Arm issues will land starter John Lackey and reliever Hector Rondon on the disabled list, MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat reports. Lackey, who leads the Cubs with 158 1/3 innings this season, experienced shoulder soreness after his last start. Rondon, who owns a 2.47 ERA in 45 relief appearances, hasn’t pitched since Tuesday because of triceps discomfort.

Kris Bryant wanted to change his game to cut down on strikeouts, and he’s done that. But he’s also changed his game in a more interesting way. No hitter in baseball is more productive to his pull side. No hitter is less productive to his opposite field side.

As the 2016 reaches the three-quarter mark, which teams have made the greatest strides since last year? We can answer that question based on a comparison of winning percentages from the final records for 2015 and the current standings.

Great moments captured for eternity.

Madison Bumgarner’s fourth-inning home run was merely part of a wild offensive affair Thursday night as the Giants outlasted the Mets, 10-7.

The Padres made something out of nothing with a three-run, two-out rally in the eighth inning Thursday night. Then, in the ninth, that something nearly turned back into nothing, as the D-backs mounted a charge of their own, before closer Brandon Maurer slammed the door on a wild, 9-8 victory over Arizona.

Shortly after pitching 7 1/3 shutdown innings against the Padres, Steven Matz felt a “little twinge” while throwing on a flat surface. The next day, Matz continued to feel it.

The Angels scored three runs in the eighth inning to break open a close game, gaining a split of a four-game series with the Mariners. Jett Bandy hit a home run, Albert Pujols drove in two runs and Matt Shoemaker allowed two runs in seven inning for the win. Robinson Cano, Mike Zunino and Nelson Cruz hit home runs for the Mariners.

With 95 RBIs on the season, Albert Pujols remains the only big league player to reach the 95 RBI-plateau in 15 of his first 16 seasons.

There’s no other way to say it: Nationals right-hander Reynaldo Lopez was electric in an 8-2 victory over the Braves on Thursday night at Turner Field. It started with Lopez’s fastball, which was clocked as high as 98 mph. He ended up with 11 strikeouts in seven innings, while allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits.

For the second time in eight days, the Dodgers took a lead into the seventh inning, primed to complete a sweep of the Phillies, but left without one — victims of the long ball. This time, Maikel Franco had the clutch hit, following in Freddy Galvis’ footsteps from last Wednesday in Los Angeles. Franco followed a Galvis single Thursday by rocketing a fastball over the wall in straightaway center to give the Phillies a 5-4 win. It was Galvis’ three-run shot in the seventh last week — also off Grant Dayton — that propelled the Phils over the sweep-seeking Dodgers.

It’s time to check in on the division standings — meaning, where the division races stand in relation to each other. We’ll have plenty of time to sort through the migraine-inducing math that will accompany the Wild Card craziness. For now, here’s a ranking of the six division races, in order of intrigue.

It is hard not to compare the USSSA Pride’s Kelly Kretschman to a bottle of fine wine. It may sound like a cliche to say she is getting better with age, but the proof is in the hardware she collected at the 2016 National Pro Fastpitch Championship Series Awards Banquet on Thursday night.

Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth should be called Mr. Consistency, at least for this season anyway. He just continues to get on base. Werth extended his on-base streak to 46 games in Thursday’s 8-2 win over the Braves, tying the franchise record held by Rusty Staub. Werth tied the record in the fifth inning when he doubled to the left-field corner off Braves right-hander Rob Whalen.

One of the best ever.

The Orioles are running out five and six rookies for some games. The Cardinals are relying on three rookie relievers to close out games down the stretch. The Mariners have ridden a rookie closer into contention. Welcome to baseball’s new normal.

It had the makings of a disaster. Fresh off the disabled list, Danny Salazar could not find the strike zone. He walked Adam Eaton on five pitches to open Thursday’s game, and then issued another free pass to White Sox second baseman Tyler Saladino. “He couldn’t really find the plate,” Indians manager Terry Francona said after his club pulled off a 5-4 walk-off win at Progressive Field. “That was probably almost our worst-case scenario.”