Dairon Blanco will look to follow up a career night with a suitable encore on Wednesday when his Kansas City Royals play the third contest of their four-game series against the visiting Detroit Tigers.

Blanco recorded career highs in hits (four) and RBIs (three) during the Royals’ 11-10 victory over the Tigers on Tuesday. He fell a homer shy of the cycle, although he admitted he tried to go deep in his last at-bat. The ball fell just inches short and Blanco had to settle for an RBI double.

“I was ready in that last at-bat to get it, but it just didn’t happen,” Blanco said via an interpreter, per Bally Sports Kansas City. “It was still a good at-bat, and I got an RBI.”

Royals manager Matt Quatraro was pleased to see positive results from Blanco, who entered Tuesday’s game batting just .188 on the season.

“Every one of the hits was important, and that’s what stood out of me.” Quatraro said. “… It’s nice for him because I know he’s been pressing a little bit to get some hits, to drive the ball a little bit. To see him do that was rewarding.”

Kansas City’s Ryan Yarbrough (2-4, 5.29 ERA) will take the mound on Wednesday night against Detroit’s Eduardo Rodriguez (5-5, 2.70) in a battle of left-handers.

Yarbrough, 31, returned from a two-month absence after sustaining facial fractures to allow one run on six hits in six innings of a 4-1 victory at the Cleveland Guardians on July 9.

“I have an understanding of what happened and coming back from it and what could have been and how lucky and blessed I am,” Yarbrough said. “It’s just been great and the amount of support from the guys, especially after the game. It’s been great.”

Yarbrough is 1-1 with a 2.35 ERA in three career appearances (two starts) versus the Tigers.

He’d be wise to pitch carefully to Spencer Torkelson, who belted a two-run homer in the first inning and a three-run shot in the fifth on Tuesday. Torkelson, who leads the team with 14 homers this season, added a double in the seventh inning to cap a career-high 10-base performance.

“It feels good, but at the end of the day we came out with a loss. And it’s a tough taste in your mouth,” Torkelson told Bally Sports Detroit. “It feels good and we can definitely take some (good) things away from it.”

Matt Vierling answered a 0-for-14 stretch with a two-run double in the eighth inning of the Tigers’ 3-2 win over the Royals on Monday. He added two hits and three runs on Tuesday.

Rodriguez, 30, posted his first win since May 10 after permitting two runs on three hits in five innings of a 5-4 victory at the Seattle Mariners on Friday. He was making just his second start since being sidelined in June with a finger injury.

Rodriguez is 3-2 with a 4.31 ERA in nine career starts against Kansas City.

–Field Level Media

The New York Mets and Chicago White Sox certainly did their part to add to Tuesday night’s league-wide offensive outburst.

After combining for 21 runs, the Mets and White Sox will look to remain prolific on offense Wednesday in the middle contest of the three-game interleague series in New York.

Justin Verlander (3-5, 3.72 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Mets against Touki Toussaint (0-2, 3.38) of the White Sox in a battle of right-handers.

Francisco Alvarez belted a pair of two-run homers as New York held off rallies by Chicago in an 11-10 victory on Tuesday.

The game produced one of three 11-10 final scores was one of three in Major League Baseball on Tuesday night. The Kansas City Royals defeated the Detroit Tigers and the San Francisco Giants edged the Cincinnati Reds by the same score.

The 11 runs were tied for the second-most this season by the Mets, who rank tied for 18th in the majors in runs scored. Alvarez and Brett Baty hit back-to-back homers during a five-run first inning for New York, which scored just six runs in its previous five games entering Tuesday night.

DJ Stewart hit a solo homer in the fourth and Jeff McNeil was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.

“I like the way the game ended and we scored 11 runs and beat them by one,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “It’s not easy to just go out there and get major league hitters out. There’s a lot of people that had trouble tonight.”

The White Sox rank 22nd in the majors in runs but have scored 24 times in their last three games after plating just three in their previous three contests.

On Tuesday, Chicago trailed 8-2 after four innings and 11-4 after six before scoring five runs in the seventh and almost forging a tie in the ninth. Andrew Benintendi hit a two-out RBI single off David Robertson, however the latter induced Tim Anderson to fly out to center to leave two runners in scoring position.

“We didn’t get this one, but we battled,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “I was happy with these guys, the way they fought. I’m happy the way we’re swinging the bat. Just got to keep going.”

Verlander allowed three runs over five innings to take the loss in a 6-0 setback to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday. He is 22-14 with a 3.72 ERA in 47 career starts against the White Sox.

