The Athletics optioned Noda to Triple-A Las Vegas on Wednesday.

Noda's 0-for-3 performance during Wednesday's win over Pittsburgh extended his hitless streak to 28 at-bats across 11 games and gives him a putrid .128 batting average through 83 at-bats on the year. Abraham Toro will likely fill in as Oakland's everyday first baseman while Noda attempts to rediscover his swing in the minors.

Smith signed a one-year contract with the Red Sox on Wednesday, Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald reports.

Smith slashed .263/.337/.375 across 89 plate appearances with the Rays' Triple-A affiliate while on a minor-league deal. He was released by Tampa Bay earlier on Wednesday and will now join the Red Sox on a major-league deal to help make up for the loss of Triston Casas (ribs). Smith will likely end up splitting time with Garrett Cooper (wrist) at first base, replacing Bobby Dalbec.

Encarnacion-Strand (hand) remains out of the lineup for Wednesday's contest versus the Padres.

He'll miss a fourth straight start due to lingering left hand soreness following a hit-by-pitch. Encarnacion-Strand has been available off the bench the last two days and presumably will be again Wednesday. He could be back in the lineup Friday against the Orioles after the Reds' off day Thursday.

Smith is expected to sign a major-league contract with the Red Sox, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Garrett Cooper exited Tuesday's game versus the Giants after being hit on the right wrist by a pitch, but Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican hears Cooper is expected to be fine. Smith instead looks like a replacement for Bobby Dalbec, and he could end up forming a platoon at first base with the righty-hitting Cooper. Smith had been at Triple-A Durham in the Rays organization before requesting and being granted his release Wednesday. The 28-year-old first baseman hit only .254/.326/.366 with 12 home runs over 153 games with the Nationals last season.

The Rays released Smith on Wednesday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Topkin hears that Smith is expected to sign a major-league contract with another club, although the identity of that team isn't known at this point. Smith has slashed .263/.337/.375 with two home runs over 21 games this season at Triple-A Durham. The 28-year-old had a .692 OPS across 153 contests last season with the Nationals.

Walker went 3-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI in Tuesday's 4-3 extra-inning win over the Dodgers.

Walker bookended the Diamondbacks' scoring with a solo home run in the fourth inning then a two-run, walk-off job in the bottom of the 10th. He closed out the month on a roll, going 10-for-24 (.417) with four homers and nine RBI over the final seven games. The first baseman has a team-high seven home runs and is tied for the team lead with 22 RBI.

Montero went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run Tuesday against the Marlins.

Montero went yard in his first plate appearance of the game to tally his second homer of the season. After a slow start to the campaign from a results perspective, he has gone 8-for-31 with seven RBI and three runs scored across his last eight contests. Montero's production should continue to tick up as he has maintained a vastly improved 16.8 percent strikeout rate.

Singleton went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run, a walk and two runs scored in Tuesday's 10-9 win over the Guardians.

Singleton was somewhat surprisingly in the lineup and starting at first base despite the promotion of Joey Loperfido. Singleton began his day with a walk before coming around to score in the third inning, and he followed that up one plate appearance with his first home run of the campaign. He has the chance to see additional at-bats at first base with Jose Abreu demoted to the minors and Loperfido picking up at least some starts in the outfield. However, for Singleton to log regular plate appearances, he'll need to improve upon his .239/.327/.348 line.

Goldschmidt went 5-for-9 with a double and two runs scored in Tuesday's doubleheader split versus the Tigers.

Goldschmidt had not collected five hits over any two-game span this season prior to Tuesday. Even with the strong performance, the first baseman is slashing a mediocre .236/.323/.318 with two home runs, 11 RBI, 14 runs scored, three doubles and a stolen base over 29 contests. Goldschmidt has yet to lose playing time amid his slow start, but that could change once the Cardinals get players like Dylan Carlson (shoulder), Tommy Edman (wrist) and Matt Carpenter (oblique) back from the injured list. On the positive side, Goldschmidt has hit safely in eight of his last 10 games, so he may be turning things around enough to maintain his place in the lineup.

Loperfido went 1-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored Tuesday against the Guardians.

Loperfido was officially called up Tuesday for his big-league debut and started in left field in place of Chas McCormick (hamstring). Loperfido flew out in his first plate appearance, but he delivered a two-RBI single with the bases loaded in the fourth inning for his first big-league hit. The Astros have been somewhat unclear on their plan to use him in the short term, but there are regular plate appearances available with Jose Abreu away from the team.