MLB Player News

Lewicki was optioned to Triple-A Toledo on Wednesday.

As expected, Lewicki was sent back to the minors after serving as the Tigers' 26th man for Wednesday's doubleheader against the Pirates. Lewicki allowed two runs on four hits and one walk across one inning of work. The 26-year-old will rejoin Toledo's starting rotation until he's once again needed at the big-league level.

Rodriguez (3-0) got the win Wednesday, allowing three runs on six hits and a walk while striking out three over 6.2 innings against the Blue Jays.

The lefty has given up a home run in three of his four starts, but he was able to limit the damage to a solo shot Wednesday en route to earning his third straight quality start. Despite the three-strikeout showing, Rodriguez has still mowed down more than a batter per inning on the year with a 9.3 K/9. He'll also benefit from having a potent offense behind him, which will likely put him in a position to win his fair share of games. He's slated to take on the Royals on Monday in Part 1 of a likely two-step.

Cobb (0-3) took the loss Wednesday, allowing five runs on 10 hits and a walk over 4.2 innings against the Rays. He did not record a strikeout.

It's been an ugly start for Cobb, and things didn't get any easier in his first start against his former club. He's now failed to make it out of the fifth inning and conceded 10 hits in all three starts, and this was the second of the three in which he didn't record a strikeout. It's tempting to blame the early-season struggles on the fact that he remained unsigned until late March and thus got a very late start to the spring, but Cobb has just looked completely overmatched in all three outings. It'll be tough to place much trust in him until he demonstrates he's begun to right the ship, which he'll aim to do Tuesday against a potent Angels lineup.

Verlander (4-0) allowed two runs on four hits while striking out nine batters across seven innings to earn the win Wednesday against the Angels.

Verlander was in cruise control for the majority of this one. He didn't allow a baserunner until the fifth inning, and he retired 20 of the first 21 batters he faced before running into some trouble with two outs in the seventh inning. The veteran right-hander allowed a solo homer to Albert Pujols before a pair of hits from Andrelton Simmons and Zack Cozart pulled the Angels within two, but he was able to gather himself and end the inning before any other damage was done. Verlander will look to stay undefeated as he carries an impressive 1.36 ERA, 0.73 WHIP and 48:8 K:BB into his next start, which figures to come Tuesday against the Yankees.

Kopech allowed allowed one run on one hit and two walks Wednesday for Triple-A Charlotte, striking out eight batters in six innings.

The start brings Kopech's ERA down to 2.14 on the season. He's struck out 29 batters in 21 innings, walking seven. The young flamethrower certainly seems to be major-league ready, though with the White Sox starting the season 5-15, they have little reason to rush him. The deadline to secure an extra year of team control has already passed, but the team could still elect to wait until after the Super 2 deadline (sometime in late May or early June) in order to save money long term.

Lewicki was called up by the Tigers prior to Wednesday's doubleheader against Pittsburgh as the 26th man.

Lewicki will be available for the second of the two contests and will then be optioned back to Triple-A Toledo at the conclusion of the game. The 26-year-old right-hander has made three starts with the Mud Hens this season, posting a 5.79 ERA and 1.50 WHIP with a 13:5 K:BB over 14 innings. He's appeared in just four big-league games during the course of his career, all coming with Detroit in 2017.

Luzardo gave up two runs on three hits and one walk while striking out five in five innings in his debut for Double-A Midland on Tuesday in Corpus Christi.

He gave up two runs in the first inning, but was able to settle down, retiring 15 of the final 17 batters he faced. Luzardo has been on a meteoric rise as a prospect, skipping Low-A completely, dominating in three starts and High-A and joining the Double-A rotation in late April of his age-20 season. He should put on a show all summer in the Texas League, possibly reaching Triple-A before the end of 2018.

Nicasio notched his eighth hold with a perfect eighth inning in a win over the White Sox on Tuesday, recording a strikeout and throwing 14 of his 15 pitches for strikes.

Nicasio could hardly have been sharper while racking up his seventh hold of April. The 31-year-old right-hander now has three straight scoreless outings, following a pair of appearances earlier in the month in which he allowed an earned run apiece. Despite some hiccups thus far, Nicasio certainly seems to have carved out a spot as one of manager Scott Servais' top setup options in front of closer Edwin Diaz.

Morton allowed four runs on five hits and five walks while striking out two over four innings in Tuesday's loss to the Angels. He did not factor into the decision.

Morton carried a 0.72 ERA into Tuesday's outing, so he certainly can be forgiven for a bit of a slip up. He struggled a bit with command and only induced four swings and misses en route to season-worst outputs in runs, walks, strikeouts and innings pitched. Morton's looked so locked in in every other start this year, so there's little reason to think Tuesday's showing was anything more than a blip on the radar against a tough opponent. He's slated to take on another potent offense his next time out, Monday against the Yankees.

Hamels (1-4) took the loss Tuesday, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out five over 6.1 innings against the Athletics.

The veteran lefty turned in his second quality start of the year to drop his ERA to 4.41, but was still stuck with the loss nonetheless. Hamels yielded a home run in this one, continuing his struggles keeping the ball in the yard so far -- he's already allowed eight homers in just 34.2 innings. He'll look to get back in the win column his next time out Monday in Cleveland.