Category: Major League Baseball (MLB)

Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez will be sidelined at least four weeks with the oblique strain that landed him on the injured list on Friday.

Astros general manager Dana Brown gave the update during an interview on SportsTalk 790 AM on Wednesday.

“It’s going to take at least two weeks for us to get a feel for how it’s healing,” Brown said. “You take those two weeks and then another week to figure out when he starts to have some activity, and OK, how’s his body responding? That’s three weeks right there. You’re looking at, once he’s starting to swing a bat, maybe it’s four weeks or so.”

Alvarez aggravated his oblique on his final swing in the batting cage before exiting after his lone at-bat in Houston’s 3-2 setback to the host Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday.

Alvarez, 25, is hitting .272 with 17 homers and 55 RBIs in 57 games this season.

The American League Rookie of the Year in 2019, Alvarez is batting .293 with 115 homers and 338 RBIs in 425 career games with the Astros.

–Field Level Media

Another woman has accused former major league pitcher Trevor Bauer of sexually assaulting her and choking her to the point of unconsciousness, allegations he denies.

The woman filed a civil suit against him in December 2022, but it has just become public knowledge. Bauer has countersued.

In the filing, the woman says Bauer, 32, held a steak knife to her throat while they were watching television and, two days later, raped her during an encounter in Arizona in December 2020, according to USA Today. She said it resulted in a pregnancy but she subsequently had a miscarriage.

She is seeking $3.7 million and an apology for herself and other women he has “sexually humiliated and abused against their consent,” per the filing. She is at least the fourth woman to allege that Bauer committed sexual improprieties.

Bauer, in his countersuit, accuses the woman in the Arizona case of extortion, fraud and fabricating the pregnancy.

Per USA Today, Bauer admits to having consensual sex with the woman that December, after which she said she was pregnant and told him she would have an abortion for $1.6 million. In court documents, his attorney said Bauer has her demand on tape.

Bauer, a former National League Cy Young Award winner, was pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers in June 2021 when a Southern California woman accused him of sexually assaulting her, choking her and causing physical injuries in their two encounters.

He was suspended by the Dodgers, and following an investigation, he was suspended for a record 194 games under MLB’s sexual assault and domestic abuse policy. Once reinstated, the Dodgers released him with one year left on his three-year $102 million deal and no MLB team signed him as a free agent.

In that case, prosecutors in Los Angeles County declined to file charges. Two Ohio women later told The Washington Post that Bauer had assaulted them, too.

USA Today reported that in the Arizona case, police in Scottsdale took a report in December 2020 that accused Bauer of sexual assault but the case is in the inactive file.

Bauer has not been arrested or faced charges in any of these alleged assaults.

He now is pitching in Japan.

–Field Level Media

The Tampa Bay Rays will look to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season on Wednesday night when they continue their series against the host Oakland Athletics.

The Rays were the victims of a “reverse boycott” rally that produced Oakland’s biggest crowd of the year Tuesday. That fan support helped lift the A’s to their seventh straight win with a 2-1 decision.

The A’s had 27,759 in attendance on Tuesday, one day after only 4,848 fans showed up for the series opener.

Although Oakland manager Mark Kotsay labeled Tuesday’s experience as “eerie,” he conceded that it helped lift his team to a postseason-type victory over the top club in the American League.

“Tonight was as close to a playoff crowd as I’ve experienced managing a game,” Kotsay said. “The (atmosphere) was everything that stadium can be. For us to play a good game all around in front of that crowd, I couldn’t be happier.

“We felt the energy on the fan side supporting us passionately. You could feel them wanting us to win that game. You could feel the electricity when we scored that run in the eighth and when we took the field in the ninth.”

For the second day in a row, the A’s will entrust a rookie with the challenge of defeating the Rays when right-hander Luis Medina (1-5, 7.53 ERA) takes the mound.

Hogan Harris was the A’s pitching star Tuesday, limiting the Rays to one run in seven innings.

Medina pitched effectively in relief in a 5-2 win at Milwaukee on Friday, allowing two runs in five innings to earn his first big-league win. Four of his five losses have come in five starts.

