Yainer Díaz Powers Astros Back Into First Place

MLB Daily Edition for August 1, 2026 Featuring Games from Yesterday July 31, 2026

Player of the Day

Yainer Díaz, Houston Astros

Yainer Díaz collected four hits, including a solo home run, as Houston routed Texas 11-2 and moved back into first place in the American League West. Díaz was part of a 17-hit Astros attack that produced runs in five different innings and secured the season series against the Rangers.

Last Night’s Scoreboard

Yankees 2, Cubs 0 — Amed Rosario and Spencer Jones homered while Will Warren worked 6⅔ scoreless innings.

Reds 8, Pirates 7 — Nathaniel Lowe brought home Sal Stewart with the go-ahead run in the eighth after Cincinnati got to Paul Skenes for five runs.

Orioles 6, Phillies 4 — Gunnar Henderson broke a tie with a two-out, two-run triple in the seventh.

Blue Jays 3, Cardinals 1 — Pinch hitter Luis Urías delivered a two-run single in the eighth.

White Sox 6, Rays 1 — Chicago hit four home runs, including three during the first three innings.

Marlins 5, Mets 2 — Janson Junk allowed one unearned run over five innings, and four relievers finished the seven-hitter.

Diamondbacks 4, Guardians 1 — Gabriel Moreno’s RBI single started a four-run eighth inning.

Braves 6, Nationals 2 — Matt Olson and Michael Harris II homered, and Bryce Elder allowed one run over six innings.

Astros 11, Rangers 2 — Yainer Díaz had four hits as Houston launched three home runs and returned to first place in the AL West.

Rockies 3, Royals 1 — Tomoyuki Sugano allowed one run over 6⅔ innings.

Brewers 6, Angels 2 — Brice Turang and Jake Bauers homered during a five-run fifth.

Tigers 13, Athletics 1 — Dillon Dingler hit his first career grand slam, and Max Clark collected three hits in his major league debut.

Padres 7, Giants 0 — Jase Bowen hit his first major league homer as three San Diego pitchers combined on a two-hitter.

Red Sox 9, Dodgers 4 — Ceddanne Rafaela homered and Andruw Monasterio doubled during a five-run seventh.

Twins 5, Mariners 3 — Brooks Lee, Royce Lewis and Ryan Jeffers homered as Minnesota rallied for its seventh win in nine games.

Game of the Day

Reds 8, Pirates 7

Pittsburgh scored four times in the first inning, but Cincinnati answered with four in the second and eventually erased another deficit. Sal Stewart homered and drove in four, and Nathaniel Lowe put the Reds ahead with a fielder’s choice in the eighth.

Turning Point: Stewart’s two-run homer in the fourth brought Cincinnati within one and continued a rare difficult outing for Paul Skenes.

Best Player: Stewart went 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBI.

Why It Mattered: Cincinnati completed a second straight late comeback against Pittsburgh and handed Skenes his first rough outing against the Reds.

Big Bats

Yainer Díaz, Astros: Four hits, including a home run.
Dillon Dingler, Tigers: First career grand slam.
Max Clark, Tigers: Three hits, two runs and an RBI in his major league debut.
Jeremy Peña, Astros: Three hits and three RBI.
Sal Stewart, Reds: Home run and four RBI.
Jake Bauers, Brewers: 2-for-4 with a homer, three RBI, two runs and a walk.
Michael Harris II, Braves: Three-run home run.
Gunnar Henderson, Orioles: Go-ahead two-run triple.
Javier Báez, Tigers: Three hits and three RBI.
Freddie Freeman, Dodgers: 3-for-4 with an RBI.

Dealing

Will Warren, Yankees: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K.
Tomoyuki Sugano, Rockies: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R.
Bryce Elder, Braves: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R.
Shane Drohan, Brewers: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R.
Janson Junk, Marlins: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 unearned run.
German Márquez, Padres: Five one-hit innings for the first save of his 11-year career.
Brayan Bello, Red Sox: Four scoreless relief innings.

Who’s Hot

Boston Red Sox: Finished July 21-4, the best winning percentage for any month in franchise history.
Houston Astros: Won nine of their past 10 games and reclaimed first place in the AL West.
Minnesota Twins: Won seven of their past nine and moved into a tie for the final AL wild-card position.
Gabriel Moreno: Reached base in 46 consecutive starts, an Arizona franchise record.

