Toronto Blue Jays star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was held out the starting lineup for the second straight game Sunday due to left wrist discomfort.

Guerrero was scratched more than an hour before the first pitch of Toronto’s 8-2 win over the host Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.

Cavan Biggio batted eighth in the lineup and played first base on Saturday, with Brandon Belt hitting sixth and serving as the designated hitter. Belt doubled twice, walked twice, scored three times and drove in two runs.

Belt was slated to bat fifth in the lineup and man first base on Sunday.

Guerrero, 24, was 1-for-4 with an RBI in Friday’s 4-0 win over the Pirates.

Guerrero is batting .318 with seven homers and 21 RBIs in 33 games this season. He has belted 111 homers in 537 games over four-plus big league seasons.

–Field Level Media

The Boston Red Sox placed Christian Arroyo on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain Sunday and recalled fellow infielder Bobby Dalbec from Triple-A Worcester.

Arroyo, 27, is batting .257 with one homer, 11 RBIs and 12 runs in 27 games this season.

He is a .255 career hitter with 22 homers and 107 RBIs in 256 games with the San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland and Red Sox.

Dalbec, 27, is 2-for-9 in four games with Boston this season.

He is a .232 career hitter with 45 homers and 133 RBIs in 277 games with the Red Sox.

–Field Level Media

Former American League MVP, Cy Young Award winner and three-time World Series champion Vida Blue died Saturday, the Oakland Athletics announced Sunday morning.

The Athletics confirmed Blue’s death but did not disclose a cause.

Blue pitched 17 seasons in the majors, with his first nine (1969-77) coming in an Oakland uniform.

The left-hander won the AL MVP and Cy Young Award in 1971 after posting a 24-8 record with a 1.82 ERA with eight shutouts and 24 complete games in 39 starts. He also helped the A’s win the World Series in 1972, 1973 and 1974.

“There are few players with a more decorated career than Vida Blue. He was a three-time champion, an MVP, a six-time All-Star, a Cy Young Award winner, and an Oakland A’s Hall of Famer,” the Athletics said in a statement. “Vida will always be a franchise legend and a friend. We send our deepest condolences to his family and friends during this arduous time.”

The Athletics also shared a video celebrating Blue on Twitter.

Rest in peace, Vida ???? pic.twitter.com/MXHRuRFfjH

— Oakland A's (@Athletics) May 7, 2023

After his career in Oakland, he moved across the bay to San Francisco, pitching for the Giants (1978-81, 1985-86).

“Vida Blue has been a Bay Area baseball icon for over 50 years,” said Larry Baer, the Giants presidnet and CEO, in a statement. “His impact on the Bay Area transcends his 17 tyears on the diamond with the influence he’s had on our community.”

Blue posted a 209-161 record with a 3.27 ERA, 143 complete games and 37 shutouts in 502 career appearances (473 starts) with the Athletics, Giants and Kansas City Royals (1982-83).

“Vida Blue rest in peace, my mentor, hero, and friend,” retired pitcher Dave Stewart wrote on Twitter. “I remember watching a 19 year old phenom dominate baseball, and at the same time alter my life. There are no words for what you have meant to me and so many others. My heart goes out to the Blue family.”

Vida Blue rest in peace, my mentor, hero, and friend. I remember watching a 19 year old phenom dominate baseball, and at the same time alter my life. There are no words for what you have meant to me and so many others. My heart goes out to the Blue family????????

— Dave “Smoke” Stewart (@Dsmoke34) May 7, 2023

–Field Level Media

The national television audience for Sunday’s rubber match of the series between the host San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers probably will learn more than they need to know about Joe Musgrove’s feet.

“This hasn’t been a good year for my feet,” the pitcher said Friday after his scheduled start was pushed back until Sunday due to blisters on the bottom of them.

Musgrove’s foot problems began in spring training when he dropped a kettle weight on his left foot, fracturing his big toe. That landed him on the injured list for Opening Day.

Then last Sunday, Musgrove burned the bottom of his feet while running barefoot across the artificial turf at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City. It turns out that because of foot and Achilles problems, Musgrove finds it relaxing to run barefoot across the outfield grass during his between-starts workouts.

But Musgrove learned there is a difference between trotting across the sea-breeze-cooled lawn at Petco Park in San Diego and the hard artificial surface in Mexico City, where the surface temperature soared into triple digits.

Musgrove said he knew he had made a mistake as he was running from the foul line toward center field. It was during the return run that his feet began to blister.

Musgrove was scheduled to oppose the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw in the series opener on Friday. But as a precaution, Padres manager Bob Melvin moved Musgrove back to Sunday for another tough matchup.

This will be Musgrove’s third start of the season. The right-hander is 1-0 with a 10.80 ERA, bloated when he gave up seven runs in 3 1/3 innings against the San Francisco Giants in Mexico City on April 29.

His Sunday opponent, Dodgers ace Julio Urias, is 4-3 with a 3.86 ERA.

