MLB Player News

Lively was designated for assignment by the Royals on Thursday.

This move frees up a spot on Kansas City's 40-man roster for Humberto Arteaga, who was summoned to the majors to replace the injured Adalberto Mondesi (groin). Lively made just one appearance with the Royals before being removed from the team's roster, allowing three runs on three hits in one inning during that outing.

Mejia (calf) will shift his rehab to Double-A Pensacola, Brandon Warne of ZoneCoverage.com reports.

Mejia will join Pensacola after getting through a pair of scoreless rehab appearances for High-A Fort Myers with no issues, allowing two hits while striking out three in two innings. It remains to be seen how many additional rehab appearances Mejia will need to make before returning from a strained calf that has kept him on the shelf since the beginning of May.

The Rangers designated Smyly for assignment Thursday, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

Acquired from the Cubs in November with the expectation that he would be a veteran anchor for the Texas rotation, Smyly turned in just one quality start in his nine turns through the rotation before being demoted to the bullpen. The lefty didn't take well to relief work either, giving up six runs -- including four homers -- in his most recent two appearances before Texas decided to pull the plug. Given the poor form Smyly displayed this season, it would be surprising if another team traded for him or scooped him up off waivers.

Gonzales (8-6) picked up the win Wednesday in an 8-2 victory over the Royals, allowing two runs on six hits and a walk over 6.2 innings while striking out five.

The southpaw earned his third straight win while delivering his ninth quality start of the season. Gonzales will carry a 4.38 ERA and 67:28 K:BB through 96.2 innings into his next outing Tuesday in Milwaukee.

Keller (3-9) took the loss Wednesday, coughing up seven runs on nine hits and two walks over four innings while striking out five as the Royals were downed 8-2 by the Mariners.

The right-hander was taken deep by Domingo Santana and Daniel Vogelbach in the first inning -- the first time all year Keller's served up multiple homers in a start. He'll take a 4.45 ERA and 68:48 K:BB through 97 innings into his next outing Monday in Cleveland.

Gibson (7-4) gave up six runs on seven hits and five walks while striking out three through 4.1 innings, taking the loss against the Red Sox on Wednesday.

Gibson struggled mightily with his command, walking five batters and enduring a 38-pitch second inning. He threw only 49 strikes in his 94 pitches overall, and he now has a 7-4 record with a 4.18 ERA through 14 starts this season. Gibson will look to get back on track in his next start Tuesday against the Rays at Target Field.

Rodriguez (8-4) recorded nine strikeouts and gave up four runs on eight hits and three walks through seven innings to earn a win over the Twins on Wednesday.

Rodriguez gave up two runs in his first three innings and surrendered a pair of solo home runs in the fourth frame, but he subsequently settled down to deliver three straight scoreless innings. The left-hander has a 8-4 record with a 4.71 ERA through 15 starts this season. Rodriguez will get his next start Monday against the White Sox at Fenway Park.

Luzardo (shoulder), who'll make his next start for Triple-A Las Vegas, will need to do more than just build up his pitch count before being considered for a promotion to the big leagues, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports. "We want to make sure we get him to 100 pitches. But he's going to have to have results, he can't just go out there and pitch," manager Bob Melvin said. "If the results are there, we will look to try to get him here. I'm not going to put a timetable on it right now."

Luzardo racked up nine strikeouts and allowed an earned run over just four innings with High-A Stockton in a win over Modesto on Sunday in his most recent start, an outing in which he worked up to 52 pitches. However, as Melvin indicated, quality and quantity will both matter before Luzardo is given serious consideration for the big-league rotation. The promising southpaw struggled in his first exposure to Triple-A bats late last season, generating a 7.31 ERA and 2.00 WHIP across 16 innings over four starts.

Giolito (10-2) allowed six earned runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out nine across 4.1 innings to take the loss Wednesday against the Cubs.

Giolito was doomed by the long ball, as he surrendered three home runs -- two to Willson Contreras -- including a grand slam in the first frame. Despite clearly lacking his best stuff, Giolito still generated nine strikeouts on 21 swinging strikes and also managed to work into the fifth inning. He's been excellent for the majority of the season, illustrated by the fact that he still has a 2.74 ERA and 1.02 WHIP after this shaky effort, and that he'd allowed more than one earned run only twice in his last nine starts entering Wednesday. Giolito will look to get back on track during his next start, which comes in the form of another tough matchup Monday at Boston.

Heaney allowed five earned runs on four hits and four walks while striking out two across 3.2 innings Wednesday against the Blue Jays. He did not factor into the decision.

Heaney walked at least one batter in three of the four innings he pitched, and in the remaining frame he threw a wild pitch. The majority of the damage against him came on a three-run homer by Rowdy Tellez, but Heaney was ultimately pulled after allowing a two-RBI single to Eric Sogard. Though he has an inflated 5.68 ERA through 25.1 innings, Heaney has also contributed a solid 1.14 WHIP and has 32 punchouts in five starts. He'll look to get back on track in his next outing, currently scheduled for Tuesday against the Reds.