MLB Player News

Margot’s home run was his fourth of the year. He hit a solo shot off Kyle Hendricks in the fifth inning. Margot played centerfield with Byron Buxton on the bench. He’s not a fantasy option as most of his playing time comes against left-handed pitchers or off the bench. Margot is hitting .243 with a .651 OPS and 26 RBI on the year.

Marte had started each of the team’s last five games, so this appears to be just a routine night off for the dynamic 23-year-old. Will Benson will slide over to cover right field while Austin Hays will start in left field and bat third for the Reds against Cubs’ right-hander Colin Rea.

A three-game sweep has brought the Guardians within 3 1/2 games of the Tigers in the AL Central and 1 1/2 games back of the Red Sox for the third wild card spot. Bibee and Tarik Skubal pitched to a draw today, but the Guardians got two runs in the top of the seventh to put Bibee in line for the win, which evened his record at 11-11. He has a 1.25 ERA in his last three starts. Most likely, he’ll be matched up again with Skubal with the Tigers in Cleveland next week.

Cade Smith had this one off after pitching the previous two days (and four games in a row, with Monday’s off day mixed in). Gaddis was making his fourth appearance in six days, as the Guardians have worked their best relievers hard to grind out some of these wins. Smith should be back out there in a save situation on Friday.

In spite of the side issue that forced him to leave his last start, Skubal’s velocity was better than usual today and he wound up with 20 whiffs and a 32% CSW. The nine strikeouts moved him to 233, surpassing his career high from last year. Skubal finished his first Cy Young season with a 2.39 ERA and a 228/35 K/BB in 192 innings. Right now, in one fewer start, he has a 2.23 ERA and a 233/30 K/BB in 189 1/3 innings. He’ll face Cleveland again next week. As of right now, he’s slated to go Wednesday and make just the one more start. However, if things continue to tighten up, the Tigers could instead set him up to start Tuesday and Sunday.

Noel’s 411-foot homer was responsible for the only run off Skubal in six innings. It was his fifth long ball in 141 plate appearances this season. He’s batting just .161/.177/.285 in his role as a starter against left-handed pitching.

Torkelson had the Tigers’ three hardest-hit balls at 105.7, 102.4 and 100.2 mph today. They had just two other hard-hit balls in the loss. The Tigers would up with only 17 hits in the three-game sweep by the Guardians, with Tork producing six of those.

Polanco broke a scoreless tie in the second inning with an RBI double off of Stephen Kolek. That would be all of the offense that Luis Castillo and company would require in this one. It was also Polanco’s only hit in four at-bats in the ballgame. For the season, the 32-year-old is now slashing .266/.327/.492 with 24 homers, 73 RBI and six stolen bases in what has been a very productive season for the M’s.

Naylor led off the second inning with a single off of Stephen Kolek, then raced around to score the game’s first run on an RBI double off the bat of Jorge Polanco. He also worked a two-out walk in the seventh inning and singled in the ninth. He’s enjoying an outstanding season offensively, slashing .287/.347/.451 with 19 homers, 86 RBI and a jaw-dropping 27 stolen bases in 29 attempts. For reference, Naylor entered the season with just 25 stolen bases combined over his first six seasons in the big leagues.

The Mariners handed their 26-year-old stopper a two-run lead to protect in the ninth inning and he made sure that it stood up. Muñoz got Bobby Witt Jr. on a swinging third strike to start the inning then allowed a one-out double to Vinnie Pasquantino that brought the tying run to the plate. The 26-year-old hurler battled back to get Maikel Garcia on strikes before plunking Salvador Perez with a 99-mph fastball. He then put the game away by retiring Adam Frazier on a swinging third strike to end it. He now boasts a minuscule 1.54 ERA on the season to go along with 36 saves and a 78/25 K/BB ratio over 58 1/3 innings.

Castillo struck out three batters on the day and didn’t allow a base on balls. All three of the hits against him were singles. The only time the Royals had a runner reach second base against him came as Salvador Perez and Adam Frazier hit back-to-back one-out singles in the second inning, but Castillo was able to retire the next two hitters without issue. The 32-year-old hurler got five swings and misses on 84 pitches on the day, registering a CSW of only 19 percent. Now 10-8 on the season, he’ll carry a 3.63 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and a 152/46 K/BB ratio (173 1/3 innings) into his final start of the regular season on Wednesday against the Rockies.