MLB Player News

Darvish made his return to the mound for the first time since late May after missing time with an elbow injury. He surrendered a solo homer to Matt Vierling in the first inning. A groundout with a runner on third brought a second run in to score in the second. Then a walk and base hit brought in a third run before Darvish was done with two outs in the third inning. The 38-year-old right-hander is in line to take on the Mariners in Seattle on Tuesday.

Blanco was making his first start since Sept. 1, having pitched once in relief on Sept. 7. He was terrific in spite of the layoff, and he’s now up to 13 scoreless innings this month. Although he’s perhaps being viewed as the Astros’ sixth starter right now, one would think he has a strong case for the postseason rotation. He’ll likely face the Angels again next weekend.

The Astros weren’t expecting to use Hader with a 6-1 lead entering the ninth tonight, but Caleb Ferguson retired just one of the four batters he faced. It was Hader’s third appearance in four days, so he might be unavailable Monday now. If so, Ryan Pressly could geta chance to close.

We’re still not sure why the Angels called up the 20-year-old Dana after he had already thrown twice as many innings this year as he did in 2023. They might have some regrets now, as he’s tumbled to 1-2 with a 10.45 ERA. Of the 12 balls in play against him today, nine were hit at least 94 mph and five were hit at least 102 mph. The early returns suggest he’s going to need some additional minor league time next year.

Heyward didn’t figure to have much of a role on the Astros with Kyle Tucker back, but Tucker is still limited and now Chas McCormick and Ben Gamel are hurt. Heyward has taken advantage and gone 5-for-8 with two homers in his last three appearances. He makes more sense as an outfield starter against righties than Mauricio Dubón does.

Morejon has just his second save of the year. It came with a run allowed in the 10th, but it was the unearned runner that starts extra innings on second base. Morejon has been a solid part of the San Diego bullpen, but probably won’t get many save chances in the future.

Suarez gave up the first ever homer to a right-handed hitter that landed in the splash area by Heliot Ramos, and more importantly, it tied the game at 2-2 and gave Suarez his fifth blown save of the year. It also gave him his ninth win of the season, as the Padres scored two in the top of the tenth. Even with a handful of blown saves, Suarez has undoubtedly been a success story as the stopper for the Padres.

Not only did Ramos tie the game at 2-2 in the ninth inning, he became the first ever right-handed hitter in the history of Oracle Park to hit a splash homer into right field. Incredible. Ramos has hit 21 homers in his first full season as a starter, and the 25-year-old has had more than enough good moments to suggest a massive fantasy future for the outfielder in the coming years.

Tatis Jr. began this game on the bench, but the 25-year-old came up huge with a solo shot in the eighth inning off Tyler Rogers. The 25-year-old star has been able to homer 18 times and drive in 45 runs despite missing significant time, and four of those homers have come in September.

New dad strength? Pérez blanked the Giants over the first five innings in his first start back from the paternity list. He did give up a solo homer to Donovan Walton in the sixth, however, and that prevented him from picking up a win as it tied the game at 1-1. As usual, the 33-year-old didn’t miss many bats with just two strikeouts, but he was effective just the same. Pérez will be back on the bump Saturday against the lowly White Sox.

Roupp and Martin Pérez both put up zero-for-zero before Roupp left the contest, so it’s a hard-luck no decision. The rookie right-hander was making just his second ever MLB start, and in those two outings he’s allowed just two runs over 10 innings. Roupp has also been effective as a multi-inning reliever, but obviously his fantasy value — limited as it may be either way — is exponentially higher if he can be a part of the rotation.