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Lance McCullers SP | MIL
Astros' Lance McCullers: Takes loss against Angels
McCullers (6-2) allowed two runs on four hits and two walks with six strikeouts through six innings but took a tough loss Monday against the Angels.
After a slow start the season, McCullers now has five quality starts in his past six outings. McCullers had his changeup working wonders Monday night, as it induced nine swinging strikes on 27 offerings. For the fourth time in four seasons, McCullers is striking out more than a batter per inning -- after nine outings this year, he's up to 58 strikeouts in 52 innings. He'll look to stay hot Sunday against Cleveland.
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Jake Odorizzi SP | TB
Twins' Jake Odorizzi: Strikes out seven in no-decision
Odorizzi took a no-decision Monday against Seattle despite throwing six shutout innings with seven strikeouts and allowing just four hits and a walk.
Odorizzi was matched inning-for-inning by his opposite starter, Wade LeBlanc, but this was still one of his best starts of the season. He has been sharp this season with a 3.35 ERA, but this marked just the fourth time so far that Odorizzi has managed to complete the sixth inning. The seven strikeouts wound up just one shy of a season high as Odorizzi's fastball was electric, inducing seven swinging strikes in 60 offerings and setting up his splitter beautifully. He'll look to complete his two-start week on a high note Sunday against Milwaukee.
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Carlos Carrasco RP | ATL
Indians' Carlos Carrasco: Suffers second loss
Carrasco (5-2) allowed three runs on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts over 6.2 innings in a loss Monday to the Tigers.
Carrasco tossed his second straight quality start, his sixth in nine outings this season. As usual, his breaking pitches were nasty, as his curveball and slider combined to induce eight swinging strikes in 46 offerings. The only problem with Carrasco's season thus far is that when he has been bad, he has been awful -- in his three non-quality starts, he has surrendered 15 earned runs on five home runs, and that's why he owns just a 3.66 ERA despite how fantastic he can be when he's on his game.
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Nathan Eovaldi SP | TEX
Rays' Nathan Eovaldi: Could still return in May
Eovaldi (elbow, rib) will throw a bullpen session at extended spring training Tuesday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Eovaldi, who has been sidelined all season after undergoing arthroscopic right elbow surgery at the end of March, was scratched from his upcoming rehab start with Triple-A Durham after suffering a strained rib muscle. Despite the setback, however, the Rays are optimistic he could still return before June if he makes just one rehab start instead of two. He'll need to get through Tuesday's bullpen session without any setbacks first.
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Nathan Eovaldi SP | TEX
Rays' Nathan Eovaldi: Suffers setback
Eovaldi (elbow) suffered a strained right rib muscle, delaying his rehab start from Tuesday to an unknown date, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
It's the latest in a long run of bad luck for Eovaldi. After missing the entire 2017 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, he was forced to undergo another surgery on the eve of the season to remove loose bodies in his right elbow. He was expected to rejoin the Rays in late May but will now be sidelined for another undetermined amount of time.
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Juan Nicasio SP | TEX
Mariners' Juan Nicasio: Takes second loss of season Sunday
Nicasio (1-2) failed to record an out in a loss to the Tigers on Sunday, allowing an earned run on three hits.
Asked to preserve a 4-4 tie entering the ninth, Nicasio ran into trouble immediately by allowing an infield single to JaCoby Jones and another hit to Niko Goodrum, who was awarded second on fielder's interference. That set up a game-winning single by Jose Iglesias and handed Nicasio his second loss over the last three appearances. It's been a particularly rough month for the 31-year-old thus far, as Nicasio has an 0-2 record and 13.50 ERA across 5.1 innings over seven May outings.
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Luis Severino SP | ATH
Yankees' Luis Severino: Shuts down A's
Severino (6-1) got the win against Oakland on Sunday, scattering five hits and one earned run over six innings, striking out seven and walking two as the Yankees eventually prevailed 6-2.
Severino continued his phenomenal start to the season in picking up his sixth win in his first nine starts, lowering his ERA to 2.14 in the process. He also has a sparkling 0.90 WHIP to go with a 70:14 K:BB, and he's been pretty much untouchable all year save for one hiccup against the Red Sox back in April, making him one of the more reliable fantasy starters in the early going regardless of the matchup.
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Blake Snell SP | LAD
Rays' Blake Snell: Dealing with minor hip issue
Snell, who took his third loss against the Orioles on Sunday, is dealing with a sore right hip, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
The revelation came in manager Kevin Cash's postgame press conference Sunday, following a forgettable outing in which Snell allowed five earned runs on six hits over 3.1 innings against the Orioles. Cash made sure to emphasize it was a "minor, minor injury" and confirmed it wouldn't keep Snell from his next scheduled start Friday. However, he also conceded the discomfort was the primary reason he opted to pull Snell after only 73 pitches, acknowledging he didn't think the young southpaw "looked quite like himself."
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Blake Snell SP | LAD
Rays' Blake Snell: Knocked around in loss
Snell (4-3) took the loss against the Orioles on Sunday, giving up five earned runs on six hits, striking out three and walking two before exiting after 3.1 innings as the Rays got trounced 17-1 by Baltimore.
Snell had been putting up fantastic numbers coming into this contest but he and his bullpen were lit up by the Orioles in this contest to the tune of 17 earned runs on 19 hits. He still has a 3.12 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP through 52 innings, so hopefully this was an outlier on what has otherwise been a strong start to the season. He'll look to get back on track in a road start against the Angels on Friday.
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Dylan Bundy SP | NYM
Orioles' Dylan Bundy: Bounces back against Rays
Bundy (2-5) got the win against Tampa Bay on Sunday, giving up just two hits and no earned runs over seven strong innings, striking out seven and walking four as the Orioles blew out the Rays 17-1.
Baltimore's offense stole the show, but Bundy held up his end of the bargain in shutting out the Rays on 100 pitches in his seven innings of work. The young right-hander put up one of the worst statistical pitching performances in MLB history in his last start that saw him give up seven earned runs and four home runs without recording an out, so this was a good bounce-back effort. He now has a 4.53 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP through 47.2 innings this season.