MLB Player News

This is now the second straight game that Hoskins has started on the bench. The veteran is hitting .214/.353/.357 with a 28 percent strikeout rate and just one home run. Hoskins still has an 11 percent barrel rate, but he’s not pulling the ball as often as before. Perhaps he just needs to warm up. Jose Ramirez will DH on Wednesday with Daniel Schneemann at third base and Juan Brito at second base.

Sewald’s save was his 23rd of the season. He allowed a solo home run to Jimmy Crooks, but also recorded two strikeouts. Sewald has a 4.58 ERA, but has only blown one save opportunity all year. Fantasy managers can’t really complain about Sewald’s production so far.

Both homers were two-run shots off lefties. The first helped knock Ian Seymour out of the game after three. The second came after the Rays inserted Garrett Cleavinger to face him in the seventh. That homer made it a 7-6 game and concluded the scoring for the day. Abreu had four two-homer games last season, but he was without one this year until the second game of Friday’s doubleheader. He has 15 homers on the year, and he ended the game with an .800 OPS for the first time since May 24. The win was Boston’s 12th straight, and the Red Sox are now back over .500 for the first time since winning on Opening Day.

The three-run fourth could have been worse, but Yandy Díaz was thrown out at the plate to end the frame. Sandoval struck out five and walked only one, so that’s good. He gave up the nine hits but only five hard-hit balls. The Red Sox figure to stick with him for now and start him against the Blue Jays on Friday.

Two walks and three stolen bases but no runs for Tampa Bay, as runners were left stranded on second and third to end the one-run game in the ninth. Chapman also pitched Friday, so he’s probably going to get Sunday off. Garrett Whitlock has also pitched back-to-back, so Justin Slaten or Tyron Guerrero might close then.

It was a surprisingly quick hook for Seymour today, though that might have had something to do with the start of the game being pushed back by rain. Seymour gave up two homers, but he wasn’t exactly stressed in throwing 61 pitches over three innings and he struck out four. He’s due to face the Blue Jays on Thursday.

Making his first start for the Red Sox, Jones hit a two-run homer off Ian Seymour in the second, only to find himself replaced by Jarren Duran after a right-hander entered the game in the fourth. The homer came in Jones’s second at-bat since being picked him up from the Tigers. He had two in 105 plate appearances for Detroit designated him for assignment.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t add to the nice day in the ninth, when he grounded out against Aroldis Chapman with the tying run on third and the go-ahead run at second to end the game. The homer off Ryan Watson was hit sixth in 189 plate appearances. He is batting .258/.294/.438 while starting against all lefties and a bit less than half of the time versus righties.

Pfaadt gave up six hits, walked none and struck out three. He improved to 4-1 with the win. Pfaadt has now allowed five runs and recorded 13 strikeouts in 21 innings over his last four starts since being recalled from Triple-A. He’s lined up to face the Cardinals on the road next week.

O’Neill entered the game in the ninth inning as a pinch hitter, but didn’t make an impact until the 11th. His go-ahead RBI single gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead and they would go on to win 4-2. While O’Neill is hitting just .199 on the season, he’s shown signs of life in recent weeks.

Alvarez slugged his 19th double of the year off Andrew Kittredge in the 10th inning to tie the game 2-2. The Astros would go on to lose 4-2 in 11 innings. Alvarez, the 29-year-old MVP candidate, is hitting .320 with a 1.065 OPS and 72 RBI.