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The move was announced on Wednesday but is now official. Festa is the Twins’ top pitching prospect and has looked the part, striking out 87 batters in 59 2/3 innings with a 3.77 ERA in Triple-A this year. He has some control issues, but he has a deep array of pitches including a slider with the second-highest whiff rate total for a slider at Triple-A with whiffs on 44.8% of swings and a CSW of 39.2%. He also boasts a changeup that had a 41.2% whiff rate and 31.4% CSW. Ronny Henriquez was optioned in a corresponding move.

Rojas got the Dodgers on the board in the second inning with an RBI single off of Spencer Howard that plated Andy Pages. He drove in Pages again with an RBI knock in the fourth inning then scored on an RBI single by Will Smith. The 35-year-old shortstop also drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning, dropping an RBI single into center field that plated Chris Taylor. He finished his night with a sacrifice fly that capped off a seven-run uprising in the 11th. With his three-hit attack, Rojas is now hitting .297/.346/.446 with three homers, 18 RBI and three stolen bases on the season.

The 29-year-old superstar victimized right-hander Spencer Howard in the third inning for his 412-foot (109.7 mph EV) solo shot that briefly gave the Dodgers a 2-1 advantage. He also drew a pair of walks and struck out twice in the contest, finishing the evening 1-for-4. One of those walks was intentional in the 11th inning, where he then raced around to score on a two-run double off the bat of Will Smith. On the season, he’s now slashing a robust .321/.405/.645 with 26 long balls, 62 RBI and 16 stolen bases.

Smith beat out an infield single in the fourth inning that drove in a run and knotted the score at five runs apiece. He then delivered the game’s biggest hit in the 11th inning, smacking a two-run double that gave the Dodgers a two-run lead and put them well on their way to victory. With his three-hit night, the 29-year-old backstop is now hitting .269/.339/.466 with 11 homers and 50 RBI on the season.

The 30-year-old right-hander also issued a pair of walks in the contest while recording only one strikeout. The Giants scratched out a run against him on a sacrifice fly in the first inning. Then they piled on for five more in the third inning that included run-scoring knocks from Jorge Soler, Andrew Bailey and Matt Chapman. Glasnow generated seven swings and misses on only 61 pitches on the night, posting an underwhelming CSW of 21 percent. He’ll look to bounce back as he carries a 3.23 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and a 136/27 K/BB ratio (103 innings) into Friday’s matchup against the Brewers.

Soler led off the home half of the first inning with a double off of Tyler Glasnow, then scored the team’s first run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Heliot Ramos. Soler also drove in a run of his own with an RBI double off of Glasnow in the third inning, tying the game at 2-2. Perhaps staying in the leadoff spot is the way to get him going. Soler is now hitting .226/.306/.389 with nine homers and 30 RBI on the year.

Woof. Howard came on after Erik Miller had worked a scoreless first inning as an opener. He gave up single runs in the second and third innings — including a solo homer off the bat of Shohei Ohtani. Howard was then gifted a three-run lead heading into the fourth inning where he gave it all back and then some — allowing run-scoring singles to Miguel Rojas and Gavin Lux before exiting in the four-run frame. The 27-year-old hurler got six swings and misses on 57 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 26 percent. He now holds an uninspiring 5.63 ERA and 1.83 WHIP over 24 innings on the season.

Santander hit his 22nd homer of the season with a solo shot off Michael Lorenzen in the second. The 29-year-old outfielder doubled in a run in the seventh to extend the Baltimore lead to 6-4 and also gave Santander 55 RBI on the season. It’s been an outstanding month of June for the outfielder, as he’s now slugging .631 over those 107 at-bats with nine homers and 21 runs driven in.

Lowe also doubled. The homer was a two-run shot that got the Rangers back in the game to make it a 5-4 score in the sixth. The 28-year-old has not shown a ton of power thus far in 2024, as his .262 average and .348 on-base percentage have been dragged down by just four roundtrippers and a .369 slugging mark over 214 at-bats.

Kjerstad also walked twice, but you don’t want to hear about that. The rookie outfielder shellacked a Michael Lorenzen offering with the bases loaded to turn a 2-1 Texas lead into a 5-2 Baltimore cushion. The 25-year-old has gone deep twice in his limited time with the Orioles, and 18 times when combined with his outstanding run with Triple-A Norfolk. Kjerstad is still a better long-term play, but Saturday was a fine example of what kind of upside is in his left-handed bat.

Kimbrel walked Leody Taveras to lead off the inning and then gave up a stolen base to the outfielder, and he then got the next two outs. He issued another free pass to Josh Smith, but he was able to get Adolis Garcia to fly out and pick up the save. Crisis averted. Kimbrel has 19 saves and a 2.37 ERA in the first half of 2024.