MLB Player News

The White Sox took a 2-1 lead in the top of the 10th, but it wasn’t enough. The homer was Urias’s fourth in just 46 plate appearances this season. He’s taken over as the Athletics’ second baseman since Max Muncy was sent down, and while his defense is an issue there, his bat deserves to be in the lineup; he’s hitting .275/.348/.575.

Smith also drew a walk. This comes a day after the rookie 22-year-old went 4-for-5 in the blowout win over the A’s on Tuesday, and his average has increased over 20 points from .253 to .276 in the process. It has been far from a perfect rookie campaign for Smith, but there have been more than enough good moments to suggest he’s going to be a player in this league for a long time.

That’s the third-straight homer for Kurtz that has come in the ninth inning, but this one came with the A’s trailing by nine. He also doubled and singled, and raised his average to .252 while increasing his slugging percentage to .496. Kurtz has had some downs in his rookie campaign, but the ups — and the upside — has also been readily apparent.

Caratini also scored a pair. One of those runs was on a three-run blast to left field that extended Houston’s lead to 9-1. The 31-year-old was hitting just .132 in June coming into Wednesday’s affair, but he now has back-to-back appearances with multiple hits.

Altuve was one of five Houston hitters who ended up with three-hit nights in a game where the Astros picked up 20 hits and three homers. Altuve’s came with a pair on off Caleb Ferguson, and it extended the lead to 5-1 for Houston while also giving him a dozen homers on the season. Altuve has really picked things up since being moved out of the leadoff spot, and his slash is up to .277/.322/.442.

Valdez, 31, dealt his fair share of traffic but was able to keep that traffic from crossing the plate. He walked five in the contest, and he allowed five hits while striking out three in a start that could have gone so much worse. He’s now the proud owner of a 3.09 ERA in 2025 with a K/BB ratio of 99/33 across 96 innings. Valdez will look to be a a little more efficient with similar results against the Phillies on Tuesday.

Severino was fortunate to give up just the pair, as he allowed nine hits in the contest. He also struck out five against one walk, so credit to him for making some big pitches in the outing. One run came via a solo homer by Mauricio Dubon in the third, and an inning later he gave up a run-scoring single to Jake Meyers. Severino has been wildly inconsistent all year, and his 4.42 ERA only partially tells the story of his highs and lows in 2025. His next start is scheduled for next week versus the Tigers.

Suarez came in to pitch in a tie game, but the game was untied on a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth by Will Smith to the opposite field. It’s an unfortunate follow-up to his disaster Saturday where he allowed five runs, and his ERA has jumped up to 3.48 from the 1.78 mark he possessed prior to his struggles. Suarez will remain the closer, but fantasy managers have the right to be frustrated.

That’s the fourth time that Smith has hit a walk-off homer, and remarkably, three times they’ve come as a pinch-hitter. He just missed a homer earlier in the at-bat against Robert Suarez on a ball that just went foul down the left-field line, so he went the opposite way to evade the outstretched arm of Fernando Tatis Jr. Smith has eight homers, 41 RBI and .333/.438/.528 slash in 2025. If not for Cal Raleigh, you could call him the best backstop in baseball this year.

It’s a shame that Wrobleski doesn’t have five scoreless frames, as he was ever-so-impressive over the first four innings after relieving Emmet Sheehan. He held the Padres scoreless and to just one hit in that timeframe, but he faltered late while allowing two runs — one of them unearned — to tie the game. Still, this was a solid effort, and one that might earn Wrobleski a chance to start in the coming days/weeks.

Kolek allowed six hits with one walk, and he struck out three. He blanked the Dodgers over four innings, but struggled in the fifth; allowing all three runs in that frame with two coming on a two-run knock by Dalton Rushing. Still, it was a nice bounceback from his struggles against the D-Backs on Saturday, and he’s been more effective than anyone could have anticipated in his starting role with a 3.59 ERA over 52 2/3 innings. Kolek will square off against the Nationals on Monday if the San Diego rotation order doesn’t change.