Category: Sports News

Anthony Kay looked solid for the first couple of innings, keeping the Royals scoreless despite their first two batters reaching on consecutive base hits. Unfortunately, he couldn’t maintain that consistency and ultimately surrendered four runs on seven hits over just four innings. The lefty is known to lean on his four-seamer, but tonight he turned primarily to his sweeper (38%) and sinker (34%), with his cutter accounting for another 9% of his pitches. The sinker didn’t generate many swings and misses, but it produced seven called strikes, the most of any of his pitches, and posted a 32% called-strike-plus-whiff rate (CSW%). Batters whiffed at Kay’s sweeper nearly half the time they swung at it (45%), and the pitch accounted for two of his four strikeouts.

Even though Kay faced a majority-lefty lineup from Kansas City, they still managed to tag him for seven hits, including a solo bomb from Nick Loftin in the bottom of the third that scored the first run for the Royals. Thankfully for Kay, the South Side bats were fresh after Monday’s off day, and posted nine runs in the first four frames off of Royals starter Daniel Lynch IV: two in the first, one in the second, and three apiece in the third and fourth. Out of their nine hits, four were mashed for extra bases — a double and three home runs — while the Good Guys were 3-for-4 with runners in scoring position, giving Kay an eight-run cushion heading into the bottom of the fourth.

Chicago’s bats have started to click more consistently over the last few games. Four Sox hitters rank among baseball’s top 13 in OPS over the past week: Miguel Vargas (No. 8, 1.131), Munetaka Murakami (No. 10, 1.107), Chase Meidroth (No. 12, 1.075) and Randal Grichuk (No. 13, 1.064). Vargas had a quieter night than the other three, but all four contributed. Meidroth opened the scoring with a two-run single in the first, the first of his three hits. He then crushed a three-run homer in the third, his 16th of the season.

Brenton Doyle extended his hitting streak to seven games with two hits in Tuesday’s series opener, including a second-inning solo homer. Doyle has been hot lately, and his Gold Glove-caliber defense could make him a key contributor for the South Siders down the stretch.

The South Siders kept their foot on the gas into the fourth, completely beating up on Lynch for one more frame before the Royals turned it over to the bullpen. Grichuk has been on fire and is essentially a wizard against left-handed pitchers, and Tuesday was no exception. His three-run homer off Lynch, his 25th of the season, made it 9-1. Uncle Randy finished 4-for-5 and a triple shy of the cycle, with two doubles, a homer, four runs scored and three RBIs.

KC’s third-inning solo home run didn’t matter much given Chicago’s huge lead, but Kay got into a bit of a jam in the fourth that led to two more runs for the Royals. A leadoff walk, back-to-back base hits, a wild pitch, a sacrifice fly and an RBI ground out cut the Sox lead to six, but Kay and the South Side defense locked in and got out of the inning. The lefty returned in the bottom of the fifth with just 60 pitches thrown, but he quickly got into trouble, hitting Carter Jensen to lead off the frame, followed by a single from Bobby Witt Jr. that was generously ruled a base hit rather than an error by shortstop Colson Montgomery.

That marked the end of the road for Kay, as Will Venable turned to rookie southpaw Noah Schultz to clean up the mess. Thankfully, the lanky lefty mostly worked out of it with a fly out and two ground outs, though one of the grounders drove in the fourth run for the Royals, which was charged to Kay. Schultz navigated one additional scoreless inning to maintain the lead and eventually earn the win.

The White Sox bats went quiet for a couple of innings as righthander Tony Gonsolin held the lineup in check. Then the Good Guys batted around in the seventh, scoring five runs to stretch the lead to 14-4. Grichuk opened the inning with his second double of the night, and Murakami launched his 33rd homer of the season into the Kansas City bullpen. Meidroth later walked, and two more hits loaded the bases. The Royals walked Vargas to force in a run before Andrew Benintendi poked a two-run single for good measure.

Things felt like smooth sailing with a 10-run lead, but after the Sox blew a huge lead on Friday night, you can’t be too careful. Huascar Brazobán made his second appearance since being reactivated from the IL Sunday, and he followed up his performance with another scoreless outing. Seriously, after his inning, things were looking up, but at the end of the day, both the Sox and Royals posted 13 hits, and the three-run difference on the scoreboard tells a completely different story. Naturally, the White Sox bullpen can be extremely volatile, and Kansas City capitalized by adding three runs in the eighth and four more in the bottom of the ninth to make everyone sweat a little.

