MLB Player News

Kimbrel tallied his 30th save in Saturday's 6-4 victory over the Rays, giving up a solo homer but also striking out two over an inning.

The closer saw Logan Forsythe take him deep to right field with two outs, but then bore down to get Kevin Kiermaier swinging to end the game. The earned run was the first Kimbrel had surrendered since Aug. 9 against the Yankees, breaking a string of 16 appearances where he'd seen his ERA progressively shrink. Kimbrel has now converted 18 consecutive save opportunities and has an 82:24 K:BB to go along with a 2.65 ERA.

Andriese didn't factor into the decision Saturday versus the Red Sox, giving up two earned runs on four hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out five.

The 27-year-old righty actually pitched better than he had in notching victories in his two most recent starts, completing six full innings for the first time since Aug. 24. After a two-start stretch where he gave up a whopping 14 earned runs over nine innings, Andriese has bounced back to allow just five earned runs over the 16.1 innings covering his last three trips to the mound. He'll try to end the season on a winning note when he takes on the White Sox next Thursday.

Norris gave up two earned runs on six hits and two walks over 5.2 innings in a Saturday no-decision versus the Royals. He struck out six.

He was in line for the victory until the the normally reliable Francisco Rodriguez imploded in the ninth and gave up five runs to the Royals. Norris fired 64 of 100 pitches for strikes while also notching an impressive 16 swinging strikes during his time on the mound. The 23-year-old has put together a string of solid starts since his return to the major league club on Aug. 9, pitching at least five innings and giving up no more than three earned runs in his nine appearances over that span. Norris will try to wrap up his season in positive fashion when he takes on the Indians next Thursday.

Giles has been diagnosed with a right wrist contusion, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

In a stroke of bad luck, Giles was hit on the wrist by a line drive in batting practice Saturday as he was going through his normal pregame routine in the outfield. X-rays were negative, but Giles was said to be in severe pain immediately following the incident, and the injury is of course to his throwing hand. It's uncertain if he'll pitch again this season.

Giles was struck in the right wrist by a line drive during batting practice Saturday, the Houston Chronicle reports. "It wasn't good," manager A.J. Hinch said. "It looked like the ball off of the bat hit him pretty hard, so he was already starting to bruise in the wrist area. He'll be taken in."

Giles was in right field with other Astros pitchers going through his usual pregame routine at the time he was struck. At this point, it's unclear if he suffered any structural damage, but the closer appeared to be in severe pain and had to be carted off the field. Giles, who struggled in Friday's 10-6 loss to the Angels, will obviously not be available for Saturday's game and should be considered day-to-day until further notice.

Giles took the loss and blew his fifth save of the season Friday against the Angels, surrendering six runs on three hits and three walks while recording just one out.

The Astros entered the ninth inning holding a 6-4 lead, but after surrendering a game-tying two-run homer to Yunel Escobar, Giles couldn't right the ship. The disastrous outing caused his ERA to jump from 3.47 to 4.31, and more importantly, dealt the Astros a serious blow in the race for one of the two available wild-card spots. Giles should still be entrenched as the Astros' closer, though he could get a couple days off to recover from his nightmarish performance.

Pomeranz allowed one run on four hits with no walks while striking out five over five innings in Boston's 2-1 win over Tampa Bay on Friday. The left-hander entered Friday's game having pitched a combined 5.2 innings in his previous two starts.

This was Pomeranz's first start in the last six that he didn't issue a walk, but manager John Farrell pulled him after just 78 pitches. The decision to pull him early is most likely a nod to the pitcher already having reached a career high in innings pitched this season. Additionally, Farrell was looking for Pomeranz to command his fastball down in the zone, something he didn't do in his previous two starts and didn't do consistently Friday, particularly on a Mikie Mahtook homer and a couple of line-drive doubles. When Pomeranz managed to get through five innings without any serious damage, the manager went to the bullpen for the final four innings.

Graveman allowed three runs on four hits over seven inning in a loss Friday to the Rangers.

Graveman actually retired the first 18 batters, carrying a perfect game into the seventh inning. After allowing a chopper infield single to break up the perfecto, he allowed another single and then hung a breaking ball to Adrian Beltre for a long home run. Graveman had struggled his previous two starts and Friday night seemed to be back in the solid form he exhibited during a majority of the summer. He will take a 4.19 ERA into his final scheduled start of the year, likely Wednesday in Anaheim.

Kimbrel is unavailable out of the bullpen Friday after pitching in three straight games, the Providence Journal's Brian MacPherson reports.

He has a 14-inning scoreless streak going, notching 11 saves and 23 strikeouts over that span. Brad Ziegler figures to get the ball in a save situation Friday.

Farmer will start Monday's series opener against the Indians, Matthew Mowery of the Oakland Press reports.

This was fully expected after Farmer's last outing was shortened by rain after just 2.2 innings and wiped from the books. Farmer has a 3.96 ERA and 93:28 K:BB over 20 Triple-A starts (100 innings) this year, but has been solely used out of the bullpen in the big leagues. He will make the start on normal rest, but is not guaranteed another start before the season ends. It's possible that he could start Saturday against the Braves, but if Jordan Zimmermann gets his mechanics straightened out in time, that would be his start.