MLB Player News

Vizcaino struck out all three batters he faced to earn the save Saturday against the Phillies.

Vizcaino recorded just his third save of the season in four chances, but he looked dominant in the process. The Braves seemingly have a fluid closer situation with Manager Brian Snitker saying he would be flexible in how he deployed Vizcaino and A.J. Minter. However, Vizcaino has a 1.42 ERA and 1.18 WHIP, so if he loses save opportunities it cannot be blamed on poor performance.

Boxberger notched his eighth save of the season Saturday against the Nationals, allowing two walks and a hit across a scoreless inning while striking out one.

Boxberger retired the first two batters he faced before a double and a pair of walks (one intentional) loaded up the bases, but he was able to retire Michael Taylor to stay a perfect eight-for-eight on save chances this season. He's been shaky at times, as was evident in Saturday's outing, but the veteran still owns a solid 2.45 ERA and 14:6 K:BB through 11 innings this season.

Alexander was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday.

Alexander was likely unavailable for Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader against the Giants after pitching in Game 1 and during Friday's game, so the Dodgers opted to send him back to the minors in exchange for an additional outfielder with Yasiel Puig (foot) sidelined. The southpaw is off to a slow start to the season, as evidenced by his unsightly 6.35 ERA across 11.1 innings, but he should be back with the big club sooner than later.

Gomez was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento on Saturday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Gomez was unavailable for the second game of Saturday's doubleheader after pitching 3.1 innings of relief in Game 1, so the Giants opted to shuttle him back to the minors in exchange for a fresh bullpen arm. He owns a 7.71 ERA across five appearances (9.1 innings) with the big club this season.

Hoffman was activated from the disabled list and optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque on Saturday.

Hoffman has been dealing with shoulder soreness since early March. He was already pitching for Albuquerque on a rehab assignment, but now he'll continue to do so as a normal member of the team. The 25-year-old has thrown 130.2 career big-league innings with a 5.65 ERA.

Ortiz was placed on the disabled list with hamstring tightness, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Ortiz has a 2.11 ERA in 21.1 innings for Double-A Biloxi so far this season, striking out 24.7 percent of batters while walking 7.9 percent. He possesses three solid pitches in his fastball, slider and changeup and profiles as a future mid-rotation or back-end starter.

Garcia will start Tuesday against the Phillies, Andre Fernandez of the Miami Herald reports.

Garcia could have thrown on regular rest Saturday, but he'll end up with three extra days due to the returns of Wei-Yin Chen (elbow) and Dan Straily (forearm) and the team not wanting to skip Caleb Smith. The southpaw has a stellar 1.00 ERA through 27 innings so far this season, but his 4.58 xFIP suggests that major regression is due to come. His 20 percent strikeout rate is below average while his 12 percent walk rate is quite poor. His early success is primarily attributable to an extremely low .121 BABIP and an absurdly high 99 percent strand rate.

Melancon (elbow) was transferred to the 60-day disabled list Saturday.

Melancon was removed from the 40-man roster in order to make room for Alen Hanson. He'll now be ineligible to return before May 25. The veteran closer recently resumed baseball activities while rehabbing his elbow strain, but he's apparently still a month away from being ready to go. Hunter Strickland remains the Giants' closer in his absence.

Hicks (1-1) allowed one earned run on a hit, a walk and a hit batsman over two-thirds of an inning in an extra-inning loss to the Pirates on Friday. He also recorded a strikeout.

The flame-throwing right-hander couldn't close the deal Friday, despite getting his outing started on a positive note with a swinging strikeout of Max Moroff. Hicks subsequently walked David Freese and then allowed him to advance to second on a wild pitch. After a Gregory Polanco groundout, Hicks surrendered the game-winning single to Starling Marte for his first loss of the season. The 21-year-old has now allowed an earned run in both of his last two trips to the mound after opening the season with eight consecutive scoreless appearances.

Law will serve as the Giants' 26th man Saturday, the San Francisco Chronicle's John Shea reports.

Law has given up seven runs in 8.2 innings between the majors and Triple-A this season, and will likely only come in if one of the two games gets out of hand in either direction. He will head back to Triple-A after the twin bill.