Last Night In Baseball: Braves Keep Homering; Are Tigers Waking Up?

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves. Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball: The team that’s second in the National League in home runs played the part on Thursday afternoon. As part of a 6-4 victory over the San Diego Padres, the Atlanta Braves hit four home runs, those being solo homers from center fielder Michael Harris II, second baseman Ozzie Albies and catcher Drake Baldwin and a then-go-ahead, three-run homer from designated hitter Dominic Smith in the bottom of the fourth inning. On the hill, Atlanta got six innings from ace Chris Sale, who gave up three runs but racked up 11 strikeouts. San Diego later pulled within one run in the eighth inning on a two-run home run from first baseman Ty France and got two runners on the basepath in the ninth, but Braves reliever Raisel Iglesias eventually shut the door for his 21st save of the season; Iglesias, who was a first-time All-Star this year, is 21 for 22 in save situations. The Braves (60-42) took three out of four at home against the Padres, are 5-2 since the All-Star break and have a four-and-a-half-game lead on the Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the NL East. On one hand, the Braves are an NL contender. On the other hand, the 2026 season has been a slog for the Padres, who have been a perennial playoff team but now looked poised to be sellers at the MLB trade deadline. At 50-53, the Padres are four games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for the third NL wild-card seed and are 15 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the NL West. They’re 2-5 since the All-Star break and have lost 16 of their last 23 games. San Diego’s offense is tied for 26th in MLB in on-base percentage (.307) and slugging percentage (.383) and is tied for 23rd in runs (426). Meanwhile, its starting rotation is 27th in ERA (4.69) and tied for 25th in WHIP (1.39). So, who could San Diego get a considerable return for? Star closer Mason Miller has been frequently speculated as a trade candidate, as he’s under contract through 2029, 25 for 25 in save situations and allowed just four earned runs over 41 ⅔ innings this season. On that more, could fellow relievers Bradgley Rodriguez (2.05 ERA across 44.0 innings pitched) and Wandy Peralta (3.02 ERA across 50 ⅔ innings pitched) entice a contender? Maybe somebody takes a flier on France, who’s on an expiring contract, has blasted 16 home runs and sports a career-high .547 slugging percentage over 77 games? These are questions the Padres are compelled to start asking themselves. It took a minute and wasn’t pretty, but the Minnesota Twins got a road victory to salvage a series split with the Cleveland Guardians. After four scoreless innings, Guardians catcher Patrick Bailey broke the tie with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth. The Twins evened up the score in the top of the eighth on an RBI single from Alan Roden, which ultimately sent the game to extra innings. After both teams failed to plate a run in the 10th and 11th innings, the Twins went up for good on back-to-back RBI singles from Trevor Larnach — who boasts an .843 OPS — and Luke Keaschall in the top of the 12th, winning 3-1. On the mound, Minnesota right-hander Taj Bradley surrendered just one run and five baserunners (three walks and two hits) over seven innings. By the way, the Twins (51-53) are just two-and-a-half-games behind the Boston Red Sox for the third American League wild-card seed and four-and-a-half games behind the Chicago White Sox for first place in the AL Central. Yes, it came in a losing effort, but Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams was stellar across the board against the Twins. Williams gave up no runs and just two baserunners (two hits), while recording 11 strikeouts over seven innings. Moreover, he had an immaculate inning in the top of the fourth. It was the seventh time this season Williams pitched through the seventh inning and marked his fourth shutout (zero earned runs) of the 2026 campaign. Through 21 starts, Williams has recorded a 3.78 ERA, a 1.10 WHIP, a 110 ERA+, 2.0 wins above replacement and logged an AL-high 156 strikeouts over an AL-high 126 ⅓ innings pitched. Has there been an awakening? In beating the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night, the Detroit Tigers (49-54) have now won 15 of their last 22 contests, are four games behind the Red Sox for the third AL wild-card seed and six games behind the White Sox for first place in the AL Central. As for its latest win, Detroit trailed 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh before center fielder James Outman lifted a go-ahead, three-run home run to right field. Later, after Kansas City got one of those runs back to level the scoreboard in the top of the eighth, catcher Dillon Dingler put Detroit up for good in the bottom half of the inning, rocketing an RBI double down the left-field line. Dingler and left fielder Zach McKinstry each tallied two hits for the Tigers, while the Royals’ first two runs came on a two-run homer from left fielder Isaac Collins in the top of the sixth. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Kansas City, which had previously won five of its last six games. The Toronto Blue Jays ended a four-game skid and stopped the AL East-rival Tampa Bay Rays from getting a four-game series sweep on the road. In what was a 3-1 victory for Toronto, it scored its three runs on an infield single from catcher Alejandro Kirk in the bottom of the first, an RBI single from designated hitter George Springer in the third and an RBI single from first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the bottom of the seventh. The Blue Jays got a terrific start from Shane Bieber, who surrendered just one run and three baserunners (three hits) over seven innings. It was the longest start of the year for Bieber in what was just his sixth outing altogether (the right-hander missed the first three months of the season due to elbow inflammation). Regarding the Thursday win, Tyler Rogers and Louis Varland proceeded to pitch back-to-back, one-two-three innings in relief of Bieber to seal off the Toronto victory. Back to the Blue Jays’ offensive output, their first run came in wonky fashion. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Kirk hit a ground ball to the left side that Rays third baseman Junior Caminero couldn’t field, and the ball bounced away from him. With that in mind, Blue Jays infielder Ernie Clement ran on contact, rounded third base after the bobble and came home to score from second base on the grounder. Clement earned his first career All-Star nod this year, with the infielder hitting a career-high .296 and being tied for fifth in the sport with 114 hits. Unfortunately for Kirk, a two-time All-Star, the 2026 campaign has been a struggle, with the catcher being limited to just 32 games due to a head injury and hitting a career-low .219. The D-backs trailed the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 in the top of the fourth, but they took the lead in said frame and never looked back. Shortly after a Tim Tawa sacrifice fly, first baseman Tyler Locklear hit a go-ahead, line-drive, two-run home run to left field for Arizona, with catcher Gabriel Moreno then bringing home a run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly. The D-backs would later take command with a five-run eighth inning, with RBI singles from Locklear, Moreno, designated hitter Adrian Del Castillo and Nolan Arenado — who also singled home a run in the ninth — and a sacrifice fly from right fielder Corbin Carroll. Arizona had four players total three hits (Moreno, Del Castillo, Locklear and Ildemaro Vargas), with right-hander Brandon Pfaadt giving up just two runs over six innings. St. Louis did make the final scoreboard look more commendable, though, getting four runs off Arizona reliever Ryan Thompson in the bottom of the ninth on a pair of two-run singles from Bryan Torres and Lars Nootbaar; the D-backs won 10-6, delivering the Cardinals their sixth loss in eight contests. The D-backs have scored 25 combined runs in their last two games and have won five of their last six. They also swept the Dodgers in Los Angeles in their final series before the All-Star break. This may be the most under-the-radar team in the sport. Don’t look now, but Arizona is 54-49, which is good for the third NL wild-card seed.