MLB 2023 | Cano notches fourth save, Arozarena drove two in win, Soler tallies three hits and homers

Major League Baseball (MLB) and other Cuban Players News for the 2023 season. A compendium from several sources

Yennier Cano (Photo: Tom Brenner/The Baltimore Banner)

May 25

Yennier Cano gave up a run, but he protected a three-run lead in the ninth against the Yankees for his fourth save.

Cano earned a save against the Yankees on Thursday, allowing one run on one hit and one walk while striking out one batter over one inning. Felix Bautista was presumably unavailable after pitching each of the previous two days, so Cano was called upon to close out the contest with Baltimore up 3-0 in the ninth. The right-hander uncharacteristically allowed a run to score but nonetheless managed to finish off the win. Cano allowed his first walk of the season to Aaron Judge, and a Willie Calhoun drive to center field did mean he gave up his second earned run to date, so this was one of the few times he's looked mortal in what has been a dominant effort thus far. Bautista has been outstanding as well as the Orioles' closer, thus Cano's save chances will likely continue to be limited to instances when Bautista is unavailable. Cano now has a 0.68 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 26 2/3 IP with an 0.45 WHIP. He looks every bit like a star right now.

Randy Arozarena went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI and also stole a base on Thursday, leading the Rays to a 6-3 victory over the Blue Jays.

The Rays jumped all over righty Alek Manoah, scoring five runs over the first three frames. Arozarena opened the scoring Thursday with a first-inning RBI single before extending the Rays' lead to 6-1 with his second base hit in the seventh. Arozarena had cooled off a bit coming into the contest, going 6-for-31 in his previous 10 games. The 28-year-old outfielder is still slashing an outstanding .311/.415/.959 with 11 homers, 39 RBI and six steals through 217 plate appearances this season.

Raisel Iglesias pitched a 1-2-3 inning against the Phillies on Thursday for his fourth save of the season.

Iglesias earned a save against the Phillies on Thursday, striking out one batter in a perfect inning. Iglesias got the ball with Atlanta holding a three-run ninth-inning lead, and he needed just eight pitches -- seven of which were strikes -- to retire the side in order. This was the fifth straight scoreless appearances for the veteran, and he's allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out six batters over five innings during that stretch. Iglesias still has a subpar 4.32 ERA on the season as a result of a pair of poor outings in the middle of the month, with a 1.08 WHIP.

Jorge Soler went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer on Thursday in the Marlins' loss to the Rockies.

Soler capped off a sublime three-hit performance with a ninth-inning blast to straightaway center field off Rockies closer Pierce Johnson. It was his 15th round-tripper of the season and 10th time he's gone deep in his last 22 games since May 1. He's left the yard in four of his last five contests. The three-hit performance was Soler's fourth multi-hit effort in his last five games -- he's gone 11-for-23 with four homers and eight RBI in that span. With his recent torrid stretch, Soler is slashing .261/.337/.560 with 32 RBI and 29 runs scored through 205 plate appearances this season.

Aledmys Díaz: On bench Thursday. Díaz was absent from the lineup Thursday at Seattle. Díaz went 2-for-4 with a double Wednesday, and while he holds a paltry .189/.244/.243 slash line on the season, he is batting .308 (8-for-26) in eight games since returning from a hamstring injury. With Jordan Díaz back in Triple-A, the 32-year-old Díaz appears to be on the short side of a platoon at second base with Tony Kemp.

Yuli Gurriel collects two hits including another triple. Gurriel went 2-for-4 with a doble, a triple, an RBI, a run scored and a walk in Thursday's 7-6 loss to the Rockies. Gurriel delivered a one-out triple in the third inning to drive home the Marlins' first run of the game. He had a walk in the seventh and a double in the ninth inning. Gurriel has ten hits in the last four games, including two triples. With Thursday's triple Gurriel became the oldest player (38 and 350 days) to triple in consecutive games since Kenny Lofton did it for Cleveland on Sep 27-28, 2007. Gurriel's offensive line in 29 games this year is .299/.342/.458, while in his last seven games he has hit .440/.483/.640 with 4 RBI.

Luis Robert Jr. returned to the starting lineup Thursday against the Tigers.

Robert didn't play on Wednesday after leaving Tuesday's game with right hip tightness, but fortunately he only ended up missing one day. He was 0-for-4 in the game Thursday with two strikeouts. The 25-year-old outfielder has been lighting it up so far in May with a 1.143 OPS and can hopefully continue his torrid attack in June.

Yasmani Grandal remains out of the White Sox' lineup on Thursday for the second straight game.

Grandal has been dealing with a lingering hamstring issue for a couple weeks, so it doesn't come as a surprise that the White Sox are giving him a couple extra days off at the moment. It'll be Seby Zavala handling the catching duties on Thursday night against the Tigers.

Yandy Díaz has returned from tending to a family matter, but remained out of the Rays' lineup for Thursday's game against the Blue Jays.

Díaz missed a pair of games due to a family matter, but returned to Tampa Bay's clubhouse for Thursday's series finale against Toronto. He didn't end up making an appearance off the bench on Thursday afternoon, but there's a strong possibility he's back in the starting lineup for Friday's series opener against the Dodgers.