MLB Player News

Paxton (11-6) allowed two runs on one hit with five walks and four strikeouts across five innings while recording a victory against the Mariners on Wednesday.

The free passes prevented Paxton from going deeper in the contest and led to one run scoring, but Paxton mostly worked around the walks to win his sixth straight decision. During the winning streak, Paxton owns a 3.57 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 35.1 innings. Overall, he has recorded a 4.39 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 156 strikeouts in 125 innings this season. Paxton will make his next start Tuesday at home against the Rangers.

Manager Terry Francona said on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM that Carrasco (illness) will be activated off the 60-day injured list Sunday.

Carrasco began a minor-league rehab assignment Aug. 19 and will make his final rehab appearance Thursday before rejoining the Indians when rosters expand. The 32-year-old has been sidelined for the last few months after being diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, but he's primed to return to the majors in a bullpen role after receiving the necessary treatment and working through his rehab program.

Means (family emergency) should start either Friday or Saturday in Kansas City, Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com reports.

He is currently on the Family Medical Emergency List, but will slot back in this weekend against the Royals. Means has a 6.23 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and 26 strikeouts in 34.2 innings over seven second-half starts.

Keller will be shut down for the season for workload reasons, Lynn Worthy of The Kansas City Star reports.

Keller pitched 165.1 innings this season, up from 140.1 last year. He wasn't able to come close to last season's 3.08 ERA, but his 4.19 mark this season was respectable enough. He again relied on a strong groundball rate (50.0 percent), as both his strikeout rate (17.2 percent) and walk rate (9.9 percent) were fairly poor.

Severino (lat) is now scheduled to make a rehab appearance Sunday with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, not Double-A Trenton as originally reported, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

The change in plans doesn't appear to have any bearing on Severino's timeline for eventually making his season debut. It's not clear how many rehab outings the Yankees plan for Severino to make, but he may not require too many since he's expected to return initially as a reliever.

Montgomery (shoulder) will make his next rehab appearance for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Montgomery was originally scheduled to join Double-A Trenton for his next rehab start, but he'll report to the highest level of the minors instead. The southpaw looked sharp in his first rehab outing over the weekend, firing a pair of perfect innings for High-A Tampa. The Yankees remain optimistic about Montgomery's chances of returning from the injured list sometime in September, likely in a relief role.

Verlander (16-5) allowed four hits and struck out four over 5.1 scoreless innings to pick up the win over Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

Verlander was cruising along nicely and had been spotted a nine-run lead when he started the sixth inning, but his night ended early when he was ejected for expressing his displeasure at a call on the pitch right before the Rays' Tommy Pham laced a double. The right-hander entered the contest having recorded double-digit strikeouts in seven straight games, but that streak came to an end with home plate umpire Pat Hoberg tossing him early. Verlander is scheduled to make his next start Sunday on the road in Toronto.

Morton (13-6) took the loss Tuesday, coughing up six runs on seven hits and two walks over four innings while striking out four as the Rays were trounced 15-1 by the Astros.

The right-hander got through the first two innings unscathed before the Houston offense erupted, and five of the seven hits Morton allowed went for extra bases. On the bright side, he did reach 200 strikeouts for the second straight season. Morton will carry a 3.11 ERA and 201:47 K:BB through 165 innings into his next start Sunday, at home against Cleveland.

Giolito (14-7) allowed two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out nine to pick up the loss against the Twins on Tuesday.

Giolito pitched well against an opponent that is familiar to him -- Minnesota tagged him for seven runs in loss July 25 -- but he got little support from his mates. This was his sixth straight quality start (2.25 ERA, 62 strikeouts, 40 innings) following a rough four-start stretch (7.06 ERA) that would have likely torpedoed the right-hander's season last year. Giolito dropped his season ERA to 3.20, fifth in the AL, and will next take the hill on the road Sunday against the Braves.

Kikuchi (5-9) took the loss against the Yankees on Tuesday, giving up five earned runs on eight hits over four innings, striking out one and walking three as the Mariners lost 7-0.

Kikuchi tossed a complete-game shutout in his last start Aug. 18, but he followed it up with a dud in this contest, with home runs by Aaron Judge and Brett Gardner accounting for most of the damage against him. The left-hander now sports an uninspiring 5.36 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 104:46 K:BB across 139.1 innings on the season.