MLB Player News

Fry got the rare start against a right-handed pitcher on Saturday, starting in right field. He took Kevin Gausman deep for a solo homer in the seventh inning for his first of the season. The 30-year-old slugger remains mostly limited to starts against left-handing pitching, mixing in at catcher, right field, and designated hitter.

Alonso did enough damage in the back-and-forth slugfest to allow Baltimore to pull out a late victory. He hammered a two-run double down the left-field line against Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara in the opening frame as part of a multi-hit effort where he also drew a pair of walks, reaching base safely in four of his five plate appearances. The 31-year-old middle-of-the-order threat is hitting .364 (8-for-22) with two homers and five RBI over his last seven games.

Hicks drilled a two-run single to right-center field against Orioles starter Chris Bassitt with two outs in the second inning before taking reliever Grant Wolfram deep for his eighth round-tripper of the season. The unheralded 26-year-old backstop should be able to find enough at-bats between first base and catcher to be a fantasy-relevant option in all leagues the rest of the way. He’s off to a really strong start this season, hitting .321 through 33 games. He’s currently tied with Matt Olson with a major-league leading 32 RBI during that span.

Basallo scalded an RBI double in the opening frame before putting Baltimore ahead with a two-run single to right-center field in the third inning. He capped off an impressive three-hit effort with an RBI triple to right field in the fifth. The 21-year-old backstop has found his stride at the dish recently, hitting .333 (17-for-51) with two homers and 10 RBI over his last 15 games.

Garcia came on to record the final out of the eighth inning to preserve a tie ballgame before coming out to protect a two-run lead in the ensuing frame. He’ll continue to serve as Baltimore’s primary closing option until Ryan Helsley (elbow) is back from the injured list at some point in the next few weeks.

Bassitt struck out three and issued three walks. The 37-year-old veteran hurler has struggled to work deep into outings this season, pitching beyond the first inning just twice in seven starts. He’ll bring an inflated 5.91 ERA, 1.91 WHIP and 20/17 K/BB ratio across 32 innings into a home outing against the Athletics on Sunday.

Alcantara managed to keep the ball in the yard but still gave up eight hits on nine hard-hit balls. He finished with five strikeouts and handed out three free passes. He’s allowed three earned runs or fewer in six of his eight starts this season. He’ll carry a pedestrian 4.01 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 36/18 K/BB ratio across 51 2/3 innings into a home outing against the Nationals on Sunday to close out a two-start week.

Harper homered off Luis Severino in the third for the game’s only run through six innings. The Phillies then exploded for eight runs between the seventh and eighth to turn it into a laugher. It’s Harper’s 31st career two-homer game and first since last August. He has nine homers this year, and he’s up to 13th in the majors with a .948 OPS.

Sánchez had been more good than great since striking out 10 against the Rangers on Opening Day, so it was nice to see him dominate tonight. Coming into the game, the league was hitting .287 against him with a 45 percent hard-hit rate against him, compared to .226 with a 40 percent hard-hit rate last year. Tonight, with his velocity up about 1.5 mph from his season average, the A’s were 3-for-27 against him.

The Phillies wanted Duran to work tonight after activating him earlier in the day, and that meant having him pitch the ninth ahead by nine. Duran wasn’t sharp, but that’s no harm done. However, since it did take him 27 pitches to get through the frame, it’ll be interesting to see if the Phillies are willing to use him on Wednesday.

Severino gave up seven hits, walked two and struck out three. He’s allowed exactly one earned run in each of his last three starts, a stretch that has dropped his ERA from 6.20 to 4.15. Next up for him is another road start against the Orioles.