five earned runs in two of his four starts in September and has a 4.70 ERA in the month. He’s set to make one more start this season, which will come on Thursday at home against the Cardinals.

Dobnak pitched two scoreless frames to start Friday’s game, but allowed a two-run homer to Brandon Lowe in the third inning to give the Pirates their first runs of the night while cutting the Royals’ lead to 4-2. Dobnak would retire the next three batters he faced to escape the inning but was pulled with two outs in the fourth inning after allowing two more runs to come across to score. Things could have been much worse for Dobnak, who allowed 10 total baserunners on the night but benefited from some timely ground balls. Dobnak has had a rough September. He’s allowed 14 earned runs over 21 1/3 innings (5.91 ERA) while also giving up four homers. His final start of the season is set for Thursday at home against the White Sox.

Swanson delivered a 92-mph single off Cincinnati reliever Tejay Antone in the eighth inning. He also drew a walk, reaching base safely in two of his four plate appearances in his return following a one-month absence with a left oblique strain. The 32-year-old shortstop is going to finish as a top-12 range option at the position on the strength of 18 homers and 17 steals in 462 plate appearances.

Pagán was summoned to protect a two-run lead in the final frame and managed to work around a one-out walk to Michael Busch to preserve the win. The 35-year-old veteran stopper has converted all 17 of his save opportunities since the All-Star break.

Burns didn’t stick around long enough to factor into the decision as the Reds continue to carefully manage his workload down the home stretch. The hard-throwing phenom was permitted to throw 67 pitches over three frames in his penultimate outing. He struck out four and also issued a pair of walks. He allowed four hits, including a solo homer to veteran outfielder Ian Happ. He’ll wrap up the season with a road tilt against Atlanta on Thursday. Burns offers enough strikeout upside to be worth starting in deeper mixed leagues, but the workload limitations cap his realistic upside and make it difficult to justify rolling with him in shallow fantasy leagues.

Holmes dealt with plenty of traffic on the basepaths, handing out five walks while only notching four strikeouts. It was his second meltdown in his last three starts after giving up a season-high eight runs to the Marlins back on September 6. It’s extremely challenging for fantasy managers to trust Holmes when he wraps up the regular season with a home matchup against those same Marlins on Thursday.

The 31-year-old right-hander was designated for assignment earlier in the week and passed through waivers unclaimed. He’ll now have the option to accept the outright assignment or hit the open market.

Bericoto had been shelved since late August due to a bone bruise in his right knee that he suffered after running into the outfield wall in Boston. He’ll replace the injured Nate Furman (oblique) on the Giants’ bench.