Josh Lowe reaches three times vs. Astros

The dynamic third baseman suffered a left hamstring injury while rounding third base in the opening inning on Thursday, just days after returning from an extended stay on the injured list due to a muscle strain in his left hand. While nothing is official yet, it’s possible that he could wind up missing the remainder of the 2026 season.

Peña was pulled from Wednesday’s game in the first inning after being struck in the hand by a 100-mph sinker from Angels’ right-hander Walbert Ureña. Fortunately, he was able to avoid any structural damage and is only dealing with a bit of pain and swelling. He’s considered day-to-day. Nick Allen will start in his place at shortstop on Thursday night and will bat eighth against Halos’ right-hander Grayson Rodriguez.

The 26-year-old superstar got the scoring started in the home half of the first inning, crushing a 3-2 fastball from Gage Jump for a 402-foot (104.3-mph EV) solo shot. He also started a rally with a one-out single in the third and scored on a two-run single off the bat of Isaac Collins. Witt was then walked intentionally in the fourth and raced around to score on an RBI single by Salvador Perez. He’s having another exceptional season at the plate, slashing .286/.362/.463 with 16 homers, 48 RBI, 71 runs scored and 33 stolen bases in 486 plate appearances.

The 36-year-old singled in the third inning and scored on a two-run single off the bat of Isaac Collins. Perez then smacked a two-out RBI single in the fourth that extended the Royals’ lead to 5-0. He’s mired in a down season offensively, slashing a meager .219/.265/.368 with 16 homers and 56 RBI in 497 plate appearances.

Collins came through with a two-out, two-run single off of Gage Jump in the third inning that extended the Royals’ lead to 3-0. He also led off the fifth inning with a single and raced around to score on Michael Massey’s RBI double. The 29-year-old outfielder has struggled at the dish in his first season with the Royals, slashing an underwhelming .227/.326/.348 with just six homers, 38 RBI and six stolen bases (in 11 attempts) over 422 plate appearances, making him irrelevant in most fantasy leagues.

Holmes had only two batters reach against him through six, both on walks. He came out for the seventh and walked another before Andrew Benintendi broke up the no-hitter with a single. He was pulled then, and Didier Fuentes came in and struck out three in a row to keep the game 2-0. Holmes improved to 8-5 with a 3.64 ERA. There’s been talk about shifting him to the pen, but he hasn’t made it an easy call, with the Braves winning eight of his last nine starts. He’ll face the Dodgers next week.

It’s been a tough month for Iglesias, but he had no issues today. He’s 26-for-29 in his save chances this season.

Kay struck out six and walked one. He allowed one run through six before giving up a double to Michael Harris II to start the seventh and immediately being lifted afterwards. Harris later came around to score. Kay has given up three runs or fewer in nine straight starts, going 3-3 with a 3.23 ERA during the span. He’ll take his next turn Tuesday against the Rangers.

The Braves have him batting eighth, but Riley is hitting .290/.318/.532 this month. Unfortunately, he’s also still striking out a ton; today’s game was his fifth in row with two strikeouts.

The 31-year-old righty struck out four batters in the ballgame. The A’s put at least two men on base against him in every frame, but Dobnak was somehow able to wiggle his way out of it each time. They loaded the bases against him with one out in the second inning, but Dobnak was able to escape damage with a strike out and a ground out. He also induced double plays in the first and fourth innings to assist in his Houdini act. He needed 96 pitches (57 strikes) to get 12 outs though, which cost him what would have been an easy victory in this one. He’ll try again to earn that third victory as he carries a 1.58 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and a 29/20 K/BB ratio (45 2/3 innings) into Wednesday’s skirmish against the Blue Jays in Toronto.