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Peralta (4-4) yielded six runs on 10 hits and a walk over 5.1 innings Friday, striking out six and taking a loss against the Reds.

Advice: Peralta gave up two home runs in the loss, including a two-run shot by Jeimer Candelario in the fifth inning. He forced 16 whiffs Friday, marking the 12th time he's reached double digits this season. Peralta has posted a 7.90 ERA through three starts this month, bumping his season ERA up to 4.38 through 76 innings. He's now 1-4 since the start of May. Peralta's next start is lined up to come on the road against the Angels. Rotowire.com Friday, 8:55 pm

Ryan (5-5) earned the win over Oakland on Thursday, allowing two runs on three hits and one walk while striking out five batters over seven innings.

Advice: Ryan surrendered a two-run homer to Tyler Soderstrom in the second inning, but those were the only runs the A's managed against the righty hurler. Ryan finished with a stat line very similar to his previous outing, when he gave up two runs on three hits over seven frames versus Pittsburgh, though that performance came in a losing effort. The 28-year-old pitcher has four quality starts over his past five appearances and has posted a 2.73 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 32:7 K:BB across 33 frames during that span. Rotowire.com Friday, 12:42 am

Ward (back) is serving as the Angels' designated hitter and batting third Thursday versus the Diamondbacks, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Advice: Ward was taken out of Tuesday's game due to back tightness and had to miss Wednesday's contest as well, but the issue has now seemingly subsided. Since June 1, the 30-year-old outfielder has gone just 4-for-28 with two RBI and two runs while striking out eight times in nine games. Rotowire.com Thursday, 3:27 pm

Randy Arozarena (hamstring) is back in the lineup for Thursday’s game against the Cubs.

Advice: Arozarena is playing left field and batting second against the Cubs after being held out of the lineup for the last two games of the series due to right hamstring tightness. He was able to pinch-hit each of the last two nights and remained in to play left field last night. It doesn’t sound like a serious concern moving forward. Rotoworld Thursday, 12:54 pm

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Thursday that Nootbaar (oblique) continues to take part in "rotational work" and could resume swinging a bat this weekend, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

Advice: The Cardinals will presumably ease Nootbaar into swinging by having him hit off a tee or hit soft-toss throws before he eventually gains clearance to hit against higher-velocity pitching. In addition to being able to hit without discomfort, Nootbaar, who has been on the injured list since May 31 with a left oblique strain, will also need to prove that the injury doesn't compromise him when he runs the bases or plays the outfield. He still appears to be at least a couple weeks away from being a realistic option to rejoin the Cardinals, and Nootbaar will presumably need to go out on a minor-league rehab assignment prior to being activated. Rotowire.com Thursday, 10:25 am