But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who was absent from his ballclub’s 2-1 win Saturday while attending his son’s graduation from Loyola Marymount University, said he believes Urias has turned the corner.

“Early in the season, he didn’t have full command of his fastball,” Roberts said. “It’s been a lot different since his fastball came in.”

And now, Urias will face the Padres, a team he has dominated.

The 26-year-old has a 6-1 career record against San Diego in 15 games (10 starts), with a 2.19 ERA. He has held the Padres to 16 runs (15 earned) on 39 hits and 22 walks with 59 strikeouts in 61 2/3 innings. And he’s getting better with time. Last season, Urias was 3-0 against the Padres with a 1.50 ERA over four starts.

Urias held the Phillies to one run on one hit and one walk with 10 strikeouts over seven innings in his most recent start to snap a three-game personal losing streak.

Meanwhile, Musgrove’s 2023 season debut came April 22 in Arizona. He held the Diamondbacks to three runs on seven hits over five innings to earn the win. Seven days later in Mexico City, Musgrove gave up seven runs on six hits (including three home runs) and a walk in 3 1/3 innings in a game that totaled 11 home runs and 27 runs.

Musgrove was 0-2 against the Dodgers during the regular season in 2022 with a 3.63 ERA, but he held them to two runs on six hits and three walks with eight strikeouts over six innings in the Padres’ clinching win in Game 4 of the National League Division Series.

–Field Level Media

TJ Friedl has tormented the Chicago White Sox the past two nights and Jonathan India also has been quite a pest.

The top two hitters in the Cincinnati lineup will look to create more havoc on Sunday when the Reds and visiting White Sox complete a three-game series.

Chicago recorded a 5-4 win in Friday’s opener before the Reds bounced back with a 5-3 victory on Saturday.

No. 2 hitter Friedl played the starring role with a homer, triple and four RBIs in Saturday’s contest. Leadoff hitter India reached base four times on three hits and a walk and scored three times.

Friedl delivered the biggest blow in the fifth inning with a go-ahead three-run shot, his third homer of the season. He tacked on a run-scoring triple in the seventh.

“The three-run homer is nice,” Reds manager David Bell said. “TJ has plenty of power. He’s not trying to hit a home run there. He got the good part of the bat on the ball. Squared up, those are going to come for him without trying.”

Friedl is 4-for-8 with five RBIs in the series. He had a run-scoring double in Friday’s game and also robbed Chicago’s Andrew Vaughn of a homer with a superb catch.

India has scored four times in the series. He homered in Friday’s loss.

“We really push each other’s energy,” Friedl said of him and India setting the table. “Seems like when we rally it’s a different guy every night. The opportunity presented itself for me tonight.”

Cincinnati has won just two of its past six games. Chicago has won four of its past six contests.

The White Sox sustained a huge loss Saturday when Eloy Jimenez underwent an appendectomy at a Cincinnati hospital. He is expected to be sidelined four to six weeks.

Jimenez was experiencing pain Friday night and it intensified overnight, prompting the White Sox to send him to the hospital on Saturday.

“Life deals you stuff you’ve got to deal with,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said after Saturday’s loss. “We’ve got to move on.”

Jimenez, 26, owns an eight-game hitting streak and is batting .258 with four homers and 15 RBIs in 25 games this season.

“It’s another hurdle for us,” outfielder Gavin Sheets said. “Losing his presence, it’s tough, how talented he is and the way he’s swinging the bat. It (stinks).”

Chicago’s Luis Robert Jr. is 5-for-6 with a homer in the series. He had his third three-hit game of the season on Friday and reached base four times (two hits, two hit by pitches) on Saturday.

The White Sox were just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position on Saturday, with Andrew Benintendi’s RBI double accounting for the lone hit.

Cincinnati’s Luke Fraley (lower-back stiffness) was scratched from Saturday’s lineup. However, the Reds activated Wil Myers (COVID-19) off the injured list. Myers was hitless in four at-bats.

Chicago will send right-hander Michael Kopech (0-3, 5.97 ERA) to the mound on Sunday.

Kopech has struck out 34 batters in 31 2/3 innings but has been wild with 21 walks. He has served up eight homers.

Kopech, 27, received a no-decision in his last turn when he gave up one run and one hit over six innings against the Minnesota Twins. He struck out seven and walked a season-worst five batters.

This will be Kopech’s first career start against the Reds. He has given up two hits over 4 2/3 innings in two relief efforts against Cincinnati.

Graham Ashcraft (2-0, 2.00) will start for the Reds and look to maintain his early-season form.

The 25-year-old has allowed two runs or fewer in all six of his starts. He gave up one run and six hits over six innings in a no-decision against the San Diego Padres on Monday.

Ashcraft has yet to face the White Sox in his career.

–Field Level Media

Coming off a wild win on Saturday, the Arizona Diamondbacks will look for a sweep when they head into Sunday’s series finale against the Washington Nationals in Phoenix.