Righthander Trevor Richards is usually great at eating innings, but he was dishing out two-baggers left and right as the Royals posted three of them, plus a sacrifice fly, to add three runs. Fine, whatever, we can deal with the score being 14-7… right?

I’m okay with a few runs scoring for the greater good of winning the game, but when Luis Castillo came in to finish out the contest with a seven-run lead and somehow turned it into a three-run game, things got a little frightening. Castillo got Jensen to fly out for the first out, but then two singles and a walk loaded the bases for Vinnie Pasquantino. You could literally feel the grand slam building up, and of course, the Pasquatch struck again and blasted his 15th of the season — and first career grand slam — to make the game interesting. Though “interesting” wouldn’t be my first choice of words.

On the bright side, the chaos ended there, and Castillo recovered enough to get the final two outs and end the game. Meanwhile, out on the East Coast, the Boston Red Sox blasted a solo bomb in the bottom of the eighth to tie it at two against Cleveland, but the Guardians struck in the ninth while the Red Sox didn’t have the mojo. After all that, the South Siders still trail Cleveland by a game in the division race, but with tonight’s win, the magic number to clinch a playoff berth is now down to two. The Sox need just one more win and one Rangers loss over the final five games to punch their ticket to the postseason.

MVP (Flip a coin)
Randal Grichuk: 4-for-5, 4 R, 3 RBI, K, 2 2B, HR, excellent catch in OF

Runners-Up
Chase Meidroth: 3-for-4, 2 R, 5 RBI, BB, HR
Munetaka Murakami: 1-for-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, K, HR, HBP
Brenton Doyle: 2-for-5, 2 R, RBI, K, HR
Andrew Benintendi: 1-for-2, 2 RBI, K
Noah Schultz: 2 IP, 0 H, K, WIN (4-9)
Huascar Brazobán: 1 IP, 0 H

Cold Cat
Luis Castillo: 1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, BB, HR (grand slam)

Runners-Up
Trevor Richards: 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, BB, K
Anthony Kay: 4 IP, 7 H, 4 R, BB, 4 K, HR, WP, HBP
Kyle Teel: 0-for-4, BB, 2 K, GIDP
Colson Montgomery: 0-for-5, 3 K

Taj Bradley wasted no time in getting his 200th strikeout of the year tonight, fanning Drew Gilbert. He became the 10th Twins pitcher to record at least 200 in a season, the last one being Pablo Lopez in 2023. It was the first of six strikeouts he would tally tonight, going six innings and allowing just one run.

It was 1-0, Giants, going into the sixth inning when Ryan Kreidler picked up a 1-out single. Luke Keaschall proceeded to hit a ball into triple alley in left-center, earning him one (1) triple and an RBI. Brooks Lee would drive him in with a single to make it 2-1, Twins.

Walker Jenkins added an insurance run in the next inning with his 4th homer of the year, a solo blast to right field. That’s his third homer on this 10-25 road trip.

Game is going pretty well at this point, but enter Jeff Hoffman for the bottom of the 9th inning trying for his first save as a Twin. Brett Harris walks, then Andrew Knizner was hit by a pitch. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners up a space, then Osleivis Basabe walked to load the bases. Jonah Cox hit a liner to 3B, off of Brooks Lee’s glove but Lee recovers and gets an out at 3rd as a run scores. Hoffman then got Victor Bericoto to strike out on a 3-2 slider, giving us our 3-2 final score!

Studs:

Taj Bradley: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

Luke Keaschall: 1-4, 3B, RBI, good defense in right field

Brooks Lee: 2-4, RBI

Walker Jenkins: 1-4, HR

Duds:

NO DUDS TWINS WIN!

That's more like it.

Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez has had a subpar season compared to the expectations the organization and the young backstop have for him. But it seems Alvarez is making some changes to get him right offensively before the regular season ends, and that showed in Tuesday's series opener with the Rangers.

The 24-year-old went 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles, two RBI and two runs scored. Alvarez now has a three-game hitting streak going, and over the last week, his offensive numbers are starting to blossom.

