MLB Player News

Stanek will serve as the opening pitcher for the Rays in Friday's series opener against the Mets, Juan Toribio of The Athletic Tampa Bay reports.

Stanek hasn't worked more than two innings as an opener or reliever this season, so that will likely be his restriction Friday. The hard-throwing right-hander has allowed just one run since the beginning of June while posting a 0.85 WHIP and 22 strikeouts in 17.2 innings. Due to the heavy workloads that many of the Rays' other long-relief options have assumed lately, the newly recalled Andrew Kittredge looks like the top candidate to cover the bulk of the innings behind Stanek.

Trivino (7-1) fired a scoreless two-thirds of an inning in a win over the Padres on Wednesday, issuing two walks and hitting a batter.

Trivino made life a bit difficult on himself with some control issues, but he ultimately did enough to position himself for a possible victory. That came to fruition in the home half of the frame when Stephen Piscotty laced a go-ahead double, giving the right-hander his fourth victory in the last eight appearances. Trivino also has three saves and nine holds, so he's been considerably more valuable in all fantasy formats than the average middle reliever or setup man typically is.

Andriese opened Wednesday's "bullpen day" loss to the Marlins, firing two scoreless innings in which he allowed a hit and two walks while recording three strikeouts.

The right-hander fired 36 pitches overall and then gave way to callup Ryan Weber, who saved a weary Rays bullpen some innings by tossing five frames. Andriese is one of manager Kevin Cash's most flexible options out of the bullpen, given that he has extensive starting experience and has also seen his fair share of relief work during his career. After a rocky June (6.39 ERA over 12.2 innings), he's gotten July off to a strong start, posting four scoreless innings overall across a pair of appearances.

Giles struck out two over a scoreless 10th inning to pick up his 12th save of the season in Wednesday's 5-4 win over the Rangers.

This was the first save opportunity since June 12 for Giles, who's watched Hector Rondon lock down the three previous chances, including Tuesday's win in which he expended 35 pitches. It was very likely that Rondon was not available following his labored outing Tuesday.

McHugh (4-0) allowed one hit and struck out one over three scoreless relief innings in Wednesday's extra-inning win over the Rangers.

McHugh held the fort from the seventh through the ninth inning before the Astros produced a run on a single, a hit batsman, a wild pick-off attempt and a sacrifice fly. The win was McHugh's fourth, and the scoreless outing lowered his ERA to 0.90 over 40 innings.

Covey (3-4) took the loss Wednesday, allowing six runs on five hits and a walk while striking out two over 3.2 innings against the Reds.

Covey breezed through the first three innings, retiring all nine batters he faced to that point before the wheels fell off in the fourth on five singles, a walk and a hit by pitch. The 26-year-old has now given up at least four earned runs in four straight outings, seeing his ERA more than double in the process, jumping from 2.29 to 5.54. The righty has also struggled with command in that stretch, striking out two or fewer in all four of those starts and is at 38:24 K:BB through 50.1 innings. He'll look to get back on track Tuesday against the Cardinals.

Treinen earned his 22nd save of the season Wednesday against the Padres, striking out two while allowing a pair of hits in a scoreless ninth inning.

Treinen continues to dominate for the Athletics, dropping his ERA to 0.84 on the season. He hasn't allowed a run in his last nine appearances and has allowed just a single run in his last 20.

Manaea threw seven innings Wednesday against the Padres, allowing a pair of runs on four hits and two walks, striking out just one batter. He did not factor into the decision.

The lack of strikeouts is something of a concern, coming off a two-strikeout performance his last time out against the Tigers. Still, he managed to avoid the barrel of the bat outside of a second-inning Christian Villanueva home run. He's now given up three or fewer runs in six straight starts. He'll look to keep that streak going Monday against the Astros.

Saupold was optioned to Triple-A Toledo on Wednesday.

The 28-year-old has posted a mediocre 4.46 ERA in 34.1 innings with the Tigers so far this season. His peripherals do not support that ERA, as he's relied on an unsustainably high 81.9 percent left on base rate and is striking out just 10.1 percent of batters faced. Victor Alcantara's contract was selected in a corresponding move.

Kimbrel gave up two hits and struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning Wednesday to record his 26th save of the season in a 3-0 win over the Nationals.

He's converted 17 straight chances dating back to May 10, and Kimbrel now boasts a 52:14 K:BB through 35.2 innings on the year to go along with his 2.02 ERA. The right-hander remains one of baseball's elite closers, and he's headed for his first 40-save season since 2014 with a shot at tying his career high of 50, set in 2013.