Matthew Liberatore throws a quality start in loss

The 28-year-old left-hander was just optioned out to Triple-A Salt Lake on Saturday, but he’ll rejoin the Angels’ bullpen with Samy Natera Jr. (back) heading to the injured list. Peralta has posted a 7.94 ERA, 1.77 WHIP and a 9/3 K/BB ratio over 5 2/3 innings in four appearances between the Angels and Rockies on the season.

It’s unclear how long the Angels expect the 26-year-old southpaw to be sidelined for, but he’ll miss a couple of weeks at a minimum. Sammy Peralta was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake in a corresponding move on Thursday to take Natera’s place in the Halos’ bullpen.

The seesaw game saw the Cardinals go up 4-0 in the third, the Reds come back to take a 5-4 lead in the sixth, the Cardinals score six runs after an error in the top of the ninth and the Reds fall just short of another comeback while scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth. There were a total of 14 walks and three HBPs on the day, and both teams had more runs scored than hits (10 to 8 for the Cards, 9 to 7 for the Reds). Walker’s homer, the Cardinals’ lone extra-base hit, was his 26th of the year. He went without one for 19 games after the Home Run Derby, but he’s rebounded with four in his last 13 games.

McGreevy allowed just one hit and one walk through five. All of the runs came after he was replaced by Ryne Stanek with the bases loaded and one out in a 4-0 game in the sixth. Stanek went on to give up a single and a grand slam make it a 5-4 game. The Cardinals did ultimately prevail and improve to 4-0 in McGreevy’s starts this month. McGreevy, though, has collected just one of those wins. He’ll take a 5-9 record and a 3.54 ERA into his next start against the Orioles.

The Cardinals got O’Brien up when they took the lead in the ninth today but then sat him down after going ahead by five runs. They instead went to George Soriano, who has been very reliable this year. Soriano, though, walked three and gave up a hit while getting two outs. O’Brien entered a save situation with the score 10-6 and gave up a two-run single to Sal Stewart before walking two to make it 10-9. Matt McLain, already with a grand slam on the day, came up again with the bases loaded, but his hard liner to right was caught to end the game. O’Brien threw 15 pitches today while working for the third time in four days, so he might be down Friday. Soriano would normally be the fallback, but he’ll almost certainly be rested, too. It might be Gordon Graceffo’s time to shine.

Singer just missed a fourth consecutive start of exactly six runs and three runs allowed. He left in line for the win today after the Reds busted out for five runs in the bottom of the sixth, but it didn’t quite hold up. Maybe he’ll do a little better while starting in San Francisco next week.

The Reds wanted to stay away from Emilio Pagán today, so Burke had the ninth. It would have worked out fine, but with two on and two outs, Dane Myers, seemingly feeling left fielder TJ Friedl close to him, had a flyball go off his glove for a two-base error. After that came an intentional walk, a single and two more walks before Burke finally departed. It goes as Burke’s first blown save after two saves and 15 holds in 64 appearances. His ERA, though, dropped to 2.73 since all of the runs were unearned.

McLain’s slam off Ryne Stanek gave the Reds a 5-4 lead in the sixth. He had a chance for another one with two outs in the ninth and the Reds down 10-9, but his 102-mph liner to right was easily handled by Jordan Walker. McLain did also walk and score a second run today. He’s back looking like a decent mixed-league option while hitting .259 with four homers and three steals in his last 17 games.

If you’re going to take a day off on occasion, doing so against Rangers’ right-hander Jacob deGrom isn’t the worst idea in the world. Expect to see the superstar infielder make an appearance off the bench if the right situation arises later in the game. Nasim Nuñez will start in his place at shortstop and bat eighth for the Nationals on Thursday night in Arlington.

The 31-year-old slugger jammed his thumb while sliding into second base during Wednesday’s victory over the O’s. As of now, there don’t appear to be any plans to place him on the injured list, but it sounds like he may need a couple of days off. Jose Caballero will start in his place at the hot corner on Thursday and will bat ninth against Orioles’ right-hander Kyle Bradish.