"He's a really good hitter. Even the outs were good today," Mets manager Andy Green said after the 6-3 win. "Using the whole field. Did a nice job last week, just relaxing, shooting the ball around the field. It’s good to see him be himself.

Every season, some people go through some tough stretches. Our goal is to shrink those and get to the best version of him quicker in the future. We know who he can be, especially against left-handed pitching; to have him in the lineup is huge."

Back on Sept. 16, Green benched Alvarez for Luis Torrens after the catcher went 1-for-9 in the Baltimore series and was batting .148 (4-27) in his previous seven games. The Mets skipper was confident Alvarez could snap out of his funk, and he's starting to. 

While his power numbers are up from the previous two seasons, he already has a career-high in strikeouts (125), and most other offensive numbers are down from a year ago. But after his big performance on Tuesday, Alvarez is now batting .286 (8-28) over his last seven games with a home run and five RBI. 

"Feeling good right now at the plate," Alvarez said after the win. "I started working to stay back and make contact deeper. I have a lot of power. It’s no secret. Just need to make contact as deep as I can. My bat can play better."  

Green was asked what the best version of Alvarez is, and he said a hitter that "has real power to all fields." 

"[He] Doesn’t have to try to hit the ball hard to hit the ball hard," Green continued. "In this day and age, it’s launch angle and exit velo. He can get up to 115s and when he just takes his swing, he’ll hit it plenty hard and often. Squaring up the ball is all he needs to do, and he did it really well today."

Alvarez was asked to critique his 2026 season. But the Venezuela native smiled and said there are still five games left in the season. Once it's over, then he can answer. 

If Alvarez can continue this offensive momentum through the end of the season and attack the offseason, the 2027 Mets could have the best catching duo in baseball.

In a year that hasn’t gone his way, Mets left-hander Sean Manaea struck out nine batters over six innings in a 6-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday as the veteran looks to end the 2026 campaign with momentum before entering a crucial offseason in his career.

“He really battled,” Mets manager Andy Green said of the starter. “First inning punched the side and looked amazing. And then kinda hit a little bit of a funk there, couple walks, couple hit batters. Locked it back in for the last two.”

And those last two innings were crucial as he delivered back-to-back 1-2-3 frames, including getting over the sixth-inning bugaboo with three straight groundouts, which set off a bit of a dugout celebration.

“We all were talking about the sixth inning coming off the field,” Green said, breaking into a big smile. “So I said something to him immediately, and he got pretty fired up to just get past it. [The sixth inning had] become a story, and now it won’t be a story because he got through six.”

“It just felt great to do that,” Manaea said with a broad smile. “I think everybody in the dugout kinda realized that, too. To be able to share that with the boys, it was really cool, really special.”

The left-hander's fastball may not be what it was in the past (averaging 91.6 mph on the night, which is at his average for the season), but it was effective with 14 whiffs on 29 swings (48 percent) in his second-to-last start of the year.

“Just attack guys, don’t do anything too crazy,” Manaea said of his night. “Just get ahead, throw sweepers, a changeup every once in a while, and then threw some cutters for strikes. Just kept it simple.” 

While the season has been far from ideal for the lefty - a 4.67 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 144.2 innings over 32 games (18 starts) – a bounce-back season next year is in his hands.

“It’s crazy to say somebody who’s [34 years old] has all the potential to get back to who he’s been,” Green said, mentioning what Chris Sale has been able to do with Atlanta at an advanced age after struggling for a few years in Boston. “Sean, if he takes advantage of this offseason and really gets after it, and he’s back at the 94, 95 [mph] range, his stuff really, really plays.”

Manaea’s velocity dip was a big storyline coming out of spring training, something he downplayed, and while he has been effective at times without hitting the highs he did in years past, the skipper stated the obvious about throwing harder: “It certainly helps.”

“It makes everything easier,” Green said. “There’s days when you get on the bump, and you might not have it over the course of a season. You can’t use that as a crutch; you still have to compete and win and figure out a way to get guys out. 

“But the best version of him has always been one that carries more velocity than he carried at the start of this season. I think there’s more ceiling there.”

And with Nolan McLean, Christian Scott, ZacThornton, and Jonah Tong all hungry to pencil their names in the Mets’ plans for next year, Manaea will have to work to “climb the mountain” this offseason, Green said.

