Patrick Sandoval allowed three runs over five innings on Friday in a no-decision against the Rockies.
Sandoval surrendered a leadoff homer to Jurickson Profar in the first inning. A double and a base hit would bring in the second run for the Rockies in the second inning. He then settled in for three scoreless innings, but started the sixth with a single and a double before leaving with two runners on and no outs. One of those inherited runners would come in to score. The 26-year-old left-hander ends the day with a 4.16 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, and a 57/30 K/BB across 75 2/3 innings. He'll take on the White Sox in Anaheim next week.
Kyle Freeland allowed four runs -- three earned -- over five innings on Friday in a no-decision against the Angels.
Freeland surrendered a pair of runs in the second inning on a single, double, and a sacrifice fly. He then worked around some trouble in the third, loading the bases with two walks before escaping the jam on a groundout. Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout would get to Freeland in the fifth, knocking back-to-back homers. His day would be done after five. The 30-year-old left-hander will take a 4.54 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, and a 53/24 K/BB across 85 1/3 innings into a start against the Dodgers in Colorado next week.
Justin Lawrence struck out two batters in a clean ninth inning on Friday to earn the save against the Angels.
After taking a three-run lead in the bottom of the eighth, the Rockies called on Lawrence to close it out against the Angels. He struck out two in a clean frame, locking down his third save of the season. He's seemingly in the front seat for saves in Colorado.
Shane Bieber surrendered four runs in five-plus innings and struck out eight in a loss to the Brewers on Friday.
Last time out, Bieber lost it in the eighth, giving up three runs then after allowing just two through seven innings. Tonight, the same sort of thing happened in the sixth; he allowed just one run through five, but he gave up a single, a double and then a homer in the sixth before being pulled. All four runs were driven in by Willy Adames. Bieber dropped to 5-5 with a 3.69 ERA. He should bounce back against the Royals next time out.
Wade Miley blanked the Guardians for six innings in a victory Friday.
Miley's velocity has been up a couple of ticks in his two starts since returning from a strained lat, and it's probably not a coincidence that he's thrown 11 scoreless innings in those two outings. He's not going to help much in strikeouts, but he wouldn't be a bad stopgap in mixed leagues while throwing like this.
Willy Adames went 4-for-5 with two homers and five RBI in leading the Brewers past the Guardians 7-1 on Friday.
That's more like it. Adames had been 8-for-46 with no extra-base hits and one RBI in his previous 12 games. He's still batting just .216 for the season, but that should come up some, and he has 12 homers in 65 games.
Zack Greinke was knocked around in a losing effort against the Rays on Friday night, giving up seven runs on nine hits over his 4 2/3 innings of work.
The 39-year-old right-hander walked one and struck out three in the forgettable outing. Jose Siri did the early damage against him -- crushing a three-run homer in the second inning and adding an RBI single in the fourth. The Rays then added three more runs while chasing him in the fifth. Greinke will carry a miserable 1-8 record, 5.31 ERA and 1.23 WHIP into Thursday's matchup against the Guardians.
Nick Pratto clubbed a leadoff home run on Friday night, but it wasn't close to enough to lead the Royals past the Rays in Tampa Bay.
Pratto belted the second pitch of the game for a 372-foot (107.2 mph EV) bomb off of Zach Eflin to give the Royals an early 1-0 lead. He struck out in each of his other four plate appearances on the night, finishing the day 1-for-5. On the season, Pratto is now hitting .273/.360/.426 with five homers and 20 RBI.
Zach Eflin logged a quality start in Friday night's victory over the Royals, allowing three runs on seven hits over his six innings of work.
The right-hander punched out seven batters on the night while issuing a pair of walks. All of the scoring done against him came via the long ball -- with Nick Pratto blasting a leadoff homer to start the game and Salvador Perez adding a two-run shot in the third. Aside from that, Eflin was in complete command. He got 12 whiffs on 98 pitches in the contest, posting a CSW of 35 percent. He'll tote an impressive 3.35 ERA and 1.03 WHIP into Thursday's matchup against the Diamondbacks in Arizona.
Josh Lowe went 3-for-5 and scored a run in a lopsided victory over the Royals on Friday night.
