MLB Player News

Mize allowed four hits and two walks while striking out six across eight scoreless innings Sunday against Double-A Bowie.

Mize turned in his second consecutive scoreless outing with his effort Sunday. His ERA with Double-A Erie is now 1.40, and he's struck out 35 across 38.2 innings. Mize continues to impress and is backing up his pedigree as the number one overall pick in the 2018 draft.

Springs (2-1) allowed four runs on four hits without retiring a batter in Sunday's 7-6 loss to the Angels.

Springs had not pitched in eight days, and it showed when he allowed the first four batters he faced to reach base. His replacement, Kyle Dowdy, also hadn't worked in eight days and couldn't stanch the bleeding. Springs and Dowdy coughed up a 5-1 lead and ruined a nice outing from Ariel Jurado, who worked into the seventh inning for the first time in his career. Manager Chris Woodward shouldered the blame for the loss, acknowledging he needs to get certain members of the bullpen more work. The manager tried to stay away from key relievers who had a big workload over the last week. "When you go to high leverage guys over and over, you are going to eventually end up with guys who haven't pitched in big leverage situations pitching in big situations," Woodward told Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. "We have to use everybody out there."

Kikuchi and pitching coach Paul Davis will review video of the left-hander's poor start Saturday against the Athletics to ensure he wasn't tipping his pitches, John Hickey of MLB.com reports.

Kikuchi had the first legitimate blow-up of his nascent stateside career Saturday versus Oakland, getting chased after giving up five runs on 10 hits over 3.1 innings. Eight of the hits the Japanese southpaw surrendered came on breaking balls, so he and Davis will examine the video to see if Kikuchi was inadvertently providing the A's with an advantage. Kikuchi has otherwise utilized his off-speed pitches with considerable success during his first major-league season, allowing just a .274 wOBA when utilizing his curveball and generating a 37.2 percent strikeout rate with his slider.

Luzardo (shoulder) threw live batting practice Saturday, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

The Athletics' top prospect threw 15 pitches overall, and he impressively hit 96 mph with his fastball. The velocity he achieved implies that Luzardo is well on his way to conquering the left shoulder strain that's sidelined him since March, but he's still not expected to return to minor-league game action until some point in June.

Turnbull (2-4) allowed four runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and a walk across seven innings while taking a loss against the Mets on Sunday.

While he gave up seven hits, Turnbull really only had one bad inning. During the fourth, he allowed four hits, including a homer, which led to all four runs against him. Turnbull has yielded a homer in four straight outings, but he's still only tossed up six long balls all season, so owners shouldn't really be concerned. Overall, he is 2-4 with a 2.97 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 62 strikeouts in 60.2 innings this season. He will start next against the Braves on Saturday.

Rodriguez (5-3) allowed one run on four hits and a walk while striking out five over six innings Sunday in a win over the Astros.

Rodriguez gave up a run in the first inning on a single to left field, but he would settle down and finish his day with five scoreless frames. The southpaw managed to bounce back following a tough couple of starts, as prior to Sunday's series finale, he'd yielded 11 runs over his last two outings. Rodriguez owns a 5.04 ERA with 66 punchouts over 60.2 innings this season.

Verlander (8-2) allowed three runs on six hits and struck out six over seven innings Sunday in a loss to the Red Sox.

Verlander turned in a quality start, but his offense was unable to get him off the hook for the loss. The right-hander yielded a run in the third, fourth and fifth innings prior to exiting with a two-run deficit. Verlander continues to throw the baseball well in 2019, posting a 2.38 ERA and 0.74 WHIP with a 95:17 K:BB across 79.1 frames.

Heaney pitched five effective innings but did not factor into the decision against the Rangers on Sunday, allowing two runs on two hits and one walk while striking out eight.

After missing the first part of the season with an injured elbow, Heaney showed little rust in his season debut, allowing only a pair of solo home runs and retiring 15 of the 18 batters he faced. He was limited to 85 pitches but still managed to rack up eight strikeouts. After compiling a 9-10 record and 9.0 K/9 in 180 innings last season, Heaney figures to be a key part of the Angels' rotation for the remainder of 2019 if he can maintain his health. He's scheduled to face Seattle in his next start Friday.

Stroman (3-6) allowed one run on five hits with two strikeouts and one walk across five innings to earn a victory against the Padres on Sunday.

The 28-year-old managed to yield only one run despite six walks in his last outing. This time out, he displayed much better control and again allowed just one earned run for the third straight start. He's still only 3-6, but Stroman now owns a 2.74 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 57 strikeouts in 69 innings this season. His next start is scheduled against the Rockies on Saturday.

Odorizzi (7-2) fired 5.1 scoreless innings Sunday, yielding a hit and a walk while striking out nine and picking up the win over the White Sox.

Odorizzi was dominant once again but his high pitch count prevented him from going very deep. He allowed a walk and a single in a 25-pitch third inning but escaped undamaged. The 29-year-old lowered his ERA to a terrific 2.16 in 58.1 frames this season. Odorizzi will take on his former team in Tampa Bay on Saturday.