The 24-year-old has yet to face the Rays.

Tampa Bay had a seven-game winning streak that extended into last week before losing three of its last four contests.

The Rays have just four runs on 12 hits in the two losses in Oakland. Only three of their hits have gone for extra bases, including a three-run home run by Jose Siri that accounted for all but one of the team’s runs in the series.

Hoping for better support Wednesday will be scheduled starter Tyler Glasnow (1-0, 2.87), who has gotten progressively better in three starts since returning from an oblique injury. The right-hander’s best outing was Friday at home against the Rangers in an 8-3 win, during which he allowed just one run on one hit in six innings for his first win of the season.

The 29-year-old California native has made just two starts against the A’s, both in 2021, going 1-1 with a 2.13 ERA. He has never won at the Oakland Coliseum.

So far, the series has gone as Rays manager Kevin Cash had feared.

“Without a doubt, they are playing better,” Cash said of the A’s. “They’re a young team. They’re athletic. They’re talented. We’ve got to come in here and play good baseball.”

–Field Level Media

While the Los Angeles Dodgers continue to have pitching issues unmatched in the era of manager Dave Roberts, there are some positive signs.

The Dodgers will face the Chicago White Sox with left-hander Clayton Kershaw (8-4, 2.95 ERA) on the mound Wednesday, providing not only a starter Roberts can trust, but a day to possibly give an inconsistent bullpen another break after teammate Tony Gonsolin went six scoreless innings Tuesday.

The White Sox will counter with right-hander Mike Clevinger (3-4, 4.19), who knows a little something about the Dodgers from his one season-plus with the San Diego Padres.

Injuries have the Dodgers down to four starters of late and two of them are rookies. In addition, the bullpen entered Tuesday’s series opener against the White Sox with a 4.76 ERA, next to last in the National League and ahead of only the Washington Nationals.

“In totality, I think the reliever situation, we have to get ahead, we have to get strike one,” Roberts said. “And when we do get count leverage, we’re not putting guys away. … I think for me, we have to be better. These are the guys we have, they have performed before and I’m going to keep running them out there and expect them to be better.”

In a 5-1 victory over the White Sox on Tuesday, Dodgers relievers did their part by giving up a lone run over three innings.

Kershaw can continue to help the bullpen with an extended outing Tuesday. He has pitched seven innings in five of his 13 starts, with two of those in his past two appearances.

The veteran did not give up a run over seven innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday and matched a season high with nine strikeouts. The 6-0 Dodgers victory was the team’s only one of last week’s series, after the bullpen blew two other late leads.

In four career starts against the White Sox, Kershaw is 2-1 with a 2.88 ERA, last facing them in 2017 when he went seven scoreless innings.

Clevinger has faced the Dodgers three times in his career, all in 2022 as a member of the Padres. It did not go well as he went 0-2 with a 9.69 ERA in those outings. In two starts against the Dodgers in a six-day span last September, Clevinger gave up a combined nine runs on nine hits and three walks in 8 1/3 inning.

“It’s all about game planning, execution and in at-bat adjustments pitch to pitch,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said when asked about Clevinger gaining any benefit from his knowledge of the Dodgers. “Once you have that kind of familiarity with these guys, or with anybody, it’s all about making adjustments on the mound.”

The Chicago offense managed just three hits Tuesday, and the White Sox have scored one run or less in three of their past five games. Former Dodger Yasmani Grandal prevented a shutout for the White Sox with a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning in the opener.

The White Sox have lost three consecutive games after dropping the opener of a six-game road trip, which also takes them to Seattle.

–Field Level Media

Managers often talk about the importance of turning over the batting order, getting back to the top of the lineup.

The Seattle Mariners were content to stay at the bottom Tuesday night.

Nos. 7-9 batters Cal Raleigh, Mike Ford and Jose Caballero combined to go 6-for-10 with a triple, three home runs and nine RBIs as the Mariners recorded a 9-3 win over the visiting Miami Marlins.

The Mariners will go for a sweep of the three-game interleague series Wednesday night in Seattle.

