MLB Player News

It’s a significant milestone as Smith-Shawver continues working his way back from last year’s Tommy John surgery. The 23-year-old former top pitching prospect figures to be ready to rejoin Atlanta’s rotation mix at some point in the second half, barring any setbacks.

The Padres scored 11 times in the final two innings, with the last six runs coming off position player Tyler Tolbert in the ninth. France’s slam came off Lucas Erceg in the eighth. It was his second career slam. He’d been without one in 78 career plate appearances with the bases loaded coming into the season, but he’s had two in 11 chances this year. He also now has three two-homer games this year after racking up just two in his first seven seasons. He mostly just started against lefties initially, but it’s now been a month since he was left out of the Padres’ lineup as a healthy scratch. He’s batting .275/.335/.537 in 243 plate appearances.

It was hardly his fault, as Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts messed up on consecutive groundballs, but Márquez left with the bases loaded and none out in the fourth, only for Yuki Matsui to come in and get a strikeout and a double play afterwards. Márquez allowed five hits, walked two and struck out two before being lifted. He’s held it together with a 4.20 ERA in four starts this month, but he’s completed five innings just once and has an ugly 11/10 K/BB in 15 innings. He doesn’t seem like a lock to get a start next weekend against the Marlins.

Instead of giving Vásquez a start against the Braves this week, the Padres decided to have him piggyback with Germán Márquez today. Vásquez definitely put together the better performance of the two, so maybe he’ll start next time through, assuming that he isn’t needed in relief again before then.

At least that’s better than the 12 runs the Royals gave up in four innings after Cameron departed. Cameron, who fanned 16 over 12 innings in his final two starts of the first half, struck out just one of the 26 batters he faced today. He’s given up at least five runs and taken a loss in four of his last five starts, leaving him 5-8 with a 5.27 ERA this season. Still, his rotation spot is most likely safe. He’ll face the Tigers next weekend.

Merrill, who was 0-for-13 in his previous three games, had his first three hits through four innings and then added a two-run homer off utilityman Tyler Tolbert in the ninth in what ended up being a 19-2 game. It was a rather cheap way to achieve his first two-homer game in 372 days, but fantasy leaguers waiting for something from him all year will certainly take it. The steal was his 20th, which has helped keep him relevant.

Tatis’s homer was hit 107.6 mph off Matt Strahm in the sixth. He’s gone deep in back-to-back games and is up to seven homers on the year after going his first 55 games without one.

Three hits in two innings. The last two came off utilityman Tyler Tolbert, who gave up six runs in the ninth. It’s Song’s first three-hit game in MLB. He upped his average from .212 to .239.

The Padres had 15 of the 17 hardest-hit balls in the game, but Caglianone was responsible for No. 1, a 113.5-mph homer, and No. 6, a 104.9-mph double. Both came off Germán Márquez in the first three innings, when it was still a contest. Caglianone has 16 homers in 365 plate appearances on the season. He collected zero in his first 19 games, eight in his next 51 games and now eight in his last 24.

Altuve’s home run was his 12th of the season. He hit a solo shot off Orioles reliever Rico Garcia in the eighth inning. Altuve was 1-for-9 with one strikeout in the series entering play Sunday. He’s hitting .235 with a .713 OPS and 28 RBI. Altuve’s production has finally fallen off in the 16th year of his MLB career.