MLB Player News

Festa (2-4) took the loss against Atlanta on Wednesday, allowing two runs on two hits and one walk while striking out seven batters over six-plus innings.

Festa was quite good in the outing, and he entered the seventh inning locked in a 1-1 pitcher's duel with NL Cy Young favorite Chris Sale. However, Festa opened that seventh frame with a walk of Marcell Ozuna; he was subsequently given the hook, and Atlanta ended up putting up four runs (only one of which Festa was responsible for) in the inning. The rookie right-hander did achieve a career milestone with his first MLB quality start, and his seven punchouts tied for the second-highest mark of his big-league tenure through nine outings.

Sale (15-3) earned the win over Minnesota on Wednesday, allowing one run on six hits and one walk while striking out six batters over six innings.

Sale didn't give up a run until the sixth inning and logged his fourth consecutive quality start. Over that stretch, he's posted a 1.73 ERA while registering a dominant 32:4 K:BB over 26 frames. Sale is likely the current favorite for the NL Cy Young award -- he's tied for the MLB lead in both wins (15) and punchouts (197), leads all qualified pitchers with a 2.58 ERA and ranks eighth with a 1.02 WHIP. With three more strikeouts, the southpaw will reach 200 punchouts for the eighth time in his career and the first time since 2019.

Bassitt (9-13) took the loss against Boston on Wednesday, allowing one run on five hits and one walk while striking out nine batters over 6.2 innings.

Bassitt was excellent in the outing, racking up 17 whiffs and tying a season high with nine punchouts while holding Boston to just a first-inning run. However, the Blue Jays' offense couldn't muster up any support, as the team was held to three baserunners and zero runs. Though Bassitt was saddled with his third loss in his past four outings, he did register his first quality start over that span. He's pitched to a 4.27 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 149:57 K:BB through 151.2 innings on the season.

Bello (12-6) earned the win over Toronto on Wednesday, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out nine batters over eight scoreless innings.

Bello yielded only three baserunners and didn't allow any Blue Jay to reach third base. He had his swing-and-miss stuff working, racking up 15 whiffs and recording nine punchouts -- his second-highest mark this season. Bello gave up five runs over 5.1 innings in his previous start against Arizona, but aside from that rough outing, he's been very good of late, picking up three quality starts of one or zero runs across his past four appearances. Going back to July 14, Bello has given up more than three runs in a start just once and has posted a 3.52 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 49:20 K:BB over 53.2 frames.

Rodon (14-9) took the loss against Washington on Wednesday, allowing five runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out eight batters over 5.2 innings.

Rodon fell behind on his second pitch of the game when he served up Dylan Crews' first major-league homer. Things didn't get much better for the southpaw from there, as he gave up another run in the first frame, two more in the second and a fifth and final run in the fourth. Rodon managed to induce 16 whiffs and notch a healthy eight punchouts, but he also had five bases stolen on his watch and was bit by a wild pitch and a balk. The veteran hurler has been frustratingly inconsistent of late -- he's hurled two scoreless outings among his past five starts, but in the other three appearances during that stretch he's given up a combined 12 runs over 14.1 innings.

Gore (8-11) earned the win over the Yankees on Wednesday, allowing two runs on six hits and one walk while striking out six batters over six innings.

Gore racked up 14 whiffs and finished with just his second victory over his past 13 starts. The southpaw allowed a second-inning solo homer to Jazz Chisholm but gave up just one additional run from that point on. Gore had an 11-start stretch without a quality start between mid-June and mid-August, during which he posted a 6.75 ERA, 1.97 WHIP and 45:31 K:BB over 50.2 innings. He may be turning things around, however, as he's now notched consecutive quality starts, allowing just three runs while registering a 10:1 K:BB across 12 frames over that span.

Peralta (9-7) allowed two hits and three walks while striking out eight over six scoreless innings to earn the win Wednesday over the Giants.

Peralta has allowed just one run over his last 17 innings while winning two of three starts in that span. The veteran right-hander trimmed his ERA to 3.70 with a 1.19 WHIP and 172:56 K:BB over 148.1 innings across 27 starts this season. Peralta hasn't dominated as much in August with a 23:11 K:BB over 28 innings this month, but he's been successful in terms of run prevention. He's lined up to make his next start at home versus the Cardinals.

Harrison (7-6) allowed five runs on four hits and three walks while striking out seven over 4.2 innings to take the loss Wednesday versus the Brewers.

Harrison had his last start skipped, and it appeared for a while that the extra rest had served him well. That changed in a rough fifth inning, which saw Harrison surrender five runs before he was pulled with two outs. The southpaw has given up 17 runs over 24 innings across five starts in August, a span that's seen him yield seven home runs. He's now at a 4.22 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 115:41 K:BB through 121.2 innings over 23 starts this year. He's already past his previous high of 113 innings in a season, set back in 2022, and if the Giants drop much further out of the playoff race, there's a chance Harrison could be shut down at some point in September. He's tentatively projected to make his next start at home versus the Diamondbacks.

Varland threw five scoreless innings with nine strikeouts in a relief appearance Wednesday for Triple-A St. Paul. It was his first relief appearance in the minors this season.

Varland was an impact reliever late last season and into the playoffs for the Twins, but was moved back to the rotation this year. The Twins have said they're contemplating moving him to the bullpen for similar usage this season, so this outing could be the first step to using him in the majors as a reliever.

Paddack (right forearm strain) does not think he'll be able to return before the end of the regular season despite a recent clean MRI, but he is hopeful he could return as a reliever for the playoffs, MLB.com reports.

Paddack has been out since July 14 due to a right forearm strain. He played catch from 60 feet Wednesday and will try to ramp up his activity the next few weeks with a goal of being ready in October. However, that may be a long shot since he's unlikely to have any game action before the playoffs and the Twins may not want to use a pitcher with such a long layoff in the postseason.