MLB Player News

The Red Sox optioned Kelly to Triple-A Worcester on Sunday, Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald reports.

Kelly will head back to Worcester to make room in the bullpen for right-hander Brad Keller, who agreed to a one-year deal with the Red Sox. After making his return from Triple-A on April 24, Kelly made 11 relief appearances for Boston and logged a 2.16 ERA and 1.26 WHIP across 16.2 innings.

Keller signed a one-year contract with the Red Sox on Sunday, Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald reports.

After clearing waivers upon being designated for assignment by the White Sox last week, Keller elected free agency and quickly caught on with a new club on a big-league deal. Keller is expected to be available out of the bullpen for Sunday's game against the Brewers and should serve as a long-relief option for the duration of his stay with Boston. Prior to being cut by the White Sox, Keller made five appearances (two starts) and pitched to a 4.86 ERA and 1.38 WHIP across 16.2 innings.

Alexander was credited with his first hold in Saturday's win over the Astros, firing a scoreless two-thirds of an inning.

Alexander got the final two outs of the eighth, inheriting a one-on, one-out situation from Lucas Erceg and retiring the dangerous duo of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez on groundouts. The veteran southpaw allowed a solo home run over two-thirds of an inning in his delayed season debut against the Rockies on Tuesday, but he's subsequently fired 1.2 scoreless, hitless frames in his next pair of appearances.

Speier (0-2) was charged with the loss against the Nationals on Saturday, allowing two earned runs on two hits over one-third of an inning.

Entrusted with preserving a 1-1 tie when he entered in the seventh, Speier induced an inning-opening groundout from Luis Garcia before surrendering back-to-back singles to Jesse Winker and Keibert Ruiz, as well as a steal to the former. Trent Thornton took over at that point and subsequently allowed both inherited runners to score, leading to Speier eventually being charged with the loss. The 29-year-old Speier has now turned in three straight outings where he's allowed two earned runs while recording just one out, and he's conceded 10 runs overall across four innings in May. The veteran southpaw was a reliable bullpen fixture over the previous three seasons for the Royals and Mariners, but his current struggles may be exhausting the slack his previous body of work has earned him.

The Rangers designated Anderson for assignment Sunday.

He'll cede his spot on the 40-man roster and 26-man active roster to right-hander Gerson Garabito, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Round Rock ahead of his scheduled start Sunday against the Twins. After being called up from Round Rock on May 15, Anderson proceeded to make a pair of relief appearances for the Rangers, giving up two earned runs on six hits and one walk while striking out three over 3.1 innings.

Sewald earned the save in a win over the Marlins on Saturday, striking out one over a perfect ninth inning.

Sewald had no issues running through the bottom of Miami's lineup to secure the save, needing just nine pitches to get the job done. The right-handed reliever remains perfect on the season in save opportunities and hasn't allowed a run since his first relief appearance back on May 7 (spanning six appearances). Sewald has also recorded at least one strikeout in three straight outings.

Sanchez (0-3) took the loss Saturday, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks over five innings against the Diamondbacks. He struck out two.

Sanchez got off to a rough start, walking Corbin Carroll in the opening at-bat before surrendering back-to-back doubles with two outs in the frame, leading to two runs coming home for Arizona. The right-hander would allow another run on a sac fly in the second, but settled in nicely from that point on, giving up just two infield singles over his final three frames. It marked Sanchez's longest outing of the season, though he's now been tagged with the loss in each of his last two starts. He's also walked multiple batters in all four outings this month.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo confirmed that Walston will be called up from Triple-A Reno to start Sunday's game against the Marlins, Alex Weiner of ArizonaSports.com reports.

He'll step into the rotation spot vacated by Slade Cecconi, who was optioned to Reno earlier in the week. Walston will be making his first MLB start and second MLB appearance Sunday after he was charged with two earned runs on three hits and four walks while striking out five over 3.2 innings in a long-relief appearance May 1 against the Dodgers. The 22-year-old lefty has been a member of the rotation for Reno for much of the season, logging a 4.54 ERA, 1.68 WHIP and 35:20 K:BB across 35.2 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

Holmes picked up the save over the Padres on Saturday, pitching a perfect ninth inning while striking out one.

Holmes made it look easy Saturday, retiring all three batters he faced in the ninth on a total of just seven pitches to record his 15th save of the season. The right-handed reliever has now converted his last two save opportunities after surrendering four runs to the Mariners on May 20, striking out at least one batter in each of those appearances. Holmes sits just one save behind Emmanuel Clase (16) for the American League lead after Saturday's outing.

Clase picked up the save over the Angels on Saturday, allowing one hit over one inning while striking out two.

Clase entered the game with a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth and surrendered a leadoff single to Logan O'Hoppe before retiring the next three batters in succession, with two of them going down on strikes. It marked Clase's third appearance this month in which he's registered multiple strikeouts and he's now converted each of his last three save opportunities. The right-hander currently sits at 16 saves on the season, which ties him for the major league lead with Ryan Helsley.