Braves lose Markakis; LA switches catchers
Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers rotation was in flux after RHP Brandon Woodruff (strained muscle in left side) and RHP Jhoulys Chacin (lat) were placed on the injured list and LHP Gio Gonzalez left his July 26 start because of shoulder stiffness.
Milwaukee then acquired RHP Jordan Lyles from the Pittsburgh Pirates for RHP Cody Ponce, a 6-foot-6 Class AA reliever.
Lyles, who pitched in 11 games as a reliever for the Brewers late last season after they picked him up on waivers from the San Diego Padres, was 1-6 with a 9.57 ERA in his last nine starts for the Pirates this year.
❚ IF Travis Shaw was recalled from Class AAA San Antonio and will play primarily first base, replacing the platoon of Jesus Aguilar and Eric Thames. Shaw was hitting .164 when he was sent down in late June and batted .286 with nine homers in 28 Class AAA games.
Pittsburgh Pirates
RHP Keone Kela returned to the bullpen last week following a lengthy stay on the injured list, though he wasn’t activated until after serving a two-game, team-imposed suspension.
The Pirates would only say they banned Kela for “violating the uniform player’s contract.” However, Yahoo Sports reported that he was punished for getting into an altercation with Hector Morales, the team’s director of cultural readiness and peak performance coach.
Kela would neither confirm nor deny the incident, saying he “wouldn’t say it’s not true” but also “wouldn’t say it’s a fact.”
He had been out since May 6 because of a sore shoulder.
❚ LHP Steven Brault threw off a mound for the first time since going on the IL on July 6 because of a strained left shoulder. There wasn’t a timetable for when he might be activated.
St. Louis Cardinals
1B Paul Goldschmidt had a combined 12 RBI in May and June. He made up for that by driving in 26 runs in his first 22 games of July while hitting 10 home runs, including homers in six straight games July 22-27.
The surge raised Goldschmidt’s overall average to .255 through July 28 to go with 24 home runs. That is much more in line with his performance with the Arizona Diamondbacks the last six years, when he was selected to the AllStar Game each season.
The Cardinals acquired Goldschmidt from the Diamondbacks in a December trade for three players.
❚ IF Jedd Gyorko was expected to begin a rehab assignment with Class AAA Memphis (Tennessee) on July 30. He is recovering from surgery on his right wrist and also has been slowed by a back strain.
NL WEST
Arizona Diamondbacks
OF Yasmany Tomas returned to the majors after a two-year stint in the minors. Tomas, who signed a six-year, $68.5 million deal with Arizona in December 2014, took the spot of RHP Taylor Clarke, who was on paternity leave.
Tomas has been at Class AAA Reno (Nevada) since being optioned in June 2017. He batted .305 and was tied for the Pacific Coast League lead with 29 home runs and was second in total bases with 235. He was expected to play a reserve role.
To make room on the 40-man roster, the Diamondbacks transferred RHP Luke Weaver (right forearm tightness) to the 60-day injured list.
❚ Greg Holland was replaced as closer after his fifth blown save opportunity in 22 chances. Manager Torey Luvollo said he will fill the role with a closer-bycommittee approach.
Colorado Rockies
Former All-Star 1B Yonder Alonso got another shot in the big leagues when the Rockies called him up from Class AAA Albuquerque (New Mexico) to back up Daniel Murphy. Alonso homered in his first game.
Yonder was signed to a minor league deal after the Chicago White Sox released him July 3. Alonso, who played for manager Bud Black in San Diego from 2012 to 2015, batted .419 with two home runs and 12 RBI in nine games for Albuquerque. He inherits the void left by 1B Mark Reynolds, who was designated for assignment.
The Rockies also designated for assignment RP Seunghwan Oh, who had a 9.33 ERA. Oh recently returned to his native South Korea to undergo elbow surgery.
❚ The Rockies’ road woes dropped them further in the wild-card standings. Since a sweep at Arizona on June 18-20, Colorado had lost 14 of its last 19 away games through July 28.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Rookie C Will Smith’s offensive production immediately sparked the Dodgers, who awarded him the starting job after demoting Austin Barnes.
Smith’s home run in his first at-bat and six RBI in his first game after being recalled from Class AAA Oklahoma City gave him four home runs, including two walk-offs, and 12 RBI in his initial 29 at-bats. He was on track to easily surpass Barnes’ numbers (.196 batting average with five homers and 23 RBI in 204 at-bats).
❚ The Dodgers’ injured list grew with the addition of 1B David Freese (hamstring), RP Dylan Floro (neck) and RHP Ross Stripling (biceps tendinitis), and IF-OF Enrique Hernandez (left hand) was expected to join them. RHP Jaime Schultz was a candidate to take Stripling’s spot in the rotation.
San Diego Padres
GREG FIUME/GETTY IMAGES
Rookie RHP Cal Quantrill was a model of consistency this month with a 1.69 ERA through four appearances. He tossed one-run ball over 51⁄3 innings to help the Padres end an eightgame home skid by defeating the San Francisco Giants on July 27.
His effort was much needed for a club that was 4-10 since the All-Star break and had fallen six games out of the wild-card race.
In his lone relief appearance during the month, Quantrill blanked the Chicago Cubs for 52⁄3 innings in a July 21 win. He had allowed three or fewer runs in five of six starts at Petco Park this season.
❚ A shortage of available outfielders forced manager Andy Green to give C Francisco Mejia his first career start in left field. Mejia caught one fly ball in five innings.
San Francisco Giants
The Giants owned the majors’ best-winning percentage (.846) in extra innings with an 11-2 mark through July 28 and had outscored opponents 23-4 in extras in those games.
The late-game success was another testament to their solid bullpen, which was second in the majors behind the Cleveland Indians in ERA.
The bullpen stood firm during a stretch from July 15 to 26 in which the Giants went 10-2 even though they didn’t get a single win from a starting pitcher.
❚ The Padres held a pregame ceremony July 26 to honor Bruce Bochy, who was making his final trip to San Diego as Giants manager. Bochy led the Padres to four division titles and the 1998 NL pennant.