MLB Player News

Nelson is back with the Phillies for the first time since the first half of April. He’s been toying with a knuckleball while working in relief for the IronPigs. He had a 6.30 ERA in 50 innings overall in Triple-A, but he’d come in at 2.55 in 17 2/3 innings since the beginning of August.

Walls enjoyed an excellent day at the plate, starting with a two-run homer off Mason Barnett in the fourth inning. He then went yard again for a solo blast in the sixth. It’s an incredibly rare occurrence, as the two home runs were the first two of the season for the 30-year-old infielder. Walls is hitting .216/.305/.300 with 46 runs scored, 28 RBI, and 18 steals across 336 plate appearances.

Caminero put the Rays on the board with a two-run blast off Mason Barnett in the first inning. He followed with a walk and a run scored in the third. That’s back-to-back games with a home run in Sacramento for the 23-year-old slugger. He’s up to 35 on the season while slashing .277/.369/.554 with 74 runs scored and 76 RBI across 520 plate appearances.

Butler supplied the A’s only two runs through eight innings for the A’s, taking Nick Martinez deep for a two-run blast in the fourth inning. The 26-year-old outfielder has had a disappointing season, hitting .206/.299/.330 with eight homers, 44 runs scored, 32 RBI, and nine steals across 359 plate appearances.

Martinez held the A’s scoreless through three innings until Lawrence Butler took him deep for a two-run blast in the fourth. He started the ninth to complete one of the more rare occurrences in baseball, a complete game by a Rays pitcher. He nearly couldn’t get it done, as the A’s brought two runs in on three straight hits. But Martinez settled in for the final out to end the game. The 36-year-old right-hander will take a 2.74 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and a 78/20 K/BB ratio across 138 innings into a start against the Orioles in Tampa Bay on Monday.

Barnett served up a two-run homer to Junior Caminero in the first inning. The Rays brought a third run in to score in the third before adding three more in the fourth on home runs by Taylor Walls and Yandy Díaz. Barnett’s day would be done after four frames. He failed to record a strikeout. The 25-year-old right-hander will take a bloated 6.16 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, and a 36/20 K/BB ratio across 38 innings into a start against the Royals in Kansas City on Monday.

It’s been a little surprising to see Bateman getting starts against lefties here at the beginning of his major league career, but he doubled and singled off Patrick Sandoval to make a big difference in the victory tonight. He’s 6-for-22 through five games, and he should offer some value in deeper leagues as long as he continues to play regularly and hit first or second for the Jays.

With his velocity down some once again, Cease was probably one batter away from getting pulled in the fourth in a rare off night tonight, but he did get through five with seven strikeouts. The Red Sox simply didn’t make him pay enough for walking four and giving up two homers. Cease will take on the Yankees on Sunday.

The Jays weren’t going to use Louis Varland or Tyler Rogers tonight, but that posed no problem, as Chase Lee, Brendon Little, Braydon Fisher and Miles combined to pitch four scoreless innings in relief. Miles, getting his first chance to close, pitched for the third time in four days. Because of concerns about his workload, it looks like the Jays are going to let him finish out his rookie season as a short reliever instead of considering him as a rotation replacement for Trey Yesavage or Jameson Taillon.

Sandoval gave up eight hits despite allowing just two hard-hit balls, as the Boston’s infield defense was not at its best tonight. The Red Sox dropped to 5-1 in Sandoval’s six starts. Sandoval is 1-1 with a 3.30 ERA during that span. He’s due to face the Pirates on Sunday, if the Red Sox are willing to let him work on four days’ rest. They weren’t last Sunday, which is why they used a bullpen game that day instead.

It was a little bit surprising to see the Red Sox bat Rutschman third in his first game off the IL, but it worked out. Rutschman figures to start one of the two remaining games in the series against Toronto, but it’s not currently known which one.