MLB Player News

Liberatore exited the second game of Thursday's doubleheader with the Cardinals' head athletic trainer, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports

Liberatore struggled across four innings prior to his exit, allowing six earned runs on eight hits and one walk. The exact nature of the injury is unclear, but his velocity dipped to 89.5 mph against the final batter he faced, per John Denton of MLB.com.

Cease (1-5) took the loss Thursday against the Giants, allowing three runs on five hits and three walks across five innings. He struck out seven.

All three of the runs charged to Cease came in the third inning. After he allowed two walks and a single to load the bases, Willy Adames drove in a run with a sacrifice fly before Cease surrendered a two-run double to Dominic Smith with two outs. The 29-year-old Cease has now gone 11 straight starts without a win. His ERA sits at 4.72 with a 1.31 WHIP and 85:24 K:BB across 13 starts (68.2 innings) this season. He's currently scheduled to face the Dodgers at home in his next outing.

Wrobleski is expected to be recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City to start Friday against the Cardinals, Kirsten Watson of Spectrum SportsNet LA reports.

The Dodgers continue to shuffle the back end of their rotation, giving Wrobleski his first chance to start in the majors since May 15. He's had mixed results in two starts, though he completed four shutout innings with a 4:0 K:BB in his last opportunity with Los Angeles on May 15 versus the Athletics. Wrobleski has worked as a traditional starter with Oklahoma City, so he should be able to handle a relatively large workload Friday if he's efficient and effective.

Ray (8-1) earned the win Thursday over the Padres, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk over seven innings. He struck out nine.

Ray gave up a two-run homer to Manny Machado in the third inning, but he'd stop the damage there, blanking San Diego over his final four frames en route to his eighth win, tying Hunter Brown and Carlos Rodon for the MLB lead. Ray has been a revelation in San Francisco so far this year -- the southpaw has gone seven innings in three of his last four outings, lowering his ERA to 2.44 with a 1.07 WHIP and 87:31 K:BB across 13 starts (77.1 innings). Ray is currently slated to face the Rockies on the road in his next start.

Festa (0-1) took the loss Thursday against the A's, allowing eight runs on six hits and two walks over 3.2 innings. He struck out six.

It was a rough day for Festa, who was recalled from Triple-A ahead of the game to make his first start with the Twins since April 23. The right-hander gave up four runs in the opening inning, with three coming on a Max Muncy homer, before Festa gave up three more runs on a pair of long balls in the third. The 25-year-old Festa sports a 5.40 ERA through four major-league starts (16.2 innings) this season with a 1.50 WHIP and 21:7 K:BB. Despite his struggles Thursday, Festa could get another look in Minnesota's rotation with Pablo Lopez (shoulder) facing an extended absence.

Bassitt (6-3) earned the win against the Phillies on Thursday, allowing one run on five hits and two walks with six strikeouts over seven innings.

Bassitt was given an early lead and cruised to his second straight win while completing seven innings for the first time this season. The veteran threw 62 of 99 pitches for strikes and yielded just two hard-hit balls in a strong bounce-back effort after surrendering 10 runs over his previous two starts. He'll carry a 3.56 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 75:17 K:BB across 73.1 innings into a road matchup with the Cardinals next week.

Cameron allowed two hits and two walks while striking out three over six scoreless innings in a no-decision in Game 1 of Thursday's doubleheader versus the Cardinals.

Cameron has now rattled off five straight quality starts to begin his major-league career, and this was his second scoreless outing. He has yet to give up more than one run in any start, pitching to a 0.85 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and 19:10 K:BB. That last ratio offers a reason for caution, as his walk rate in particular could cause problems later when his luck evens out. With Cole Ragans (groin) returning to action in the nightcap, it's unclear if Cameron will remain in the Royals' rotation heading into next week. Cameron's performance could give the team reason to roll with a six-man rotation or bump the struggling Michael Lorenzen to the bullpen.

Woo (5-3) took the loss Thursday against the Orioles, allowing four runs on four hits and two walks over six innings. He struck out six.

Woo got off to a nice start Thursday, holding Baltimore to one run on just two hits through his first five innings. However, things would unravel in the sixth when Woo gave up three runs on back-to-back homers by Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson. Woo's been hurt by the long ball recently -- he's given up four homers over 12.2 innings in his last two outings. Overall, the 25-year-old right-hander's ERA sits at 3.07 with a 0.96 WHIP and 69:11 K:BB across 12 starts (76.1 innings) this season.

Eflin (5-2) earned the win Thursday over the Mariners, allowing three runs on eight hits over six innings. He struck out seven.

Eflin was able to scatter the majority of Seattle's hits, allowing just a two-out RBI single to Cal Raleigh in the third inning before Raleigh smacked a two-run homer in the fifth. The Orioles would ultimately rally for a 4-3 victory, giving Eflin his second straight win. The 31-year-old right-hander sports a 4.47 ERA with a 1.12 WHIP and 31:6 K:BB through eight starts (46.1 innings) this season. Eflin tentatively lines up for a road matchup with the Tigers in his next outing.

Luzardo (5-2) took the loss against the Blue Jays on Thursday, allowing eight runs on nine hits and two walks with two strikeouts over 2.1 innings

Luzardo surrendered eight runs across the second and third innings in his shortest outing of the season. After yielding just 16 earned runs through his first 11 starts, he's now been tagged for 20 over his past two. The southpaw's velocity remained in line with his season averages, suggesting a loss of command rather than stuff at the moment. He now carries a 4.46 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and 83:34 K:BB across 72.2 innings and lines up for a difficult matchup with the Cubs next week.