“We’re normally a little top-heavy,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said of his lineup’s production. “But (Tuesday) it was all about the guys at the bottom.”

Remarkably, the Mariners’ top four hitters combined to go 0-for-16, but the rest of the lineup more than made up for it.

Raleigh, mired in an 0-for-21 slump that caused him to trim his goatee back to a mustache, broke a scoreless tie with a three-run homer in the second inning.

Ford, called up from Triple-A Tacoma on June 2, hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning and went deep to lead off the eighth.

Ford, a 30-year-old who played for four teams last season — San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta and the Los Angeles Angels — has four homers in 22 major-league at-bats this season.

“I want to stay, so I’m trying to do my best,” Ford said.

Caballero, a rookie who has taken over the starting job at second base from Kolten Wong, hit a three-run triple in the sixth inning to give Seattle an 8-1 lead.

The Marlins, who entered the series having won 12 of their previous 15 games, have been outscored 17-4 the past two nights. They’ve managed just one unearned run on four hits combined against Seattle starters Bryce Miller and George Kirby, who each went six innings.

“I never want to say (we’re) due for a dud,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “I don’t want to ever put it like that because our team is too good. We feel like we should win every game when we come into the ballpark. We just played a little sloppy (the past two days), and those games are going to happen every now and then. … But we’ll be back at it (Wednesday).”

The Marlins’ Luis Arraez went hitless for the second straight night as his MLB-leading average dropped to .382.

“Arraez is not going to get a hit or two every single game,” Schumaker said.

The series finale is expected to feature a pair of right-handers in 20-year-old Marlins rookie Eury Perez (3-1, 2.17 ERA) against Mariners ace Luis Castillo (4-4, 2.70).

This will be the seventh career start for Perez and his first against Seattle.

Over his past three starts, Perez has allowed one run on 11 hits in 15 innings, with seven walks and 14 strikeouts. He didn’t receive a decision in a 2-1 loss last Friday against the host Chicago White Sox. He went five innings and gave up one run on five hits, with two walks and six strikeouts.

Castillo is 5-0 with a 2.08 ERA in six career starts against the Marlins.

Castillo has lost his past two starts despite allowing just four earned runs. The right-hander absorbed a 5-4 defeat last Friday against the host Angels — giving up a pair of two-run homers — despite striking out 10.

–Field Level Media

Finally, the San Diego Padres are on a bit of a run.

They have won four of their past five games and would be riding a season-best five-game winning streak had they not blown two late-game leads in the rain Sunday in Denver.

And as much as that loss stings, Padres manager Bob Melvin is seeing some of the results he has expected all season. The Padres are 7-4 in June while averaging a run a game more than they had over the season’s first two months.

“This was good,” Melvin said after Tuesday night’s 6-3 win over Cleveland to open a six-game homestand that concludes with three weekend games against Tampa Bay.

“It was especially good at home where we’ve had a little problem on offense,” Melvin continued. “The crowd got into it. And we came through.”

The Padres will be looking to maintain the momentum Wednesday night when try to clinch a second straight series win. The Guardians’ Aaron Civale (2-1, 2.31 ERA) goes against the Padres’ Michael Wacha (6-2, 3.18) in a pairing of right-handers.

While Wacha was the National League Pitcher of the Month for May, this will be just Civale’s third start since he returned from the injured list after missing almost eight weeks with a left oblique strain. In those first two starts, Civale, who turned 28 on Monday, has given up two runs on eight hits and four walks with seven strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings.

“It can be difficult for a pitcher returning from his type of injury,” Guardians’ manager Terry Francona said before Civale’s most recent start. “But he’s looked very sharp.”

Civale has made four starts on the season and given up six runs on 19 hits and six walks with 15 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings. He will be making his second career start against the Padres. Last season, he held San Diego to one run on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.

Wacha, who signed with the Padres days after spring training opened in February, has been San Diego’s most dependable pitcher this season. The Padres are 8-4 in his starts, and he hasn’t given up more than two runs in a game since April 26.

