Kumar Rocker gives up two runs in loss vs. Nats

The 22-year-old also struck out eight and didn’t walk a single batter, while throwing 74 percent of his pitches for strikes and posting a 26 percent swinging strike rate. Paez was primarily a long reliever in Double-A, but he has started in both of his appearances in Triple-A as the Red Sox look for more starting pitching depth. He faced a lot of lefties on Tuesday, and his cutter and changeup were real weapons for him. His four-seamer also sits 92.6 mph, but he uses his cutter as his primary fastball and also features a sinker and curve as well. He could give the Red Sox some innings in September to help them save some of their other starters for the postseason.

Smith started behind the plate and logged five innings at catcher in his rehab debut. The 31-year-old franchise backstop has been out with a lingering neck issue since mid-June. He’s probably going to require a handful of additional rehab games given the lengthy layoff before he’s back in Los Angeles.

Alonso made an early departure from Tuesday’s one-sided blowout against the Cardinals after going 4-for-4 with his 31st home run of the season. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time with Baltimore leading by nearly two touchdowns, but it sounds like he could be dealing with a minor physical issue. It’s a situation that fantasy managers should monitor heading into the final two games of the club’s current series in St. Louis.

Nusbaum adds that the Nationals plan to continue using Perales in relief for now. The story remains much the same from a development standpoint for the 23-year-old top prospect, who came over from the Red Sox in the Jake Bennett trade last offseason. He possesses some of the most intriguing raw stuff in the minors, but leaves much to be desired from a command standpoint. He’s 3.64 ERA and 97/55 K/BB ratio across 96 1/3 innings on the doorstep of the majors this season. It wouldn’t be surprising if he excelled in relief, but there was optimism he could make a leap in the command department and blossom into an effective mid-rotation arm that misses plenty of bats.

The move frees up a rotation spot for the Nationals to bring up pitching prospect Luis Perales. The 30-year-old came over in the Luis Garcia Jr. trade with the Yankees earlier this month. He’s posted a respectable 3.24 ERA across 8 1/3 innings for the Nationals over the last few weeks.

Kelenic passed through waivers unclaimed after being removed from Texas’ 40-man roster over the weekend. The 27-year-old former top prospect has hit .219 (16-for-73) with one homer and six RBI in 36 games between the Rangers and White Sox this season.

Campero has started four consecutive games for the Angels since returning from Triple-A Salt Lake last week. It sounds like his exit was for precautionary reasons, but that remains to be seen.

Kwan also drew a walk, so it was a six-reach day for the 28-year-old leadoff hitter. All five hits were singles, not that anyone is complaining. The power hasn’t been there all year for Kwan, but the five knocks up his average to .274 with a .378 on-base percentage.

Ramírez’s final double was in the 10th inning to score a pair, and it gave Cleveland an 8-6 lead and ultimately the victory. The stolen base is the 30th of the season for the perennial MVP candidate. Because of injury and inconsistent play, he won’t be in those discussions this year, but Tuesday showed that he’s nowhere close to done being an impactful player.

Grissom hit a two-run homer in the first inning off a wholly ineffective Gavin Williams, and then took Logan Allen deep in the fifth. The 25-year-old is just organizational depth at this stage in his career, but it’s fun to be reminded why Grissom was considered a potential star when coming up in the Atlanta organization.