MLB Player News

Perez got into three contests this past season for the Mets and posted an underwhelming .661 OPS with nine homers in 270 plate appearances for Triple-A Syracuse. The 31-year-old backstop will serve as emergency catching depth for Baltimore next season.

Rea retired six of the first seven batters he faced in this one, but in the third inning, the Twins jumped on him, notching four hits against the righty, with the biggest coming on a three-run homer by Ryan Jeffers to put the Twins up 4-1. Rea would settle in after the tough frame to get through three more innings before being pulled to start the seventh inning. Rea has allowed three earned runs or fewer in five straight starts, but hasn’t picked up a win since June 9th. He’ll look to end his winless streak in his next start, which is scheduled for Wednesday against the Tigers.

Two walks allowed by Ober in the first inning proved costly after Michael Busch singled to drive home Pete Crow-Armstrong to put the Cubs up 1-0. Ober allowed a leadoff double to Seiya Suzuki in the sixth inning but would get Michael Busch to ground out before being pulled in favor of Tommy Nance. Nance would throw a wild pitch to allow Suzuki to score, with that run being credited to Ober. It was a solid night for Ober overall, who settled in nicely after allowing three baserunners to reach base in the first inning. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in back-to-back games and will take the mound next on Wednesday against the Guardians.

Antonacci put the finishing touches on a five-run second inning for the White Sox when he hit a two-run homer off Jays starter Spencer Miles to put the Sox up 5-0. It’s just the seventh homer of the season for the lefty, who has now homered in back-to-back games and three times this month. Antonacci is now slashing .279/.326/.512 on the month.

After retiring the side in order in the first inning, Miles got knocked around by the White Sox in the second inning. Three straight hits to start the inning, followed by a fielder’s choice by Braden Montgomery that drove in Andrew Benintendi, put the White Sox up 2-0, and a two-run homer by Sam Antonacci a few batters later extended their lead to 5-0. It was only the fourth start of the season for Miles, who got the nod as the opener coming out of the All-Star break, but this was his worst outing of the season regardless of when he entered the game. He’ll likely be moved back to the bullpen rather than start another game next week.

Kay kept the Jays off the board for the first two innings of this one, but saw his first earned run come across to score in the third inning on a fielder’s choice by George Springer. In the fourth inning, Kay would allow a solo homer to Luis Urías in the second inning and left the game to start the fifth inning while holding onto a 5-2 lead. The lone run he allowed in the third inning was a sign of good fortune, as Kay allowed four batters to reach base in the frame, but the Jays were unable to capitalize with runners in scoring position. Kay’s next start is scheduled for Wednesday against the Rangers.

On a quiet night for both offenses, Muncy’s homer was the difference in this game. He stepped up to the plate with the Dodgers down 1-0 in the seventh against Gerrit Cole and Mookie Betts on first base. It took a seven-pitch battle, but Cole eventually hung a slider and Muncy sent it a long way over the right field fence. That was his 18th home run of the season to go along with an .853 OPS in an excellent season so far for the left-handed slugger.

It took Scott just 11 pitches to dispatch the Yankees and earn the save here. His fastball was a tick harder than average and he made it look easy. He’s now converted nine of 10 save opportunities since the start of June and has performed like one of the best closers in the league. Just keep an eye on Edwin Díaz who’s currently out on a rehab assignment and will likely siphon off some save chances from Scott upon returning.

This was a very encouraging start to the second half for Sasaki. First off, he was pumping gas. His fastball averaged a shade over 100 mph and in total, he threw 21 pitches in triple digits and topped out at 102 mph. In his career to date before this start, he’d never topped 101 mph and had only thrown 15 pitches at or above 100 mph. His command was also much better than usual. There were a few more fastballs that caught corners and his splitter was consistently diving low and below the plate. Similarly, his slider was abnormally lethal. When Sasaki has his whole repertoire working like he did here, he’s a scary pitcher. The problem is that when something goes wrong, he struggles to get over that hump. That’s how he’s wound up with a 4.98 ERA through 86 2/3 innings on the season with this kind of stuff. The roller coaster will continue next Friday against the Mets.

Domínguez was solely responsible for the Yankees only run against Roki Sasaki and the Dodgers’ bullpen in this one. He smoked a double to right-center in the fourth inning that Andy Pages bobbled, which let Domínguez get to third. Then, Dalton Rushing let a forkball clank off his glove and Domínguez scampered home on the pass ball. He’s played everyday for a month straight and has four home runs and six stolen bases despite a lowly .679 OPS over his last 30 games.

For six innings, it seemed as if Cole was going to start the second half with a statement. It took him just 90 pitches to get through those six innings and he was in complete control throughout. Then, he walked Mookie Betts to start the seventh and missed with a few fastballs during that at-bat which he wasn’t missing with earlier. Max Muncy came up next and launched a two-run homer after a seven-pitch battle that sullied Cole’s outing and put him in line for the loss. There’s still a ton to be positive about after this start, like Cole’s thirteen total swings-and-misses with his fastball, slider, changeup, and curve each forcing multiple. It just sullied his outing when manager Aaron Boone tried to push him through that seventh inning. He’s scheduled to face the Pirates at home next time out and it’s likely he pitches better than his 3.93 ERA from this point forward.