Pittsburgh

Pirates

Jones struck out four and walked one. He was pulled after 75 pitches for bulk reliever Carmen Mlodzinski. Jones has yet to throw more than 77 pitches or complete more than five innings in any of his three starts since returning from elbow surgery. It’s likely out of an abundance of caution for the 24-year-old righty. He has another tough matchup next time out against the A’s in Sacramento.

Soto surrendered a two-run blast to Shohei Ohtani that cut the lead to one, but he made it through the inning otherwise unscathed. The veteran lefty has fully taken over the closer role in Pittsburgh, securing each of their past eight saves that weren’t of the three-inning variety. Dennis Santana hasn’t recorded a save since April 15. The Pirates might look to upgrade their bullpen at the trade deadline, but Soto’s role should be safe for now.

Horwitz’s homer notably came off left-hander Jack Dreyer, a two-run blast in the bottom of the eighth that gave Pittsburgh a couple of insurance runs they ended up needing. The lefty-swinging first baseman doesn’t start against every southpaw, but he isn’t a strict platoon hitter and bats leadoff against righties.

The 25-year-old was appearing in just his 11th career game, with the long balls the first he has hit at the big league level. The first one went entirely out of the ballpark and came off Shohei Ohtani, which makes for quite the memorable blast. Callihan is off the fantasy radar despite the big game.

Rafael Flores Jr. took over behind the plate after Rodríguez went 0-for-3 before departing. The timing is a bit complicated for the Pirates with Henry Davis away on paternity leave for the next couple days. It’s possible the club will have to promote someone from Triple-A Indianapolis on an emergency basis if Rodríguez is unavailable for Thursday’s series finale.

Cook returns to the majors with Oneil Cruz hitting the injured list with multiple fractures in his left hand. The 27-year-old has hit .190 (4-for-21) with three stela sin 32 games for the Pirates this season. He’ll operate in a reserve role behind Jake Mangum.

Cruz is expected to miss at least one month, reports Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. It’s a massive loss for the Pirates and fantasy managers, as Cruz was putting together a monster campaign, slashing .264/.350/.472 with 14 homers, 44 RBI and 21 steals in 283 plate appearances over 64 games. He’s still striking out a ton, but has made some serious strides against left-handed pitching, evolving into an upper-echelon fantasy contributor in the process. There isn’t an official timetable from the Pirates, but fantasy managers should anticipate Cruz remaining sidelined until after next month’s All-Star break.

Flores receives the call to back up Endy Rodríguez while starting catcher Henry Davis is away from the club on paternity leave. The 25-year-old went 3-for-15 in seven games with the Pirates last year during his first stint in the big leagues.

Davis will be away from the club for a couple days on paternity leave with Endy Rodríguez handling the bulk of the catching responsibilities.

Griffin told reporters afterwards that he felt fine while throwing at roughly three quarters intensity. The 20-year-old rookie sensation is facing a lengthier absence than originally anticipated after hitting the injured list with a forearm strain back on May 31. It’ll likely take him a couple weeks to ramp up a throwing progression before he’s cleared to return to game action on a minor league rehab assignment, but he remains without an official return timetable for now.