MLB Player News

Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco took the loss on Sunday, giving up five earned runs on seven hits and two walks in four-plus innings while striking out three in his team's 7-3 defeat against the Orioles.

"It kind of surprised me," Carrasco said, per MLB.com. "I thought he was going to take me out of the game or something. He asked me how my arm was feeling. I was feeling good. I was stretching my arm -- that was it. I was sitting there for maybe 10 minutes [between innings], but I'm fine."

Carrasco (7-5) has been on a run of three great starts coming into Sunday's matchup, but the Orioles were able to get on the board in the top of the first inning with a solo home run. Carrasco gave up three more runs in the fourth inning and was left in for the start of the fifth but surrendered a leadoff triple and was removed from the game.

"I didn't have my best stuff today," Carrasco said. "My fastball command, it was a little bit out of the zone. I had to use more sliders, so they saw that a lot, and that's why I gave up hits."

Carrasco has posted a 4.35 ERA and 77:17 K:BB ratio while recording a decision in each of his 12 starts. He's scheduled to face the Tigers in Detroit on Saturday.

The Red Sox have squashed any notion of right-hander Justin Masterson returning to Boston after two rehab starts. He will pitch a third Wednesday for Triple-A Pawtucket, per the Boston Herald.

Now the team has one more decision to make - whether to keep him in the rotation or place him in the bullpen.

Masterson did not earn his spot as a starter when he was pitching for the Sox and has also not earned a quick promotion. After posting a 6.37 ERA in the majors and going down with shoulder tendinitis, he has allowed four runs on 10 hits and four walks in 6 1/3 innings against Double-A and Triple-A hitters.

That's not what anyone had in mind when he signed a one-year deal for $9.5 million in the offseason.

"I'd like to be throwing 96 mph again," he said. "But I don't know if that will come or not. I'm doing everything in my ability to try to make that happen. ... I feel physically the best I've felt since the start of the year."

The Angels recalled pitcher Drew Rucinski to the major-league roster on Sunday, according to ESPN.com. 

Rucinski was recently optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake before being brought back before Sunday's game against the Yankees. 

In two previous appearances with the Angels, Rucinski is 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA in 4 2/3 innings. 

Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander made his second rehab start with Triple-A Toledo on Saturday. His results on Saturday were an improvement over his first outing.

On Saturday, the right-hander went 5 2/3 innings, allowing just an unearned run on four hits. He struck out nine and did not walk a batter, tossing 69 of his 93 pitches for strikes. 

"I feel like today was the step I wanted to see," said Verlander, per MLive.com. "The biggest thing was getting my pitch count up and getting some innings, not just throwing three innings."

It had been reported earlier that this could be Verlander's final rehab start, as he recovers from a triceps injury that has kept him out all season. But the Tigers have not officially made any announcements regarding Verlander's status.

Rays starter Jake Odorizzi, who left Friday's outing in the fifth inning with tightness in his left oblique muscle, is likely to miss some time with the injury, according to manager Kevin Cash, per the Tampa Tribune. 

Cash said it was "fair" to think Odorizzi would be sidelined for a bit, but that the team would know more after the pitcher visits with the doctor on Monday. 

Odorizzi is 4-5 with a 2.47 ERA in 12 starts this season. 

Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman will pitch three innings at Class A Frederick on Saturday. Gausman is on the disabled list with shoulder tendinitis. 

Buck Showalter said that Gausman could be ready to return to the Orioles after two more rehab starts, but it would probably be three, per the Baltimore Sun.

Red Sox pitcher Justin Masterson may be ready to return to the team without another minor league rehab appearance, manager John Farrell said, per the Providence Journal.

Masterson is on the disabled list with shoulder tendinitis. Farrell said he would throw a bullpen session on Sunday, and the team would then decide if he needed another injury rehab start. 

"There's a definite progressive step being taken here," Farrell said, per MLB.com. "We'll probably wait until he throws his bullpen [session] tomorrow to determine if there's another one needed or we insert him back with us. He got to 80 pitches last night, which is the minimum somebody's got to throw on a rehab [assignment] to come back in a rotation spot."

Twins starter Ricky Nolasco received a cortisone injection in his troublesome right ankle, general manager Terry Ryan told reporters Saturday, per the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The injury landed Nolasco on the disabled list Thursday, after starting the year 5-1 with a 5.51 ERA in seven starts. Ryan added that Nolasco will get a few days off before he resumes playing catch.

Twins starter Kyle Gibson gave up five runs on six hits over seven innings in a no-decision against Milwaukee. 

Gibson didn't walk a batter and struck out nine. He was tagged for three home runs, one in each of the first three innings, before he settled down.

"It's no secret tomorrow is a bullpen day, so if I went four or five innings it was going to hurt the bullpen even more," Gibson said. "I had a job to do and that was to try to get through six or seven innings to give the bullpen a break." 

Gibson's next start is next Friday at Texas. 

White Sox starter Jose Quintana allowed nine hits over seven innings. He gave up three runs, walked two batters and struck out four.

The White Sox rallied to send Friday's game against Detroit to extra innings to allow Quintana to escape with a no-decision.

Quintana walked two and struck out four. His next start is Wednesday, against Houston.