Alex Rodriguez ties Frank Robinson for seventh on the all-time homer list

After being dragged into the story about Dallas Braden’s perfect game yesterday afternoon, Alex Rodriguez also homered against the Red Sox last night to tie Frank Robinson for seventh place on the all-time list with 586.
It was Rodriguez’s first homer in 61 at-bats and just his third of the season, but his next long ball will break the tie with Robinson and he also figures to pass Sammy Sosa by the end of the year: Here’s the current top 10:

Barry Bonds       762
Hank Aaron        755
Babe Ruth         714
Willie Mays       660
Ken Griffey Jr.   630
Sammy Sosa        609
Alex Rodriguez    586
Frank Robinson    586
Mark McGwire      583
Harmon Killebrew  573

Ken Griffey Jr. looks just about done, so he’s unlikely to pass Willie Mays for fourth place. Assuming that A-Rod ends up with at least 30 homers this year, he’d pass Sosa late in the season and then have Griffey and Mays in his sights for 2011. Also worth noting is that Jim Thome is four homers from tying Harmon Killebrew for 10th place and could also move past Mark McGwire and Robinson by season’s end.

Free agent lefty reliever Aaron Loup has been given a locker in the Padres’ clubhouse, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reported Sunday. Per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, Loup received a one-year MLB deal with a club option for 2020. The Padres will shift right-hander Garrett Richards to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster.

Loup, 31, began the 2018 season with the Blue Jays and was traded to the Phillies for minor league right-hander Jacob Waguespack at the midseason deadline. The veteran left-hander pitched just two innings in Philadelphia before hitting the injured list with a forearm strain and returned for a handful of appearances at the end of the year, bringing him up to a 4.54 ERA, 3.2 BB/9, 10.0 SO/9, and 0.3 fWAR across 39 2/3 combined innings.

Assuming health issues don’t complicate his next campaign in San Diego, Loup will be added to the bullpen alongside fellow left-handers Matt Strahm and José Castillo (with the possible late addition of southpaw reliever Brad Wieck, who underwent surgery for testicular cancer earlier this year). There are worse places to be — according to FanGraphs, the Padres’ ‘pen jumped from second-worst in 2017 to second-best in the league with a cumulative 3.53 ERA, 3.31 FIP, and 8.7 fWAR in 2018.