MLB Player News

Kurtz takes a seat with lefty Patrick Corbin on the mound for Monday’s series opener at Globe Life Field. The 22-year-old top prospect is hitting .250 (4-for-16) with three RBI through five games since being promoted last week to the big leagues. Some initial turbulence isn’t unexpected as Kurtz acclimates to life in the majors less than a calendar year after being selected fourth overall in the draft. It’ll be Tyler Soderstrom at the cold corner on Monday night in his place.

He struck out five. The eight hits amounted to just 10 total bases, and Gray didn’t give the Dodgers any free runners with walks or HBPs. It’s the fifth time this season that Gray has gone without allowing a run over at least six innings. Tarik Skubal is the only other pitcher who can say the same. Gray will take a 7-1 record and a 3.35 ERA into his next start, which could come either Wednesday against the Jays or Thursday versus the Brewers.

Wrobleski, who was recalled today after three weeks in Triple-A, split the difference tonight after giving up eight runs in his lone appearance in April and no runs in his other outing in May. It’s uncertain if the Dodgers plan to give him a real shot here. They will need a fifth starter again on Wednesday, but they might just send him down for a fresh arm and deal with Wednesday when it comes.

Scott is 0-for-16 in his last six games and 2-for-34 with a 14/2 K/BB in his last 12 games. It’d take quite an extended slump for the Cardinals to think about bailing on him in center field, but he hasn’t exactly established himself as a solid major league bat just yet. He’s at .242/.319/.328 this season, and Statcast, which isn’t taking his speed into account, thinks he should actually be hitting a little worse than that.

As he’s done all season, Suarez worked an easy inning to earn his league-best 20th save of the season. He was the last among a parade of relievers that included Wandy Peralta, Jeremiah Estrada, and Adrian Morejon that shut the Brewers out over 4 1/3 innings after starter Randy Vásquez was chased from this game in the fifth inning. Suarez has arguably been the most dominant relief pitcher in baseball to this point.

Machado’s eighth inning blast let the Padres breathe after clinging to a measly 1-0 lead since the third inning. While this home run was Machado’s ninth on the season, he’s excelled in other areas of his game with a .316 batting average and eight stolen bases already.

The Brewers decided they weren’t going to play Vásquez’s game here. As usual, he tried to dance around the edges with his cutter, sinker, and curveball, but Milwaukee refused to swing at any of them. They chased just 17% of Vásquez’s pitches outside the strike zone and that turned into many free passes and long innings. Yet, he was able to tightrope his way out of damage each time. He’ll have a stiffer test next time out against the Dodgers.

The Brewers put up a lackluster offensive performance here totaling just three hits on their way to being shut out. However, Chourio managed four hard-hit balls, all of which were hit in the air. He’s beginning to pull himself out of his early season malaise with a .901 OPS over his last 15 games while making better swing decisions and hitting the ball harder, just like he did in this game.

Patrick’s fantastic season continued with another great start. While he worked around some walks and a handful of dinky singles, the Padres simply could not square him up. They had just one hard-hit ball against Patrick and of all people, it was a line drive out from Martín Maldonado. Nevertheless, Patrick forced a handful of pop-ups with his cutter up in the zone and dotted a few beautiful ones both on the outer edge and fading away. He’s incredibly crafty and will continue to succeed as long as his command stays sharp. His next start is scheduled to come against the Braves.

Clarke covered an unbelievable amount of ground and smashed into the wall at an all-out sprint, yet somehow managed to hang onto the baseball for the third out of the fourth inning. He remained in the game for another inning but was replaced defensively when the Athletics took the field in the sixth. It’s likely that he’ll undergo further evaluation and may need to pass through the concussion protocol before he’s cleared to return to action. Expect the A’s to have an update on his status after the game.

The game-ending sac fly to left with the bases loaded in the ninth wasn’t especially close to being a walkoff grand slam in PNC Park, but it would have been a homer in 12 stadiums, according to Statcast. Gonzales has hit sixth, fourth and now second in three games since coming off the injured list. It’s quite a show of faith for a guy with a career .687 OPS who just hit .194/.211/.250 during a nine-game rehab assignment, but it’s not like he’s displacing Willie Stargell.