MLB Player News

The Twins are expected to place Funderburk on the paternity list ahead of Tuesday's game against the Mets, Bobby Nightengale of The Minnesota Star Tribune reports.

With Funderburk's wife due to deliver the couple's first child Monday, the lefty reliever will most likely remain away from the team for its entire upcoming three-game road series in Queens before linking back up with the Twins for their weekend series in Tampa. Minnesota plans to call up left-hander Kendry Rojas from Triple-A St. Paul to take Funderburk's spot on the active roster and in the bullpen. One of five different Twins to record a save this season, Funderburk has also collected four holds while pitching to a 2.00 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and 8:7 K:BB in nine innings.

Rangers manager Skip Schumaker confirmed Sunday that Garcia underwent an MRI on his sore left shoulder, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports.

The Rangers are confident that the results of the testing will show no structural damage, but Garcia is likely to receive an anti-inflammatory injection Monday. The left-hander has not pitched since last Thursday, when he first experienced the issue after throwing a third of an inning. A best-case scenario is having Garcia available for Tuesday or Wednesday against the Pirates.

Ashcraft walked one and struck out one over a scoreless 10th inning to earn the save in Sunday's 7-4 win over Minnesota.

Cincinnati closer Emilio Pagan was unable to lock down the win in the ninth, necessitating Ashcraft's appearance in the extra frame. His final pitch was originally called a ball but was overturned on an ABS challenge for strike three and earned the reliever his first career save. Ashcraft, who has a 1.50 ERA with 14 strikeouts and six holds over 12 innings, is a key component of what has been MLB's best bullpen in terms of ERA (2.31 over 85.2 innings).

Gordon struck out five and allowed three earned runs on four hits and one walk across 2.2 innings out of the bullpen in Saturday's 7-5 loss to the Cardinals.

Earlier in the week, Houston recalled Gordon from Triple-A Sugar Land and plugged him into a rotation that had recently lost all of Hunter Brown (shoulder), Cristian Javier (shoulder), Tatsuya Imai (arm) and Cody Bolton (back) to the injured list. Gordon was lit up for four earned runs on eight hits across 3.2 innings while taking a no-decision Tuesday in Houston's 7-6 win over Colorado, and the poor showing as a starter followed by the extended relief appearance looks like it will at least temporarily keep the left-hander from receiving additional turns through the rotation. Ryan Weiss and Peter Lambert would now appear to be the likely candidates to fill out the final two spots in the Houston rotation, which could be scaled back from six men to five during the upcoming week with an off day looming Thursday.

Painter (1-1) allowed three runs on five hits, a walk and a hit batsman while striking out four over four-plus innings, taking the loss Sunday versus Atlanta.

Painter fell short of the five-inning mark for the second time in four appearances this season. The 23-year-old right-hander limited the damage to a Michael Harris solo shot through four innings, but he put traffic on the bases in the fifth, and Tim Mayza allowed both inherited runners to score. That ended up being enough to stick Painter with his first big-league loss. He's pitched to a 4.42 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 20:4 K:BB across 18.1 innings. Zack Wheeler (shoulder) is close to making his season debut, and it's not yet clear if that will cost Painter his rotation spot, though Taijuan Walker's struggles could lead to him being the odd man out. Should Painter stay in the rotation, he is tentatively lined up for a rematch on the road in Atlanta.

Iglesias (shoulder) allowed a hit and a walk while striking out one over a scoreless inning to earn the save in Sunday's 4-2 win over Philadelphia.

Iglesias was deemed unavailable Saturday after sleeping on his shoulder wrong. The issue was not believed to be serious, and while he wasn't all that sharp Sunday, it's a positive sign he was able to get back on the mound. He threw 13 of 21 pitches for strikes in this outing and escaped with his fifth save of the season. The veteran closer has yet to give up a run over 8.2 innings, and the walk he issued Sunday was the first he's given up all season. He's added 11 strikeouts and looks locked in as Atlanta's primary closer, though the team's bullpen has been a strength in general so far with four relievers sporting an ERA under 2.00.

Holmes allowed two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out four over 4.2 innings in a no-decision versus Philadelphia on Sunday.

Holmes threw 50 of 81 pitches for strikes. He was pulled before having to face Kyle Schwarber a third time in the contest after Schwarber hit a two-run blast off Holmes in the first inning. This was Holmes' second straight start where he fell short of the five-inning mark, denying him a chance to collect his second win of the year. Through five starts, he has a 3.42 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 21:11 K:BB through 26.1 innings. The right-hander's next start is projected to be a rematch at home versus the Phillies.

Pearson (elbow) faced live hitters for the second time in an extended spring training game Friday, MLB.com reports.

Pearson has been on the shelf all season while he works his way back from an offseason cleanup procedure on his right elbow, but the fact that he's now faced hitters on multiple occasions suggests that a rehab assignment could be on the horizon. Given that he didn't pitch in any games during the Grapefruit League, Pearson will likely require an extended minor-league assignment before being activated from the 15-day injured list and joining the Houston bullpen.

The Orioles outrighted Sandridge to Triple-A Norfolk on Sunday.

Sandridge will stick around in the Baltimore organization after going unclaimed off waivers upon being designated for assignment a few days earlier. The lefty reliever had covered 1.2 scoreless innings over two appearances for Norfolk this season before losing his spot on the Orioles' 40-man roster.

Fairbanks earned the save Sunday against the Brewers, tossing a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts.

Fairbanks was dominant in the ninth, striking out the first two batters he faced on just three pitches each before inducing a groundout to secure the victory. It was the right-hander's third save of the season. After allowing three runs in back-to-back appearances to begin April, Fairbanks has now posted consecutive perfect frames, reinforcing that his role as the primary closer should remain secure.