MLB Player News

Rooker singled off of Sean Burke in the opening inning and rode home on Tyler Soderstrom’s first three-run blast. He then singled in the sixth inning and once again rode home on a three-run bomb by Soderstrom. The 30-year-old slugger also worked a walk to start the ninth inning and raced around to score on an RBI double off the bat of Shea Langeliers. He’s off to a bit of a slow start at the plate this season, slashing .205/.256/.411, though he does have four home runs and eight RBI to his credit.

The homer in the third went 367-feet to left and would have remained in play in 16 ballparks, according to Statcast. The triple was actually more interesting, traveling 357 feet to the opposite field to get over Colton Cowser’s head at the wall in right. It was his first extra-base hit to right this year. Clement is batting .366 with four homers in his last 19 games, raising his OPS from .694 to .791.

Miles entered after Braydon Fisher’s scoreless first and allowed just two hits into the sixth inning. He departed with one on and one out in that frame, and Pete Alonso hit a two-run homer off Jeff Hoffman to get Miles charged with a second run. Miles moved to 3-1 with a 3.54 ERA, which is incredible for a Rule 5 pick whose professional experience had consisted of 10 1/3 innings in the Complex League and 4 1/3 innings in Low-A ball coming into the year. He’s probably going back to the bullpen now with the Jays getting veterans back and also having two days off coming up.

Hoffman came into a 6-1 game with one on and immediately gave up the homer to Alonso, adding one run to both his and Spencer Miles’ ledger. He then struck out Coby Mayo and induced a soft groundout from Leody Taveras. The home run ball, a far bigger issue last season, was the fourth allowed by Hoffman in 27 1/3 innings this year. It’s the absurd .492 BABIP that has caused most of Hoffman’s problems this season. He probably won’t be receiving any save chances in the short term after giving up five runs in the ninth the Orioles last Saturday.

The gap between Varland and Jeff Hoffman got even a little wider today, as Hoffman gave up a homer while getting two outs in the seventh. Varland’s ERA dipped to 0.27, as just one of the six runs he’s allowed this season has been earned.

Bradish had pitched well in five straight starts, including a win over the Blue Jays last Sunday, so one dud doesn’t seem like much of a setback. Besides, he actually allowed just four hard-hit balls today. The three-run homer he allowed to Ernie Clement was one but only barely; it left the bat at 95.3 mph and would have been a homer in 14 of 30 ballparks. Bradish will pitch at home against the Mariners next week.

The second double should have been caught by Leody Taveras, but it was still a pretty impressive 390-foot drive on a high fastball. Valenzuela is batting .254/.338/.456, and there’s really no way the Jays are going to be able to send him down once Alejandro Kirk returns, which probably means Tyler Heineman will be exposed to waivers.

Cowser had his right hand/wrist checked on by the trainer running into the wall in right in the contest, but his exit simply seemed to be a matchup thing, with Tyler O’Neill replacing him against a lefty reliever. There was no indication after the game that it was injury related.

Basallo’s availability was in question because of abdominal discomfort, but the Orioles sent him in to face Louis Varland and got a weak grounder from him. There was no word after the game on whether he might rejoin the starting lineup on Sunday.

Speculation during the broadcast was that he wasn’t going to be allowed to hit after being excluded from the starting lineup with left wrist inflammation. However, he was able to play the last two innings in center without his spot coming up.

It was a 108-mph shot from Patrick Bailey. Curvelo seemed to be interested in trying to walk it off, but going into the clubhouse and getting some ice on it was definitely the better idea.