MLB Player News

Indians  pitcher Corey Kluber has officially been announced as the starter for Thursday's matchup with the Royals. 

Kluber (8-13, 3.41 ERA) hasn't pitched all month due to a hamstring injury. But he's set to take the bump when the Indians go up against Yordano Ventura and the Royals on Thursday.

Indians starter Carlos Carrasco turned in a strong performance in his outing against the Royals on Monday. The right-hander allowed one run on five hits over six innings of work. He walked two and struck out nine, en route to the 8-3 win.

Carrasco (13-10, 3.62 ERA) was down early, as he gave up a solo home run to Alex Gordon to lead off the game. But the Indians rallied to score four unanswered runs and they were able to hang on for the win.

Aside from his most recent outing, when he allowed four runs in 2 2/3 innings to the White Sox, Carrasco has looked rather impressive lately. Taking out that rough outing, he is 3-1 with a 1.38 ERA in six starts following Monday's performance.

Red Sox rookie starter Eduardo Rodriguez had a solid outing against the Orioles on Monday. The young right-hander allowed one run on five hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out a career-high nine batters, but was left with the loss in the 2-0 defeat.

Rodriguez (9-6, 3.94 ERA) allowed his only run to score in the first inning. Aside from that, he did a good job of dancing out of danger, while keeping his team in the game. Unfortunately, he was unable to get any help from the offense in this one.

After enduring a rough outing against the Marlins in which he allowed eight runs in five innings back on Aug. 12, Rodriguez has been pitching very well. In five starts since, Rodriguez is 3-1 with a 1.73 ERA.

Orioles starter Kevin Gausman was solid in his outing against the Red Sox on Monday. The young right-hander fired six innings of scoreless ball, allowing two hits and four walks while striking out seven in the 2-0 victory.

Gausman (3-6, 4.15 ERA) struggled with his control in this one, but did a good job of avoiding any serious damage and keeping his team in the game.

Over his last five starts, Gausman is 1-1 with a 3.33 ERA.

Indians starter Corey Kluber threw a bullpen session on Monday, and is expected to some fielding work on Tuesday. Kluber, who has not thrown a pitch since Aug. 29 due to a hamstring injury, is hoping to start Thursday's game against the Royals.

The Red Sox were hoping for the best when they gave journeyman reliever Rich Hill his first start since 2009 on Sunday against Tampa Bay.

And that's what they got.

Hill provided a shocker by pitching seven shutout innings and allowed just one hit with one walk and 10 strikeouts. The lone safety was an infield single in the third inning by J.P. Arencibia.

All Hill got for his effort was a no-decision, but he did keep his team in a game it eventually won.

White Sox usually-dominant left-hander Chris Sale continued his mysterious struggles against Minnesota on Sunday.

Sale has now allowed 27 runs in 33 innings to the Twins this season after they plated six against him Sunday in just three innings. The southpaw allowed nine hits along the way and whiffed three.

His issues were immediate. A Miguel Sano single scored one run in the first and a Torii Hunter blast added three. Sale then retired nine in a row, but four straight singles added two more runs. He did not come out for the fourth inning.

The poor performance raised his ERA to 3.55.

The strikeout pitch wasn't there for Astros starter Lance McCullers on Saturday, but he did keep his team in a game they eventually lost to the host Angels.

McCullers, who fanned 22 in 20 innings over his previous three outings, whiffed only one in five innings. But he gave up just two runs on seven hits and two walks.

An RBI single by David Freese and run-scoring groundout in the second proved to be the lone runs scored against McCullers, who has given up only eight runs over his last 25 innings pitched.

Mark down the first start for Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman in nearly a year as a success. His hot-hitting teammates made sure of it.

With plenty of run support behind him, Stroman earned the win by allowing three runs on four hits in five innings. He walked two and fanned two.

Stroman pitched hitless ball through four, but found trouble in the fifth with two singles and a three-run homer by Brett Gardner.

Twins starter Tommy Milone had a rough outing on Saturday. The left-hander got shelled for seven runs (four earned) on eight hits over 3 2/3 innings in the 8-2 loss to the White Sox. He needed 82 pitches--48 strikes--before being yanked in the fourth inning.

Milone (8-5, 3.73 ERA) cruised through the first three innings, as his mates grabbed him an early 2-0 lead. But things completely fell apart for him in the fourth inning, when Milone got battered around for all seven of his runs. 

Milone had been pitching well coming into the game. Over his previous six outings (five starts), he posted a 2.93 ERA in 30 2/3 innings.