MLB Player News

Pagan fired three scoreless innings in Sunday's 6-4 loss to the Yankees, allowing two hits and a walk while recording four strikeouts.

Pagan has been lights-out in his current Mariners stint, allowing just one earned run over 10.1 innings across four appearances. Sunday's effort was his second three-inning, two-hit scoreless outing versus the Yankees in the weekend series, which served to lower his ERA from 3.60 to 2.57. The 26-year-old right-hander has undoubtedly earned the confidence of manager Scott Servais, which could certainly lead to a robust workload for the balance of the campaign.

Boxberger (2-2) allowed three earned runs on two home runs in Sunday's 6-5 loss to the Rangers. He also issued a walk and recorded two strikeouts.

Boxberger has gone backwards over his last two appearances after a strong start, and Sunday's result was particularly crushing. Asked to preserve a 5-3 lead in the eighth, the right-handed reliever allowed a game-tying two-run shot to Rougned Odor and a go-ahead solo blast to the very next batter, Carlos Gomez. The outing resulted in Boxberger's first blown save opportunity of the season and also served to raise his ERA from 1.42 to 4.91. Despite the recent pair of stumbles, Boxberger's performance over his first six appearances (six scoreless innings) and past body of work provide plenty of reason for optimism moving forward.

Kolarek was credited with his first hold in Sunday's 6-5 loss to the Rangers after working around a hit in two-thirds of an inning.

Kolarek has been serviceable thus far in what is his first exposure to the majors, and he's now logged his first big-league victory and hold in the last three outings. The 28-year-old southpaw represents a valued left-handed relief option for manager Kevin Cash, especially while Xavier Cedeno (forearm) remains on the mend.

Borucki, 23, twirled seven shutout innings for Double-A New Hampshire in his Eastern League debut Sunday. He scattered two hits and two walks while whiffing four batters.

Borucki struck out one of the Yankees' top prospects, Jorge Mateo, on three pitches to begin the contest, and that proved to be a harbinger of what was to come. The young lefty, who posted a 3.58 ERA and 109:27 K:BB in 98 innings for High-A Dunedin prior to his promotion, has earned plaudits from scouts for his advanced changeup and ability to sequence three pitches effectively, but a checkered health history that includes Tommy John surgery in 2013 somewhat dings his long-term outlook.

McHugh has added a slider to his repertoire since resuming throwing after being shut down with an elbow injury, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports.

McHugh incorporated the slider to use against right-handed hitters, complementing the cutter he'll throw against lefties. The right-hander threw 20 sliders during his season debut Saturday against Baltimore, inducing five swing-and-misses with it. "It was pretty effective at times (Saturday), so hopefully we can continue to refine it moving forward and it can be a weapon for us," he said.

Wilson recorded three strikeouts over 1.1 innings to collect his 12th save of the season during Sunday's win over Minnesota.

Wilson did serve up a solo home run to Brian Dozier in the ninth frame, but he was still able to hold on to record the save. He's shown flashes of inconsistency, but for the most part, Wilson has got the job done closing out games. After all, the 29-year-old lefty now sports a 2.82 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 12.8 K/9 and has converted 12 of 14 save opportunities this season.

Chapman picked up his 11th save of the season Sunday against the Mariners with a scoreless ninth inning.

The outing certainly didn't lack drama, as he gave up hits to the first two hitters while catcher Gary Sanchez added a passed ball to make things even more interesting. However, Chapman settled down after all that and finished the game with a four-pitch strikeout of Ben Gamel. The left-hander's ERA still sits at a lofty 3.51 mark after the scoreless frame, but his FIP is much lower than that, suggesting that Chapman is more like his dominant self than the numbers suggest.

VerHagen was called up to the Tigers on Sunday, MLive.com reports.

The right-hander will provide support to the Tigers' bullpen, which was used heavily across a seven-game road trip. VerHagen, who battled thoracic outlet syndrome in his throwing arm for a good chunk of 2016, reportedly asked the team to work as a starter rather than a reliever heading into this season, and as such, he's made 19 starts with Triple-A Toledo. During that span, he's gone 7-7 with a pedestrian 4.90 ERA and 69:43 K:BB in just under 100 (97.1) innings. He has yet to appear in a game this year for the Tigers, however.

LeClerc worked around a pair of walks with two strikeouts in a scoreless inning to record his second save of the season Sunday against the Rays.

Staked to a one-run lead, LeClerc walked the tying run into scoring position with two outs but was able to fan Steven Souza to close out a series sweep for the Rangers. He endured a rocky stretch which extended into July, but the youngster has now rattled off four straight scoreless innings, posting a win, a hold and a save during that stretch. The Texas bullpen is still using a committee approach based on matchups and usage, meaning LeClerc could be deployed in some save situations moving forward if he continues to get the job done.

Norris was pulled from Sunday's rehab start with Triple-A Toledo after re-injuring his groin, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

Norris was hooked from Sunday's contest after 32 pitches, and now it's clear why. The left-hander will stop his rehab assignment in order to return to Detroit for further medical treatment. It's unclear how severe this setback is, but more information on his status should become available once doctors have a chance to examine him.