The Atlanta Braves host the Arizona Diamondbacks in MLB 2022 action at Truist Park in Atlanta on Sunday, July 31. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Left-hander Max Fried will start on the mound for the Braves against right-hander Merrill Kelly for the Diamondbacks. Atlanta is 61-41 this season while Arizona is 45-55.
The Braves vs. Diamondbacks game begins at 12:35 p.m. Central (1:35 p.m. Eastern) and will be streamed live on ESPN+, which is available for $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year. Bally Sports Southeast and Bally Sports Arizona will broadcast the game regionally.
preview
A look at what’s happening around the majors today:
FINGERS CROSSED
Playoff hopeful Seattle Mariners hold their breath that all-star rookie Julio Rodríguez isn’t seriously injured.
Rodríguez was hit in the back of his right hand near the wrist while swinging awkwardly at a pitch in Houston in the eighth inning Saturday night. He struck but played defense in the bottom half before being eliminated in the ninth.
Seattle manager Scott Servais said the outfielder will take X-rays later on Saturday.
“He wasn’t comfortable with a racquet in his hand,” Servais said. “So we’re gonna pray it ain’t broke.”
Abraham Toro scored a pinch hit for Rodríguez and delivered a two-run, two-out single in the ninth as the Mariners rebounded to a 5-4 win.
The 21-year-old Rodríguez, who was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, hits .274 with 18 homers and 57 RBIs.
ALL RISE
Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has had an incredible tear since the All-Star break, hitting .436 with nine homers and 21 RBIs in 10 games. He went deep again in Saturday’s win against Kansas City, becoming the second fastest player in major league history to hit 200 career home runs.
Judge’s 200th homer came in his 671st career game. Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard did the feat in 2009 in his 658th game.
Qualified for free agency postseason, Judge has 42 home runs and is on track for 67. He is tied with Sammy Sosa and two behind Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire for the most pre-August 1 in MLB history . Bonds holds the season record with 73 homers in 2001.
The American League-leading Yankees are attempting a four-game sweep. They have beaten the Royals seven times in a row and ten of the last eleven.
THE BEST OF THE METS
Taijuan Walker (8-2, 2.67 ERA) and the New York Mets, who lead in NL East, are aiming for their sixth straight win and a win in three games in Miami when they defeat Pablo López (7-5, 3.03 ) and the Marlins line up.
Through 100 games, the Mets (63-37) have the second-best record in club history. The 1986 World Series championship team was 68-32 at the same time.
The Marlins lost their sixth straight home game. They have not shot at their own stadium since July 5 – an 11-game stretch.
E-ROD IS ESTABLISHED
Tigers left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez will report to Detroit’s Florida spring training facility and could field for Class A Lakeland next week.
Rodriguez signed a five-year, $77 million contract last November but has not played for the Tigers since May 18, when he left a game against Tampa Bay with sprained ribs in the first inning. For personal reasons, he was then put on the blacklist on June 13.
The ex-Boston Red Sox pitcher is 1-3 with a 4.38 ERA in eight starts. The Tigers spent big bucks on him and shortstop Javier Báez last winter but have struggled this season, going 41-61 into Sunday’s game in Toronto.
OUCH!
With a slim lead in the AL Central, the Minnesota Twins will be without two dangerous batsmen for a while.
The team placed outfielder Max Kepler and infielder Miguel Sanó on Saturday’s 10-day injured list, a major setback for a team with playoff ambitions.
Sanó’s return to the IL with a left knee infection is particularly difficult, having returned just four days earlier from surgery in May to repair a torn meniscus in his knee, having missed 75 games. He apparently aggravated his knee during his last rehab assignment.
The twins say he will have an MRI when they return to Minneapolis after a weekend streak in San Diego.
Sanó went down 0 for 6 in his three games.
Kepler fractured the fifth toe on his right foot when he was hit by a pitch in Detroit last Sunday. He had been training and the twins hoped to keep him on the active roster but decided to shut him down.
Kepler hit .244 with nine home runs and 39 RBIs.
PROTECTION DOWN
Guardians breakout hitter Josh Naylor will be sidelined and meeting with team doctors after suffering numbness in the same right ankle he seriously injured in June 2021.
Naylor was left out of the lineup ahead of a 6-4 loss to the Rays on Saturday, and manager Terry Francona said Naylor will be rated when the team returns home after Sunday’s series finale.
“He was on his way to free himself and said he was numb and had a hard time walking,” Francona said. “It’s hard to imagine anything significant happening while he was on his way to break free, so that’s hopeful.”
In a game in Minnesota on June 27, 2021, Naylor was in right field chasing a flat flyball when he collided with second baseman Ernie Clement on Jorge Polanco’s single.
Naylor is hitting .282 with 14 home runs, 53 RBIs and .846 OPS in 70 games this season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
