MLB Player News

Urena (3-10) tossed six scoreless innings, surrendered one hit and walked four while striking out five Sunday as he nabbed the victory over the Nationals.

Urena was impressive in his 21st start of the season, as he managed to bounce back following an ugly outing in his previous turn through the rotation (five runs over four innings). He owns a 4.40 ERA and 1.23 WHIP with a 98:34 K:BB over 118.2 innings this season, and he'll look to build on Sunday's performance heading into his next scheduled start, which figures to come Friday against Philadelphia.

Musgrove (4-5) allowed one run on five hits and two walks while taking the loss Sunday against the Mets. He struck out two.

Musgrove scattered baserunners effectively and induced 12 groundball outs to help keep the visitors in check. The only tally against his ledger came off the bat of opposing pitcher Zack Wheeler, who pitched a gem on the other side to send Musgrove to his fifth loss of the season. Despite the disappointing outcome, Musgrove has been effective since the All-Star break, allowing three earned runs across 14 total innings in a pair of quality starts. His ERA is down to 3.63 after this outing, which he'll look to replicate next weekend against the Cardinals.

Eflin (7-3) allowed four runs on seven hits and one walk across 5.1 innings while taking the loss Sunday against the Reds. He struck out four.

Eflin struggled in the third inning, allowing a pair of doubles, a single and a two-run home run as the hosts plated three. He settled down until the sixth inning, but back-to-back singles led to a one-out sacrifice fly before he was removed from the game. Eflin's rocky outing continued a recent stretch of futility in which he's allowed 10 earned runs across 13 combined innings over his last three starts. His ERA has risen to 3.64 over that stretch, and he'll look to get back on track for his next scheduled turn Saturday against the Marlins.

Wheeler (5-6) tossed six shutout innings to earn the win Sunday against the Pirates, allowing five hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Wheeler pumped in 70 percent of his pitches for strikes as he dominated hitters and scattered baserunners to great effect. He likely could have continued beyond the 89 pitches he needed to complete six frames, but the club elected to turn to the bullpen in a low-scoring affair. Wheeler's strong outing gives him back-to-back quality starts since the All-Star break, with a pair of wins and a 10:2 K:BB to boot. He'll look to continue his recent success next weekend against the Braves.

Stripling (8-3) allowed four runs on seven hits and one walk across four innings while taking the loss Sunday against the Braves. He struck out five.

Stripling was touched up for two runs on three hits in the first inning before allowing a two-run home run to Nick Markakis in the third. He threw a hefty 72 percent of his pitches for strikes, but he paid the price often for missing over the plate. Stripling has struggled in two outings since the All-Star break, allowing nine earned runs in 8.2 innings. He still has a sharp 2.68 ERA on the season with a sparkling 30:3 K:BB in July. He'll look to get back on track Friday against the Astros, who'll play without disabled-list inhabitant Jose Altuve (knee).

Marquez (9-8) earned the win Sunday, allowing two runs on five hits (two homers) and a walk while striking out eight in the 3-2 victory over Oakland.

Both Matt Chapman and Khris Davis took Marquez deep with solo shots, but he threw a pretty clean outing besides those two blemishes. The 23-year-old has earned a win in four of his last five starts, dropping his season ERA from 5.53 to 4.82 since his last loss on June 24. He's also posted a solid 120:41 K:BB across 115.2 innings. Marquez will take the mound again in Milwaukee on Friday.

Castillo (6-8) was superb Sunday against the Phillies, throwing seven shutout innings against the Phillies. He struck out nine batters while allowing four hits and a walk.

The seven-inning outing was the deepest Castillo has worked into a game this season. "It was really nice that he went as deep as he did," interim manager Jim Riggleman said. "We would have been able to cover it if he didn't. I think more importantly, he sees he can do that. He can go through a tough lineup and get deep in a ballgame. He certainly didn't have to come out of the game there. He could have continued but we would have been stretching it a bit. It was very encouraging for him to go over 100 pitches and seven innings against that club." Castillo now has allowed just three earned runs over 17.1 innings in his last three starts, posting a 16:2 K:BB in the process. He'll look to continue one of his best stretches of the season next weekend against the Nationals.

Allard is expected to be promoted from Triple-A Gwinnett and make his MLB debut Tuesday against the Marlins, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports.

The 20-year-old was scratched from his scheduled start at Gwinnett over the weekend, fueling speculation that a promotion was imminent. While it appears Allard will indeed move up to the big club, he'll likely need to perform well out of the gate in order to secure a rotation spot throughout the second half. It's unclear if the Braves intend on bumping any of their current five starters to the bullpen to make room for Allard, as manager Brian Snitker could opt to roll with a six-man staff in the short term. That kind of rotation setup may prove beneficial to young arms like Mike Foltynewicz, Max Fried and Sean Newcomb, all of whom are on pace to throw the most innings of their respective careers.

Lyles (forearm) was activated from the 10-day disabled list Sunday.

According to AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, Lyles will be available out of the bullpen for the next couple of days if needed. The right-hander could be a candidate to re-enter the rotation during the four-game series next weekend against the Cubs, when the Padres will require a new fifth starter to replace Luis Perdomo (shoulder). Prior to getting shut down in late June with the forearm injury, Lyles posted a 4.79 ERA and 1.36 WHIP over eight starts.

Allard is a candidate to make a spot start with the Braves this week, David O'Brien of The Athletic Atlanta reports.

There's been no mention of who Allard might replace in the rotation, but soft upcoming matchups against the Mets and Marlins could both represent opportunities. Allard is surely a deserving candidate, posting a 2.80 ERA and striking out 87 batters across 109.1 innings at Triple-A. He's allowed more than three earned runs in a game just once this season for the Gwinnett Braves, but can be prone to get in trouble with baserunners on occasion. He walks 2.72 batters per nine innings and owns a 1.21 WHIP, but the 20-year-old can nonetheless become an asset as a left-handed pitcher for the contending Braves.