MLB Player News

Backed by a 13-run offensive explosion on Saturday, Angels starter Hector Santiago earned his fifth win of the season. Santiago fired seven shutout innings against the Rangers, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out three. 

Santiago (5-4) was pretty much in control of this one throughout, as he did not allow a runner to get passed second base.

"He had really good life on his fastball," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said, per The Orange County Register. "He moved it around, mixed in a couple changeups, a couple breaking balls, really pitched ahead in the count most of the night."

His 2.40 ERA ranks fourth in the American League. He has four consecutive quality starts, and hasn't allowed more than three runs in an outing since June 3.

Twins reliever Ryan Pressly was removed from the game Saturday night in Kansas City with what Paul Molitor has described as a high lat strain, per the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

He pitched one shutout inning and threw 11 of 13 pitches for strikes before going down. He will undergo an MRI on Sunday. 

The odd man out of the rotation upon the return of suspended Ervin Santana on Sunday is Trevor May.

May has been arguably the team's best starter lately. He owns a 4.37 ERA with 18 walks and 71 strikeouts in 80 1/3 innings this season, but boasts a 3.23 ERA since June 1.

His stay in the bullpen - or with the Twins - might not last. Paul Molitor has declared that May could be moved back into a starting role at Triple-A Rochester after the All-Star break.

"Trevor was great [Friday] when I told him about it," Molitor told the team website. "We have to decide long-term to see how that works out or if going into a rotation down below would help us in case something happened to one of our guys."

Athletics right-hander Kendall Graveman was excellent in his start against the Mariners on Saturday. Graveman fired seven shutout innings, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out one in the 2-0 victory.

Graveman improved his record to 6-4 and lowered his ERA to 3.16 with the fine outing on Saturday.

"Outstanding. Efficient," A's catcher Stephen Vogt said, per MLB.com. "I thought he did such a great job today of getting to 0-2 and putting them away quickly."

He now has seven consecutive quality starts, allowing a total of nine runs in 49 innings over that stretch.

White Sox closer David Robertson recorded his 18th save of the season in his team's win over the Orioles on Saturday.

Robertson closed out the ninth inning in just seven pitches. He struck out one batter and didn't allow any hits.

Astros starting pitcher Collin McHugh didn't have his best stuff on Saturday against the Red Sox.

McHugh tossed 5 1/3 innings, allowed three earned runs on seven hits and picked up his fourth loss of the season. He allowed one run apiece in each of the first and second innings, and another in the fifth. McHugh struggled with giving up free bases as he walked three batters.

McHugh (9-4) ahs a 4.54 ERA with 85 strikeouts and 27 walks in 107 innings of work this season.

Rays reliever Brad Boxberger gave up an unearned run to take a walk-off loss against the Yankees on Saturday. 

Boxberger snapped a five-game scoreless streak and lost for the first time since May 27. 

Patterson gave up a double and a walk to start the ninth, then he made a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt to allow the winning run to score. 

Yankees closer Dellin Betances blew his first save since May 4, but a walk-off win by the Yankees earned him his first win since May 8. 

Betances entered with two outs in the eighth and a two-run lead. He stranded a runner on second but ran into trouble in the ninth. He gave up a single and a game-tying homer to the first two batters of the ninth before recovering the retire the side.

It was the first home run Betances has allowed since August 13 of last season. He gave up his first runs in five games and moved to 5-1 on the season. 

The Phillies had worked out a deal to send outfielder Ben Revere to the Angels a few weeks ago, according to a report by the Boston Globe. The trade would have sent pitcher Trevor Gott to the Phillies. 

The Angels reportedly pulled out of the deal at the last minute and tried to replace Gott with another pitching prospect, but an agreement couldn't be reached. 

Athletics right-hander Jesse Chavez allowed four runs on nine hits over 6 1/3 innings on Friday, resulting in his eighth loss of the season. Chavez struck out four and did not walk a batter, as the A's fell 9-5 to the Mariners.

Chavez (4-8, 3.20 ERA) got hurt by the longball on Friday. With his team up 3-0, Chavez gave up a two-run home run to Logan Morrison in the third inning. He followed that up by allowing a two-run blast to Seth Smith in the sixth, giving the Mariners the 4-3 lead.