Toussaint received a no-decision after allowing one run on three hits over 5 1/3 innings of relief Friday in Chicago’s 9-0 setback to the Atlanta Braves. He made his most recent start on July 8, when he took the loss after permitting two runs over five innings in a 3-0 defeat against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Toussaint is 1-0 with a 2.89 ERA in five games (two starts) against the Mets.

–Field Level Media

The San Francisco Giants will look to extend their seven-game winning streak when they oppose the slumping Reds on Wednesday in the third game of a four-game series at Cincinnati.

The Giants have been paying close attention to the details during their streak, which is the longest active run of success in the majors.

In the ninth inning of their sixth straight win, a 4-2 triumph in 10 innings over the Reds in the completion of a suspended game on Tuesday, San Francisco’s submarining reliever Tyler Rogers started his motion before spinning around and picking off Reds phenom Elly De La Cruz as the rookie took his lead off second base.

“Controlling the running game from the bench is something that we’ve worked so hard on and we know that controlling the running game wins games,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “Having a sellable inside move that baserunners will actually buy is a huge emphasis for us.

“Obviously, he’s one of the one of the fastest, if not the fastest baserunner in the game, and you want to keep him right where he is. At third base, he becomes even more dangerous. Erasing that baserunner may have been the most important moment of the game.”

San Francisco built on that success in the regularly scheduled game later Tuesday night, outscoring Cincinnati 11-10.

The Giants will send Ross Stripling (0-2, 6.11 ERA) to the mound, with the right-hander looking for his first win in a San Francisco uniform. Stripling will be making his ninth start and 14th appearance of the season.

In his most recent outing, Stripling allowed two runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings during a no-decision at Pittsburgh on Friday. In four career appearances (two starts) vs. Cincinnati, he has no decisions and a 4.63 ERA.

The Reds, losers of six straight, will counter with one of their hottest pitchers, Graham Ashcraft (4-7, 5.95). In his latest start, the right-hander allowed just one run and five hits over six-plus innings while taking a 1-0 loss against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday.

Ashcraft dominated the Giants as a rookie in 2022, going 2-0 with a 1.26 ERA in two starts. He allowed just two runs and 10 hits over 14 1/3 innings.

The Reds sustained another blow to their rotation on Tuesday night when Luke Weaver took a Michael Conforto line drive off the back of his left (non-pitching) arm. X-rays were negative, but Weaver’s status for his next start is uncertain.

The Reds used five relievers in the suspended-game loss and six more in the second game after Weaver’s third-inning exit, leaving the pitching staff in need of reinforcements.

On the positive side for Cincinnati, Joey Votto belted his 350th career home run and star prospect Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit his first in the nightcap.

The four-homer, 14-hit game was a much-need breakout for a Cincinnati offense that had scored just five runs in the previous five games.

“Those stretches where you don’t score, that’s a major league season,” Votto said. “We’re going to keep plugging away. This is not a clubhouse where guys think about that sort of stuff. Just come out and play with joy and play with intensity and play to win.”

–Field Level Media

New York Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodon clearly remembers the first time he set eyes on Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.

The two will meet again on Wednesday as the Angels attempt to complete a three-game sweep of the Yankees in Anaheim, Calif.

Back on Sept. 7, 2018, Rodon was just 25 but already a veteran in his fourth major league season. Ohtani was 24, a tall, skinny newcomer to the majors who was on his way to an American League Rookie of the Year season.

On that day, though, Rodon didn’t know Ohtani was angry — the budding star had just learned earlier in the day that he would need Tommy John surgery, which would derail Ohtani’s full-time, two-way ambitions until 2021.

In the third inning, Ohtani ambushed a Rodon fastball and drove it for a 412-foot homer to center, setting a major record for home runs by a Japanese-born rookie.

“That opened my eyes,” Rodon said. “Now, if you see him walking around, he’s built like a Greek god.”

Rodon (0-2, 5.23 ERA) goes into the Wednesday game having thrown just 10 1/3 innings after signing a six-year, $162 million free agent contract with the Yankees in December. His debut in pinstripes was delayed until July 7 due to forearm and back injuries.

In five career starts against the Angels, Rodon is 2-3 with a 4.23 ERA. In Anaheim, he is 1-1 with a 2.30 ERA in two starts.

Other than Ohtani, the only current Angel who has had success against Rodon is Eduardo Escobar, who is 6-for-21 (.286) in his career against the lefty.

The Angels announced late Tuesday that 23-year-old right-hander Chase Silseth (1-1, 5.30 ERA) would be recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake on Wednesday to start in the series finale. Silseth has never faced the Yankees.