Over his past seven starts, Wacha is 4-1 with a 1.05 ERA, giving up five runs on 21 hits and 13 walks with 41 strikeouts in 42 2/3 innings. Quite a change from the first month of the season when Wacha had a 6.75 ERA.

Wacha has two career starts against Cleveland — in 2015 and 2021 — with a 1-0 record, 1.64 ERA, 13 strikeouts and 11 innings pitched. The Guardians enter the game 6-3 in their past nine games.

“Wacha is on quite a run,” Melvin said recently. “He is pitching, keeping hitters off balance with pitch selection, movement and location.”

–Field Level Media

Merrill Kelly will look to win his eighth consecutive decision when the Arizona Diamondbacks face the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night in Phoenix.

The 34-year-old right-hander will try to help the Diamondbacks bounce back from Tuesday’s 15-3 shellacking in the second contest of a four-game series. Arizona won Monday’s opener 9-8 before having its six-game winning streak halted.

Kelly has won his past five starts while posting a 2.55 ERA and striking out 36 in 31 2/3 innings during that span. At 8-3 with a 2.92 ERA overall, he is tied for the National League lead in victories and is a strong candidate to make his first All-Star Game.

Kelly hasn’t lost a start since April 22 against the San Diego Padres. Since then, he is 7-0 over eight outings and has allowed one earned run in half of his starts.

Kelly gave up a season-worst seven hits while beating the Detroit Tigers on Friday. He allowed three runs, walked two and struck out five.

Kelly is 1-1 with a 1.98 ERA in two career starts against the Phillies. Trea Turner is in his first season with Philadelphia but has consistently worked over Kelly, going 8-of-19 with six RBIs.

The Phillies have 23 runs and 33 hits in the first two games of the series. They had 20 hits — including eight for extra bases — and matched a season high for runs in Tuesday’s win. Kyle Schwarber and Bryson Stott homered, and Philadelphia stole four bases.

J.T. Realmuto, who hit for the cycle on Monday, is 6-for-8 with six runs and four RBIs in the series.

After a slow start, Philadelphia has won eight of its past 10 games to remind people it was the NL team that played in last season’s World Series. And Tuesday’s contest was the most impressive during the 10-game stretch.

“That’s more important than anything, playing good baseball against good teams,” Turner said. “We’re doing everything — pitching, playing defense, timely hitting.”

Tuesday’s setback was just the third in 15 games for Arizona, which allowed a season-worst run total during a substandard effort.

The ugliness included a play in the third inning in which hot-shot rookie Corbin Carroll caught a fly ball in left field. Carroll apparently forgot that was just the second out of the inning as he turned around to retrieve his hat off the ground. Realmuto noticed the gaffe and ran in from third to score.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo looked at his team’s performance as the type that occasionally happens during the season.

“This was — for me — a total outlier,” Lovullo said. “We’ve been playing good baseball. We’ve just got to digest it, throw it out and be ready (Wednesday). The game just didn’t really have a rhythm to it.”

Carroll hit a home run in Tuesday’s contest, his fifth in eight games and 14th of the season. He is 16-for-32 (.500) in the eight-game stretch.

Philadelphia on Wednesday will start left-hander Ranger Suarez (1-2, 4.70), who has allowed one run in each of his last two starts.

Suarez gave up four hits and struck out a season-high eight in six innings during a no-decision against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday. Five days earlier, he beat the Washington Nationals while scattering eight hits over seven innings.

Suarez, 27, gave up five runs and five hits in five innings while taking a no-decision against the Diamondbacks on May 24. He is 1-3 with a 6.35 ERA in eight career appearances (five starts) against Arizona.

Ketel Marte (6-for-15) and Christian Walker (5-for-13) have fared well against Suarez. Evan Longoria has homered off Suarez.

Walker was 4-for-4 in Tuesday’s game.

–Field Level Media

The runnin’ Cincinnati Reds will look to complete a three-game sweep of the host Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.

The Reds have won four games in a row and seven of their past nine, often succeeding by pushing the limits on the basepaths.

The Royals will try to slow the Reds in an effort to end an eight-game losing streak.