All three of Lowe's hits in the contest were singles. He singled off of Zack Greinke and came around to score on a two-run single by Taylor Walls as part of a four-run rally by the Rays in the fifth inning. With the three-hit attack, Lowe is now slashing an outstanding .285/.329/.502 to go along with 11 homers, 41 RBI and 18 stolen bases in what has been a breakout offensive season for the 25-year-old outfielder.
Harold Ramírez went 2-for-5 and drove in a pair of runs on Friday night as the Rays routed the Royals in Tampa Bay.
The hard-hitting outfielder smacked an RBI single off of Zack Greinke in the fifth inning that extended the Rays' advantage to 5-3. He scored later in the inning on a two-run single by Taylor Walls. Ramírez also put the cherry on top of the victory with an RBI single in the eighth inning that capped off the scoring in the ballgame. With his two-hit night, the 28-year-old is now hitting a robust .300/.342/.488 with nine homers, 33 RBI and four stolen bases on the season.
Matt Olson hit two of the Braves' five home runs Friday against the Reds.
Ronald Acuña Jr., Austin Riley and Olson all homered in a four-batter span off Lucas Sims in the eighth, but the furious rally wasn't enough. Olson is tied for second in the majors with 23 homers and tied for fourth with 55 RBI. He's first with 98 strikeouts, but no one is complaining.
AJ Smith-Shawver gave up five runs in 3 1/3 innings versus the Reds on Friday.
Smith-Shawver served up three homers, though one of those likely would have an out in a lot of parks. He's now given up five homers in just 16 2/3 innings during his time in the majors. He doesn't seem overmatched by any means, but he's also showing no signs of being the next Spencer Strider. The guess here is that he falls short of rest-of-season mixed-league value.
Alexis Díaz pitched a hitless ninth for his 21st save Friday.
Díaz got through the ninth in just eight pitches, even though he walked a batter. Travis d'Arnaud popped up the first pitch he saw, Eddie Rosario drew the walk on six pitches and Orlando Arcia immediately grounded into a double play on the next pitch. It's a nice change from Díaz's last save, when he allowed four batters to reach and threw 30 pitches against the Rockies on Tuesday.
Chris Bassitt yielded four runs in five innings Friday in a no-decision against the A's.
Bassitt gave up three runs right away in the first. His velocity was good tonight, and he allowed only two hard-hit balls after the first. Still, ideally, he would have done quite a bit better than this against Oakland's lineup. He's a tough play in mixed leagues right now.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 2-for-4 and hit a three-run homer Friday against the A's.
It's taken a lot longer than expected, but Guerrero has reached double figures in homers. Tonight's was his first since June 4 and first in Toronto this season. He entered the day slugging .299 at home and .509 on the road.
Trevor May recorded his fourth save with a scoreless ninth Friday against the Blue Jays.
May gave up a leadoff double to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in a one-run game, but he survived it, getting a hard lineout to third from Matt Chapman and softer flies from Whit Merrifield and Daulton Varsho. All four of May's saves have come this month.
Shea Langeliers went 2-for-4 and hit a go-ahead homer off Jason Romano in the ninth as the A's edged the Blue Jays 5-4 on Friday.
Langeliers badly needed this after entering the game in a 3-for-34 slump that had dropped his average to .199. He had an RBI single in the first, and then he hit one 391 feet off Romano in a tie game in the ninth. It was his ninth homer in 254 plate appearances this season.
JJ Bleday had a two-run homer and a sac fly against the Blue Jays on Friday.
Bleday had been losing playing time of late, but he will be in the outfield more consistently now with Ramón Laureano on the IL. His fantasy value should remain limited to AL-only leagues.
Max Kepler went 2-for-4 and slugged a two-run homer on Friday night, propelling the Twins to a 4-1 victory over the Tigers in Detroit.
Kepler pulverized his 401-foot (104.0 mph) two-run blast off of left-hander Joey Wentz in the second inning, increasing the Twins' early lead to 3-0. It would prove to be the difference in the ballgame. He also singled in the contest. With his two-hit attack, Kepler has raised his season slash up to 209/.276/.423 to go with 10 long balls and 23 RBI.