Nolan Gorman is batting sixth and playing second base for Sunday's London Series finale against the Cubs.
Gorman was expected to miss only one game after battling an illness that was making its way through the Cardinals clubhouse. The 23-year-old had an excellent start to the season but is hitting .117/.185/.217 in June.
Alex Cobb (oblique) struck out nine batters while allowing one run over 3 2/3 innings in a rehab start with Low-A San Jose on Saturday.
He threw 66 pitches, and the only run he allowed was a solo homer. He threw 66 pitches, and his fastball was sitting in the mid-nineties. The 35-year-old has been on the shelf since June 15 with a left oblique strain, but it appears he will be ready to join the Giants rotation by the end of the week.
Angels acquired 3B Mike Moustakas from the Rockies for RHP Connor Van Scoyoc.
Moustakas signed a minor-league deal with the Rockies this spring and was hitting .270/.260/.435 with four homers and 17 RBI prior to the trade. The veteran will likely play first base against righties while hitting toward the bottom of the Angels lineup.
Rockies acquired RHP Connor Van Scoyoc from the Angels for 3B Mike Moustakas.
The 23-year-old right-hander was an 11th-round draft pick of the Angels in 2018. Van Scoyoc had a 2.76 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and 55/25 K/BB ratio across 62 innings for High-A Tri-City
Matt Waldron pitched well in a losing effort against the Nationals in his big league debut on Saturday night, allowing just two runs on four hits over 4 2/3 innings of work.
The 26-year-old right-hander walked one and struck out two on the night. All of the damage done against him came on a pair of solo home runs -- one by Jeimer Candelario in the opening inning and another by Lane Thomas in the third. Waldron got six swings and misses on 62 pitches in the ballgame -- five on his heater and one on his knuckleball -- while registering a CSW of 29 percent. He'll likely head back to Triple-A El Paso following this start, but it was nice to see a knuckleball fluttering back in the big leagues for the first time in two years on Saturday -- even if he only threw 13 of them.
Fernando Tatis Jr. went 1-for-4 with a single and a stolen base as the Padres were shut out by the Nationals on Saturday evening in San Diego.
The 24-year-old superstar smacked a two-out single off of Josiah Gray in the fifth inning, then swiped second base but the Padres were unable to cash him in from there. He has filled up the stat sheet so far this season -- slashing .288/.357/.551 to go with 15 homers, 35 RBI and 14 stolen bases in his first 57 ballgames.
Josiah Gray delivered a strong performance in Saturday's victory over the Padres, racking up six strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball.
The right-hander scattered four hits and four walks on the night. He got 13 swings and misses on 99 pitches in the contest while registering a CSW of 28 percent. The Padres' only real threat against him came in the fifth inning as Fernando Tatis Jr. smacked a two-out single and Juan Soto followed with a walk, but Gray was able to get Manny Machado to pop out to end the threat. He'll look to keep the good times rolling as he carries a 3.43 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 78/42 K/BB ratio (89 1/3 innings) into Friday's matchup against the Phillies in Philadelphia.
Jeimer Candelario went 1-for-3 and swatted a solo home run on Saturday night, helping to power the Nationals to victory over the Padres in San Diego.
Candelario opened the scoring in the ballgame with his two-out, 395-foot (107.0 mph EV) solo shot off of Matt Waldron in the top half of the first inning. He also drew a walk in the contest, reaching base safely in two of his four plate appearances. On the season, he's now slashing a respectable .255/.333/.454 to go along with nine long balls and 33 RBI.
Hunter Harvey worked a perfect ninth inning against the Padres on Saturday night, protecting a two-run lead to earn his fifth save of the season.
The 28-year-old right-hander made it look awfully easy in this one, getting Xander Bogaerts on a fly out to center, striking out Jake Cronenworth and then getting Gary Sanchez to ground out to third to end the ballgame. Harvey now holds a 3.66 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and a 36/11 K/BB ratio over 32 2/3 innings on the season and looks like a decent source to speculate on if scouring for saves in deeper mixed leagues.
Chase Anderson was absolutely obliterated in Saturday's loss to the Angels, surrendering nine runs on 10 hits in just 2 2/3 innings of work.
Woof. Anderson also issued a pair of walks in the forgettable outing while striking out one batter. He actually navigated a scoreless first inning before the Angels pushed two runs across in the second on a two-run single by David Fletcher. He then allowed three solo homers on three consecutive pitches in the third inning -- to Mike Trout, Brandon Drury and Matt Thaiss -- and run-scoring singles to Taylor Ward and Shohei Ohtani before his merciful exit. He now holds a cringe-inducing 5.79 ERA and 1.45 WHIP over 42 innings on the season and may not be long for the Rockies' rotation. If he does draw another start, it would come on Thursday against the Dodgers at the same crime scene in Colorado as Saturday's massacre.
