William Contreras goes 4-for-4 against Braves

Woo, who experienced shoulder soreness in his last start, was apparently encouraged by his performance today, but it doesn’t sound like he’s pain-free. Ideally, he’d face the Phillies on Wednesday, but that probably hinges on how he feels tomorrow.

Martinez threw 86 pitches while striking out four, lowering his ERA to 2.93. It was a bounce-back following his worst start of the season earlier this week. The performance was much-needed for the Rays, who entered the day having lost seven of nine and given up ground to the Yankees in the AL East. Martinez’s season-long ERA has been built mostly on a dominant stretch in April and May, but he’s still capable of outings like this and remains a near must-start in fantasy. He’s scheduled to pitch at home against the Padres next time out.

Baker gave up a solo homer to Colton Cowser to begin the ninth. It was worrisome after he took the loss in extra innings on Saturday, though that came with the ghost runner starting on second base. Baker then settled down and retired the side on 12 pitches, securing his league-leading 37th save of the season.

Baz struck out three and walked three in the 96-pitch outing. It was his third time facing his former team this season, but the first two went better than Sunday’s, with 15 strikeouts and two earned runs allowed across 13 frames. Baz appeared headed for another gem against them before three runs came around to score in the top of the sixth, ultimately handing him his league-leading 14th loss. He’ll look to rebound against the A’s in Sacramento next time out.

Simpson was also caught stealing, but the bigger takeaway is that he extended his hitting streak to 14 games. Entering Sunday, he was hitting .393 in his last 13 games, and he’s been in the top half of the Rays’ lineup more consistently as a result. He remains without a big-league homer through 231 career games, but he’s hitting over .300 with 79 thefts in those contests. That makes him more than a one-category performer in fantasy.

Cowser accounted for the only two hits the Orioles could muster on the afternoon, one of which was a solo home run off Bryan Baker in the bottom of the ninth. The 26-year-old entered Sunday with a career wRC+ below 100, as he continues to fall short of some lofty prospect expectations that preceded a productive 2024 campaign. Given he’s still a strong-side platoon bat, he’ll need to improve in a big way to have much fantasy value heading into 2027.

Bericoto went into the wall knee first, but it was hard to tell if that led to the injury or if it was an awkward step afterwards that did it. It looked like an IL-type situation as he walked very gingerly off the field. Drew Gilbert replaced him against the Red Sox.

Adames, who has been dealing with back soreness, may have tweaked something on a slide into home plate in the first. Buddy Kennedy replaced him, with Christian Koss moving from third to short.

Alexander, out since mid-July with a fractured hand, figures to rejoin the Orioles next weekend. He was playing regularly between second and third when he got hurt, but he might be in line for more outfield time now with Coby Mayo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand having stepped up.

Kyle Schwarber connected for a walk-off two-run homer off Riley O’Brien in the bottom of the ninth to propel the Phillies to a 6-4 win, their ninth straight. It was his only hit of the afternoon. Philadelphia trailed 4-0 and was down to their final out before a barrage of hits tied the game. The Cardinals left O’Brien in, and on his 39th pitch of the inning, Schwarber walked it off. The 33-year-old is having another monstrous year with a league-leading 39 homers despite an elevated strikeout rate. By wRC+, it’s the third-best season of his career. Schwarber also started at first base on Sunday, his fourth time doing so this season.