MLB Player News

Castro (1-1) picked up the win Thursday after firing 4.2 scoreless innings against the Royals. He allowed four hits and two walks while registering one strikeout.

Chris Tillman was shelled early and recorded just four outs, so the Orioles needed Castro to deliver multiple innings to save a taxed bullpen. Castro delivered, and while he recorded just one strikeout, he was still effective in limiting baserunners and keeping the Royals at bay. At this point, Castro is still locked in as the long reliever out of the Orioles' bullpen, but outings like Thursday's show he could be a viable spot start option down the line.

Banda will be promoted to the majors in the coming days, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

This makes sense since the Rays have a doubleheader Saturday and will need a starter for the second game of the twin bill. Banda, one of the club's top pitching prospects, holds a 3.50 ERA and a 44:16 K:BB in 36 innings pitched for Triple-A Durham this season. It's unclear if he'll be recalled Friday to be a full member of the team or if he'll just be the 26th man Saturday, but things should clear up in the next 24 hours.

Reed (shoulder) was activated from the 7-day disabled list Thursday, Brandon Warne of The Athletic Minnesota reports.

Reed is good to go after spending the past three weeks on the shelf with a right shoulder impingement. The 25-year-old compiled a 2.70 ERA and five strikeouts across 3.1 innings of relief with Triple-A Rochester before suffering the injury.

Coulombe fired a scoreless ninth inning in a loss to the Astros on Wednesday, allowing one hit.

The 28-year-old southpaw is seemingly beginning to settle down after a rough late-April, three-appearance stretch. Coulombe allowed seven runs (six earned) across three innings over that trio of outings, partly as a result of a pair of home runs. He also surrendered a run over an inning against the Mariners in his first appearance of May, but he's subsequently bounced back with three consecutive scoreless efforts.

Kittredge fired a perfect eighth inning in a loss to the Braves on Wednesday, recording two strikeouts.

Four days after making a "bullpen day" start that lasted a quick two innings, Kittredge mowed through the potent trio of Ronald Acuna, Jr., Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis on an efficient 11 pitches, retiring the first two on swinging strikeouts. The right-hander has posted scoreless efforts in three of four May appearances, lowering his ERA from 7.36 to 5.63 in the process.

Andriese fired two perfect innings in a loss to the Braves on Wednesday, recording two strikeouts.

Andriese notched six outs on an efficient 26 pitches, 18 of which he threw for strikes. The versatile right-hander continues to serve as one of manager Kevin Cash's more trusted long-relief options, as he's now generated scoreless efforts in five of his last six trips to the mound. The impressive stretch has lowered Andriese's ERA from an unsightly 8.31 to 3.92, and his current 1.11 WHIP encouragingly checks in notably lower than his career 1.28 figure.

Yarbrough (2-2) allowed five earned runs on six hits and a hit batsman over five innings in a loss to the Braves on Wednesday. He struck out seven.

The young southpaw notched a solid 11 swinging strikes over his five frames, but he was also done in by some timely hitting on the part of the Braves in what was his second big-league start. Ender Inciarte got Atlanta started with a two-out RBI single in the first, and the rest of the damage came in a four-run third courtesy of a Freddie Freeman sacrifice fly and a Nick Markakis three-run home run. Yarbrough does boast a sparkling 11:0 K:BB over the 10 innings encompassing his first pair of starting assignments, and he'll look to bounce back from Wednesday's hiccup in a scheduled turn against the Royals next Monday.

Giles notched his fifth save of the season, pitching a scoreless ninth inning in Wednesday's 4-1 win over the Athletics.

Manager A.J. Hinch sent Giles out for a second straight game to close out a win, a sign of the manager's returning confidence after the closer's four-run meltdown in a non-save situation against the Yankees last week. He hadn't pitched since that game before picking up saves Tuesday and Wednesday. Giles' role had not been clear for much of April, but Hinch appears to have settled on the right-hander as the team's closer. He hasn't blown a save opportunity yet with eight of his 14 appearances being clean, 1-2-3 innings.

Kimbrel took the blown save Wednesday, allowing two runs on two hits while striking out two in the loss to the Yankees.

Kimbrel came on to try to get his first ever five-out save, but he allowed two inherited runners to score before yielding two more of his own via a triple and home run. It was his second blown save in four outings, but there doesn't seem to be much reason to worry. Kimbrel is still sporting an impressive 13.5 K/9 and he's been scored upon in just three of his 16 appearances.

Mengden (2-4) took the loss Wednesday, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out four over 6.2 innings against the Astros.

Mengden was cruising along through 6.2 innings, but he then yielded back-to-back home runs to the final two hitters he faced and didn't get the necessary run support to bail him out of the loss. The 25-year-old has quietly put together a solid run of late, as he's allowed two or fewer runs with either zero or one walk in four of his last five starts. While the strikeout numbers aren't overwhelming, he still sports an impressive 33:5 K:BB on the year. He'll look to get back in the win column Tuesday against the Red Sox.