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Logan Webb SP | SF
Giants' Logan Webb: Earns victory in quality start
Webb (9-3) earned the win during Sunday's 9-5 victory over Milwaukee, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in six-plus innings.
Webb shut down Milwaukee's offense following a Willy Adames solo home run in the first inning and cruised to an easy win on an efficient 88 pitches. The 25-year-old has now delivered seven straight quality starts -- during which he's pitched to a 1.37 ERA across 46 innings -- and ranks fourth in the league with 14 quality starts on the season. Webb wraps up the first half with a 2.83 ERA and 1.10 WHIP with 101 strikeouts in 117.2 innings across 19 starts.
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Aaron Nola SP | PHI
Phillies' Aaron Nola: Fires gem in Miami
Nola (6-7) allowed four hits and a walk over 8.1 shutout innings Sunday, striking out 10 and earning a win over Miami.
Nola let just three Marlins reach base through eight innings before coughing up two more singles in the ninth. It was his eighth straight start of at least seven innings; during that stretch, he's sporting an impressive 2.25 ERA and 58:6 K:BB. He lowered his season ERA to 3.13 through 126.2 frames heading into the All-Star break. While the 29-year-old's 9.7 K/9 is his lowest since the 2019 season, Nola's 1.1 BB/9 is the best of his career and currently leads the National League.
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Austin Gomber SP | TEX
Rockies' Austin Gomber: Permits three runs in no-decision
Gomber registered a no-decision during Sunday's 8-3 loss to Pittsburgh, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks with five strikeouts in five innings.
Gomber surrendered an unearned run in the first inning and two earned runs in the third after two walks came home on a two-out Jake Marisnick double. The 28-year-old has assembled a decent four-start stretch to open July -- featuring a 4.15 ERA across 21.2 innings -- after compiling a 6.55 ERA through his first 14 turns. Gomber concludes the first half with a 5.97 ERA and 1.45 WHIP with 67 strikeouts in 89 innings across 18 starts.
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Andrew Heaney RP | LAD
Dodgers' Andrew Heaney: Struggles in rehab start
Heaney (shoulder) tossed 2.2 innings in a rehab appearance with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga on Saturday, allowing four runs on six hits and no walks while striking out two batters.
Heaney logged his first game action since June 19 and looked rusty in the minor-league start. He served up a pair of home runs in 2.2 frames after allowing just one long ball across 15.1 innings with the Dodgers this season. The left-hander is working his way back from a shoulder issue and is expected to make at least one more rehab start, per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times.
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Dustin May SP | MIL
Dodgers' Dustin May: Yet to start rehab assignment
May (elbow) still doesn't have a set date to begin a minor-league rehab assignment, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts indicated Friday that such a stint will happen "soon," Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.
May has been tossing live batting-practice sessions since late June and has been said to be "really close" to going on a minor-league rehab assignment since early July, but the right-hander remains without a set date for that to happen. Nonetheless, May hasn't suffered any setbacks in his recovery from the Tommy John surgery he underwent last May. He'll likely need a few weeks of game action to ramp back up once the rehab stint begins, so May isn't likely to be back with the Dodgers until at least mid-August.
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Steven Matz RP | TB
Cardinals' Steven Matz: Cardinals-Reds postponed Sunday
Matz (shoulder) and the Cardinals won't face the Reds on Sunday after the game was postponed due to inclement weather in St. Louis, John Denton of MLB.com reports.
Matz, who was reinstated from the 15-day injured list Sunday, will thus have to wait until after the All-Star break to make his first start with the big club since May 22. The Cardinals and Reds will make up the postponed game Sept. 17 as part of a split doubleheader.
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Graham Ashcraft RP | CIN
Reds' Graham Ashcraft: Reds-Cardinals postponed Sunday
Ashcraft and the Reds won't face the Cardinals on Sunday after the game was postponed due to inclement weather in St. Louis, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.
As a result of the postponement, Ashcraft will have to wait until after the All-Star break to make his 11th start of the season. The rookie, who has gone 4-2 with a 4.45 ERA and 1.35 WHIP over 54.2 innings in the big leagues this season, is expected to be part of a six-man rotation coming out of the break with Tyler Mahle (shoulder) trending toward a return from the injured list for the Reds' first series of the second half.
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Andrew Painter SP | PHI
Phillies' Andrew Painter: Dominance continues in High-A
Painter pitched four scoreless innings for High-A Jersey Shore on Saturday, striking out nine and allowing just two hits without a walk. He now has a 2.25 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 19:3 K:BB through 12 innings in High-A.
Painter certainly hasn't been asked to do too much since being promoted, as the Phillies are presumably looking to monitor his workload in his first full professional campaign. He threw six innings in each of his final two Single-A starts, so we know Painter is capable of going deeper into games. For now, the important thing is that Painter is missing bats just as impressively as he did at the lower level. Collectively, he's struck out 88 batters while allowing just 28 hits in 50.2 minor-league innings this season.
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Gavin Stone SP | LAD
Dodgers' Gavin Stone: Dominating in Double-A
Stone has a 1.53 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 78:19 K:BB across 53 innings (10 starts) since his promotion to Double-A Tulsa.
Those stats should have dynasty managers on high alert, as Stone -- a fifth-round pick in 2020 -- has been incredibly dominant in the minors this year and is looking like a potential mid-rotation starter in the big leagues. With three plus pitches (fastball, slider, changeup) to his credit, Stone has limited opposing hitters to just a single home run all season. He's also shown excellent control outside of his two most recent starts, in which he's issued nearly half of his Double-A walks. It's worth monitoring him out of the break to see whether his control returns to normal, but there's a lot to like here in general.
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Steven Matz RP | TB
Cardinals' Steven Matz: Comes off IL
The Cardinals reinstated Matz (shoulder) from the 15-day injured list ahead of his scheduled start Sunday against the Reds in St. Louis, John Denton of MLB.com reports.
Matz will make his return to the St. Louis rotation for what will be his first start since May 22 after he needed extended time off to recover from a left shoulder impingement. During his most recent rehab start at Triple-A Memphis on Tuesday, Matz built up to 4.1 innings and 81 pitches, so he should face only a light workload restriction Sunday.