Cincinnati ranks third in the majors with 69 stolen bases and has increased its pace in June, swiping a big-league-best 26 bases in 28 attempts.

Everybody seems to be getting into the act as five different players have at least three steals this month.

Uber-prospect Elly De La Cruz has contributed five stolen bases, without getting caught, in his first eight big-league games.

“I’m the fastest man in the world,” he proclaimed last weekend.

De La Cruz’s steal on Tuesday sparked a five-run second inning as the Reds stole three bases in the frame. That rally proved decisive in Cincinnati’s 5-4 win.

“It’s just a different level of speed,” Reds manager David Bell said of De La Cruz. “The speed is incredible, and it gives you more incentive to put the ball in play.”

It’s not just base-stealing that feeds Cincinnati’s need for speed. The Reds also excel at taking the extra base, as they lead the majors in scoring from second on singles, succeeding in 57 of 58 attempts.

The aggressive baserunning has led to stealing wins such as on Monday. TJ Friedl raced home from third on a 10th-inning grounder, barely scoring the decisive run in a 5-4 victory over the Royals.

“The Friedl slide, that’s part of our game,” Bell said. “The running, going on contact. TJ did exactly what you need to do to get his foot in.”

In the series finale on Wednesday, Cincinnati will send right-hander Ben Lively (3-4, 4.21 ERA) to the mound to oppose Royals left-hander Daniel Lynch (0-2, 4.41).

Lively is coming off a pair of losses in which he surrendered a combined 12 runs on 16 hits, including five home runs, in 13 2/3 innings. He has never opposed the Royals, and he has faced just one current Kansas City batter, when Matt Duffy went 1-for-2 against him in 2018.

Lynch has yet to pitch against the Reds, and he hasn’t squared off with any of their hitters.

Lynch hasn’t recorded a victory since Aug. 1, 2022, a 14-start drought. He has allowed three earned runs or less in each of his three outings this year, including his Friday start, when he gave up three runs in six innings during a 3-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

Kansas City has scored just 31 runs while losing 11 of its past 12 games, topping four runs in a game just once in that span.

While the club hit some home runs early in the year, there have been fewer of late. The Royals hit just eight long balls in those 12 games.

Salvador Perez leads Kansas City with 14 homers, but besides his blasts on Sunday and Monday, the club has just one other home run since June 5.

The Royals also aren’t hitting with runners in scoring position. Through the first two games of the Cincinnati series, Kansas City is 2-for-19 in those situations.

“We haven’t been able to expand a lead or come back unless it’s a homer,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “I don’t think it’s all for one reason, but just the combination of it has been frustrating to not be able to open a game up.”

–Field Level Media

With one of baseball’s more fearsome sluggers sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Houston Astros still displayed plenty of power while downing the Washington Nationals on Tuesday.

Absent Yordan Alvarez and his club-leading 17 home runs, the Astros turned solo homers from Mauricio Dubon, Kyle Tucker, Martin Maldonado and Chas McCormick into a 6-1 interleague home victory in the series opener. Houston and Washington will play the middle game of the three-game set on Wednesday.

The Astros’ power display was impressive, but it still was somewhat lacking considering the team’s inability to deliver those blows with runners on base.

Houston finished 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Jose Abreu and Jose Altuve delivered RBI singles in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, with runners on second base. However, those hits came after Abreu was stranded at second following his leadoff double in the second inning, and the Astros left the bases loaded in the third.

Alvarez is on the 10-day injured list due to right oblique discomfort, but he is unlikely to return when first eligible on Monday.

“We just have to do what we can to try and score as many runs as we can,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “Yordan is a ways off, so we’ve got to carry on until he gets back.

“Power is great, but I’d rather have some power with some runners on base, but I’ll take it any time I can get it. We have to get better … at advancing runners. We’ve got some improvements to make, but winning ballgames in the meantime is what’s important.”

Framber Valdez (6-5, 2.36 ERA) has the starting assignment for Houston on Wednesday.

