Ceddanne Rafaela (quad) out Saturday vs. O’s

The rookie landed on the injured list on August 30th with right wrist tendinitis, so he had a near-minimum stay. He will likely return to his role as the starting second baseman, which will push Thomas Saggese into a platoon role. Wetherholt has just over a week to try and claw back into the NL Rookie of the Year race, but the time off may have ended that bid.

Smith threw a scoreless inning of relief on Tuesday, and his last seven appearances have all come out of the bullpen. In that time, he has allowed three runs on two hits in six innings with a 2/8 K/BB ratio. Obviously, that walk-to-strikeout issue is not going to work, no matter what role Smith has. It’s been a disappointing season for the White Sox’s Opening Day starting pitcher.

On one hand, two runs on five hits in just over two innings is not good. On the other hand, Ryan threw 69 percent of his pitches for strikes, while posting a 13 percent swinging strike rate and 33 percent CSW. He sat 97.4 mph on his four-seamer, which he got a few whiffs on. He threw all six of his pitches and flashed good swing-and-miss on his changeup to lefties. It remains unlikely that Ryan, who threw 39 pitches in this one, will make it up to the Tigers in the final week of the season, but he should be penciled into their 2027 rotation.

Eldridge’s homer was a 461-foot bomb off Andre Pallante. He hit that ball 112.7 mph, and he reached 108.5 mph on the double in the eighth inning. He’s batting .272/.363/.465 with 17 homers in 443 plate appearances.

Tidwell’s velocity was down some tonight and he allowed eight hard-hit balls while also throwing first-pitch strikes to just nine of 25 batters. Still, he was quite effective anyway, and the win gives him a 1-2 record and a 4.56 ERA through eight starts and seven relief appearances. He’s lined up to face the Twins on Monday.

Pallante did nice work against a Rafael Devers-less lineup in San Francisco last week, but back at home tonight, he allowed eight hits, walked two and struck out only two. The loss makes him 12-7 with a 3.70 ERA. He’s set to make his next start Tuesday against the Pirates.

Hill’s bat speed on the homer was just 65 mph, but he caught the ball perfectly, hitting a Cade Winquest curveball 395 feet to right center. He’s hitting .250/.351/.363 in 97 plate appearances in a bid to try to survive a roster armageddon next month when the Giants have to made decisions on how many of their 16 players on the 60-day injured list they’re going to reinstate to the 40-man roster.

Arenado isn’t expected to miss any additional time. Manager Torey Lovullo said the plan is for him to be in Wednesday’s lineup.

All of Atlanta’s runs came on two-run homers; Ronald Acuña Jr. hit the first off Kevin Gausman in the sixth, Albies gave the Braves a 4-3 lead off Jacob Webb in the seventh and then Drake Baldwin provided insurance against Edward Cabrera in the ninth. Albies’ homer came from the eighth spot in the lineup, which was the lowest he’s hit all year. He was batting just .195/.252/.337 in 226 plate appearances since the All-Star break.

Pérez has only started one postseason game in his long career, giving up four runs over five innings for the Rangers in a loss to the Blue Jays in the 2015 ALDS. He might get another chance this October, though. First, he’s due at least one more regular-season start next week versus the Reds. He’s currently 9-9 with a 3.07 ERA.