MLB Player News

Raley was reinstated from the restricted list Friday.

Raley was unavailable for the Rays' series in Toronto this week due to his vaccination status, but he'll rejoin the team's bullpen ahead of Friday's series opener against the Rangers. Over 19 appearances since the All-Star break, he's picked up 10 holds while posting a 0.92 ERA and 0.86 WHIP in 19.2 innings.

Payamps (3-6) took the loss against the Astros on Thursday, allowing two earned runs on two hits over one-third of an inning.

The right-hander faltered for the second time in as many appearances, with his trouble coming when he allowed an infield single to Jeremy Pena and a two-run home run to Aledmys Diaz immediately thereafter. The blast snapped a 2-2 tie and the Athletics were unable to come back from the deficit, handing Payamps his second loss in as many appearances and third in the last five trips to the mound overall.

Duran earned a save against Kansas City on Thursday, allowing two hits and striking out two batters in a scoreless ninth inning.

With the Twins up one run heading into the ninth inning, manager Rocco Baldelli called upon Duran to notch the tough save. The right-hander allowed consecutive singles to start the frame but retired the next three batters -- the final two by strikeout -- to slam the door. Regular closer Jorge Lopez has struggled of late, giving up four runs over his past 4.1 innings. Given Duran's dominance this season (he holds a 1.70 ERA and 84:14 K:BB over 63.2 innings), it wouldn't be surprising to see him get more opportunities to close down the stretch.

Montero earned the save Thursday against Oakland, striking out two in a perfect ninth inning in a 5-2 victory.

Following a line out, Montero struck out the final two batters to pick up his 13th save of the season. Ryan Pressly recorded saves on the last two nights, so Montero was called upon to close out the game for the first time since Sept. 5. He has not allowed a baserunner in six appearances in September, striking out six in six innings of work. He'll likely continue to receive the occasional save chance as the regular season winds down with Pressly continuing to work as the primary closer.

Cyr (1-0) recorded the win in a victory against the Rangers on Wednesday, firing 1.2 scoreless innings during which he issued a walk and recorded a strikeout.

Cyr extended an impressive early tenure with the Athletics via Wednesday's showing, which saw him record five outs on an efficient 23 pitches overall. The 28-year-old was claimed off waivers from the Phillies on Aug. 24 and summoned to the majors after four appearances with Triple-A Las Vegas, and he's now generated Wednesday's win, a 1.35 ERA, an 0.60 WHIP and a 7:1 K:BB across the 6.2 innings covering his first four appearances.

Pilkington was optioned to Triple-A Columbus on Thursday, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.

Pilkington won't be off the big-league roster for long, as it was announced Wednesday that he is in line to start the second game of Saturday's doubleheader against the Twins. Hunter Gaddis was recalled to take Pilkington's spot on the roster for the time being.

Fleming was optioned to Triple-A Durham on Thursday, Neil Solondz of the Rays Radio Network reports.

Fleming allowed just one earned run while covering the final four frames of Wednesday's loss to the Blue Jays, but with him unavailable for at least a couple days the Rays removed him from the roster to open up a spot for fellow pitcher Shane McClanahan.

Davison isn't in line to make a start during the Angels' four-game home series with the Mariners that begins Friday.

After making his most recent start Sept. 11 in Houston, Davidson's turn in the six-man rotation was expected to come up again this weekend versus Seattle, but the Angels will instead use Thursday's off day to push the lefty to the back of their pitching schedule. Unless the Angels elect to remove Davidson from the rotation entirely, he'll likely make his next start Tuesday or Wednesday in Texas. The southpaw could still be available for a relief appearance in one of the first two games of the series with Seattle this weekend.

Holmes picked up the save in Wednesday's 5-3 victory over the Red Sox. He allowed one run on one hit while striking out one over one inning.

Holmes surrendered a double to Abraham Almonte, who later scored on a groundout from Enrique Hernandez. In his last 11 appearances, the righty's 3.86 ERA over 11.2 innings has been higher than he's grown accustomed to this season. The 29-year-old could see a decrease in high-leverage opportunities with the expected return of lefty reliever Aroldis Chapman (leg) on Friday.

Leclerc (0-3) took the loss and blew a save against the Athletics on Wednesday, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits while striking out two batters in one inning.

Leclerc entered in the ninth inning with Texas up by a run. He retired two of the first three batters he faced before giving up the game-tying run on a double by Vimael Machin. An error then allowed the go-ahead run to score, and Leclerc ended up with the loss when the Rangers couldn't scratch out a score in the bottom of the frame. It was the first blown save of the season for the right-hander, but his closer job figures to be secure given his prolonged run of strong pitching. Since the All-Star break, Leclerc has posted a 2.17 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 35:11 K:BB over 29 innings.