Arizona scored three runs in its half of the eighth inning on Saturday, building a 6-2 lead — only to cough it up when the Nationals scored five in the ninth. But a two-run bottom of the ninth that began with Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s third home run of the season, part of a 4-of-5 performance, powered the Diamondbacks to an 8-7 victory.

Saturday marked the third multiple-hit game for Gurriel over his past six appearances. Another Arizona batter remained hot at the plate, with Corbin Carroll extending his hitting streak to 11 games with an eighth-inning, RBI single on Saturday.

Arizona’s five runs in the eighth and ninth innings all came against the Washington bullpen, including Kyle Finnegan, who took the loss.

“Still early in the season,” outfielder Lane Thomas, who hit the Nationals’ go-ahead homer in the top of the ninth, told The Washington Post. “[Finnegan] will have plenty of chances to go out there. I think everybody here has confidence in that guy every day.”

The Nationals came into this weekend series with Arizona, the first leg of a six-game western road swing, having taken three in a row from the Chicago Cubs. They will try to regain that kind of result on Sunday with a starting pitcher who contributed to the strong showing in their last series.

Right-hander Trevor Williams (1-1, 3.41 ERA) starts for Washington. Williams has not earned a decision in any of his past four starts, but he pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings with four strikeouts in his most recent appearance on Tuesday against the Cubs.

Williams will face Arizona for the first time since April 23, 2022, when, as a member of the New York Mets, he lasted just two innings after giving up seven hits and four earned runs in a loss.

Williams is 2-4 in eight career appearances against the Diamondbacks with 26 strikeouts and a 3.50 ERA.

After opening the series Friday with a 3-1 win, Arizona has won three straight and six of its past eight as it pursues its first series sweep of the season.

The Diamondbacks are looking to build on a perfect start to a lengthy homestand. Sunday is the third game of 10 straight at Chase Field.

“It’s great to send our fans home happy,” said Pavin Smith, who drew the game-winning walk for Arizona on Saturday. “They were great out there. They packed [the ballpark] and they gave us a lot of energy.”

Ryne Nelson (1-2, 6.39) is set to make the start for Arizona on Sunday. Nelson took the loss in each of his past two starts, the most recent of which came April 30 at Colorado.

Nelson surrendered six earned runs on nine hits over just four innings against the Rockies. The right-hander has given up 20 combined base hits in his past two starts, allowing 11 in an April 25 loss to Kansas City.

Sunday marks Nelson’s first career appearance against Washington.

–Field Level Media

Bryce Miller might be more eager for his second start in the major leagues than he was for his first.

On Sunday afternoon, the Seattle Mariners’ right-hander is scheduled to make his home debut against the defending World Series champion Houston Astros, the team the Texas native grew up watching.

Miller (0-0, 1.50 ERA) made his first start Tuesday at Oakland in front of a crowd of just 2,583 at the Coliseum.

He retired the first 16 batters he faced and allowed one run on two hits in six innings. He struck out 10 and didn’t issue a base on balls, becoming just the third pitcher in MLB history with double-digit strikeouts and no walks in his debut, joining Johnny Cueto (2008) and Stephen Strasburg (2010).

“Obviously the stage was bigger, but I think the atmosphere kind of helped me ease into it,” Miller said. “I had a lot of fun. I just went out and threw.”

Though the numbers are just from one appearance, analysis from Statcast showed Miller’s fastball has the most extreme vertical movement of any pitch in the majors, “rising” 4.7 inches more than the average fastball.

“The fastball is just unique,” Mariners pitching coach Pete Woodworth said. “It’s heavy, and it can just dominate guys. And that’s what he did.”

The Astros plan to send right-hander Brandon Bielak (0-0, 4.50) to the mound Sunday for his first start of the season and just the ninth of his MLB career. Bielak is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in seven previous relief appearances against Seattle.

The Mariners rallied for a 7-5 victory Saturday night, scoring all seven of their runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning. J.P. Crawford sparked the comeback with a three-run double.

“It started with the walk, two-out walk, a couple infield hits. And it started just like a feeding frenzy,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “Yeah, that was tough. Tough to take.”

It was Seattle’s fifth victory in the team’s past six games. The Mariners have trailed in each of those contests.

“That eighth inning, take our walks, some little hits and then some clutch ones,” Crawford said. “That’s our kind of baseball.”

Astros right-hander J.P. France, making his major-league debut, blanked Seattle for the first five innings.

The Astros took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth, and reliever Rafael Montero retired the first two batters he faced before nine consecutive Mariners reached base.

“We were due,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “That big inning couldn’t have come at a better time. When you have an inning like that, you’re gonna need a few things go your way. We got a few breaks, and we hadn’t had a lot on the offensive side lately.”

Servais thanked the fans at T-Mobile Park for sticking with their team.

“There was a really good feel in the ballpark,” Servais said. “Credit to the fans that were there. They’re sitting there for seven or eight innings, and we’re not looking so great. But when we started to get the ball rolling down the hill a little bit, they jumped on board. You could feel just the atmosphere in the ballpark change. That’s a credit to all the people here.”

–Field Level Media