Soroka (shoulder) allowed one earned run on one hit and no walks while striking out three across 2.1 innings in a rehab outing with Triple-A Iowa on Thursday.

Soroka was initially scheduled to make the rehab outing Wednesday, but it was instead pushed to Thursday. He allowed a solo home run to Jack Suwinski (groin) but otherwise looked sharp while throwing 38 pitches. He should be in line to return from the injured list in short order but likely won't be ready for a full starter's workload immediately upon rejoining the Cubs.

Oviedo did not factor into the decision Thursday against the Orioles, allowing two runs on five hits and three walks across 5.2 innings. He struck out five.

Oviedo's 5.2 innings marked a season high in five starts since rejoining the Pirates in August. The right-hander has yet to allow more than two runs in an outing, posting a 2.81 ERA with a 1.17 WHIP and 29:14 K:BB across 25.2 innings overall. Oviedo's currently lined up to face the Cubs at home in his next outing.

The Marlins activated Weathers (lat) from the 60-day injured list Thursday to start Thursday against the Nationals.

Weathers will make his return to the Marlins' rotation for his first big-league start since June 7. The left-hander has been limited to only five starts in the majors this season, first missing time due to a forearm strain and more recently a lat strain. Weathers threw 68 pitches in his second of two rehab outings, so his workload will be relatively limited versus the Nats.

The Nationals activated Gore (shoulder) from the 15-day injured list Thursday.

Gore will rejoin the Nationals' rotation Thursday against the Marlins after missing the last two weeks of action with left shoulder inflammation. The southpaw did not make a rehab start, and it doesn't appear he faced live hitters while on the IL, either, settling for just a couple bullpen sessions. That means Gore could have a relatively abbreviated workload versus the Marlins.

The Reds activated Burns (elbow) from the 15-day injured list Thursday.

Burns wound up missing a month of action with a Grade 1 right flexor strain. He did not go out on a rehab assignment, and the Reds' plan is to deploy the rookie flamethrower as a reliever down the stretch. While Burns is likely to be quite successful in a relief role, he will not be used as the team's closer, so it will be difficult for him to churn out much fantasy value in the final weeks.

Painter struck out six over five scoreless innings Wednesday while allowing three hits and zero walks for Triple-A Lehigh Valley against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

This was arguably Painter's best start of the season, which isn't saying much, as he's thrown two quality starts on the year and this was his lone instance with five-plus innings, zero runs and zero walks. Indeed, he'd given up 12 earned runs on 19 hits and six walks over his last two starts, so it's hard to say with confidence that Painter has righted the ship. Painter sat 94-97 mph with his four-seamer (touched 98 mph) in this start, with his changeup, slider and curveball each getting whiffs over 35 percent of the time. The 22-year-old righty has a 5.35 ERA, 1.52 WHIP and a 105:44 K:BB in 102.2 innings for the IronPigs.

Sproat is slated to start Saturday's game against the Rangers at Citi Field.

Called up from Triple-A Syracuse last weekend, Sproat turned in a largely impressive MLB debut in Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Reds. The 24-year-old righty held the Reds hitless through the first 5.1 innings but unraveled a bit thereafter, finishing the contest with three earned runs allowed on three hits and four walks while striking out seven across six frames. He spotted 58 of his 88 pitches for strikes in the outing and averaged 96.1 miles per hour with his fastball, though he didn't induce many whiffs (six swinging strikes). With the Mets recently dispatching the struggling Kodai Senga to the minors and with Sean Manaea's standing in the rotation on shaky ground, Sproat should have a good chance to make three more starts with the big club through the end of the regular season.

The Phillies will call up Buehler from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to start Friday's game against the Royals in Philadelphia.

Just as Matt Gelb of The Athletic had reported Aug. 31 when the Phillies signed Buehler to a minor-league deal, the right-hander will end up joining the big club for the final 15 games of the regular season as the team expands its rotation to six men. Before he was cut loose by Boston, Buehler had submitted a 5.45 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and 84:55 K:BB in 112.1 innings on the season, but the Phillies are hoping that the change of scenery can help the two-time All-Star rediscover his prior form. After being assigned to the minors following his signing, Buehler made one start for Lehigh Valley this past Saturday, striking out five over three innings while allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and three walks.

Vasquez is slated to start Thursday's game against the Rockies at Petco Park.

The Padres activated Michael King from the injured list earlier this week, but with Nestor Cortes (biceps) still stuck on the shelf, Vasquez will get at least one more turn through the rotation. After being recalled from Triple-A El Paso last weekend, Vasquez delivered a quality start in the Padres' win over the Rockies at Coors Field, giving up three runs (two earned) on eight hits and no walks while striking out three over six innings. He'll take a 3.91 ERA and 1.38 WHIP into Thursday's rematch with the Rockies in San Diego.

Skenes came away with a no-decision in Wednesday's 2-1 extra-inning loss to the Orioles, allowing only two hits over five scoreless innings. He struck out eight without walking a batter.

The young ace was lifted after just 64 pitches (43 strikes), but that still gave Skenes plenty of time to rack up his 200th strikeout of the season -- becoming the eighth pitcher in Pirates history to accomplish the feat. Through 178 innings in his first full season in the majors, he's posted an MLB-leading 1.92 ERA, while his 0.92 WHIP is second to Detroit's Tarik Skubal and his 203 Ks are third behind Boston's Garrett Crochet (228) and Skubal (222). Skenes will look to keep burnishing his NL Cy Young Award resume in his next start, which lines up to come at home early next week against the Cubs.