MLB Player News

Vodnik (bicep) began a rehab assignment with Double-A Hartford on Friday and struck out two batters over one inning.

Vodnik has been on the injured list since Aug. 21 with right bicep inflammation, but he was cleared to embark on the rehab assignment after he completed a bullpen session earlier this week without issue. Prior to Vodnik joining up with Hartford, manager Bud Black told MLB.com that the right-hander "could return quickly" if his rehab assignment goes well. Considering how well Vodnik pitched Friday, it wouldn't be surprising if he was activated from the 15-day injured list ahead of Sunday's series finale in Milwaukee after getting a day of rest Saturday.

Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said that Basso will start Saturday's game against the Tigers, Jessica Kleinschmidt of the Oakland Athletics Radio Network reports.

Osvaldo Bido would have been lined up to pitch Saturday, but the Athletics look set to skip his turn through the rotation, as Basso will take the hill for the penultimate game of the series, while J.T. Ginn starts Sunday's finale. Basso's previous three appearances with the Athletics came as a reliever from late May through mid-June, but he had been working out of the rotation at Triple-A Las Vegas prior to his call-up Thursday and looks set to operate as a traditional starter Saturday. He covered at least five innings in four of his last five outings with Las Vegas, compiling a 2.84 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and 27:4 K:BB in 25.1 innings during that stretch.

Brieske (2-4) allowed two unearned runs on two hits across 1.1 innings of relief to take the loss Friday against the Athletics. He walked one and struck out one.

Brieske was tasked with extending the game beyond the 13th inning after giving up a game-tying sacrifice fly in the 12th, but he allowed Seth Brown to deliver the walk-off single. The righty reliever snapped a streak of three straight scoreless appearances, though with the runs being unearned, he lowered his ERA since the beginning of August to 2.45. For the season, Brieske has a 4.14 ERA and 56 strikeouts across 54.1 innings.

Kitchen (0-1) yielded seven runs (six earned) on nine hits over two innings Friday, striking out one and taking a loss against the Phillies.

Kitchen was thrust into a spot start after Edward Cabrera (migraine) was scratched Friday. The Phillies jumped on Kitchen early, plating three runs in the first before scoring four more in the second. It was the rookie's first career MLB start and he saw his ERA jump from 9.00 to 14.14 through seven innings. Kitchen shouldn't be expected to stick around in the rotation.

Clase struck out one in a perfect inning to earn the save in Friday's 3-1 win over the Dodgers.

Clase is up to 42 saves on the year, and he's converted 29 consecutive opportunities. He needed just seven pitches (six strikes) to set down the Nos. 5-7 in the Dodgers' order Friday. Clase has given up two runs (one earned) over 15 innings since the beginning of August and now has a 0.69 ERA, 0.66 WHIP and 56:8 K:BB over 65.1 innings. He needs two more saves to match his career high from last year.

Dominguez allowed a hit over 1.1 scoreless innings Friday, striking out two and earning a save against the Rays.

Dominguez found himself in trouble after an error in the ninth inning but he escaped the threat and preserved a 2-0 win. He's now converted all eight save chances he's received since joining Baltimore on July 26. As an Oriole, he's registered a 2.76 ERA with a 21:4 K:BB over 16.1 frames. Dominguez appears to have cemented himself as the team's leading ninth-inning option.

Winckowski threw a perfect inning and earned a save against the White Sox on Friday.

Winckowski made his second appearance since being recalled from Triple-A Worcester on Aug. 27. In those two outings, he's combined to toss four scoreless innings, dropping his season ERA to 4.10. Boston's ninth-inning job appears to be somewhat open at the moment with Kenley Jansen (lat) sidelined for an indefinite period. Winckowski now has four career saves, with the previous three coming during the 2023 campaign.

Urena did not factor into the decision Friday, allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits and two walks over 5.2 innings against the Angels. He struck out three.

The veteran right-hander served as the bulk reliever, firing 75 pitches and finishing the game after Gerson Garabito and Walter Pennington began the contest with 3.1 combined innings. All three runs Urena allowed came via a homer by Logan O'Hoppe in the sixth inning. The 32-year-old has been a versatile arm for manager Bruce Bochy, plugging holes created by numerous rotation injuries this season. Urena's made 32 appearances -- including nine starts -- while pitching to a 3.69 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 68:38 K:BB across 107.1 innings.

Jansen indicated after Friday's game against the White Sox that he was unavailable to pitch due to a lat issue, Julian McWilliams of The Boston Globe reports.

The Red Sox had a save situation in Friday's game, but Josh Winckowski got the call in the ninth inning instead. Jansen didn't provide a specific timeline for his return, saying that he wouldn't pitch again until the issue is fully resolved. Winckowski appears to be the next man up as closer, but Chris Martin, Justin Slaten and even Liam Hendriks (elbow) might also be factors in the ninth depending on how long Jansen is unavailable.

Junis will start Saturday's game against the Mets, Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Junis was expected to serve as the bulk reliever behind Fernando Cruz on Friday, but the Reds instead had Brandon Williamson fill that role. Junis is now set up for a start Saturday, after he had previously piggybacked Williamson in the latter's 2024 Reds debut this past Sunday versus the Brewers. The right-hander has worked four and 3.2 innings in his last two outings, so he has an outside chance at working deep enough into Saturday's start to qualify for a win.