The Brewers announcers in the bottom of the 8th after their team has taken an 8-2 lead in the top of the inning over the White Sox: "Hitters have lost a certain amount of intensity but you are not seeing that from Peralta, he is dialed in."

Peralta strikes out the side.

Two questions.

1) The game is the conclusion of a four-game series: two in Chicago, two in Milwaukee. Why the unnecessary travel, short though it is? The fans in all four games are safely at home.

2) Why is this the last game of the night? It's 8:30 on the West Coast.

Drives in his first two runs in the big leagues, gets called up from the depths.

Four walks and a trip around the bases running flat out.

Between this and the Marlins sweep of the O's, it's not exactly a great week.

The Marlins win another. Four-game sweep of the O's, the last three by one run,  after sitting idle for more than a week. With four of their top five starting pitchers, their two best set-up guys, their star shortstop, their starting catcher, their best DH, their top utility player and too many others to count still sitting idle. What were the odds?

So much more fun than watching the game at home!

Two-run double against the Yankees. Has hit his way onto the 28-man roster for sure.

CG for Dylan Bundy. Wow.

It can't be that long ago that he was the top pitching prospect in the game. He's only 27.

Big win for the Pirates this afternoon, rallying for three runs in the last two innings to beat the Twins at home. With runners on second and third and no outs in the ninth, Taylor Rogers struck out Polanco and got two quick strikes on Newman, who got just enough on the 2-2 offering to roll it into center against a drawn-in infield.

With the winning run on second in the ninth inning, I'm not sure I would have pitched to Newman. Rogers has great control; I think I'd walk the batter and play the infield at double-play depth. Get the force at home if you don't think you cam turn two.

As it is, the Pirates won their third game and the Twins lost their third.

From BA today...

Cincinnati Reds

—Tejay Antone made his first career start, pitching 4.1 innings, allowing a run on two hits, walking four and striking out four. The righthander relies on above-average control without a plus pitch in his arsenal, but he struggled to throw strikes in the team’s loss to the Indians. Antone walked two batters and gave up a single to load the bases in the third inning before inducing a ground ball for a double play to end the frame. In the fifth he walked another batter before being relieved by Michael Lorenzen. Antone, the Reds No. 26 prospect, pitched 4.1 innings in relief on July 27, allowing a run on one hit, walking one and striking out five.

From BA this morning...

Chicago White Sox

—White Sox No. 1 prospect Luis Robert collected a hit in the first inning to extend his hit streak to five games. Robert got caught stealing for the first time after successfully stealing four bases, and went 1-for-4 on the day.

—Starting in place of the ailing Nick Madrigal—who was placed on the injured list with a separated shoulder—Danny Mendick went 3-for-3 with a double. The White Sox No. 29 prospect hit .308 with two home runs and four RBIs in 39 at-bats in 2019.

<video of one of his knocks>

His second RBI of the season was the team's only RBI in two games.

From BA...

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Baltimore Orioles

—Austin Hays added his second RBI of the season in the team’s loss in the second game of a doubleheader to the Marlins. The Orioles No. 5 prospect went 1-for-2 with an RBI single to raise his average to .158 in 11 games.

Well they were going to trim further to 26 in two weeks, but have nixed that.  It will be 28 through the playoffs.  Also, the "taxi" squad taken on road trips to be there for sudden injury moves is being increased from three to five members.

Break up the Marlins!

Took them 4 hours and 25 minutes to sweep the away/home double-header in Baltimore.

How much fun for the Fish. How depressing for the Birds.

Are they really going to trim the rosters to 28 tomorrow? Seems ill-advised.

Randy Arozarena (OF) TB - Aug. 05

https://www.rotowire.com/baseball/player.php?id=747502

Manager Kevin Cash recently said that Arozarena (COVID-19) will need a while to get back into game shape, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

ROTOWIRE RECOMMENDS: Arozarena has cleared all health-related protocols since testing positive for COVID-19, but because he missed all of summer camp before reporting to the Rays' alternate training site last week, he'll likely need at least another week to get his conditioning in order. MLB rosters are set to be reduced from 30 to 28 men beginning Friday, so Arozarena could have even more difficulty earning a look with the big club in the near future unless the Rays' outfield depth is tested. However, it is worth noting Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports there are positive reports about the promising prospect stemming from Port Charlotte, with manager Kevin Cash noting Arozarena has been "smacking doubles all over the ballpark" from what he's been told. 

Golden Sombrero for Joey.

Even so, look at that batting average (before the feed). An entirely reasonable K/W. His BABIP may be a little lucky but his HR/FB seems unlucky.

Watch your language

Remember when the A's traded Sonny Gray for Mateo, Dustin Fowler, and James Kapriellian? It was a win-win. Three top 100 prospects for an All-Star pitcher.  Gray was one of those pitchers who just didn't succeed with the Yankees. He had an 86 ERA+ his one full year with the Yankees.  He's been great again in Cincy.

Meanwhile, Fowler tore up his knee on an electrical box and never really got back to the prior level. Mateo, you can see his stats. And, Kapriellian had Tommy John surgery. He missed two full years and pitched 68 solid innings last year.  

Sadly, the deal was actually a lose-lose.

Mateo moved from the 10 day IL to the 45 day IL