MLB Player News

Colabello, who had a strong performance for Italy during the World Baseball Classic, was hitting .358/.417/.659 with 12 home runs, 39 RBI and a 1.076 OPS through 46 games this season in Triple-A. The 29-year-old played seven seasons in the Canadian-American Association, so he makes for a tremendous story.

Lowe’s hit was part of a six-run eighth inning for the Nationals. Lowe and Josh Bell have been disappointments as two of the Nationals’ big offseason additions, but they came through tonight, with Bell collecting three hits and three RBI. There’s a good chance one or both will be traded this month. Lowe does have one year of arbitration left, but at this point, he wouldn’t seem to be worth the $11 million-$12 million it would take to keep him.

The Nationals needed length from Gore tonight after Trevor Williams got lit up in game one, so they sent him back out for the sixth even though he’d already thrown 98 pitches. He got just one more out before a walk and a single led to him being lifted at 111 pitches, which matches his career high. One of the inherited runners scored off Brad Lord, but Gore was still in line for a win in a 3-2 game after the sixth. Alas, that lead was blown in the seventh before the Nats came back with sixth in the eighth to win anyway. Gore will make his next start Tuesday or Wednesday against the Cardinals.

Flaherty made a nice recovery from a two-run, 41-pitch first inning and needed only 56 pitches to get his remaining 12 outs. He wound up with 16 missed swings and a nice 36% CSW while matching his season high in strikeouts. It’s been a tough stretch for the right-hander, who had lost each of his last three starts before the no-decision here, but tonight should make those rostering him feel a little better.

Single, walk, single, triple, double. That’s how it went against Kahnle on a rare off night that took his ERA from 1.77 to 3.03. At least the one good thing here is that we know he wasn’t tipping his pitch.

Moore walked twice before being lifted from the contest after attempting to make a diving play to his right behind the second-base bag in the sixth inning. He’s presumably day-to-day heading into Thursday’s series finale.

Kepler’s homer off Dylan Cease was his 10th of the season. This is actually just the sixth time all year that he’s driven in two runs in a game, and he’s never knocked in more than that. The Phillies were hoping from more from their free agent signing, but Kepler’s current .685 OPS is basically a match for what he did in 2022 and 2024, with 2023 standing out as his only really positive season in the last five years.

Sánchez is going to have to be an All-Star. He’s allowed exactly one run in his last three starts and hasn’t given up more than two runs in any of his last seven outings. This was also a fourth straight start in which he did not walk a single batter. He’s 7-2 with a 2.68 ERA and a 108/28 K/BB in 100 2/3 innings, and he’s slated to face the Giants next week.

The lead was one too many runs for a save, but it’s notable that the Phillies again lined up Orion Kerkering for the eighth and Strahm for the ninth tonight. Since Kerkering’s last save on June 19, he’s pitched the eighth in all four of his appearances. Strahm has pitched the ninth four times, plus one appearance in the eighth, and earned two saves.

After going four starts without allowing any, Cease gave up two homers for a second straight outing tonight. It still seems like he’s going to go on a run at some point, but he just hasn’t put anything like that together so far. The loss tonight leaves him 3-8 with a 4.62 ERA that’s a run higher than either his xERA, his SIERA or his FIP. He’ll face the Diamondbacks next week.

Arraez, who had been leading off lately before being shifted in the order today, did have a bases-loaded walk in the first game, but that was his only contribution in either game. His current .279/.312/.393 line would be fine if he were still an adequate second baseman. As a full-time first baseman — and not even a very good one defensively — he’s just not getting the job done.