MLB Player News

Smoak signed on with the Giants earlier this month after getting released by the Brewers, but the 33-year-old went 0-for-6 with two strikeouts during his short stay with San Francisco and is now batting .176/.250/.361 in 132 total plate appearances this season. Alex Dickerson has been activated from paternity leave in a corresponding move.

It’s Singer’s fifth career 10-strikeout game and first of this year. He was coming off an outing in which he held the Rays to one run in 7 1/3 innings, so this makes back-to-back excellent starts for a guy who had been 3-7 with a 5.61 ERA in 14 turns since the beginning of May. We wouldn’t typically recommend him in mixed leagues, but he seems like a solid choice next week with a road start in Pittsburgh on the schedule.

Pagán couldn’t find the strike zone initially and gave up a walk and two singles to start the inning, causing the Reds to get the bullpen stirring. Pagán, though, recovered quickly against the bottom of the Braves lineup, striking out Eli White and getting Luke Williams to hit a pointless sac fly. Jurickson Profar then grounded out to end the game. With Pagán and Tony Santillan, who threw a scoreless eighth today, both having worked three days out of four and five out of seven, the Reds might need to turn to Graham Ashcraft in a save situation Saturday.

Rarely in trouble today, Elder allowed one run on a single, walk, single combination in the sixth. The remaining run came in the seventh, when Elder retired two straight after a leadoff walk, only to get pulled with Will Benson coming up. Benson immediately hit a two-run homer off Dylan Dodd, leaving the Braves in a 3-0 hole. Elder dropped to 4-8 with a 6.03 ERA. He’ll face the Marlins next.

Benson probably wouldn’t have started today had TJ Friedl not needed one more day on paternity leave, and even if he had, he almost surely would have been lifted for a pinch-hitter when the Braves brough in Dylan Dodd to face him with a man on in the seventh. Instead, with his glove needed in center, he stayed in and hit his third career homer off a southpaw. Benson, who probably isn’t in line for much playing time going forward now that Noelvi Marte is frequently starting in the outfield, came into the day batting .183/.180/.317 with two homers in 61 plate appearances this month.