Brandon Drury went 3-for-5 with a homer, three runs scored and four RBI on Saturday night as the Angels absolutely demolished the Rockies in Colorado.
Drury did all of his damage in the first five innings of this one before giving way to Luis Rengifo. Drury hit the middle of three straight homers off of Chase Anderson in the third inning -- a 437-foot solo blast that increased the early lead to 4-0. He added a two-run single later in the inning and scored on a bases-clearing double by Hunter Renfroe. Drury tacked on an RBI single in the fourth for good measure -- increasing the Angels' lead to 16-0. With the monster effort at the dish, he's now hitting .273/.318/.500 with 13 homers and 41 RBI.
Griffin Canning cruised to an easy victory over the Rockies on Saturday night, allowing just four hits over six shutout innings.
The right-hander racked up seven strikeouts on the night and didn't issue a base on balls. The fact that the Angels staked him to a 24-run advantage certainly had to take some of the pressure off of him in this one, but Canning was terrific nonetheless. He got 18 swings and misses on 99 pitches in the contest -- eight on his slider -- while registering a strong CSW of 31 percent. He'll look to continue his recent dominance as he carries a 3.99 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 62/17 K/BB ratio into Friday's matchup against the Diamondbacks.
David Fletcher made a statement in his return to the Angels' lineup on Saturday night, going 4-for-6 with a homer and five RBI.
Fletcher got the scoring started in Saturday's record-breaking victory with a two-run single off of Chase Anderson in the second inning. He then clobbered a 363-foot three-run homer off of Noah Davis in the fourth that increased the Angels' lead to 23-0. Both of his other two hits in the ballgame were singles. On the season, he's now hitting .273/.273/.409 with one homer and six RBI in his first nine games.
Rowdy Tellez went 0-for-4 against the Guardians in Saturday's loss.
Tellez had a great April and a mediocre May leading into what has been a hideous month of June; he's batting .153/.176/.208 with no homers and an 18/2 K/BB ratio in 20 games. He'll pull out of this at some point, but the Brewers badly need it to happen soon.
Freddy Peralta yielded three runs in five-plus innings Saturday in a loss to the Guardians.
It was one run through five innings, but Peralta gave up back-to-back singles to open the sixth and was pulled. Both runners then came around to score off the combination of Hoby Milner and Elvis Peguero. Peralta was at 90 pitches after five, so he probably shouldn't have been out there in the sixth against the top of the order in the first place. He's due to face the Mets next.
Tanner Bibee held the Brewers to two runs -- one earned -- and three hits in six innings in the Guardians' 4-2 win Saturday.
Bibee secured the victory, moving to 4-2 with a 3.79 ERA. He was again a little wilder than one would like -- he walked four -- but he overcame it with the help of seven strikeouts. His next start will come versus the Cubs on Friday.
Bo Naylor finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts versus the Brewers on Saturday.
The Guardians are committed to giving Naylor a long look here, so while it's not great, it's also not a major concern that he's opened up 1-for-16 with eight strikeouts. We'd be more worried if Mike Zunino were still around.
Alex Lange recorded the final four outs against the Twins on Saturday night, protecting a one-run advantage to earn his 12th save of the season.
Lange was called upon to put out a fire in the eighth inning, as the Twins had two men on and two outs. After allowing a runner to reach on an error to load the bases, Lange got Royce Lewis swinging on a 3-2 curve ball to end the threat. He then returned for the ninth and struck out three more batters -- while also issuing a walk -- preserving the one-run lead. Lange now boasts a 3.82 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 42/16 K/BB ratio across 30 2/3 innings on the season.
Eric Haase went 2-for-3 and drove in a run on Saturday night, helping to lead the Tigers to a victory over the Twins.
Haase opened the scoring in the contest with an RBI single off of Pablo Lopez in the second inning. He then came around to score himself on a two-run single by Zach McKinstry later in the frame. With his two-hit evening, the 30-year-old backstop is now hitting .226/.279/.312 with three homers, 21 RBI and three stolen bases on the season.
Zach McKinstry smacked a two-run single in the second inning on Saturday, propelling the Tigers to a 3-2 victory over the Twins.
McKinstry dropped a bloop single into center field off of Pablo Lopez to drive in a pair of runs in the second inning, extending the Tigers' early lead to 3-0. It would be just enough. On the season, the Tigers' catalyst is now hitting .242/.332/.362 with five homers, 16 RBI and 10 stolen bases.