Framber Valdez pitched eight innings of two-run ball and struck out nine in the Astros' 4-2 win over the Mets on Tuesday.
Valdez outdueled his former rotationmate, Justin Verlander, in improving to 7-5 with a 2.27 ERA. He deserves a better record for giving the Astros 12 quality starts in 15 tries. He's allowed more than three runs just once this season.
Aaron Civale yielded two runs in 6 2/3 innings Tuesday in a no-decision versus the A's.
Civale showed some nice velocity tonight, averaging 92.9 mph on his handful of four-seamers and 88.4 mph on his cutter. That cutter velocity is about one mph better than two years ago and two mph better than last season. He a decent option at the back of the rotation in 12-team leagues.
Amed Rosario went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI as the Guardians edged the A's 3-2 in 10 innings Tuesday.
Rosario has nine hits in his last three games, so maybe the bat is coming around. It's too bad the legs aren't; he was 8-for-8 stealing bases in his first 41 games this season, but he hasn't so much as tried one in his last 24 games.
Alexis Díaz allowed one run on two hits in the ninth inning, but still picked up his 20th save of the season on Tuesday against the Rockies.
It wasn't pretty, but Díaz was able to shut the door against the Rockies as the Reds won their tenth straight game on Tuesday. The 26-year-old wasn't sharp and threw 30 pitches (18 strikes), and after throwing 21 pitches on Monday, he will surely be unavailable on Wednesday.
Bailey Ober was tagged for three runs over six innings on Tuesday in a loss to the Red Sox.
Ober wound up surrendering eight hits, including a pair of round-trippers, which accounted for the majority of the damage against him in this one. He notched four strikeouts and didn't hand out a free pass. He'll bring a solid 2.83 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 58/14 K/BB ratio across 63 2/3 innings (11) into a road matchup on Sunday against the Tigers.
Kutter Crawford fired five shutout innings on Tuesday in a win over the Twins.
Crawford scattered six hits and recorded five strikeouts over five strong frames to collect his - win of the season. The 27-year-old righty is taking full advantage of his unexpected opportunity to step into Boston's starting rotation and will bring a respectable 3.74 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 46/9 K/BB ratio across 45 2/3 innings (14 appearances, six starts) into a road tilt on Sunday against the White Sox.
Corey Kluber allowed four runs over three innings on Tuesday against the Twins to record his first career save.
Kluber came on for mop-up duty with the Red Sox leading by more than a touchdown and wound up completing the final three frames for first career save. Imagine saying that sentence back in spring training. Weird.
Royce Lewis went 3-for-4 with a solo homer on Tuesday in the Twins' loss to the Red Sox.
The homer came off veteran righty Corey Kluber in the ninth inning of the one-sided affair. It was his third long ball of the season and capped off a solid three-hit performance. The 24-year-old former top prospect hasn't hit for a ton of power recently, but he's batting .311 (19-for-61) through 17 games so far.
Masataka Yoshida went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer and three RBI on Tuesday in the Red Sox' win over the Twins.
Yoshida clobbered a 447-foot no-doubter to right field for his eighth round-tripper of the season. It was the first time he's gone deep since May 31.
Byron Buxton went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer on Tuesday in the Twins' lopsided defeat at the hands of the Red Sox.
Buxton snapped an 0-for-16 cold spell since returning from the injured list with a lead off single in the second inning. He also added a two-run homer in the eighth inning to help the Twins avoid a potential shutout in a lopsided defeat at the hands of the Red Sox. It was his first long ball since May 23.
Yankees optioned LHP Matt Krook to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Krook has been jettisoned back to the minors to make room for Jhony Brito to get the call to start Wednesday's game against the Mariners. The 28-year-old lefty allowed five runs over 1 2/3 innings last Friday against the Red Sox in his big league debut.
Tucker Barnhart hit his first homer and walked Tuesday against the Pirates.
In 87 plate appearances this season coming into the night, Barnhart had never hit a ball farther than 320 feet. Tonight, though, he socked one 412 feet off Johan Oviedo. It was just his second extra-base hit of the year. He currently has a .503 OPS, which is even worse than his .554 mark from last year.
Johan Oviedo surrendered two runs in six innings Tuesday in a loss to the Cubs.
A month ago on this day, Oviedo was 3-3 with a 4.69 ERA in nine starts. He's since 0-4 with a 3.74 ERA in six starts. The one time during that span that the Pirates did score more than two runs in one of his outings, the bullpen went on to blow his lead.
Marcus Stroman pitched five-hit ball for seven innings in the Cubs' 4-0 shutout of the Pirates on Tuesday.
Stroman has won seven starts in a row. Before this current stretch, he had won just eight of 34 starts in his Cubs career, even though he had a fine 3.43 ERA. Now he has seven straight. It's the fifth time this season that Stroman has pitched scoreless ball. His 2.28 ERA leads the National League.
Hunter Harvey allowed a two-run homer in the ninth inning on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old hadn't pitched since Thursday, so he needed to get some work in. However, fantasy managers won't be pleased with the results, as he allowed a two-run bomb to Paul DeJong in a non-save opportunity. There haven't been many save chances for the Nationals bullpen but even with the rough outing Tuesday, Harvey appears to be the closer for the time being.
Aaron Hicks hit a three-run home run against the Rays on Tuesday in a 8-6 win for the Orioles.
Hicks tagged a hanging Tyler Glasnow slider 377 feet to right field in the first. He went 2-for-4 and added another RBI in the eighth inning. Hicks remains red-hot since joining the Orioles, hitting .340/.444/.604 with two steals and three bombs in 17 games and allowing Baltimore to not miss a beat with Cedric Mullins out. Hicks deserves some shallow-league consideration with how he's playing of late.
Anthony Santander went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer and three RBI against the Rays in a 8-6 Orioles win on Tuesday.
The homer was a 405-foot shot, as Santander pulled a slider from Tyler Glasnow in the second inning. Santander also singled in Gunnar Henderson in the top of the first inning. He's got a .264/.332/.475 line on the season with 11 homers and 42 RBI. Santander has slugged .533 over his last seven games with five runs scored and six RBI, getting his slugging percentage more in line with his established norms from the last couple seasons.
Dylan Carlson went 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI in a 9-2 victory on Tuesday.
Carlson's first bomb went 445 feet (106 mph EV) and gave the Cardinals a two-run lead in the top of the second inning. His second homer wasn't as impressive, but it still traveled over 400 feet with an exit velocity of 101.6 mph. The 24-year-old has been on a tear since returning from the injured list on June 9 and is locked into the Cardinals outfield for the foreseeable future.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. (foot) went 0-for-2 with a walk on Tuesday in a minor league rehab game for Triple-A Jacksonville.
Chisholm Jr. started in center field and also committed a fielding error in his rehab debut. The 25-year-old outfielder is expected to return to Miami's lineup at some point in the near future. He's been out since mid-May due to turf toe.
Andrew McCutchen is dealing with a right elbow issue.
McCutchen was held out of the Pirates' lineup on Tuesday evening due to the issue and should be considered day-to-day for now. He dealt with some right elbow soreness earlier this season, so it's worth noting that the issue has apparently cropped up again. It doesn't sound too serious at the moment.