MLB Player News

Aviles scored three runs and drove home two in the game. He’s been on an absolute tear since taking over the leadoff spot in the wake of Jacoby Ellsbury’s injury and is now hitting .333 with three homers and 10 RBI on the season. Those who gambled on Aviles late in drafts as a shortstop or middle infielder are certainly reaping the rewards.

Manny Machado’s sac fly won the game in the 10th. Before that, Castellanos deposited a 98.5-mph sinker from Riley O’Brien into the seats in left to break up a shutout bid with two outs in the ninth. It was his second at-bat off the bench after he was inserted as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. Castellanos is sitting at .192/.231/.329 with two homers in 78 plate appearances. His roster status should still be pretty shaky, but it’s helping him right now that Miguel Andujar is struggling of late.

Buehler matched his season low with two strikeouts, but he was effective in his second quality start of the season. He remains 2-2 with a 5.20 ERA overall, and there just doesn’t seem to be much of a ceiling here with his velocity down three mph from his peak. Maybe he’ll be good for a few more strikeouts while starting in Seattle next weekend.

Leahy allowed two hits, walked four and struck out five in the 95-pitch outing. The two longest flies against him would have been homers in 12 and six of 30 ballparks, respectively, but they were both outs today in Petco. Leahy has allowed just one run in his two starts this month, lowering his ERA from 5.52 to 4.31. However, he needs to become more efficient; he’s recorded a total of two outs in the sixth inning in his eight starts. He’ll face the Royals next weekend.

O’Brien retired two after a leadoff single, but he lost a nine-pitch battle with Castellanos. The homer came on a 98.5-mph sinker that barely caught the inside corner, and it was really quite impressive that Castellanos did anything with the pitch, much less hit it 389 feet. It’s the third time in his last six appearances that O’Brien has allowed two runs, though those are all of the earned runs that he has given up all season. He should still be fairly secure in the closer’s role in St. Louis.

Gorman had the first- and third-hardest hit balls of the game and both were liners, but he had nothing to show for the 111- and 108-mph drives. Gorman is batting .218/.287/.361 this season after coming in at .204/.284/.385 in 804 plate appearances between 2024 and ’25. It might be about time for the Cardinals to give Blaze Jordan a look in his place.

In a battle of 2026’s biggest surprises to date, Elder easily outdueled Justin Wrobleski, even though he was pulled 3 1/3 innings earlier than the Dodgers hurler. Elder fanned eight for the third time in nine starts this season. He reached that total just twice in 28 starts last year. The victory moves him to 4-1 with a 1.81 ERA. His strikeout rate is up nicely, but his groundball rate has fallen some as a result, and he seems due to start giving up more homers. Long-term mixed-league value still seems rather unlikely. His next start will come at home versus the Red Sox.

What year is this? Wrobleski is the first pitcher since Zach Wheeler in 2021 to go at least eight innings and allow seven runs. But only five of Wheeler’s seven were earned. He’s the first since Alex Cobb in 2012 to go at least eight innings with seven earned runs, and he’s the first since Carlos Silva in 2006 to go 8 2/3 innings with seven runs allowed. With one more out, it could have been the first nine-inning complete game with seven runs allowed since Bobby Witt threw 151 pitches on the final day of the 1993 season. Although that would have required him giving up a couple of more hits first; it was actually 5-2 when he was pulled after unfortunately hitting Mike Yastrzemski in the helmet. Wyatt Mills replaced him and allowed two inherited runners to score before finishing the game. Wrobleski, who allowed seven hits and walked one today, threw a mere 100 pitches. He actually struck out seven, besting his previous season high by one. He fell to 5-1 with a 2.42 ERA. He’s due to face the Angels next.

Muncy also hit another ball to the wall that Eli White made a great play on before crashing to the wall, and he had a 108-mph lineout in the fourth. He’s batting .273/.372/.547, though quite remarkably, he has just 15 RBI on the season. His 35 hits have driven in a total of five teammates.

Hitting one spot ahead of him, Hyeseong Kim reached on catcher’s interference once but struck out his other three times up. One of Freeland or Kim will head back to Triple-A on Monday when Mookie Betts comes off the IL. Kim has a 102-point advantage in OPS right now, so he might be the better bet to stay. However, the one kept now still figures to lose his spot to Enrique Hernández before too long.

Martin struck out nine and allowed five baserunners while throwing 105 pitches. He’s been a different pitcher to begin 2026. Martin added a cutter and re-designed some breaking pitches. His slider, in particular, has been a difference-maker and entered the outing with a 59% whiff rate on 93 pitches. The pitch models aren’t fully buying in, but his advanced metrics show enough for him to be a must-start option at home against the Cubs next time out.