Who’s Not

Athletics: Lost six of seven and 27 of their past 34 games.
Philadelphia Phillies: Lost eight of their past nine.
Seattle Mariners: Lost three straight and eight of their past 10.
Los Angeles Angels: Dropped four consecutive games.
Texas Rangers: Lost three straight and fell out of first place in the AL West.

Team Trends

AL East: Boston completed a historic month, New York opened its series with a shutout and Toronto won late.
AL Central: Detroit scored 13, Chicago hit four home runs and Minnesota moved into a wild-card tie.
AL West: Houston reclaimed first place while Texas, Seattle, Los Angeles and the Athletics all lost.
NL East: Baltimore handed Philadelphia another loss, while Atlanta and Miami won comfortably.
NL West: Arizona scored four in the eighth, San Diego threw a two-hit shutout and Los Angeles could not contain Boston’s late rally.

Standings Watch

Houston improved to 56-55 and took sole possession of first place in the AL West for the first time since April 6. The Astros also clinched the season series against Texas.

Minnesota moved to 56-55 and into a tie with Cleveland for the American League’s third wild-card position. Boston reached 58-51 after going 12-3 since the All-Star break.

Injury & Transactions Report

Rangers: Corey Seager returned after missing a month with lower-back inflammation and went 2-for-3.
Dodgers: Shohei Ohtani returned after a one-game absence caused by left-knee discomfort and hit a two-run homer.
Mets: Freddy Peralta was scratched from his scheduled start because of ongoing trade discussions.
Tigers: Max Clark made his major league debut and recorded three hits.

Today’s Games

Cardinals at Blue Jays — 3:07 PM ET
White Sox at Rays — 4:10 PM ET
Twins at Mariners — 4:10 PM ET
Marlins at Mets — 4:10 PM ET
Pirates at Reds — 6:40 PM ET
Phillies at Orioles — 7:05 PM ET
Rangers at Astros — 7:10 PM ET
Diamondbacks at Guardians — 7:15 PM ET
Yankees at Cubs — 7:15 PM ET
Nationals at Braves — 7:15 PM ET
Royals at Rockies — 8:10 PM ET
Giants at Padres — 8:40 PM ET
Red Sox at Dodgers — 9:10 PM ET
Brewers at Angels — 9:38 PM ET
Tigers at Athletics — 9:40 PM ET

Today’s Matchups to Watch

Cardinals at Blue Jays, 3:07 PM ET: Quinn Mathews (MLB debut) vs. Kevin Gausman (4-10, 4.51).
Twins at Mariners, 4:10 PM ET: Connor Prielipp (3-5, 4.73) vs. Logan Gilbert (8-6, 3.44).
Phillies at Orioles, 7:05 PM ET: Cristopher Sánchez (13-4, 2.73) vs. Shane Baz (4-9, 3.98).
Rangers at Astros, 7:10 PM ET: Jacob deGrom (7-6, 3.67) vs. Ronel Blanco (0-1, 8.10).
Diamondbacks at Guardians, 7:15 PM ET: Kohl Drake (0-0, 5.00) vs. Parker Messick (8-6, 2.59).
Yankees at Cubs, 7:15 PM ET: Max Fried (4-3, 3.23) vs. David Peterson (6-7, 5.80).
Red Sox at Dodgers, 9:10 PM ET: Payton Tolle (6-6, 3.32) vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (11-6, 2.72).
Tigers at Athletics, 9:40 PM ET: Framber Valdez (5-7, 4.53) vs. Jack Perkins (2-6, 6.45).

Stat of the Day

Boston went 21-4 in July. The .840 winning percentage was the best for any calendar month in Red Sox franchise history.

Quick Hitters

Houston returned to first place in the AL West for the first time since sharing the lead on April 6.
Dillon Dingler’s grand slam was the first of his major league career.
Max Clark recorded three hits in his major league debut.
Jase Bowen hit his first major league home run.
Louis Varland converted his 24th save in 24 opportunities.
Junior Caminero joined Evan Longoria, Carlos Peña and Brandon Lowe as Rays with multiple 30-homer seasons.

Yesterday at a Glance

Games Completed: 15.
Player of the Day: Yainer Díaz.
Game of the Day: Reds 8, Pirates 7.
Biggest Win: Tigers 13, Athletics 1.
Shutouts: Yankees 2, Cubs 0; Padres 7, Giants 0.
Top Pitching Performance: Will Warren, 6⅔ scoreless innings.
Best Debut: Max Clark, three hits, two runs and an RBI.
Standings Shift: Houston moved into first place in the AL West.