Cubs acquire Felix Doubront from Red Sox

By Aaron GleemanJul 30, 2014, 3:32 PM EDT
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Felix Doubront made it clear that he wanted the Red Sox to either put him back into the starting rotation or trade him, and then he went out and had a terrible relief appearance that many took to mean he was trying to push a trade.

He got his wish, as Jon Morosi of FOXSports.com reports that the Red Sox have traded the left-hander to the Cubs for a player to be named later. Chicago’s brain trust of Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer were in Boston when the Red Sox signed Doubront out of the Dominican Republic as a teenager.

He’s been a mess this season, but Doubront has generally been a decent third or fourth starter with a good strikeout rate and bad control. Combined during the previous two seasons he started 56 games with a 4.59 ERA and 306 strikeouts in 323 innings. He’s also under team control, so the Cubs may have filled a rotation spot for more than the second half.

Steven Matz homers in back-to-back starts

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By Bill BaerSep 18, 2018, 9:03 PM EDT
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Mets starter Steven Matz helped his own cause again, belting a solo home run in the top of the third inning of Tuesday’s game against the Phillies. Matz turned on a 1-1 breaking ball from Cy Young contender Aaron Nola, breaking a scoreless tie.

Matz also homered in his previous start against the Marlins last Thursday. According to MLB Stat of the Day, he is the third Mets pitcher to homer in back-to-back starts, joining Tom Seaver (1972) and Ron Darling (1989).

Matz is the fourth full-time pitcher to hit multiple home runs this season, joining the Reds’ Michael Lorenzen (four), and the Cardinals’ John Gant and Miles Mikolas (two each). The last Mets pitcher to hit multiple home runs in a season was Noah Syndergaard, who hit three in 2016.

Along with the bat, Matz has also been dealing on the mound. As of this writing, he has held the Phillies scoreless over five innings despite walking five batters and allowing two hits.