MLB Player News

Garver went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in Sunday's 8-4 win over Detroit.

The 34-year-old veteran backstop got a rare start at catcher to give All-Star Cal Raleigh a respite behind the plate, launching his fifth homer of the campaign. As long as Raleigh is healthy, Garver is likely to continue seeing sparse playing time, even as a designated hitter. Garver has struggled to find a groove, slashing just .219/.310/.344 with four doubles and 21 RBI across 171 plate appearances.

Rafaela went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in Sunday's 4-1 win against the Rays.

The Boston center fielder extended his team's lead to 4-1 with a 352-foot blast off Tampa Bay starter Ryan Pepiot in the sixth inning. This marks Rafaela's fifth home run in July, as he's been scorching hot with a .390 (16-for-41) average, six doubles, 15 RBI and 10 runs scored across 11 games this month. The 24-year-old appears to be amid a breakout season, as he's now slashing .271/.314/.483 with 55 runs scored and 48 RBI while going 13-for-15 on steal attempts in 341 total plate appearances.

Laureano went 2-for-3 with a solo home run in Sunday's 11-1 loss to Miami.

The homer was the 11th of the season for Laureano, who's been able to hold down close to an everyday role in Baltimore's outfield despite the recent return of Tyler O'Neill. Laureano has also proven to be a key offseason acquisition, as he's slashing .284/.350/.517 with 16 doubles, 35 RBI, 35 runs scored and four stolen bases over 237 plate appearances.

Chapman picked up the save in Sunday's 4-1 victory over the Rays, striking out all three batters he faced.

The veteran southpaw wrapped the series finale against Tampa Bay in style, retiring three consecutive batters via punchout to notch his 352nd career save. Chapman has been electric in his first season with the Red Sox, pitching to a stellar 1.18 ERA, 0.76 WHIP and 58:10 K:BB across 38 total frames. The 37-year-old is set to make his eighth All-Star appearance in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Bello (6-3) earned the win in Sunday's game against Tampa Bay, yielding one run on six hits and no walks over 6.1 innings. He struck out five.

The only blemish on the Boston right-hander's performance came on a Josh Lowe sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, as he scattered one double and five singles. With this 105-pitch effort, during which he fired 73 strikes, Bello extended his recent stretch of solid pitching performances. Dating back to May 23, the 26-year-old has allowed fewer than three earned runs in 10 starts, a stretch where he's tallied seven quality starts and pitched to a 2.69 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 50:15 K:BB across 60.1 frames. Through 92.1 total innings, Bello sports a 3.14 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 70:34 K:BB.

Slater went 2-for-3 with a solo home run in Sunday's 6-5 loss against the Guardians.

Slater opened the scoring in the fourth inning with a 387-foot solo home run off Joey Cantillo, his fourth on the year, and followed it up with an RBI single an inning later but it wasn't enough to lift the Sox to a win. After a hopeful late-June stretch, the 32-year-old had not been impressive at the plate recently, batting just 7-for-34 (.206) with seven strikeouts over his previous 12 games entering Sunday.

Pepiot (6-7) took the loss Sunday at Boston, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits and one walk over six innings with three strikeouts.

Despite being stuck with the loss, Pepiot managed to notch his third consecutive quality start, pushing his season total to 13. The 27-year-old certainly did not have his sharpest stuff, as he managed to generate a subpar six whiffs out of his 88 total pitches. This performance also snapped a nine-start streak over which Pepiot had conceded five or fewer hits and pitched to a 2.60 ERA in 52 innings. Following this effort, the Tampa Bay right-hander enters the All-Star break with a 3.38 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 110:37 K:BB across 114.1 total frames.

Estevez (4-2) allowed two runs on two hits over one inning Sunday, earning the win against the Mets but also being charged with a blown save.

Estevez blew a 2-0 lead in the ninth inning but earned his fourth win of the season after Nick Loftin's walk-off single. Estevez had converted eight straight save chances before the weekend series against the Mets, where he was charged with a blown save in each of his two appearances. Despite that, he owns an impressive 2.36 ERA and a 35:15 K:BB across 42 innings while securing 25 saves in 30 chances.

Civale didn't factor into the decision Sunday against the Guardians, allowing four runs on three hits and two walks over 5.2 innings while recording three strikeouts.

Civale cruised through the first five innings while allowing just one hit, but he came undone in the sixth, giving up a three-run homer to Kyle Manzardo as part of a four-run frame that ended his outing. The 30-year-old has struggled to limit damage since joining the White Sox, surrendering four or more earned runs in three of his six starts with the team. Over that span, he's posted a 5.58 ERA with 15 walks and an 0-4 record, continuing a frustrating trend of inconsistency.

Cameron did not factor in the decision during Sunday's win over the Mets. He allowed seven hits and two walks over 6.2 shutout frames while striking out eight.

Cameron worked around a few jams with the help of two double plays and matched his career high of eight punchouts. He generated 16 whiffs after producing 17 in his last outing; Cameron totaled just 19 swinging strikes over his previous three starts. He coughed up six runs against the Yankees on June 10 and five runs against the Dodgers on June 27, but he's given up two or fewer runs in each of his 10 outings aside from those two hiccups. Cameron owns a terrific 2.31 ERA with a 58:22 K:BB over 70 innings.