MLB Player News

With Jed Lowrie and Kevin Smith returning from the injured list on Friday, the A’s needed to free up some roster space and it looks like Castellani drew the short straw. The 26-year-old hurler did a nice job during his time with the big league club, firing 2 2/3 scoreless innings with a 0.75 WHIP and 1/0 K/BB ratio. He should get another opportunity in Oakland in relatively short order.

Alvarez put the Astros on the board in the first inning, taking Drew Rasmussen deep for a two-run homer. He drove in a third run with a single in the fifth, then brought a fourth run home with a sacrifice fly in the seventh. With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, he took Casey Legumina deep for a walk-off, two-run blast. The 29-year-old slugger drew some deserved MVP chants after the game. He’s up to 29 homers, 62 runs scored, and 67 RBI while batting .324/.433/.645 across 388 plate appearances.

Diaz cut into the Rays’ lead with a two-run homer off Drew Rasmussen in the fourth inning. It was just the fourth home run of the season for the 27-year-old backstop. It’s been a disappointing season so far for Diaz, who missed time due to an oblique injury. He’s hitting .235/.261/.362 with 13 runs scored and 19 RBI across 157 plate appearances.

Caminero is absolutely unreal right now. He started his day with a first-inning solo homer off Hunter Brown for his 11th homer in his last 11 games. He then drew a walk and scored in the third before reaching on a fielder’s choice and swiping his first stolen base in the fourth. The 23-year-old slugger added a base hit in the eighth, ending his day slashing .291/.379/.566 with 26 homers, 57 runs scored, and 57 RBI across 377 plate appearances.

DeLuca drove in a run in the third inning on a base hit and stole second on a double-steal. He then reached on a groundout in the fifth and swiped second for his second steal of the game. DeLuca later took Cristian Javier deep for a solo homer in the seventh. The 27-year-old outfielder has been getting sporadic playing time, hitting .265/.306/.450 with five homers, 25 RBI, and nine steals across 162 plate appearances.

Hader took the mound with the game tied in the top of the ninth and worked around a walk, striking out one batter to keep the Rays off the board. The Astros would then walk it off in the bottom of the inning, giving Hader his third win of the season to go with eight saves, a 0.64 ERA, a 0.57 WHIP, and a 22/6 K/BB ratio across 14 innings.

Brown served up the daily Junior Caminero homer on a solo shot in the first inning. He then gave up a two-run homer to Richie Palacios in the second. Things really got away from Brown in the third, as he gave up three more runs on two walks, two hits, and a double steal. The Rays put one more run on the board against Brown on a hit, walk, and fielder’s choice in the fourth. That would do it for Brown, ending his day after four frames with three strikeouts. The 27-year-old right-hander will take a 3.68 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, and a 35/17 K/BB ratio across 29 1/3 innings into a start against the Rangers in Texas on Friday.

Rasmussen gave up a two-run homer to Yordan Alvarez in the first inning. After two scoreless frames, Yainer Díaz got to Rasmussen for another two-run blast in the fourth. A walk, a double, and a base hit scored a fifth run, ending Rasmussen’s day after five innings with two strikeouts. The five runs tie a season-high for the 30-year-old right-hander. He’ll take a 2.78 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, and a 96/17 K/BB ratio across 97 innings into a start against the Yankees in Tampa Bay on Thursday.

After four straight seasons as an NL All-Star, Alonso failed to get chosen initially in his first year in the AL. Still, he might be added to the squad with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stepping aside. Alonso is up to .254/.347/.472 after a slow start to the season. He’s tied for ninth in the AL with 19 homers and is third with 60 RBI.

Young allowed eight hits and walked three, but the Reds didn’t do a great job of making him pay. In the sixth, he was pulled after a walk and a single to start the inning, but Grant Wolfram came in and got a double play and a groundout to protect Young’s 3.38 ERA. Young moved to 7-2. His 62/30 K/BB in 77 1/3 innings isn’t very impressive, but he’s given up just seven homers. Last year, he allowed 12 in 57 2/3 innings, even though he had a better groundball rate than he does now. Young will face the Royals at home to finish off the first half. That’s a kind matchup, but he’s not an every-week option in mixed leagues.

Wells gave up a single to Elly De La Cruz and walked Sal Stewart to begin the inning, but he then retired JJ Bleday, Eugenio Suárez and Nathaniel Lowe in order. Wells is very clearly the favorite for saves in the Baltimore pen with Ryan Helsley down, but he will need Sunday off after this. With Yennier Cano also having worked back-to-back days, Rico Garcia might be the top ninth-inning option then.