Boston Red Sox

Boston Red Sox

Misiorowski, 23, made waves when he debuted back in June by posting massive strikeout totals in the first few starts of his career and landed a somewhat controversial All-Star nod just five starts into his MLB career. At that time, he had a 2.81 ERA and a 33.7% career strikeout rate. He turned in another pair of strong (albeit abbreviated) starts to round out the month of July and bring his ERA down to 2.70 while his strikeout rate crept up to an incredible 36.4%.

An excellent 5.5% walk rate is Sugano's biggest calling card, but his other metrics have been much shakier. Both Sugano's strikeout rate (15.6%) and barrel rate (11.4%) rank only in the seventh percentile of all pitchers, and only seven pitchers have surrendered more home runs than Sugano's 28 big flies. There's still time for Sugano to improve on these numbers, though keeping the ball in the park will be tricky since his last two starts are scheduled to come against the powerful Yankees.

The Guardians have transformed into some kind of unkillable movie monster. They just cannot be stopped. The good thing for the Red Sox, though, is that they don't need to worry about the Guards if they keep winning. With the non-Crochet portion of the rotation looking shaky, last night felt like a must-win and the Sox got it done, even if Crochet didn't quite look like his best and the bullpen made it hairy at the end.

The Red Wings (WAS) got on the board early with a pair of solo shots in the top of the second inning off starter Jack Anderson. The Woo Sox got their lone run of the game in the bottom of the inning, when right fielder Karson Simas knocked in Nick Schnell with a single to center field. Anderson threw a couple of clean innings before running into trouble in the fifth, where he allowed two more runs and left trailing 4-1.

With this week being the last we'll see of several of this year's minor league mainstays, it's understandable to hear me say "five scoreless, great final showing" a few times and think it redundant. But this is a team - nay, a farm - stocked with rotation arms who have all raised their stock over the course of the season.

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Nolan Arenado is back in the Cardinals' lineup after a six-week shoulder injury. He has started at third base each of the past two nights. He'll probably be in the lineup for most or all of the final 10 games of the season, but the real source of intrigue will turn up again in the offseason. Arenado is under contract for two more seasons. He's slated for a $27MM salary next year.

Except for the Rangers, every team that the Red Sox are competing against for a Wild Card spot won. Those Rangers lost to the Astros, their third loss in a row, as they drift out of the race. The Yankees and Mariners joined the Stros with wins over the Twins and Royals, respectively, putting the Sox in the third Wild Card spot, 2 games behind the Yanks and .5 behind Houston,

Aroldis Chapman's historic season has occupied most of the discussion when it comes to the Red Sox bullpen. But Garrett Whitlock has been nearly as good, having pitched the most innings out of the pen and allowed just one earned run since the All-Star Break. But believe it or not, Whitlock still doesn't feel like he's "kicked the rust off" following last year's UCL surgery. (Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)

The Braves have claimed righty Carson Ragsdale off waivers from the Orioles, per an announcement from the O's. Atlanta has not yet announced the move, but David O'Brien of The Athletic reports that outfielder Jake Fraley is being transferred to the 60-day IL to clear a 40-man roster spot.. Baltimore designated Ragsdale for assignment on Monday. Baltimore originally claimed Ragsdale off waivers from San Francisco following the trade deadline.

In his first start, Early used his sinker against lefties to get ahead, turning to sweepers and curveballs to put them away. Against righties, he kept everything down in the zone and "pitched backwards". He used his breaking stuff early in at-bats, turning to more four-seam fastballs and changeups later in counts. He executed his plan, striking out 11 Athletics over five shutout innings.

It doesn't take a genius to figure that out, nor do you even have to look at the numbers, but here they are anyway: Since losing Anthony to an oblique injury 10 games ago, the Red Sox sit at 4-6 with a .296 OBP (23rd in all of baseball), along with the third-worst walk rate in the game. (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)

The Phillies announced they've selected infielder Rafael Lantigua onto the big league roster.

Silver Boot series kicks off with huge implications: The American League west is the tightest division in the majors. The Mariners took over the top spot this weekend and currently sit one game clear of the Astros. That leaves Houston in possession of the final A.L. Wild Card spot but the Rangers are just two games behind them. The Rangers are in Houston for three games starting tonight for a series that should play a huge role in the A.L. playoff picture.

The Orioles reached out to Cubs VP of scouting Dan Kantrovitz about a possible interview for their general manager opening, according to 670 The Score's Bruce Levine. However, it appears as though Kantrovitz declined the offer, as he isn't looking to leave the Cubs organization. Kantrovitz has over 21 years of baseball operations experience, split over stints with the Cardinals, Athletics, and Cubs.

The Mets are moving left-hander Sean Manaea to the bullpen, according to a report from Will Sammon and Tim Britton of The Athletic. Manaea told reporters before today's game against the Rangers that he's set to be available out of the bullpen during the game, and that if he's not used in tonight's game he's likely to be used in relief of starter Clay Holmes for Tuesday's series opener against the Padres.

That's not the case in this instance, however, as manager Dave Roberts told reporters ( including Fabian Ardaya) on Friday that Sasaki dealt with "a calf situation" during his rehab that extended the time he could be allowed to spend in Triple-A. He'll make at least one more start in the minors, per Roberts, at which point it's possible he'll move back into pitching in MLB games.