“We’ve had a conversation about that very thing,” the manager said about Manaea working back into the fold. “He can be in the rotation, he can be a fixture, he can be a guy; he has been a guy on a team that went to the NLCS. He’s been a guy that we relied on heavily.

“I would love for that to be the case again. He knows full well that he’s gotta pitch and pitch well. As we get to ‘27, nothing is gonna be handed to him.”

Green later put the stakes more bluntly about the coming months ahead of Manaea, who is under contract with the Mets through the 2027 campaign: “I think he needs to push for [higher velocity] this offseason. I think he needs to approach this offseason like he’s trying to continue pitching for the next four years.”

The Dodgers have less than a week left of the regular season to round into playoff form. And their roster moves this series reflect that time crunch.

Manager Dave Roberts confirmed Tuesday afternoon that Shohei Ohtani (right biceps, left knee) was on track to be reinstated from the 15-day injured list on Wednesday. Ohtani is feeling “considerably” better than he was before the IL stint, according to Roberts.

“I would say if he was a five, he’s probably an eight or a nine right now,” Roberts said before eight pitchers led the Dodgers’ 7-0 win against the San Diego Padres.

On Tuesday, they returned two other important postseason pieces, reinstating center fielder Andy Pages (fractured left hand) and right-hander Roki Sasaki (right middle finger blister) from the injured list.

In corresponding moves, the Dodgers optioned right-hander Emmet Sheehan and catcher Eliézer Alfonzo to triple-A Oklahoma City.

Sasaki took the fourth inning of the bullpen game and threw scoreless ball. He gave up a pair of singles, but his fastball had a little extra life in the short stint, averaging 98.7 mph and topping out at 101.7.

Pages went 0 for 2 but reached base twice, on a hit by pitch and a walk.

Even as players return, however, there are still questions the Dodgers have to answer in the last week of the season:

Where will Ohtani hit?

At least at first, Roberts plans to write Ohtani in at the top of the order, per usual. But shortstop Mookie Betts has entered the conversation.

“Certainly versus right-handed pitching [Ohtani] will be there,” Roberts said. “I do think I should think through the Mookie versus left situation, but I have to think about the entire lineup structure.”

Ohtani has hit leadoff in every game he’s started this year. But he hit No. 2 in 79 games the two previous seasons combined.

Even without Ohtani, the Dodgers lineup has been clicking. On Tuesday, Tommy Edman hit his second home run in as many games, and Will Smith homered for the third time in four days.

Is the rotation healthy?

Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell, who exited his start last week with left groin tightness, threw a bullpen on Tuesday. He’s scheduled for one final regular-season start Saturday, Roberts said.

That means all four of the Dodgers’ projected playoff starters are lined up to pitch this Wednesday through Saturday, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow on the mound for the last two games against the Padres, and Tarik Skubal and Snell in the first two games in San Francisco.

Who is the closer?

In short, it could change by the day.

“In a perfect world, as we all know the world’s not perfect, I would love [a set closer],” Roberts said. “I think if there’s an opportunity, for example, for Tanner [Scott] to pitch a high-leverage inning in the seventh or the eighth inning, it’s just hard to pass that up if he’s the best option right there. Because you just don’t know where the ninth inning is going to be.

“Those are things that you have to kind of toil with, and those are always good things for people to debate. Right now I don’t see a one-person closer.”

Sasaki stepped into that role last year. It’s unclear exactly how Roberts will use him this time around, but Roberts said he could be an option, depending on how he pitches coming off the IL.

“Last year it was one of those things where it was a situation of need, as far as where we were at with performance and health and guys,” Roberts said. “He filled that role admirably.”

Who gets the last bench spot?

The battle to serve as the left-handed bat off the bench in the postseason has come down to rookie Josue De Paula and injured catcher Dalton Rushing (right flexor strain). But with Rushing still on the IL, De Paula appears to have an edge.

Don’t read too much into the Dodgers’ corresponding move for Ohtani on Wednesday. If they option De Paula 10 days out from the first game of the National League Division Series, he can still be included on the roster.

