MLB Player News

Williams earned the save in Thursday's 5-2 win over Pittsburgh, allowing one hit while striking out one in a scoreless ninth inning.

Williams worked around a Nick Gonzales one-out double to secure his 14th save this season. The 30-year-old Williams has held opponents scoreless in his last 12 appearances (12 innings) while securing nine consecutive saves -- he's allowed just four hits while striking out 22 in that span. Overall, Willliams' ERA is down to 1.31 on the year with a 0.97 WHIP and 38:10 K:BB across 20.2 innings.

The Dodgers placed Graterol on the 15-day injured list Thursday with right shoulder inflammation, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Graterol has thrown seven shutout innings since returning from the a hamstring injury Sept. 10, but he'll now officially miss the Dodgers' final four games as well as the first portion of the team's postseason run. Shoulder problems caused the 26-year-old righty to miss the entire first half of the season, though the severity of his latest injury remains unknown. In a corresponding move, Ben Casparius was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City to fill the opening in Los Angeles' bullpen.

The Diamondbacks optioned Walston to Triple-A Reno on Thursday.

Since rejoining the D-backs' bullpen Sept. 15, Walston has surrendered eight runs (five earned) over just 5.2 innings while striking out seven batters and walking one. He and Yilber Diaz will end up as Arizona's roster casualties following the activation of Ryne Nelson (shoulder) and promotion of Alek Thomas, and the 23-year-old Walston likely won't make it back to the majors during the final series of the season this weekend.

The Brewers activated Mears (forearm) from the 15-day injured list Thursday.

Mears was sidelined for the past month with right forearm inflammation but has been cleared to return after throwing a successful simulated game earlier this week. He's collected a 6.75 ERA and 1.41 WHIP across 10.2 innings for Milwaukee since being acquired at the trade deadline.

The Brewers optioned Herget to Triple-A Nashville on Thursday.

Herget made two scoreless appearances during his most recent stint with the Brewers. He's clearing out to make room on the roster for the return of Nick Mears (forearm) from the 15-day injured list.

Kopech picked up the save over the Padres on Wednesday, allowing one walk over a scoreless ninth inning while striking out one.

Kopech relieved Blake Treinen to open the ninth and retired the first two batters on five pitches before surrendering a walk to Jake Cronenworth. The right-hander was then able to strike out Donovan Solano for the final out to lock down his 15th save of the campaign and his third in the month of September. Kopech has now allowed at least one baserunner in five-consecutive appearances and at least one free pass in four of his last five. However, he's also converted each of his last seven save opportunities, with his last blown save coming back on July 7 against the Marlins.

Martinez allowed one run on three hits and one walk while striking out two over 1.1 innings in Wednesday's 8-2 win over the Giants.

The Diamondbacks were up, 5-1, when manager Torey Lovullo had Martinez enter the contest to open the seventh inning. He allowed the first two batters to reach but managed to wriggle out of danger. The right-hander was sent out to start the eighth and was removed after a double and single made it a 5-2 game. It's unclear why Lovullo had his closer enter what would normally be a low-leverage spot. Martinez has pitched at regular intervals over the past week, so it wasn't an issue of rust. Perhaps it was due to Lovullo's desire to end the team's three-game losing skid.

Helsley earned a save Wednesday, inducing a double play on the only pitch he threw against the Rockies.

St. Louis carried a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth frame, but Matthew Liberatore gave up a leadoff homer to Brenton Doyle and issued a one-out walk to Michael Toglia to prompt Helsley's entrance in a save situation. Helsley didn't take long to extinguish Colorado's hopes of a comeback, as Sam Hilliard grounded into a game-ending double play on the right-hander's first pitch. The save was Helsley's league-leading 48th of the campaign, and he has an outside chance of reaching 50 with four games remaining on St. Louis' schedule.

Junis did not factor into the decision in Wednesday's 5-2 loss to the Guardians, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk with three strikeouts over five innings.

Junis shook off a leadoff homer by Steven Kwan and mostly pitched well, throwing 48 of 72 pitches for strikes. The 32-year-old has completed at least five innings while yielding two earned runs or fewer in each of his last four starts. He'll finish the season with a 2.69 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 51:8 K:BB across 67 innings with the Brewers and Reds.

Chapman earned the save against the Brewers on Wednesday, allowing one hit and striking out one in a scoreless ninth inning.

Chapman was called upon to protect a 2-1 lead in the ninth and secured his 12th save when Willy Adames was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double. Since allowing four earned runs in a blown save Sept. 7, Chapman has locked down six consecutive chances with eight strikeouts. On the season, the southpaw owns a 3.90 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and 95:39 K:BB across 60 innings.