MLB Player News

Barreda (1-0) struck out one in a perfect inning to earn the win Wednesday over Kansas City.

The 32-year-old pitched the top of the eighth inning with Baltimore trailing 5-0, and he was able to maintain the five-run deficit. The offense rallied for nine runs in its half of the inning, and that made Barreda a winner in his major-league debut. The right-hander projects for a low-leverage role as long as he's with the big club.

Romano struck out one in a perfect ninth inning Wednesday to record his 16th save of the season in a 6-3 win over the Yankees.

The right-hander has blown only one save all year, and that came back in early April. Romano seems to have a firm grasp on the closer job for Toronto with a 2.50 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 72:20 K:BB through 54 innings on the season, and while Julian Merryweather was activated off the IL on Wednesday, he may not be much of a threat to Romano's ninth-inning role.

Mayers (4-5) took the loss against San Diego on Wednesday, pitching 1.2 innings and allowing two runs on three hits and one walk while striking out one.

The right-hander was selected to open the Angels' bullpen game, and he made it through the first inning without incident. However, the Padres drove Mayers from the contest in the second, converting a walk and a double into a run before pummeling a pair of subsequent relievers for seven additional runs. Mayers has pitched to a 4.34 ERA and 77:21 K:BB across 64.1 innings this season. He's struggled of late, posting a 7.36 ERA over his past six outings.

Barlow retired the only batter he faced to earn the save in Wednesday's 8-5 win over Arizona.

Demarcus Evans made things interesting in a non-save situation, which allowed Barlow to enter with a three-run lead to nab his fourth save of the year. The 25-year-old has emerged as one of Texas' top closing options with a 1.74 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 21:10 K:BB through 20.2 innings. He's logged three holds, a blown save and an 0-2 record in addition to his four saves in 22 appearances.

Robles tossed a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save against Tampa Bay on Wednesday, allowing one hit while striking out a pair.

Making his first appearance since being removed from Sunday's game with lat tightness, Robles struck out Ji-Man Choi and Manuel Margot for the first two outs, then gave up a two-out double to Joey Wendle, who was thrown out by Hunter Renfroe trying to stretch it into a triple. It was the 12th save of the season for Robles, and his second in as many opportunities since being acquired from Minnesota at the trade deadline. He's turned in four straight scoreless outings, allowing just two baserunners with six strikeouts in that span.

Marte (undisclosed) tossed a bullpen session in San Diego on Wednesday and could be activated in the coming days, per MLB.com.

The right-hander has been on the injured list since Aug. 22, and though a reason was never announced, it's likely that he has been navigating COVID-19 protocols. While he's pitched in only one game for the Angels this season, Marte could be given a spot in the bullpen upon his return.

Pressly (5-2) allowed three runs on two hits and a walk with two strikeouts in two-thirds of an inning, taking the loss Wednesday versus Seattle.

The 32-year-old was called upon to pitch the ninth inning of a tied game, but he was removed after allowing a two-run single to Jose Marmolejos. Pressly was charged with an additional run when Blake Taylor yielded a home run to J.P. Crawford. Pressly has recently dealt with arm soreness, and he's now allowed four runs across his last 1.2 innings. He still owns a 2.38 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 71:12 K:BB across 56.2 innings, but he may need some additional rest in the near term. Kendall Graveman or Yimi Garcia could be candidates to receive save chances if Pressly is deemed unavailable at some point.

Duffey worked a perfect inning while striking out two en route to his third save of the season in Wednesday's 3-0 win over Cleveland.

With Alex Colome having picked up saves on three consecutive nights (and needing 49 pitches to do so), the Twins figured to head in a different direction at closer if the need arose Wednesday. As luck would have it, it did, and Duffey answered the call. He'll likely return to his setup role once the Twins feel that Colome is ready to go again.

Woods Richardson debuted for Double-A Wichita on Saturday, tossing 1.1 scoreless innings in his start against Arkansas. He gave up no hits and struck out two but issued three walks.

After acquiring Woods Richardson in the July 30 deal that sent Jose Berrios to Toronto, the Twins have slow played the right-hander's integration into the organization. The 20-year-old's organizational debut was delayed in part due to his commitment to pitching for Team USA in the Olympic Games, and he wasn't immediately activated upon returning from Tokyo. Though he was finally cleared to pitch for Wichita over the weekend, Woods Richardson showed spotty control in the start, tossing only 19 of his 40 pitches for strikes. Consistently finding the strike zone had proved to be an issue for Woods Richardson prior to the trade; he submitted a bloated 12.9 percent walk rate in his 11 starts with the Blue Jays' Double-A affiliate in New Hampshire.

Alexander won't make a star during the Tigers' weekend series with the Rays and isn't expected to rejoin the rotation until next week, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

Detroit is listing Matthew Boyd, Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal as its starters for the series with Tampa Bay, with all three pitchers returning to the mound on five days' rest. The Tigers' decision to skip Alexander's turn in the rotation was foreshadowed by his appearance out of the bullpen in Tuesday's loss to the Pirates, when he tossed a scoreless inning. Alexander should be available in relief for the rest of the week before likely slotting back into the rotation when a fifth starter is next needed Sept. 18 in Tampa Bay.