Silseth has appeared in nine games (one start) for the Angels earlier this season, walking 13 batters while striking out 15 over 18 2/3 innings. He began the season in Triple-A, then returned there in early June. Overall for Salt Lake, he has a 4-1 record with a 2.79 ERA in nine starts.

The Angels, who have won three of four to get back to the .500 mark, have an off day on Thursday before hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates for three games beginning on Friday. They were helped greatly in the first two games of the series by a 120-pitch outing from Griffin Canning on Monday in a 4-3, 10-inning win.

When Patrick Sandoval followed by throwing 7 1/3 innings on Tuesday — the longest outing by an Angels starter since May 14 — the Los Angeles bullpen got some rest.

“I can have pretty much everybody pitching (Wednesday),” Angels manager Phil Nevin said. “Our bullpen has been taxed a bit, so with our starters going deep two days in a row has been great.”

The Yankees, meanwhile, are looking to shake a slump that has seen them lose three in a row and eight of the past 10.

“The mood’s down, for sure,” New York first baseman Anthony Rizzo said. “We definitely expect better of ourselves individually and as a team. And it’s OK to be down right now. This is a low point. …

“It’s hard to have fun when you get your teeth kicked in, individually and as a team.”

–Field Level Media

Juan Soto’s bat will need to heat up for the San Diego Padres to rejoin the National League playoff chase.

Soto is displaying signs of putting his July slump behind him, and the Padres will attempt to defeat the host Toronto Blue Jays for the second straight night when the teams meet Wednesday in the middle contest of a three-game series.

Soto scored three times and drove in three with a two-run homer and an RBI double as San Diego rolled to a 9-1 victory over the Blue Jays on Tuesday.

It was the second two-hit outing in three games for Soto, who batted .171 (6-for-35) over his first 10 games this month.

The three-time All-Star outfielder feels he has regained his touch — Tuesday’s homer off Alek Manoah being a prime example. The left-handed-hitting Soto capped a nine-pitch battle by sending the ball over the fence in left-center.

“It feels amazing,” Soto said of going the opposite way. “It feels like I can do whatever I want with the ball. I don’t have to pull it every time to hit a homer, so I can go to all parts. I can go to center field.”

The blast was Soto’s third of the month and 17th of the season.

Manny Machado, Gary Sanchez and Trent Grisham also homered for the Padres. The victory was just San Diego’s fourth in its past 16 road games.

Machado is heating up. He has nine homers and 19 RBIs in July.

Toronto saw its four-game winning streak end on Tuesday while taking just its second loss in 10 games.

Manoah, who finished third in American League Cy Young Award balloting last season, lasted just three-plus innings in his latest rough outing.

The poor showing comes as the Blue Jays are bracing for the return of left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu, who underwent Tommy John surgery 13 months ago and is slated to pitch for Triple-A Buffalo on Friday. It could be Ryu’s final rehab start.

“Friday will kind of be telling, with how taxing it is and how he does,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “A guy like him, with the work that he’s put in, where he is physically and his track record, we’ll lean on him as well as leaning on what we see.”

Jose Berrios (8-6, 3.41 ERA) will take the mound for Toronto on Wednesday. The right-hander has allowed just one run and eight hits in 12 1/3 innings over his past two starts. He received no-decisions both times.

Berrios gave up one hit over seven scoreless innings against the Chicago White Sox on July 6, his last start before the All-Star break. He yielded one run and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings on Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Berrios, 29, lost his lone career start against the Padres when he gave up one run and two hits over seven innings. That was in 2017, when he pitched for the Minnesota Twins.

Machado is 5-for-12 with a homer off Berrios, while Xander Bogaerts (4-for-23) and Sanchez (1-for-9, one homer) have struggled vs. the veteran.

Padres right-hander Yu Darvish (6-6, 4.65 ERA) will attempt to earn his second straight victory. Darvish struck out nine in six innings and allowed one run and five hits while defeating the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

Darvish has a hefty 5.52 ERA in eight road starts despite compiling a 4-3 mark. The 36-year-old from Japan is 3-3 with a 2.68 ERA in eight career starts against Toronto.

He also lost to the Blue Jays in Game 2 of the 2016 American League Division Series, serving up four homers while pitching for the Texas Rangers. Darvish allowed five runs and five hits over five innings during that contest.

George Springer (6-for-18, two homers), Brandon Belt (6-for-18, two homers) and Daulton Varsho (4-for-21, two homers) all have experienced success against Darvish.

–Field Level Media