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Ty France went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI in the Twins’ 5-1 defeat of the Angels on Saturday.
All five at-bats produced hard-hit balls, so this could have been an even better day for France. His double was a 384-foot shot to right-center in the sixth that would have been a homer in four ballparks. His next at-bat resulted in a 370-foot flyout to left that would have been a homer in 14 parks. France entered the day in a 3-for-32 slump that had dropped his OPS to .649. Still, because of the Twins’ injuries, playing time hasn’t become a concern here yet.
TJ Friedl was removed from Tuesday’s game against the White Sox with right wrist soreness.
The positive news for the Reds and fantasy managers is that X-rays came back negative for any fractures after Friedl was hit by a pitch on the right wrist. The 29-year-old center fielder is presumably day-to-day for now.
Chris Martin was removed from Tuesday’s relief appearance against the Rockies with right elbow tightness.
Martin faced exactly one batter in the ninth inning of a save opportunity before leaving the contest with a trainer. His departure comes roughly 24 hours after Rangers closer Luke Jackson was hit by a line drive on the right hand, which left him unavailable for this contest. Fortunately, veteran Shawn Armstrong was able to finish off the frame and pick up the save. There should be an update on his status shortly. It’s probably going to be Armstrong, Robert Garcia or Jacob Webb handling the next save situation for Texas.
Justin Turner played the role of hero for the Cubs on Tuesday night, smacking a walk-off two-run double off of Jesús Tinoco in the home half of the ninth inning.
The Cubs entered the ninth inning trailing 4-2, but they got to work as Carson Kelly reached on an error, Dansby Swanson walked and Nico Hoerner smacked a one-out RBI single. That’s when Turner did his damage, sending the home faithful at Wrigley Field into a frenzy. The 40-year-old infielder finished the night 1-for-1 plus a walk and is now hitting .169/.292/.186 with zero homers, nine RBI and one stolen base in his first 72 plate appearances on the season.
Pete Crow-Armstrong went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBI on Tuesday night as the Cubs rallied to dispatch of the Marlins.
The dynamic 23-year-old outfielder crushed a 397-foot (108.1 mph EV) solo shot off of Valente Bellozo in the third inning that tied the score at 1-1. Crow Armstrong then tied it again with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning that made it a 2-2 ballgame. With his two-hit attack, the burgeoning superstar is slashing .267/.307/.545 to go with 11 homers, 30 RBI and 13 stolen bases on the season.
Ben Brown pitched well in a no-decision against the Marlins on Tuesday, surrendering two runs on five hits over his 5 1/3 innings of work.
Brown racked up six strikeouts on the evening and didn’t walk a batter. He served up a solo homer to Connor Norby in the second inning, then kept the Marlins’ offense off the board until Javier Sanoja plated Norby with an RBI ground out in the fifth inning. The 25-year-old right-hander got seven whiffs on 72 pitches on the night, registering a strong CSW of 32 percent. He’ll look to further improve upon his 4.75 ERA and 1.56 WHIP when he does battle against these same Marlins his next time out in Miami on Monday.
Connor Norby went 2-for-4 with a homer, triple and two runs scored on Tuesday evening as the Marlins fell to the Cubs.
Norby led off the fifth inning with a three-bagger off of Ben Brown and ultimately scored on a ground ball off the bat of Javier Sanoja. He then clobbered a 400-foot (104.5 mph EV) solo shot off of Julian Merryweather to start the seventh inning, giving the Marlins a 3-2 advantage. With his two-hit attack, the 24-year-old third baseman is now hitting .269/.313/.436 with a pair of homers and six RBI in his first 83 plate appearances on the season.