Walker

Buehler

Buehler allowed three homers and four walks while striking out six. The Padres’ pitching staff gave up eight long balls, which tied a Cubs franchise record. Buehler had allowed two runs or fewer in all but one start dating back to May 10. Unfortunately, outings like Wednesday are the risk one runs with a pitcher of his caliber, even if his tenure in San Diego has been a modest bounce-back from recent seasons. He’ll look to rebound at home against the Diamondbacks next time out.

Buehler allowed three hits, walked three and struck out five against his former team. Mookie Betts homered off him in the second, but that proved to be the only damage on the evening. Buehler improved to 5-3 with a 3.81 ERA in beating his original franchise for the first time. Nothing much about his numbers bodes particularly well going forward, but he is a reasonable mixed-league option at home against the D-backs next week.

Buehler was excellent against the Rangers on Saturday. He scattered three baserunners through five scoreless innings before Texas broke through with a run on two hits in the sixth. Buehler’s day would be done at 87 pitches with one out in the inning. He tossed 60 pitches for strikes and generated 13 whiffs to strike out seven batters. The 31-year-old right-hander will take a 3.96 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, and a 65/23 K/BB ratio across 72 2/3 innings into a start against the Dodgers in San Diego on Friday.

Buehler went without a walk today, dropping his walk rate to 7.7 percent of the season. That’s still slightly above his career average of 7.3 percent, but it’s a big improvement over his 10.8 percent from last season, and it’s helped him post an adequate 4.14 ERA even though he’s still not missing nearly as many bats as he used to. He’ll face the Rangers in Texas next weekend, making him a decent streaming choice.

He’s probably not getting a plaque for it, but Buehler is the first pitcher this year to allow eight hits in an outing of fewer than five innings and allow only one run. He struck out four and walked two before coming out a 1-1 game with two on and two out in the fifth. Buehler deserves credit for keeping the Padres in the game every time he takes the mound, but he’s shown little in the way of upside while going 3-3 with a 4.33 ERA. He’ll face the Orioles on Sunday.

Buehler allowed four hits and two walks against the team he pitched for late last year. The 31-year-old gave up just two runs in the same matchup last time out. He’s pitched well enough to stick in the Padres rotation but remains off the fantasy radar. Buehler’s next outing lines up at home against the Reds.

Thanks to a couple of double plays, Buehler faced the minimum through five, and he was pulled at just 58 pitches after a groundout, a single and a HBP to begin the sixth. Adrian Morejon replaced him and allowed both runners to score. Buehler struck out only two today and allowed nine hard-hit balls, but the three hits against him were all singles and he walked none. He has a 4.88 ERA after 11 starts, and he’ll probably face the Phillies again next time out.

Buehler struck out four batters on the night but he also issued four free passes. The A’s scratched out a pair of runs against him in the opening inning, then tacked on another on an RBI single off the bat of Henry Bolte in the fourth inning. The 31-year-old hurler got eight swings and misses on 85 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 29 percent. He’ll tote an uninspiring 5.05 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and a 41/18 K/BB ratio (46 1/3 innings) into Wednesday’s tilt against the Phillies.

Buehler did give up runs in his final two innings; a Cole Young single in the fourth and a J.P. Crawford homer in the fifth. The 31-year-old struck out six against two walks while scattering five hits in the contest. Buehler has pitched well in his last two contests, but his scuffles in previous outings see him still possess a 5.01 ERA. He’ll try and keep the good run going against the A’s on Friday.

Buehler matched his season low with two strikeouts, but he was effective in his second quality start of the season. He remains 2-2 with a 5.20 ERA overall, and there just doesn’t seem to be much of a ceiling here with his velocity down three mph from his peak. Maybe he’ll be good for a few more strikeouts while starting in Seattle next weekend.