Contreras is back at first base and hitting cleanup against rookie southpaw Gage Jump following a two-game absence due to illness. The 34-year-old veteran has put together a career-best season at the plate, hitting .288/.395/.540 with 23 home runs and 70 RBI across 430 plate appearances. He’s served as one of Boston’s primary catalysts during their remarkable midseason turnaround. They’ve won nine consecutive games and 27 of their last 30 overall to pull within five games of the AL East-leading Rays.

What a fantastic pitcher. After an early July speed bump, Rasmussen has won five straight starts. The last four of those have all been scoreless, giving him a 27-inning shutout streak. Rasmussen is 12-5 with a 2.75 ERA that places him very much in the mix for AL Cy Young honors. He’s due to face the A’s next week.

Working with a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, Díaz walked the leadoff man in the ninth, struck out Tim Tawa and then gave up a walkoff homer to Ryan Waldschmidt. It’s the second homer Díaz has allowed in four appearances since coming off the IL, though it’s the first to hurt the Dodgers. He should still be safe in the closer’s role for now, but another blown save right away could change that.

Mets’ fans and fantasy managers can now breathe a sigh of relief. Benge suffered the injury as he crashed into the outfield wall while making a sliding catch during Thursday’s battle against the Pirates. He’s considered day-to-day and should return to action before the weekend is through.

One of the two hits was a solo homer by Tyler Soderstrom that just skirted over the short right-center fence at Fenway, and that accounted for all the damage done tonight. Tolle’s stuff ticked up a notch or two today, as he touched 99.5 mph and averaged 97.6 on his four-seamer. He achieved whiffs on a stunning 24-of-49 swings by the Athletics. He’ll look to keep it rolling against the Blue Jays in what is currently slated to be a matchup with All-Star Game starter Dylan Cease.

They announced it as a mutual parting of ways, Ken Rosenthal and the rest of baseball announced it as a firing. Regardless, the search for a new head of baseball operations in Sacramento will begin. Forst had been the GM since October 2015. The Athletics never advanced past the ALDS in that timespan, though they did win 97 games two years in a row in 2018 and 2019 before payroll constraints tore that team apart.

Culpepper is the Twins’ second-ranked prospect and the 29th-ranked prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. He has a .271 average with 14 home runs, 46 RBIs and 17 stolen bases in 74 games for Triple-A St. Paul this season, but has gone 11-for-40 (.275) in 10 games since returning from a glute injury in mid-July. Culpepper is one of the highest-ranked prospect hitters we’re likely to see called up this summer and has a power/speed combination that’s worth a gamble in most fantasy leagues.

The 28-year-old superstar got the scoring started in the ballgame with a 390-foot (103.8-mph EV) two-run shot off of Janson Junk in the third inning that fell short of the outfield wall, but the Marlins’ outfielders collided and the ball got knocked out of the glove of Esteury Ruiz and bounced into the stands for a home run. He then cleared the fence with a 337-foot (97.3-mph EV) solo shot off of Cade Gibson in the eighth that made it a 9-2 ballgame. His bat appears to be heating up, which is terrifying news for the rest of the National League. On the season, he’s now slashing .244/.358/.436 to go with 11 homers, 27 RBI and 15 stolen bases (in 22 attempts) across 279 plate appearances.

Surgery “is always a possibility,” when a player sees a specialist, said Schneider per Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi. This is not a promising update for Yesavage’s chances of returning to the rotation any time soon. Given Toronto’s position in the standings, it would be surprising if they tried to push him to fight through this towards the end of the season if they had any doubt about it.

Once again, Skenes was simply not sharp here. His command was a mess as he walked four batters for the second straight start. Those woes were most apparent with his fastball. He simply could not find the zone with it and missed too many of his spots by a wide margin. In turn, he threw his second-lowest rate of fastballs in any start this season. Yet, it was only the second time over the last two months where that pitch’s average velocity stretched back above 97 mph. It was also his first time in 10 starts where he threw multiple pitches above 98 mph. Is his arm tired? Are his mechanics out of whack because he’s trying to reach back and find more velocity? We simply don’t know, but this is more than just a poor stretch now. Skenes has a 6.14 ERA over his last seven starts and the Pirates are an unthinkable 3-12 in his last 15. He’s scheduled for a two-start week coming up against the Marlins and Red Sox as he desperately tries to get back on track.