The Dodgers will have to make another roster move later in the week, when they plan to activate Rushing. If they option a player to make room for Rushing, that player would only be eligible for the start of the NLDS as the corresponding transaction for an IL move.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

LOS ANGELES — Veteran infielder Miguel Rojas was voted by his Dodgers teammates and coaching staff as the 2026 winner of the Roy Campanella Award, given annually to the Dodgers player who best embodies the leadership and spirit of the Hall of Fame catcher. Rojas also won the award in 2024and 2025, making him the first player to win the Campanella Award in three straight seasons.

In the 21-year history of the award, Justin Turner is the only other player to win the Campanella Award three times, taking the honor in 2017, 2019, and 2020. Clayton Kershaw (2013-14) and Chase Utley (2016, 2018) are the only other Dodgers to win the award twice.

The 37-year-old Rojas was the first Dodgers player to speak ahead of the clubhouse celebration last Thursday in Cincinnati when the Dodgers clinched the National League West.

The longtime shortstop Rojas has started games at second base, shortstop, and third base this season, and even played three innings at first base. He’s hitting .271/.311/.399 with a 93 wRC+ in his 101 games and 243 plate appearances, including a robust .297/.340/.476 with a 122 wRC+ against left-handed pitchers.

The Dodgers traded for Rojas prior to the 2023 season, and he has mentored young players and filled in all over the infield for the last four seasons. Rojas cemented his place in Dodgers lore with his game-tying home run in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 2025 World Series at Toronto.

Rojas signed a one-year, $5.5 million contract in December to return for his 13th and final season, and plans to join the Dodgers front office afterward, with a focus on player development. Rojas has long stated his desire to get into coaching once his playing days are over.

“Nobody when I came to this organization asked me, ‘Hey we want you to be a leader’ or ‘We want you to be a mentor.’ It’s just who I want to be and who I want to be for the future,” Rojas told True Blue LA in 2024. “After my career is over, I’m trying to stay on the field, to stay coaching, and I want to be a part of an organization that wants to win.”

Rojas will receive his 2026 Roy Campanella Award before Thursday night’s series finale against the Padres, with Campanella’s daughter, Joni Campanella Roan, and his granddaughter, Akua Campanella presenting Rojas with the award on the field at Dodger Stadium.

It wasn’t the (potential) final Coors Field game Kyle Freeland dreamed of.

Unfortunately, the Rockies lost their 100th game of the season, and he only pitched three innings in the loss. The Rockies mustered just eight baserunners, and only two came around to score early in the game they lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-2.

(Potential) Coors Field Swan Song

In what could be Kyle Freeland’s final start at Coors Field as a Rockie, he wasn’t very sharp. He gave up a lead-off single to Ildemaro Vargas, but then got Rockies-killer Ketel Marte to pop out to short. Following that, Gabriel Moreno doubled to score Vargas, and Geraldo Perdomo singled to score Moreno and put the Diamondbacks up 2-0. Nolan Arenado singled to reach base for the 11th time in 11 games against the Rockies this year, but then Freeland was able to strike out Jordan Lawlar. Other Rockies-killer Corbin Carroll added another run on another double before Tim Tawa walked to load the bases. However, Jose Fernandez grounded out to end the inning.

Freeland allowed just a single to Marte in the second, but then gave up a lead-off double to Arenado in the third. Lawlar grounded out and Carroll lined out, but then Tawa hit a ground-rule double — the fourth of the ballgame — to score Arenado. Fernandez struck out on a foul tip to end the inning.

Freeland came out for the fourth, but allowed a single to Vargas that turned into two bases when Zac Veen committed an error. Unfortunately, that was the end for the Denver native in this game. His final line: 3.0 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. He threw 69 pitches, 44 for strikes.

“I think he was behind in counts early,” manager Warren Schaeffer said, noting that the Diamondbacks had “a good plan.”

“I don’t think he was as sharp in the zone,” he added.

When his press conference had ended, Schaeffer added this: “This guy’s meant to much to our organization over the years, and the ultimate pro. You hate to see it end like that.” Schaeffer thanked him for his contributions on the field and in the community.

“Not how you want to draw it up,” an emotional Freeland said, thanking his teammates, coaches, family, and fans.

“It was an emotional day,” he noted. “I made sure to soak up every single minute of it.”

Freeland added to fans, “I appreciate you so much. I love you so much,” adding, “I’m proud to be a Colorado Rockie.”

