MLB Player News

The 26-year-old backstop got the Athletics’ offense started with a bang on Friday night, tagging Simeon Woods Richardson for a 408-foot (102.8 mph EV) four-run blast on the first pitch that he saw in the first inning. That would be hit only hit on the night, finishing the evening 1-for-5.

Tovar put the Rockies on the board in the first inning with a solo homer off Paul Blackburn. The 23-year-old shortstop is up to 19 homers on the season while hitting .281/.304/.478 with 61 runs scored, 54 RBI, and four steals across 496 plate appearances.

Díaz was summoned to close out the game in the bottom of the ninth with a three-run lead. He gave up a leadoff triple to Michael Toglia who would score on a groundout. Díaz then struck out two of the final three batters to earn his 14th save of the season.

Blackburn served up a solo homer to Ezequiel Tovar in the first inning. A double, passed ball error, and base hit brought an unearned run in to score in the fourth. Blackburn would toss two more scoreless frames, striking out six and posting a quality start in Colorado. He’s now allowed one earned run over six innings in both of his starts with the Mets. The 30-year-old right-hander will take a 3.86 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and a 50/18 K/BB ratio across 63 innings into a start against the Athletics in New York on Tuesday.

Feltner allowed one run in the first inning on a pair of base hits and was removed from the game, leaving to the clubhouse with manager Bud Black. No word yet if his exit was due to an injury, but the team should provide an update by Thursday.

Profar was pulled from Wednesday’s game against the Pirates after he was hit in the knee by a pitch, but fortunately X-rays came back negative for any fractures. The Padres play early on Thursday afternoon, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him sit that one out as a precautionary measure, but don’t expect the 31-year-old breakout fantasy superstar to require an extended absence.

Walker scattered just two hits on the night and didn’t walk a batter while striking out three. He threw a total of 60 pitches in the contest — 40 of those for strikes. As long as he’s feeling well on Thursday, it sounds like the 31-year-old hurler should be cleared to return to the Phillies’ rotation next week. That start could come as early as Tuesday against the Marlins.

Hays led off the top of the third inning by grounding out to third base, but he pulled up as he was running to first base and hobbled to the dugout after sustaining the injury. He’ll head for further evaluation to determine the severity of the issue. The Phillies should have a better handle on his status on Thursday.

Neto completely took over this game. His grand slam gave the Angels a 6-0 lead and the Yankees would never get closer than five runs down. He also tried to steal a base in the seventh inning for good measure, but was caught. He homered in each game of this double-header and has three long balls and 12 RBI over his last four games. It’s nice to see him accumulate some gaudy counting stats as he’s finally been bumped up to the two-hole for the Angels over these same four games.

Has LeMahieu finally woken up? Probably not, but his fourth inning double was the hardest ball he’s hit all year at 108.4 MPH and all seven of his extra-base hits this season – a comically low number of extra-base hits – have come since June 28th. He’s not for the faint of heart, but still gets nearly daily at-bats in an above average lineup.

Warren imploded during the second inning of this one. He gave up three straight singles to start the frame, walked a batter, then almost got out of it with back-to-back strikeouts after only one run home. Alas, next he walked Nolan Schanuel on four pitches before Zach Neto torched a grand slam. He still nearly grinded out five innings, but that was mostly because this was the second game of the Yankees’ double-header and they needed some length. One positive note, Warren forced 14 swings-and-misses and had at least four on three different pitches. He’ll likely head back to the minor leagues after this start.