MLB Player News

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy told reporters that Langford could play if necessary, but they want to give the 22-year-old an extra day of rest. The outfielder also missed Saturday’s game, but it does appear this is nothing more than precautionary. It sounds likely that Langford will be back in the starting lineup early next week.

Riley went 0-for-11 in his first three games back from an abdominal strain, but he punished the ball tonight. His double was a 113.9 mph liner that went 395 feet and would have been a homer in 11 parks. It’s his third four-RBI game of the year, and he now has 15 homers in 97 games.

Strider wasn’t at his best while working on four days’ rest for a second straight start; his fastball velocity was down 0.7 mph, and he wound up with only three strikeouts and five whiffs in the 96-pitch outing. Still, it proved to be good enough against a Royals lineup with maybe four threatening batters. Strider is slated to start again Saturday against the Reds in the game at Bristol Motor Speedway, but while that might be ideal for MLB, the likely right call for the Braves would be to hold him back until Monday.

Asked to finish off a 10-4 game, Montero failed to retire any of the four batters he faced tonight. Fortunately, Iglesias had no such issue, getting all three batters he faced to fly out. The first of those was a sac fly, but that was hardly Iglesias’s problem. He’s up to 12 saves ahead of a very likely deadline deal that could see him become a setup man for a contender.

The four runs came on two-run homers than both followed walks. As much as we’d love to see Hill succeed at age 45, he’s just a placeholder for a Royals team that needs a rotation upgrade with Kris Bubic ruled out for the season. If he sticks around, he’ll face the Jays on Sunday.

Acuña was picked off for his first caught stealing of the year, but it was an awfully nice night otherwise. The big blow was a 468-foot blast off Rich Hill. It was his 14th homer in 54 games since coming off the IL, putting him at essentially his MVP pace (he had 41 homers in 159 games in 2023).

Ugly. Especially in a game in which the rest of the Royals combined for 12 hits and just three strikeouts. After a miserable first couple of months in Triple-A, Melendez finally got hot in July, and it seemed like the Royals might be right to give him another opportunity. Unfortunately, he’s responded by going 0-for-12 so far. What chance he had of being part of the Royals’ post-deadline plans should already be fading.

The Red Sox scored in the top of the ninth to take a 4-3 lead tonight, but a rain delay then shut things down for an hour and a half. When play resumed in a mostly empty stadium, the Twins got a single from DeShawn Keisey Jr., back-to-back hit by pitches and then Lee’s hit to left with one out. The two runs batted in were Lee’s first of the second half. He was out of the starting lineup tonight for the first time in five games, but he entered the game for Koby Clemens against a left-hander in the seventh.

Duran came into a 3-3 game to begin the ninth and gave up a run on a walk to Abraham Toro, two steals from pinch-runner David Hamilton and then an RBI single to Roman Anthony. There still weren’t any outs at that point, but after Alex Bregman flied out, Anthony was caught stealing. Jarren Duran then walked and stole second, but Trevor Story flew out to end the inning. The Twins went on to score twice in the bottom of the ninth, so their closer got the win rather than the loss.

The Red Sox had Hicks warming up for the ninth before a 90-minute rain delay and still brought him in afterwards, which obviously makes for an unusual sequence of events for a reliever. Hicks did end up throwing 15 of his 23 pitches for strikes, but he yanked two of the balls, resulting in the HBPs, and a pair of singles doomed him. He likely remains the No. 3 option in the pen, behind Aroldis Chapman, who is battling back spasms, and Garrett Whitlock, was was “under the weather” on Monday.

Keirsey is hitting just .108 on the season with a .332 OPS, but he touched up Richard Fitts for a two-run shot in the third inning. It was Keirsey’s second home run of the season. The 28-year-old might see a bit more playing time after the trade deadline if the Twins move Harrison Bader, but he would not be a recommended fantasy option.