Matthew Liberatore throws a quality start

Bogaerts got the homer and the triple in the second and the double in the fourth. That left him two chances needing only a single for the cycle, but he struck out in both of his remaining at-bats. Bogaerts’ homer was his 12th, giving him one more than he had each of the last two seasons. His triple, a gift from Zac Veen in right field, was his first since July 27. 2024.

The Rockies really made him work in the sixth — he threw 34 of his 104 pitches in that inning alone — but they managed to score just once in the frame after Troy Johnston swung at a couple of ball fours with the bases loaded and two outs. King has won four straight starts, allowing only five runs in the process. He struck out six and generated 11 whiffs today. If the Padres leave their rotation alone, King will next pitch Wednesday against the Dodgers. They could make some changes, though, depending on how tight the race is.

All of the runs came in the second, which started with a Xander Bogaerts homer and then just got worse from there. The 10 hits came from the Padres going 8-for-10 on non-hard-hit balls against him. Gordon dropped to 1-5 with a 6.01 ERA. He’ll likely face the D-backs next week.

Harris topped out at 91 mph in terms of exit velocity today, but he had a couple of well-placed liners to the outfield and a groundball single. Mostly replacing Luis Rengifo, he’s hit .370/.407/.481 with 11 RBI in 60 plate appearances since joining the Padres.

Grissom has been functioning as the Angels’ everyday first baseman and cleanup hitter in recent weeks, he’ll get a well-deserved day off in this one though. Moises Ballesteros will start in his place and will bat in the cleanup spot against Twins’ right-hander Taj Bradley on Thursday evening at Angel Stadium.

The defensive miscues came back-to-back in the Padres’ seven-run second inning. After a long run to his left, he had Jackson Merrill’s fly bounce off his glove for a triple. A minute later, he made an ill-fated dive after a Xander Bogaerts liner, turning a single into another triple. Veen went 5-for-15 with two homers and seven RBI in his first week with the Rockies last month. Since then, though, he’s 8-for-40 with no homers, five RBI and 21 strikeouts. He’s probably going to enter 2027 as an underdog to claim a spot in Colorado’s outfield.

When pressed to see how many at-bats he’s expected to receive before the postseason, Friedman just shrugged his shoulders. It sounds like the Dodgers want to get him a handful of at-bats next weekend, if possible, but their priority is to have him healthy and ready to go for the start of the postseason.

The 33-year-old hurler has struggled to a 7.76 ERA, 1.79 WHIP and a 25/11 K/BB ratio over 29 innings in seven appearances (six starts) since joining the White Sox, so the move makes plenty of sense as the White Sox desperately attempt to hold onto a playoff spot. Any lingering fantasy value that Castillo may have had in deeper leagues disappears with the move to the bullpen.

it’s the first chance for the 26-year-old right-hander to show the Mets what he can do after being claimed off of waivers from the Orioles earlier in the month. Weston made one MLB appearance during his time with the O’s, logging one scoreless inning. He’ll function in a middle relief role for the Mets.

Curry was blasted for six runs over three innings in Wednesday’s loss to the Orioles and since he wasn’t going to be available for a couple of days, the Mets opted to swap him out for a fresh bullpen arm. Cameron Weston was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse in a corresponding move to take his place.