MLB Player News

Long will start Friday's game against the Padres, Evan Webeck of The San Jose Mercury News reports.

Long picked up his first career save by recording the final out Wednesday in Arizona, and he's now been tabbed to start Friday's contest. He delivered three scoreless frames in his previous appearance Sunday -- which is tied for his longest outing of the season -- so he's unlikely to last much beyond that as a starter.

Bednar allowed one hit and struck out one in a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save in the first game of Thursday's doubleheader against the Reds.

Bednar surrendered a one-out double to Mike Moustakas but otherwise pitched a clean frame to tally his 14th save of the season. Since allowing five earned runs across 1.1 innings and two appearances in late June, Bednar has turned in three consecutive scoreless appearances, earning saves in each, to get back on track. He has maintained a strong 2.31 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 52:12 K:BB across 39 frames on the season and is locked into the closer role in Pittsburgh.

Brieske (2-6) pitched 6.1 scoreless innings to earn the win Thursday against the White Sox. He allowed two hits and a walk while striking out four.

Chicago trotted out the red-hot Dylan Cease, but Brieske was up for the duel. This was the third time this season the rookie has allowed zero runs in a start, with the other two coming in consecutive outings June 11 and June 16. The two hits were also the fewest he's allowed in a game. Brieske only has 50 strikeouts across 75.2 innings, so he's not overpowering hitters, but he's been reasonably effective with a 4.16 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. He'll carry some positive momentum into his next scheduled start Tuesday against the Royals.

Leiter (2-3) took the loss against the Dodgers on Thursday, allowing four runs on five hits and no walks while striking out four batters over five innings.

Leiter gave up only five hits in five innings, but all five went for extra bases, including three that left the yard. The right-hander did well with 5.1 frames of one-run ball after stepping in for Alec Mills (back) in the first inning against Boston last Saturday, but he was unable to duplicate that effort against Los Angeles. Kyle Hendricks (shoulder) recently joined Mills, Marcus Stroman (shoulder), Drew Smyly (oblique) and Wade Miley (shoulder) as Cubs starters on the injured list, so Leiter has a chance to keep a spot in the rotation, though that isn't guaranteed with both Stroman and Smyly expected to be back in action this weekend.

Vesia earned a save against the Cubs on Thursday by striking out the only batter he faced.

Los Angeles turned to Craig Kimbrel with a three-run lead heading into the ninth inning, but the closer stumbled and allowed the winning run to come to the plate. Vesia was then called upon to put out the fire, and he struck out Nelson Velazquez on six pitches to finish off the victory. The save was Vesia's first of the campaign and second of his career. He's not a threat to usurp Kimbrel for closing duties, but the left-hander is putting together a solid season with a 3.12 ERA and seven holds along with 34 strikeouts over 26 innings.

Lawrence worked as the primary pitcher Thursday against Seattle, allowing five runs on seven hits over 2.2 innings. He did not factor in the decision.

Anthony Banda opened the game for Toronto and was charged with two runs while notching just one out. That got him tagged with the loss and allowed Lawrence to escape with a no-decision despite his own ugly performance. Lawrence gave up a run in the second and four in the third before departing having tossed 52 pitches. The right-hander was again strung by the long ball -- he yielded two Thursday and has now served up five homers over his past 12.1 frames. Lawrence has bounced back and forth between Triple-A and the majors this season, and he could be headed back down following Thursday's poor outing.

Hoffman did not factor into the decision in the second game of Thursday's doubleheader, allowing zero runs on one hit and zero walks over 1.2 innings against the Pirates. He struck out three.

The Reds were winging it in the nightcap; manager David Bell admitted in the afternoon that he didn't know who would start the second game. It ended up being Hoffman, who retired five of the seven batters he faced before turning things over to the rest of the bullpen. Hoffman has rebounded in a relief role this season (3.15 ERA through 30 total appearances) and will likely remain in the bullpen for the rest of 2022.

Bard earned a save against the Diamondbacks on Thursday, walking one batter in a scoreless inning.

After Colorado took a one-run lead in the top of the ninth inning, Bard was brought in to close the door on the Diamondbacks. The right-hander was a bit shaky with his control -- he threw only eight of 15 pitches for strikes and walked a batter -- but he was able to get through the frame without allowing any damage on the scoreboard. Since his last blown save May 15, Bard has notched eight saves and allowed just three earned runs over 19.1 innings.

Rogers blew the save, allowing a run on a hit and a hit batsman while striking out one in the ninth inning of a 2-1 extra-inning win Thursday against San Francisco. He did not factor into the decision.

Rogers entered the game with the Padres leading 1-0 and hit the first batter he faced. With two outs, Brandon Crawford tied the game with an RBI single. Rogers has allowed runs in four consecutive outings, blowing two saves in that span and raising his season ERA from 2.84 to 3.63. The lefty is now 23-for-28 in save chances.

Wilson (1-5) took the loss in the second game of Thursday's doubleheader against the Reds. He was charged with four runs (one earned) on seven hits and zero walks with four strikeouts in 6.2 innings.

The defense let Wilson down and Cincinnati cashed in with a couple additional runs after he exited the game in the seventh. Despite the loss, this goes down as another step in the right direction -- he now has a 2.13 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in his last two starts spanning 12.2 innings. Wilson still has a long way to go (6.60 ERA, 1.68 WHP at the major-league level this season), and he will be headed out as the designated 27th man for this doubleheader, but the right-hander remains in the mix for starts in the second half.