Twins send reliever Acton back to minors

The homer off Brandon Williamson left his bat at 112.6 mph, his hardest-hit ball since 2024. His previous high this year was 112.2 mph. Finally coming alive at a great time for the Dodgers, Hernández is 13-for-29 with two homers, 11 RBI and two steals in his last eight games.

The lone run came on Elly De La Cruz’s homer in the first. Sheehan allowed only two other hits and walked one in the 82-pitch outing. Manager Dave Roberts said after the game that Sheehan would get a chance to remain in the rotation. That probably puts him in line to face the Marlins on Sunday, making him a worthy streaming option.

In a bit of a surprise, Tanner Scott went unused tonight, though he wasn’t really needed in a three-run game against Cincinnati. Phillips has pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out 10 over his last eight appearances. He struggled some initially in his return from Tommy John surgery, but in his current form, he should be a key reliever for the Dodgers in October. He averaged 98.5 mph with his fastball tonight, which is up about two mph from his best seasons in 2022 and ’23.

Burns allowed just one batter to reach, that on a walk, in the 44-pitch outing. He’s expected to remain on a similar pitch count for the rest of the season. He’s currently at 148 1/3 innings with three outings to go, so it looks like he’ll fall just short of qualifying for the ERA title. He’s sixth in the NL and 10th in the majors in ERA at the moment.

Williamson entered with a one-run lead in the fourth, but that didn’t last long, mostly because he walked five (one intentionally) and hit a batter. He’s expected to continue pitching behind Burns for now.

Ohtani went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts against the Reds after missing four games to rest his knee and biceps injuries. A return to the mound this year hasn’t been completely ruled out, but Ohtani isn’t pursuing it at the moment in order to give him his best chance of succeeding offensively. It’s safe to assume he’ll be a hitter-only until the postseason, and it’s probably not going to be worth the risk for him to try to contribute in short mound stints in October.

Devers’ first double, which plated a run in the first, was a 406-foot shot to right-center that would have been a homer in 29 ballparks, but not at Oracle Park. He has 36 doubles this season. It’s his highest total since 2022, but he’s not approaching his career high of 54 from 2019.

Webb matched his season high with eight strikeouts, racking up 19 whiffs on 45 swings. He departed with a 3-1 lead, but it didn’t hold up, leaving him with a no-decision. He can’t really complain, though, given that he avoided a loss after allowing nine runs in two-plus innings last time out against the Pirates. Webb should make his next start Sunday against the Padres.

The Giants were hoping for a two-inning save from Smith in a 3-2 game, but they didn’t get it, mostly because of poor infield play. Joshua Báez led off the ninth with a routine grounder to short, but Christian Koss slipped and made a weak throw, resulting in a single. Thomas Saggese then hit a grounder up the middle that a diving Osleivis Basabe got a glove on but couldn’t corral. The Cardinals went on to tie the game on a walk and a sac fly, but Smith probably won’t be hurt by the result, especially after the Giants went on to win in extras.

McGreevy allowed six hits, walked two and struck out four in his 15th quality start this season. It went as his 13th no-decision to go along with a 6-9 record and a 3.92 ERA. He’s in line to face the White Sox on Sunday.