Baserunners galore, but runs no more

The Rockies offense was befuddled by Michael Soroka early, but finally broke through in the third inning. Mickey Moniak broke out of his slump with a solo shot to right-center to break up the shutout.

Troy Johnston then doubled and Veen reached on an error by Tawa. Jake McCarthy grounded into a force out that nabbed Veen at second, and then Johnston came around to score on a Connor Norby sac fly, cutting the lead in half, 4-2.

Unfortunately, McCarthy tried to do McCarthy things and was picked off trying to steal second. And even more unfortunately, the next eight were retired until Norby walked with two outs in the sixth. But then TJ Rumfield flied out to left to end the threat.

In the seventh, Cole Carrigg was hit by a pitch after Hunter Goodman struck out, and then Kyle Karros and Moniak struck out. In the eighth, Johnston was hit by a 99.5-mph fastball to kick things off. Veen then flew out to left and McCarthy struck out swinging, snapping his career-best 22-game on-base streak. Norby struck out to end the inning and strand another baserunner.

In the ninth, Rumfield flew out to end his 24-game on-base streak — the longest active streak in the Majors and longest by a Rockie since Tyler Freeman’s 25-gamer from June 13-July 12, 2025 — while Goodman grounded out. Carrigg singled for just the third hit of the game, but Karros grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the game.

The Rockies offense mustered eight baserunners all game: three hits, two errors, two hit batters and one walk. The two runs came around to score on the back-to-back hits in the third inning.

Still, Schaeffer remains positive.

“I see a lot of hope, and I see a lot of progress,” he said. “This is obviously not where we want to be.”

He added, “You have to focus on the positives moving forward.”

Gritty Bullpen

Zach Agnos came in to relieve Freeland, immediately getting Marte to ground back out to him. But Moreno hit a sac fly to add another run, 5-2, and then Perdomo singled and stole second. Arenado was called out on strikes to end the inning.

In the fifth, Lawlar led off with a double and Carroll grounded out to Goodman. And Tawa hit a sac fly to score Lawlar from third to make the score 6-2. Fernandez popped out to third to end the inning.

In the sixth, Agnos issued a lead-off walk to Vargas. Luckily, he got the next three batters out. But then Arenado smacked a 421-foot homer to lead off the seventh, putting him a triple away from the cycle (which he would ultimately not get).

Luckily, though, he retired the next three batters thanks in part to a diving play from Carrigg to nab Tawa.

Nick Frasso came in to relieve Agnos in the eighth and was able to pitch a 1-2-3 inning. Juan Mejia took the ninth, and pitched (kind of) a 1-2-3 inning. Moreno grounded out to first and Perdomo singled. Arenado popped out to dash his cycle hopes, and then Perdomo got caught in a rundown trying to steal second to end the inning.

Up Next

The Rockies will look to regroup tomorrow, and the Diamondbacks will look to keep their postseason aspirations alive.

Mason Adams (0-1, 5.09 ERA) will face off against Merrill Kelly (9-14, 5.00 ERA). First pitch is at 6:40pm.

See you then!

ARLINGTON, Texas — Francisco Alvarez’s bat has been noticeable for the Mets in recent days, a development that maybe falls into the “better late than never” category. 

Tuesday night, he delivered a third straight multihit game, which included a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth inning that helped the Mets past the Rangers 6-3 at Globe Life Field. 

Alvarez began the night with a .680 OPS since the All-Star break. He showed life over the weekend with a three-run homer that helped beat the Phillies before collecting two hits the following day. He finished this night 2-for-5. 

“I started working more on staying back and trying to make contact deeper if I can,” Alvarez said. 

How would he summarize his season? 

“I don’t know — there are still five days left,” Alvarez said. “Maybe on the last day if you ask me the same question, I can tell you.” 

Sean Manaea allowed three earned runs over six innings with nine strikeouts and two walks. The left-hander is expected to receive another start in Sunday’s finale in Washington. 

Brett Baty’s pinch-hit double, ahead of a walk to Carson Benge, began the go-ahead rally in the sixth. Alvarez delivered the inning’s big hit with a shot off the left field fence that scored both runners. Luis Torrens’ sacrifice fly extended the lead to 5-3. 

“It’s just good to see [Alvarez] be himself,” manager Andy Green said. “Every season some people go through some tough stretches. Our goal will be to shrink those and get back to the best version quicker in the future.”