MLB Player News

There have yet to be any reports of an injury here. Starling Marte, who has reached base in nine of his 20 plate appearances this season (four times via a HBP) is getting the nod at DH for a second day in a row.

Finnegan should close tonight if a save situation arises. He last pitched Thursday, when he gave up an unearned run to take a blown save against the Braves.

Miller opted for free agency after being outright by the Rockies last week, but he’s rejoining the club’s Triple-A affiliate now. That’s where he opened the season before he was called up in late April. He went 2-for-14 in nine games for the Rockies before being DFA’d.

Renfroe was always going to clear waivers after being DFA’d by the Royals, but there are some outfield needy teams (the Padres?) who might be willing to take a chance on him. The 33-year-old was hitting .182/.241/.242 in 108 plate appearances before being cut.

Skenes allowed four hits and walked none in the 96-pitch outing. It’s his first win since Apr. 25, even though he came into the day having allowed a total of three runs over 20 innings in his previous three starts. He’s sporting a 2.15 ERA, a 77/18 K/BB ratio and a 4-5 record after 12 starts. He’ll face the Astros next.

Gallen tapped into the reserves to pitch out of a big jam, fueled by a Jordan Lawlar error, in the fifth. In retiring Andrew McCutchen, Bryan Reynolds and Alexander Canario with the bases loaded, Gallen threw five pitches at least 94.0 mph, topping out at 95.6 mph. He had touched 94 mph just once previously in the contest, and when he came back out for the sixth, there were no more 94s to be found. He gave up a walk and two singles then before being pulled, and the inherited runners came around to score in what turned into a five-run inning for the Pirates. Gallen has given up 19 runs over 21 1/3 innings in his last four outings, taking his ERA from 4.37 to 5.54. He was a little stronger today than the line indicated, but in addition to performing better himself, he needs the Arizona offense to get back to scoring more runs if he’s going to be useful in mixed leagues.

Kiner-Falefa grounded into a double play in his first at-bat and then went on to have probably his best offensive day of the season. He also had a three-run double last night, so he has five RBI in two games after collecting a total of eight his first 43 games. It’s the first time he’s scored three runs in a game since the Pirates acquired him last summer and eighth time overall.

Cruz doubled in his first at-bat of the three-game series and homered in the last. In between those two events, he was 0-for-11 with six strikeouts. That the strikeouts have really piled up here the last few weeks is kind of scary — he’s fanned 33 times in 18 games — but he does have four homers in his last six games.

The second error should have been particularly costly, but it led to only one run after Zac Gallen rebounded to retire three straight batters and strand runners on second and third. Lawlar now has three errors and zero hits in 22 plate appearances and eight games since being called up. He did make a bid for a meaningless homer late in a 10-0 game today, but it went just foul. It’s possible the Diamondbacks will send him down soon and add Nicky Lopez as a utilityman.

Dezenzo’s homer tied the game in the seventh, and the offense kept rallying from there, scoring twice more in the inning. The Astros have to be thinking about sending Dezenzo down to play regularly after Yordan Alvarez comes off the IL, but he showed today why it’s tempting to keep him around. He just needs to play more than once or twice a week, and that’ll be hard to accomplish with Alvarez back, especially now that Cam Smith seems to have taken a step forward. Dezenzo’s homer was his second of the year. He’s batting .247/.330/.382 in 100 plate appearances.

The 12 strikeouts matched his career-high total established against the White Sox in 2018. McCullers has been focusing on his slider over his trusty curve this year, but the curve was carving up hitters today, generating 10 whiffs and one weakly hit grounder over the 22 times he threw it. The 41 sliders worked out pretty well, too, but he totaled only four whiffs there. In spite of tripling Luis Severino’s strikeout total, McCullers actually left with the Astros down 3-2 today. He’s still winless five starts into his comeback, but today’s performance was very encouraging, and he seems like a nice streaming play with the Pirates next on the schedule.