MLB Player News

Melancon recorded his 33rd save in Saturday's 7-6 victory over the Braves, giving up an earned run on two hits over an inning.

The closer inherited a tough situation in the ninth, coming on in relief of Yusmeiro Petit with two men on and one out. Melancon surrendered a run-scoring single to Ender Inciarte and a two-RBI double to Erick Aybar before getting the dangerous duo of Freddie Freeman and Matt Kemp to line out to right and ground out to shortstop respectively. The 31-year-old had last given up a run on July 19 versus the Brewers, and owns a stellar 1.50 ERA since joining the Nationals at the trade deadline.

Lopez (1-1) gave up an earned run on five hits and two walks over seven innings in Saturday's 7-6 victory over the Braves. He struck out two.

Just recalled from Triple-A Syracuse, Lopez was efficient while throwing 71 of 100 pitches for strikes over his seven frames and recording his first career victory. He has a chance to stick in the rotation for the foreseeable future, and Saturday's effort certainly serves as a point in his favor. The 22-year-old will look to make it two in a row when he faces the Braves next Thursday.

Jansen recorded his 35th save in Saturday's 8-4 victory over the Pirates, recording a strikeout against the only batter he faced.

The dominant closer needed just five pitches to dispose of Gregory Polanco with two men on. Jansen bounced back nicely from his most recent appearance on Wednesday, when he gave up three earned runs over two-thirds of an inning to the Phillies. Jansen is now 35-for-40 in save opportunities this season.

Gomez allowed two hits, but he struck out the side to nail down his 30th save of the season in a 6-3 victory over the Rockies on Saturday.

With runners at second and third, the tying run at the plate and one out, Gomez struck out Nolan Arenado and David Dahl. It was his first outing with three strikeouts since April 17. In addition to 30 saves, Gomez has a 2.52 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 37 strikeouts in 53.2 innings.

The results of De La Rosa's recent MRI on his elbow are being sent to Dr. James Andrews for consultation, MLB.com's Steve Gilbert reports.

This is obviously not good news, and it already seemed as though it was a long shot for De La Rosa to return this season. At this point he can be cut loose in most full-season leagues and his owners in dynasty leagues will just need to cross their fingers that he doesn't need Tommy John surgery, as it would cost him all of the 2017 season at this point.

Kontos tossed three clean innings in Friday's 5-2 loss to the Orioles. He walked two and struck out one.

Kontos was called upon in a long-relief role after starter Matt Cain could only go four innings Friday. He has been stellar as a middle reliever for the Giants this season (2.11 ERA), but it was surprising that manager Bruce Bochy let him go for three innings (39 pitches). While the ERA is a nice surprise, Kontos doesn't strike out enough batters to be relevant in most formats.

Lopez was officially recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to make Saturday's start against the Braves, the Washington Post's Chelsea Janes reports.

The hard-throwing righty will make his third big league start Saturday in a favorable matchup against the Braves. Lopez had a 28.3-percent strikeout rate in his first two starts, but also allowed 20 baserunners (14 hits, six walks) in 8.2 innings. The strikeouts offer a nice base for owners looking to stream Lopez on Saturday, but he remains a major ERA and WHIP risk.

Morris was optioned to Double-A Mississippi on Saturday Kevin McAlpin of 680 The Fan reports.

After being up with the big league club for just one day, Morris was sent down Saturday with the Braves recalling Ryan Weber. The young right-hander will head back to the minors in order to get more regular work, but he could be a candidate to rejoin the Braves when rosters expand in September.

Weber was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett on Saturday, Kevin McAlpin of 680 The Fan reports.

Weber has made five starts at the Triple-A level this season, but he's worked exclusively as a reliever in his time with the big league club. He owns a 7.43 ERA and 1.65 WHIP over 13.1 innings with the Braves this season. Akeel Morris was optioned to Double-A Mississippi to clear a roster spot for Weber.

Morris was called up from Double-A Mississippi on Friday, David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

As expected, Morris is headed up to The Show for the first time this season. He's been a solid option from the bullpen with Mississippi, where he's posted a 2.78 ERA over 22.2 innings, striking out 30 batters in that time. He'll add depth to a subpar Atlanta bullpen that has a collective ERA of 3.98.