MLB Player News

Thornton will serve as the Blue Jays' primary pitcher behind opener Wilmer Font in Wednesday's game against the Red Sox.

All of Thornton's previous 28 appearances have come as a traditional starter, but with the 25-year-old already up to 134.1 innings -- just 1.1 innings shy of his previous career high for any professional season -- in 2019, the Blue Jays may be inclined to manage his workload carefully the rest of the way. Deploying him as a primary pitcher is one means to achieve that, and the arrangement should help Thornton deliver more useful ratios while his pitch count is being monitored. Expect Font to work the first inning or two before Thornton enters Wednesday's contest.

Junis (9-13) took the loss Tuesday, giving up five runs on six hits and three walks over five innings while striking out seven as the Royals fell 7-3 to the White Sox.

The right-hander bounced back and delivered three clean innings after serving up a grand slam to Eloy Jimenez in the first inning and a solo shot to Adam Engel in the second, but the Kansas City offense couldn't climb out of the hole. Junis has been tagged for at least four runs in each of his last four starts, and he'll carry a 5.06 ERA and 162:56 K:BB through 172.2 innings into his next outing Sunday, at home against the Astros.

Fairbanks gave up two hits in a scoreless 11th inning Tuesday to record his first career save in a 5-3 win over the Rangers.

Emilio Pagan and Nick Anderson had both tossed perfect frames to help get the game to the 11th, opening the door for Fairbanks to get his shot at closing things out. The rookie right-hander hasn't given up a run in four September appearances, posting a 5:1 K:BB through 4.1 innings -- he likely won't see another save chance, but Fairbanks could work himself into more high-leverage usage down the stretch if he stays locked in.

Yarbrough didn't factor into the decision in Tuesday's 5-3 extra-innings win over the Rangers, allowing three runs on three hits and a walk over seven innings while striking out seven.

Texas struck for all three of its runs in the fourth inning, with the big blow being a two-run shot by Nick Solak, and Yarbrough exited in line for his fourth loss of the year until Tampa tied things up in the top of the eighth. The southpaw will take a 3.51 ERA and 109:15 K:BB through 128.1 innings into his next outing Sunday, on the road against the Angels.

Giles allowed one hit and a walk but struck out two during the ninth to nail down his 19th save in a 4-3 victory against the Red Sox on Tuesday.

Things got a little hairy, as the tying run reached scoring position with one out, but Giles shut the door with a strikeout and flyball for the final two outs. He doesn't get many opportunities, but the 28-year-old only has one blown save and has converted 16 straight chances. Giles is 2-3 with 19 saves, 1.96 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 75 strikeouts in 46 innings this season.

Bass pitched a perfect ninth inning to earn the save against Cincinnati on Tuesday.

Bass needed only nine pitches to set the Reds down in order and pick up his first save since Aug. 7. The right-hander has recently yielded primary closer duties to Matt Magill, though Tuesday's opportunity to close out the one-run game suggests that Seattle's ninth-inning situation is fluid. Nonetheless, relying on Bass is a shaky proposition as he has five blown saves this season with a 3.67 ERA and 37:16 K:BB in 41.2 innings.

Pruitt will work behind an opener Wednesday against the Rangers, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The 30-year-old worked as a traditional starter in has last two outings and gave up only one run over 10.1 innings, but he'll follow opener Andrew Kittredge on Wednesday. Pruitt had a 4.43 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 37:10 K:BB through 42.2 innings this season.

Kittredge will serve as the opener Wednesday at Texas, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Kittredge has a 4.17 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 47:11 K:BB through 41 innings and has worked as an opener six times this season. Austin Pruitt is expected to follow as the Rays' primary pitcher.

Blach (1-3) allowed six earned runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out three across 2.1 innings to take the loss Tuesday against the Dodgers.

Blach managed to retired the first batter of the game but then proceeded to allow six of the next eight batters he faced to reach base. That resulted in four earned runs in the first inning before he allowed a two-run homer to Corey Seager in the third frame to sufficiently sink his outing. Since joining the Orioles, Blach has surrendered 19 earned runs across 16.2 frames.

Betances (lat) is aiming for one more rehab outing with Double-A Trenton, Greg Johnson of The Trentonian reports.

Betances fired one scoreless inning for Trenton in the opening game of the Eastern League Championship Series on Tuesday, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out a pair. He threw 20 pitches, 11 of which were strikes, and his fastball sat in the 92-93 mph range. Although Betances has looked good in both of his rehab outings thus far, he has yet to approach the velocity on his fastball that he demonstrated with the Yankees last season, hence his desire to get into another game in the minors before returning to the big club. Despite not yet pitching in the majors this season, the 31-year-old could still play a key role in New York's bullpen by the end of the playoffs.