The left-hander had his four-game winning streak snapped on Thursday against the Toronto Blue Jays after he allowed three runs on four hits and four walks with five strikeouts over five innings in a 3-2 defeat. Valdez was 4-0 with a 1.59 ERA during a five-start span that saw him record 39 strikeouts against six walks over 34 innings.

Valdez has faced the Nationals once previously, when he surrendered one run on seven hits and two walks with six strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings in a 6-1 road victory on May 13, 2022.

Josiah Gray (4-5, 3.00 ERA) is the scheduled starter for the Nationals on Wednesday.

While the right-hander is unbeaten over his past six starts, he has failed to record a victory in his past three outings, pitching to a 4.40 ERA while recording 14 strikeouts against nine walks over 14 1/3 innings.

Gray last lost on May 5 against the Arizona Diamondbacks when he allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks with six strikeouts over five innings. He opened the season with losses in each of his first four starts.

Gray has made one career start against the Astros, losing against Valdez last year. He allowed six runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts over six innings.

On Tuesday, the Nationals made their first appearance in Houston since winning Game 7 of the 2019 World Series there. Left-hander Patrick Corbin, who started and took the loss on Tuesday, is the lone player currently on the active roster who participated in that series. He pitched three scoreless innings of relief in Game 7 to earn the victory.

“It was four years ago,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said, “but it brings out good memories.”

–Field Level Media

Jack Suwinski has shown impressive power during his young major league career for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The 24-year-old Chicago native has been especially tough against his hometown Cubs.

Looking to continue his latest home-run surge on Wednesday night, Suwinski will try to help the National League Central-leading Pirates bounce back from losing the series opener to the host Cubs.

Suwinski hit two solo homers on Tuesday, among the few highlights for Pittsburgh during an ugly 11-3 loss at Chicago. The Pirates fell to 2-4 following a six-game winning streak.

Suwinski, who attended high school eight miles west of Wrigley Field, has a team-leading 15 home runs after recording his fifth career multi-homer contest Tuesday. In 162 career major league games, Suwinski has gone deep 34 times, and he has four homers in his past four games.

“For everyone on the outside, they see really big home runs. For us in the clubhouse, we see a lot of work behind the scenes, and it’s impressive,” teammate Connor Joe told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about Suwinski, who has a .924 OPS despite batting .253 with 66 strikeouts this season.

“Jack is diligent about his work. … Happy for him. Love to see him succeed and help the team.”

Suwinski has five home runs in 12 career games against Chicago, including one off Wednesday’s scheduled Cubs starter, Drew Smyly (5-4, 3.27 ERA).

The left-hander has lost his past three starts, pitching to a 5.51 ERA during that stretch. However, his teammates scored a total of six runs in those contests.

Smyly also has yielded seven hits in each of the last three outings, most recently giving up three runs, two earned, while walking three through six innings during a 3-1 road defeat against the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday.

He is 2-3 with a 4.60 ERA in nine career appearances (eight starts) vs. Pittsburgh. Bryan Reynolds and Andrew McCutchen have each homered twice against Smyly during their careers. Meanwhile, fellow Pirates Carlos Santana and Ke’Bryan Hayes are a combined 9-for-30 (.300) with four doubles against him.

With injuries having depleted Pittsburgh’s rotation, Osvaldo Bido is slated to make his major league debut on Wednesday. The 27-year-old right-hander went 3-4 with a 4.55 ERA in 12 appearances, 10 starts, for Triple-A Indianapolis this season.

He will face a Chicago club that has won three of four after losing four in a row. However, it’s uncertain if he will square off against Pittsburgh native Ian Happ, who clubbed his first homer since May 5, a three-run drive, and had four RBIs on Tuesday.

Happ is a career .317 hitter with 15 home runs and 47 RBIs in 83 games against the Pirates, but he exited in the eighth inning Tuesday due to calf tightness.

“We’ll see what the doctors say,” Chicago manager David Ross said of Happ. “(His calf) is a little tight. We’ll see how he feels (Wednesday).”

Bido likely will have to deal with Chicago outfielder Mike Tauchman, who had two hits Tuesday and is batting .387 in 10 home games since debuting with the club on May 19.

–Field Level Media