MLB Player News

Valdez gave up nine hits and walked two while striking out four. The overall line isn’t great, but it’s worth pointing out that he gave up all three runs in the first inning before settling down over the final five. He’ll get a chance to make one more start before the All-Star break against the Marlins on Wednesday.

Hernández had a solo homer in the fourth and RBI singles in the sixth and eighth innings to lead the Dodgers to their 60th win of the year. He’s tied for 11th in the majors with 67 RBI and is alone in 13th place with his 21 homers.

Ryan missed the first two months of the season with a shoulder problem, so tonight was actually the first time all year that he’d pitched into the sixth inning. He needed just 73 pitches to get his 16 outs, even though he did walk three. Manager Dave Roberts indicated after the game that Ryan is tentatively scheduled to remain in the rotation for now, so he’s worth grabbing in leagues in which he’s available.

Evan Phillips went unused tonight, though that was to be expected after he threw 36 pitches the previous two days. Hudson probably is the favorite for saves in the Dodgers pen for the short term. It doesn’t sound like Dave Roberts has given up on Phillips, but it will probably be a little while before Phillips is asked to close again.

Snell allowed just three hard-hit balls and four hits in another quality start, but it wasn’t quite enough for the Giants tonight. He has a favorable matchup at home against the Rockies next time out.

Adell delivered a hard-single up the middle with two outs in the ninth, plating Brandon Drury. Julio Rodríguez might well have thrown Drury out had he been manning center field, but Victor Robles made a mediocre throw up the third-base line and Cal Raleigh failed to hold on to the ball, not only allowing Drury to score but also permitting Zach Neto to race around for an insurance run. Adell also walked tonight. He’s hit in seven straight to improve to .199/.270/.399 for the season. We wouldn’t call that good, but it’s quite a bit better than what Mickey Moniak is doing, which could be big with Mike Trout set to return this weekend. It also might be moot by next week, since a Taylor Ward trade would keep both Adell and Moniak playing fairly regularly.

The eight strikeouts went as his second-highest total of the year, and Anderson allowed one or no runs for the 10th time in 20 starts. We still don’t like his peripherals, but they’re somewhat better now than they were a couple of months ago. He might fetch a legitimate prospect at the deadline.

Estévez’s 17th straight scoreless appearance lowered his ERA to 2.45. He’s almost certain to be traded prior to next week’s deadline, and it remains to be seen whether or not it’s to a team that would use him as a closer.

There just hasn’t been much run support for Miller, who left with a 1-0 lead tonight and saw it quickly blown in the eighth. He’s allowed a total of seven runs in his seven wins this season, and this is the third time that he’s taken a no-decision while pitching seven innings and allowing one or no runs.

Muñoz entered a 1-0 game after Ryne Stanek allowed two of the three batters he faced to reach and gave up a game-tying sac fly after a double steal. He preserved the 1-1 tie from there, throwing just 10 pitches in the process, but even so, the Mariners declined to bring him back out for the ninth in a 1-1 game and wound up losing 3-1. Maybe that was the sensible call with Muñoz after he also threw 12 pitches in saving Sunday’s game, but there are definitely issues to be raised about how Scott Servais is handling his relievers of late.

Sure, maybe the Mariners didn’t need Robbie Ray, who is set to return from Tommy John surgery on Wednesday, but trading him to the Giants for Haniger and Anthony DeSclafani seemed misguided then and looks even worse now with Haniger having turned into this much of a liability. He’s batting just .206/.284/.331 in 303 at-bats, and he’s proven practically unplayable in right field.