MLB 2022 | Vargas exceptional debut, Abreu 3-run HR in win, Yordan weird 4-strike at bat, and more

Daily Major League Baseball (MLB) Cuban Players News for the 2022 season. A compendium from several MLB sources.

Miguel Vargas. (Photo: Los Dodgers Twitter)

Aug 3, 2022

Making his major league debut, Miguel Vargas went 2-for-4 with an RBI single, an RBI double, and a stolen base in Wednesday's 3-0 win over the Giants.

Vargas put the first two runs of the game on the board in picking an RBI ground-rule double against Alex Cobb in the top of the second inning and an RBI infield single (again, against Cobb) in the top of the fourth inning. The other run in the Dodgers' 3-0 win came via a sacrifice fly by Mookie Betts in the seventh inning. Vargas' two knocks on Wednesday were the first two hits of his big-league career. He was hitting .291/.382/.497 in 374 at-bats at Triple-A Oklahoma City prior to joining the big-league club on Tuesday. It's possible that the 22-year-old third-base prospect will head back to the minors once Joey Gallo settles in.

José Abreu homered for the second straight game Wednesday as the White Sox downed the Royals.

Abreu went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run in Wednesday's 4-1 victory over the Royals.

Abreu launched a three-run blast in the third inning that scored Tim Anderson and Eloy Jimenez and put the White Sox up 4-0. It was his 14th home run of the year. The first baseman now has homers in back-to-back games and has nearly matched his total of three home runs in July. Abreu has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball since the start of June and is continuing to perform well, going 4-for-13 for a .308 average to begin August. It was in August last season when Abreu exploded for 10 home runs, so perhaps he'll have another big month a year later.

Astros slugger Yordan Álvarez gets four-strike at-bat after no one realized he struck out.

Houston Astros slugger Yordan Álvarez, however, got a bonus strike in one of his at-bats against the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday. In the bottom of the third inning, Álvarez was facing Red Sox starter Rich Hill, and he struck out on four pitches. Álvarez took a strike to make it a 1-1 count, fouled off the next pitch, and then looked at strike three. The issue was that no one in attendance at Minute Maid Park noticed that Álvarez had struck out, no Red Sox players, coaches, umpires, and even the announcers realized what happened. The good news for the Red Sox is that the mistake didn't cost them. On the pitch following his would-be strikeout, Álvarez dribbled a routine ground ball to first base for an out.

White Sox skipper Tony La Russa said Wednesday that Luis Robert (illness) will return to the team's starting lineup as the designated hitter on Thursday.

Robert was activated from the injured list on Tuesday, but did not start in either of his first two games back. He'll then return to the field on Friday, take Saturday off to rest and then play the field again on Sunday. The star outfielder has been sidelined since July 15 due to illness that has caused blurred vision and lightheadedness.

Mets optioned RHP Yoan López to Triple-A Syracuse.

Lopez has surrendered five runs -- four earned -- on 10 hits and five walks over 10 2/3 innings of relief this season with New York. Trade-deadline acquisition Mychal Givens is officially joining the club on Wednesday and Trevor May (triceps) has been activated from the 60-day injured list.

Orioles optioned OF Yusniel Díaz to Triple-A Norfolk.

Díaz finally made his Orioles debut on Tuesday night and went 0-for-1 with a strikeout as a pinch hitter against the Rangers, four years after getting brought in as part of the Manny Machado trade. But he will get the boot on Wednesday to clear out a spot for Brett Phillips.

White Sox's Yasmani Grandal: Absent from Wednesday's lineup. Grandal wasn't on the lineup Wednesday against the Royals. Grandal started the last two games and went 0-for-8 with two strikeouts. Seby Zavala took over behind the plate and bat ted ninth Wednesday.

Astros' Yuli Gurriel: Not in Wednesday's lineup. Gurriel wasn't in the lineup Wednesday against the Red Sox, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reported. Gurriel is in the midst of a seven-game hitting streak in which he's hit .379 with four doubles, five runs, two RBI and three stolen bases. He got a breather while Trey Mancini started at first base with Aledmys Díaz in left field.