MLB Player News

Blalock is sent down to make room for Cal Quantrill with Quantrill being activated off the injured list. The 23-year-old has registered a 5.79 ERA and 20/19 K/BB in seven appearances — six of the starts with the Rockies after being traded from the Brewers — and 29 2/3 innings.

Detmers continued his outstanding run of pitching with seven shutout innings against the Diamondbacks. He scattered three hits and did not issue a walk while striking out three batters. It’s his second straight start with zero walks and has allowed just one run across 20 innings over his last three outings. The 26-year-old left-hander will take a 3.68 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and a 100/24 K/BB ratio across 88 innings into a start against the Athletics in Sacramento on Sunday.

Kelly tossed a scoreless first inning, then gave up a run on two hits in the second. Zach Neto then took him deep for a solo homer in the third. The Angels brought another run in to score in the fourth before Mike Trout added two more with a home run in the fifth. Kelly would depart with two runners on and one out in the sixth at 88 pitches. One inherited runner would come in to score. Kelly finished with four strikeouts and ended his day with a 5.81 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, and a 42/28 K/BB ratio across 69 2/3 innings. He’ll face the Cardinals in St. Louis on Monday.

No other player on either team had even two hits in this one. Wetherholt has gone 18-for-50 in his last 13 games to raise his average from .234 to .259. There’s a long way to go, but he’s pretty easily the NL Rookie of the Year favorite over Sal Stewart and Nolan McLean at this point.

Pallante won for the third time in three starts this month. At 8-4, he has two more victories in 14 starts this year than he did in 31 starts last season. The biggest change from then is that he’s getting more called strikes this season, allowing him to amass a decent 19 percent strikeout rate even though he’s still not generating a bunch of whiffs. He still doesn’t project as a mixed-league guy going forward, but he’s a big reason why the Cardinals are in postseason position at the moment.

O’Brien walked one, but he was able to retire Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill and Manny Machado in one of his better outings of late. It’s still the 13th straight inning in which he’s allowed at least one batter to reach, but it’s a little more job security for now.

Although his velocity has held up just fine, King has given up 19 runs over 26 2/3 innings in his last five starts, with a particularly hideous 14/11 K/BB. That’s resulted in a drop in his overall strikeout rate from a fine 25.8 percent to a career-low 21 percent. We don’t want to write him off, but we also wouldn’t want to rely on him in a dangerous two-start week against the Braves and Dodgers next week.

Bogaerts didn’t miss any starts after leaving Saturday’s game following a beaning, but he’s 0-for-10 since the incident. Of course, it might just be a coincidence. He’d previously opened June with five straight hitless games, and he’s now 4-for-37 for the month.

Reynolds had himself quite the day in Sacramento, starting with a base hit in the first inning. He then knocked another single and scored a run in the fourth before taking Jack Perkins deep for a solo homer in the sixth. Reynolds did it again in the seventh, taking Hogan Harris deep for a two-run blast. The 31-year-old outfielder is enjoying a bounce-back season, hitting .280/.400/.470 with 10 homers, 49 runs scored, and 45 RBI across 320 plate appearances.

Gelof stepped into the box with the bases loaded in the first inning and gave the A’s an early lead with a bases-clearing single. After collecting another hit in the fourth, he took Mitch Keller deep for a solo homer in the sixth before drawing a walk and stealing a base in the eighth. The 26-year-old second baseman is hitting an excellent .286/.335/.500 with 10 homers, 34 runs scored, 28 RBI, and eight steals across 208 plate appearances.

Soto took the mound in the ninth inning to preserve a one-run lead against the Athletics. He worked around two hits, striking out two batters to secure the win for the Pirates with his 11th save to go with a 3.16 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and a 37/12 K/BB ratio across 31 1/3 innings.