MLB Player News

Vodnik came in with two on and two out in the eighth and struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. The ninth, though, opened with a walk, three singles and a homer to plate five runs. Vodnik then struck out Freddy Fermin before being pulled. It’s the second blown save for Vodnik, who saw his ERA jump from 3.60 to 7.59. It might open the door for Antonio Senzatela or Seth Halvorsen to get save chances in Colorado, but we’d suggest continuing to avoid the entire situation.

Kurtz has homered in three straight games after going 15 in a row without one. Tonight’s was a 417-footer off Tyler Mahle. Since debuting last April, Kurtz has 44 homers, 115 RBI, 118 runs scored and 103 walks in 160 games. He’s fanned 210 times, too, but that doesn’t seem like much of a concern at this point.

Civale fanned only two and allowed homers to Luis Arraez and Harrison Bader, but nothing else did any damage. He’s a pretty stunning 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA to date. It still seems like a good idea to stay away from him in mixed leagues, but for those interested, he’ll face the Angels on the road next time out.

Jack Perkins has blown two save chances in a row, so the ninth is again wide open in Sacramento. Since Harris is the team’s top lefty, it’s not always going to make sense to save him for the ninth inning. Still, he figures to remain very much in the mix for saves. He has a 2.45 ERA despite having walked 17 in 22 innings.

Nick Kurtz hit a three-run homer off Mahle tonight, bringing Mahle’s total of homers allowed to nine in nine starts. Last year, it was five in 16 starts, but that already seemed like a fluke at the time. Mahle does have 42 strikeouts in 41 2/3 innings, so his rotation spot shouldn’t be in jeopardy just yet. He’ll due to face the Diamondbacks in each of his next two starts.

Bolte has started three straight games and gone 5-for-10 with two RBI and a walk. He’s not assured of playing against righties, but the A’s used him over Lawrence Butler on Thursday and Carlos Cortes tonight. The A’s face three more right-handers before their next game against a lefty, and it will be interesting to see if the A’s keep rotating out Butler and Cortes in order to keep Bolte in the lineup. Everything so far is pretty encouraging.

Arraez doesn’t have a barrel yet, but he’s on the board with a homer after a 350-foot fly to right off Aaron Civale tonight. The ball was hit 98.2 mph at a 43-degree launch angle. The four-hit game was also his first of the season, pushing his average up to .317.

He struck out three and walked none. Vásquez surrendered 11 hard-hit balls, including nine over 100 mph, but nothing much fell in against him. In the fifth, Jhonny Pereda hit a liner to left with a .960 xBA, only to watch Ramón Laureano make a diving catch in left field and then double Cole Young off second base. Vásquez improved to 5-1 with a 2.68 ERA. He has a home start against the Dodgers coming up next week.

Miller came into a 2-0 game with two outs in the eighth and gave up an infield single before striking out Connor Joe to end the rally. In the ninth, he walked J.P. Crawford to lead off the inning and gave up a one-out single to Cole Young, but he struck out the other three batters he faced. On the last of those, he retired Brendan Donovan on five pitches, only one of which was in the strike zone. Miller threw 34 pitches tonight, so he might get Saturday off. That would probably put Jason Adam in line for a save opportunity.

Hancock gave up 11 hard-hit balls, but the Padres managed only four singles and a double against him. It was a performance worthy of a win, but since the Mariners failed to score in the 2-0 loss, Hancock dropped to 3-2 with a 3.02 ERA. He’ll make his next start Wednesday at home against the White Sox.

The RBI came on a groundout in the seventh, making in a 2-0 game. Song had a basehit earlier, though, and he had a nice drive to the warning track for a flyout in the ninth. If only the game had been played in GABP or Yankee Stadium, rather than Petco, that might have been good for his first MLB home run. Song is batting .176/.300/.235 through his first 20 plate appearances.