MLB Player News

Javier finished with a no-decision against Washington on Thursday despite pitching six scoreless frames. He allowed five hits and struck out two batters.

All five hits against Javier went for a single, and he didn't issue any free passes for the third time this season. However, Houston didn't give him any run support, resulting in his second straight no-decision. This was the first time on the campaign that Javier has tossed a scoreless outing, though it was eighth quality start over 14 appearances. His strikeouts have been down lately -- the right-hander has notched just two in each of his past two starts -- but Javier has been consistently effective overall, posting a 7-1 record, 2.90 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 76:19 K:BB over 80.2 innings.

Eovaldi (9-3) took the loss Thursday, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks over seven innings against the Angels. He struck out nine.

Despite taking his first loss since April 12, Eovaldi racked up another quality start, moving him up to 11th in MLB with nine on the year. He was tagged for two solo homers on the day, one by Chad Wallach in the second and the other by Mickey Moniak in the seventh. Across his last two appearances, Eovaldi has combined for seven earned runs and a 15:5 K:BB over 13.1 innings after allowing four runs with a 46:9 K:BB in his seven previous starts (52.2 innings). The 33-year-old is expected to toe the rubber next against the White Sox in Chicago.

Boyd (4-5) allowed four runs on seven hits across six innings to earn the win Thursday against the Twins. He walked one and struck out eight.

After allowing five runs and taking the loss in his last start, it looked like Boyd was headed for another rough outing when he allowed four runs in the second inning. However, the lefty settled in from there and managed to earn his first win since May 19. Boyd will still take a middling 5.60 ERA into his next start, which is tentatively set for Wednesday against the Royals, giving him a good chance to earn a win in consecutive appearances for the first time this season.

Bradley did not factor into the decision Thursday, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks over 4.1 innings against the Athletics. He struck out 11.

Bradley was dealing Thursday, striking out the first six batters he faced and nine of the first 12 overall. However, the rookie began to struggle with his command in the fifth inning, issuing back-to-back walks before eventually allowing three runs to come home as Oakland took a 3-1 lead. He was replaced by Kevin Kelly with one out in the inning, but not before notching a career-high 11 strikeouts. On the downside, Bradley has now failed to make it through five innings in two of his last three starts, issuing 10 walks over that stretch.

Blackburn did not factor into the decision Thursday, allowing three runs on seven hits and one walk over 5.2 innings against the Rays. He struck out nine.

Blackburn got in a jam in the second inning after Harold Ramirez reached on a fielding error by Ryan Noda to lead things off. The right-hander then went on to cough up three straight hits, which brought two runs home, before uncharacteristically striking out the side -- all swinging, to get out of the inning. He wasn't quite able to make it through six innings but still managed to post a season-high nine strikeouts on the afternoon en route to his fourth consecutive no-decision. He'll look to earn his first win of the season when the A's travel to Cleveland to take on the Guardians next week.

Clevinger has no structural damage to his arm after exiting early from Wednesday's start against the Dodgers, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Clevinger was forced to exit the start after 4.2 innings, though he described the results of follow-up exams as the "best news possible." It's likely that he'll still land on the injured list, though manager Pedro Grifol said no determination has been made yet.

Wells (6-2) earned the win Thursday, allowing two runs on five hits and one walk over 6.2 innings against the Blue Jays. He struck out eight.

Wells was able to keep a dangerous Blue Jays lineup at bay for most of the afternoon, with the exception of Danny Jansen, who took the right-hander deep in the third and fifth innings to provide Toronto with their only runs in the contest. The right-hander has now won each of his last three starts for Baltimore and has struck out at least seven batters in six of his last seven. Wells has also held opponents to two earned runs or fewer in four straight, lowering his ERA to a strong 3.20 on the season.

Kikuchi did not factor into the decision Thursday, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks over 4.2 innings against the Orioles. He struck out seven.

Aside from allowing an RBI single by Gunnar Henderson in the first, Kikuchi was able to pitch his way out of trouble through the first four innings while striking out six. However, he would go on to cough up the game-tying run on a leadoff homer from Adley Rutschman to start the fifth after leaving a four-seamer over the middle of the plate. The lefty has now allowed two earned runs in four consecutive starts while posting 19 strikeouts to only four walks in the month of June.

Skubal (elbow) threw three scoreless innings and allowed only one hit while striking out five in a rehab appearance with Triple-A Toledo on Thursday.

Skubal made his first appearance with Toledo and averaged 95.9 mph with his fastball. He threw 31 total pitches, so he'll likely need at least one more rehab start before rejoining the Tigers' rotation. Skubal threw 118.2 innings in 2022 before going down, so he should be able to take regular turns as a starter for the rest of the season, assuming his arm remains healthy.

The Rangers are hopeful that Gray (blister) will be able to start Sunday against the Blue Jays, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Gray had to be scratched from his last scheduled start because of a blister on his pitching hand, but the issue has been deemed minor and the team remains optimistic he'll be able to avoid a stint on the injured list. The right-hander boasts a 2.32 ERA on the season and struck out 12 in a complete game his last time out.