MLB Player News

With a runner on and one out in the ninth, Suzuki brought the Cubs to within three runs with a two-run blast off Kyle Nelson. It was hit 18th homer of the season while hitting .277/.345/.475 with 66 runs scored, 65 RBI, and six steals across 524 plate appearances.

Lucas Giolito left a center-cut fastball at the top of the zone and Mead pulverized it to left center, landing it about three rows back. He added a walk in the ninth to put the tying run at the plate, but the Nationals batters couldn’t find the big hit against Mason Miller. Don’t look now, but Mead is hitting .286/.417/.571 with four homers over his last seven games. He’s developed into an interesting NL-only league or deep league option since the Nationals sent Brady House down a few weeks ago and started giving Mead everyday playing time.

You can’t be surprised about the control at this point -- Giolito has walked 12 in 12 2/3 innings over his first three starts in the big leagues this year. Considering the seven hard-hit balls, Giolito was lucky to escape this game with only four earned runs allowed. He did whiff 28 percent of batters that actually swung, but when you prove that wild, major leaguers can just wait for something juicy. We can’t recommend using him against the Phillies next week.

It was by far his worst bulk appearance of the year -- his first with more than two runs allowed and also his first with multiple walks. He threw a season high 74 pitches to get those three innings against what was, on paper, a Padres lineup that hasn’t hit lefties well all year. Assuming the Nationals want to continue to give him bulk appearances, Alvarez is lined up to do so against the Marlins next week.

The Padres didn’t get three innings out of Lucas Giolito tonight, so perhaps they would have been less aggressive with Miller if the pen hadn’t already been heavily taxed, but manager Craig Stammen brought Miller in with two on and two out in the eighth, clinging to a two-run lead. Miller walked James Wood, but got Luis García Jr. to line out to left after a tough at-bat to close the inning. Curtis Mead walked to start the ninth, then Miller mixed in a routine flyout to right between a pair of strikeouts to end the game. His ERA is 0.72 and he keeps pumping 101 on the radar gun. This Miller is pretty, pretty good.

Martínez smacked a bases-loaded single to right-center field against Red Sox lefty Tyler Samaniego in the first inning, which led to an additional run scoring on the play when center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela bobbled the ball while picking it up. He also made a phenomenal throw to cut down Mickey Gasper at the plate in the ensuing frame, which ended up being one of the key plays in a low-scoring affair.

Mayer was one of the few bright spots for Boston in this one as he notched his second multi-hit effort in his last three games. The 23-year-old former top prospect has moved back to his natural defensive home at shortstop in the wake of Trevor Story’s absence and is starting to show some signs of life at the dish. He’s not going to be an impact fantasy contributor anytime soon, but it certainly qualifies as a positive development for the Red Sox if he settles in as their shortstop of the future and continues to improve as a hitter.

Smith got the call to protect a one-run lead in the final frame and managed to work around a leadoff single from Isiah Kiner-Falefa by striking out Marcelo Mayer, Caleb Durbin and Jarren Duran to preserve the win. The 27-year-old is the first closer to reach the 20-save plateau this season and finds himself four ahead of Padres star Mason Miller for the league lead. He holds a strong 2.60 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 42/5 K/BB ratio across 27 2/3 innings of work.

Boston’s opener gambit backfired when lefty Tyler Samaniego surrendered four runs in a calamitous first inning. However, Bello came on afterwards and delivered one of his strongest performances of the season, pitching behind an opener for the fourth time in his last five starts. He limited Cleveland to just four baserunners while piling up five strikeouts. He’s compiled a strong 2.67 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 23/6 K/BB ratio across 30 1/3 innings over five outings since May 1. He’ll get the ball against the Orioles at home on Thursday.

Cecconi held Boston scoreless until the fifth inning when things unraveled on him a bit. He surrendered four consecutive hits to open the frame before finally being lifted following a sacrifice fly from Jarren Duran. He was bailed out from any further damage when Colin Holderman stranded the potential tying run at third base. He finished with three strikeouts and didn’t hand out a free pass. He’ll face off against the Yankees in a challenging road matchup his next time out on Thursday.

Ronald Acuña Jr. barely even moved as Bleday crushed a Grant Holmes fastball to right field that went 393 feet and landed several rows up in the stands. Bleday has continued to rake since being installed as a regular for the Reds, hitting .287/.392/.604 with eight bombs and a stolen base. The window to pick him up as a free agent has likely passed, but his underlying stats are good enough that fantasy managers should feel good trading for him at this point if they have a hole to fill in the outfield.