MLB Player News

Bednar recorded his 20th save of the season in Saturday's 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks, giving up one run on two hits and one walk over one inning. He struck out two.

Entrusted with a 4-1 lead in the ninth inning, Bednar fanned the first two batters he faced before a Geraldo Perdomo double kicked off an Arizona rally that saw Alek Thomas come to the plate as the potential winning run, only to fly out. Bednar has been charged with a run in five of his last 10 appearances, but he's still converted all seven of his save chances during that stretch -- in fact, the right-hander hasn't blown a save since April 9.

Bigge will serve as the Rays' opening pitcher for Sunday's game in Houston, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

After being acquired from the Cubs last Sunday as part of the three-player deal that sent Isaac Paredes to Chicago, Bigge was added to the Rays' 26-man active roster two days later. He's already turned in a pair of scoreless frames for Tampa Bay and has now given up just one earned run while striking out seven over his first 5.1 big-league innings, and he was dominant at the Triple-A level before that, accruing an 0.68 ERA, 0.69 WHIP and 20:6 K:BB in 13.1 innings for the Cubs' affiliate in Iowa. Sunday will mark Bigge's first career start, but he's unlikely to cover more than inning or two before turning to game over to lefty Tyler Alexander, who is expected to operate as a bulk reliever.

Pagan (lat) struck out one over one scoreless inning in his rehab appearance for Triple-A Louisville on Saturday.

Pagan kicked off a rehab assignment Saturday and is expected to make three to five more appearances in the minors before being activated. He landed on the 15-day injured list in June then was transferred to the 60-day IL a few weeks later. Pagan is eligible to be activated Aug. 8.

Foley (3-3) allowed two unearned runs on one hit across two innings of relief to earn the win in extra innings Saturday against the Royals. He struck out one.

Foley didn't enter the contest until the top of the 10th inning, when he allowed the automatic runner on second base to score following a fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly. He allowed the automatic runner to score again in the 11th, but the Tigers scored twice in the bottom half to give the righty the win. Foley has ceded some ninth-inning work to other relievers, though he's still clearly trusted in high-leverage spots and remains the team's top closer. He leads the Tigers by a wide margin with 15 saves this season.

Sewald walked one and struck out one over a scoreless inning in Saturday's 4-2 loss to Pittsburgh.

Sewald made his first appearance since manager Torey Lovullo removed him from the closer's role. He did a slightly better job of finding the strike zone -- eight of 15 pitches for strikes -- after throwing just nine strikes over 24 offerings Wednesday. It was that appearance which triggered the decision to strip him of the title as Arizona's closer. As Lovullo explained it, Sewald had a mechanical issue that impacted his ability to throw strikes, which suggests he could regain ninth-inning duties if he's able to correct the problem.

McArthur (4-5) blew the save and took the loss Saturday, giving up two runs (one earned) on two hits and a walk over two-thirds of an inning in a 6-5 extra-innings loss to the Tigers.

The Kansas City bullpen had a disastrous day, as Hunter Harvey and Kris Bubic blew leads in the ninth and 10th innings, respectively, before McArthur finished the job by surrendering a walk-off single to Wenceel Perez in the bottom of the 11th. The big takeaway was manager Matt Quatraro's reluctance to use McArthur in a save situation, and with good reason -- since the beginning of July, the right-hander has an 8.71 ERA, 1.84 WHIP and 5:2 K:BB in 10.1 innings, and he's blown two of his last three save opportunities including Saturday. Harvey's usage in the ninth could mark him as the next man up to get a chance to close for the Royals, but Lucas Erceg might also be in the mix after he picked up a hold with a perfect eighth inning. McArthur hasn't officially been removed from the role, but his job security seems to be hanging by a thread.

Neris (8-4) allowed one run on one hit across an inning of work to take the loss Saturday against the Cardinals.

Tasked with keeping the game 4-4 in the top of the ninth inning, Neris allowed a leadoff triple to Tommy Pham followed by a sacrifice fly to quickly give St. Louis the lead. For Neris, it was just the second time he's allowed a run over his last 14 appearances, and he has a 1.35 ERA during that span. The veteran's recent strong play should keep him locked in as Chicago's regular closer despite Saturday's hiccup in a non-save situation.

Diaz earned a save against the Giants on Saturday, allowing one run on one hit over one inning.

Diaz entered in the ninth frame with Cincinnati holding a three-run lead and surrendered a solo homer to Matt Chapman on his third pitch. However, the closer rebounded to retire the next three batters and nail down the save. Diaz has converted each of his past 15 save chances and is 22-for-24 in save situations overall this season.

Romero (5-1) struck out one in a perfect inning to earn the win Saturday over the Cubs.

Kyle Gibson allowed four runs in a seven-inning start, but the Cardinals rallied late and Romero was the beneficiary. Over his last 13 outings, Romero has allowed just one run across 10.2 innings, though he has given up 11 hits and two walks in that span. The lefty setup man has a 2.38 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 39:9 K:BB with 27 holds through 45.1 innings this season, though he's also been on the hook for five blown saves.

Cano earned a save against the Guardians on Saturday, striking out one batter in a scoreless ninth inning.

Cano made things look easy in protecting a three-run lead in the ninth inning, needing just eight pitches to retire the side in order. The righty reliever has picked up a save in two of his past three appearances and has given up just one run across his past 10 outings. Cano's save chance may have been tied to primary closer Craig Kimbrel pitching two of the previous three days, but Kimbrel has also struggled of late and blown his past two save opportunities, so it wouldn't be shocking if Cano gets more ninth-inning opportunities moving forward.