MLB Player News

Robert went 3-for-3 with two walks and a stolen base during Sunday's 9-4 loss to Pittsburgh.

Despite reaching safely in all five plate appearances, Robert failed to score or drive in a run. However, he swiped his 11th base of 2024, seven of which have come in Robert's last nine games. The 26-year-old enters the All-Star Break with an .804 OPS, 11 home runs, 23 runs and 23 RBI across 179 plate appearances.

Benintendi went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and two additional runs scored during Sunday's 9-4 loss to the Pirates.

Benintendi launched his seventh home run of 2024, taking Mitch Keller yard for a solo shot in the third inning. He also notched a pair of base hits and a walk, coming around to score twice more as part of his first three-run game of the season. The lefty-hitting outfielder enters the All-Star break with a .201/.258/.311 slash line to go along with 22 runs and 26 RBI.

Lively (8-5) yielded two runs on three hits and two walks over 5.1 innings Sunday, striking out seven and taking a loss against the Rays.

Lively turned in a strong performance aside from serving up solo homers to Jose Siri and Brandon Lowe. The Rays threw a combined shutout and stuck Lively with the tough-luck loss. His seven punchouts matched a season best, and he's now hit that mark four times in 2024. Lively will begin the second half with a strong 3.58 ERA and 78:25 K:BB through 16 starts. In eight outings since the start of June, he's registered a 4.40 ERA.

Fairbanks allowed two hits in a scoreless inning and earned a save against the Guardians on Sunday.

Fairbanks was tasked with protecting a 2-0 lead and found himself in danger after coughing up singles to the first two batters he faced. He managed to retire the next three to escape unscathed. Fairbanks has converted 17 of 19 save chances this season while producing a 3.21 ERA and a 32:15 K:BB. Since the start of June, he owns a 2.55 ERA with 12 saves in 17 appearances.

Pepiot (6-5) yielded two hits over six scoreless frames Sunday, striking out four and earning a win over the Guardians.

Pepiot gave up a pair of singles and plunked one batter but never faced much of a threat Sunday. He generated 12 swinging strikes, with six coming via the fastball. Pepiot has been fairly inconsistent in the first half of 2024 but owns a solid 3.92 ERA with a 94:31 K:BB through 17 appearances. Over his last four outings, he's registered a 1.71 ERA but has turned in just one quality start.

Duran (5-4) allowed an unearned run on one hit without retiring a batter to take the loss Sunday versus the Giants.

Duran gave up a triple to Mike Yastrzemski to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning, and it turned into a run after Brooks Lee's relay throw ended up in the dugout. It's a tough way for Duran to take a loss, which also ended his 7.2-inning scoreless streak, but it won't hurt his ERA, which remains at 2.93 to go with a 0.98 WHIP and 29:10 K:BB through 30.2 innings. Since Duran was pitching in a tied game before giving up the run, he also will avoid taking his second blown save of the year, and his status as the Twins' primary closer is not in question.

Paddack allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk while striking out six over five innings in a no-decision versus the Giants on Sunday.

Paddack put in another decent effort, but he couldn't match Blake Snell's seven innings of one-hit ball. Paddack has allowed four runs (three earned) over 10 innings across two starts since he returned from a bout of arm fatigue. The right-hander has a 4.99 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 79:21 K:BB over 88.1 innings through 17 starts this season. While his results aren't great, Paddack's spot in the rotation doesn't appear to be in any immediate danger since he's stabilized his pitching following his injured-list stint.

Bello (10-5) picked up the win Sunday, allowing three runs on seven hits and a walk over 6.1 innings against the Royals. He struck out three.

Bello's day started by allowing a leadoff homer to Adam Frazier, but he was quickly staked to a 4-1 lead and scattered only two additional runs the rest of the way while working into the seventh inning for the second time in three starts and just the third time this season. Bello has alternated good and bad outings recently, with Sunday representing his third quality start in his last six while he has allowed 16 earned runs in the other three appearances while failing to complete five innings twice. Bello places 10th in the majors with 10 wins; however, an ERA of 5.32 with a 1.47 WHIP and 85 strikeouts over 89.2 innings represent disappointing figures for the talented 25-year-old righty.

Giolito (elbow) said in an interview last week that he expects to start playing catch by the end of the month, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports. "Working with the training staff, it's been fantastic," Giolito said of his recovery from the internal brace procedure he underwent March 12. "It's just making sure to stay motivated every day. Hitting each little goal and looking forward to the next major step, which will be beginning my throwing program."

Only a few weeks after undergoing an elbow surgery that typically entails a 10-to-12-month recovery process, Giolito said in an appearance on "The Chris Rose Rotation" podcast that he expected to pitch at some point late in the 2024 season, but that was never a realistic goal. Giolito has since conceded that he won't return from the 60-day injured list this season, but he remains fully confident that he'll be ready to go for the start of the 2025 campaign. Giolito still looks to be trending well in his recovery from surgery thus far, and he could be cleared to resume throwing off a mound before the end of the season if he experiences no setbacks once he starts up his throwing program later this month.

Bleday went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, a walk and four runs in an 18-3 win over the Phillies on Sunday.

While Bleday didn't get in on the fun of the Athletics' eight-homer tally, the outfielder was a direct beneficiary of a couple of those big hits. Bleday crossed the plate on both of Brent Rooker's massive home runs, as well his seventh-inning sacrifice fly. Bleday would score his game-high fourth run of the afternoon on Seth Brown's ninth-inning single, exceeding his total in that category over the previous 19 games. Bleday's trio of extra-base hits were also particularly noteworthy, as he'd been mired in a 1-for-23 skid over the previous six games and had just one hit greater than a single in the previous 16 contests.