MLB Player News

Jansen allowed one run on two hits and struck out two over one inning to earn the save in Saturday's 8-6 win over the Athletics.

Jansen posted an 8.1-inning scoreless streak in July, but it came to an end in his first appearance of August. He had a three-run cushion when he entered the game and was able to hold on for his 13th save of the campaign. The veteran closer has a 3.94 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 34:18 K:BB through 29.2 innings while converting 13 of 17 save chances.

Valdez (6-7) allowed two runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out six over seven innings to earn the win over the Athletics on Saturday.

Valdez put together a strong performance in this outing, going seven frames for the second time in his last four starts. The veteran left-hander has allowed 12 runs (11 earned) across 19.2 innings over his last four outings, with his two best performances in that span coming against the A's. He's at a 4.41 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 98:43 K:BB through 120.1 innings over 22 starts this season. Valdez is projected to make his next start on the road in San Francisco.

Rave went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's loss to the Rockies.

Rave helped the Royals mount a murmur of protest in the ninth inning with a solo shot to right field. Since returning from the minors July 29, Rave has started three of four contests and has gone 5-for-10 with two doubles, a homer, an RBI and a stolen base. He's seen limited action in the majors this season (31 plate appearances over 12 contests) but has done well when called upon, slashing .321/.387/.750.

Kerry allowed one run on two hits and struck out three without walking a batter over four innings of relief versus the Brewers on Saturday. He did not factor in the decision.

Kerry was called on to fill a bulk-relief role after the Angels elected to keep Jose Soriano off the mound two days before the trade deadline. Aside from a Jake Bauers solo shot in the fourth inning, Kerry did fairly well in his second big-league appearance. He's allowed three runs with a 5:1 K:BB over eight innings in the majors this season. Kerry has worked primarily as a starter for Triple-A Salt Lake, where he has a 7.52 ERA, 1.85 WHIP and 87:35 K:BB across 91 innings over 20 games (17 starts) in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. If Soriano or any other Angels starters get traded, Kerry could find himself with a chance at a rotation spot down the stretch, but there's no guarantees he gets that opportunity.

Avila (5-4) took the loss against Colorado on Saturday, allowing six runs on four hits and three walks while striking out two batters over 2.2 innings.

Avila kept the Rockies out of the scoring column for two frames, but he was knocked around in the bottom of the third. In that inning, Colorado pounced for six runs on five hits and three walks while Avila was on the mound, with the biggest blow being a Hunter Goodman three-run homer. Avila logged his shortest start since a disastrous outing against Houston on June 12 when he gave up eight runs over two-thirds of an inning. Between that start and Saturday's, the right-hander had posted a tolerable 3.82 ERA over seven appearances, but he also had a shaky 1.36 WHIP and 31:17 K:BB during that span. He'll carry an overall 5.53 ERA into his next start, which is tentatively slated to be a home tilt against the Cubs.

Rafaela went 2-for-4 with a pair of solo home runs in Saturday's 3-2 win over the Dodgers.

Rafaela homered in each of his first two at-bats in this game, taking Yoshinobu Yamamoto deep both times. That's now six homers in the last 11 games for Rafaela and three over two contests during this series in Los Angeles. The outfielder is batting .288 with a .798 OPS, 14 homers, 56 RBI, 54 runs scored and 15 stolen bases over 106 contests this year. His recent power surge has put him two long balls away from matching his career-high total from the 2025 regular season.

Chapman struck out one in a perfect inning to earn the save in Saturday's 3-2 win over the Dodgers.

Chapman extended his scoreless streak to 11 innings, a span in which he had a 15:5 K:BB with nine saves and two wins. The veteran closer continues to dominate in 2026, as he's now 27-for-29 in save chances. He's knocking on the door of consecutive 30-save seasons for the first time since 2018-19. Chapman has a 1.67 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 50:17 K:BB through 37.2 innings this season.

Tolle allowed two runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out seven over six innings to take a no-decision versus the Dodgers on Saturday.

Tolle put in a decent performance despite allowing 11 baserunners, as he was able to limit the damage to Teoscar Hernandez's two-run home run in the second inning. This is the fourth time in his last five starts during which Tolle has held an opponent to two or fewer runs. The southpaw is at a 3.30 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 110:29 K:BB over 101 innings through 18 starts this season. He's logged a total of 116 innings between the majors and Triple-A, already well past the 98 innings he pitched in 2025 across all levels, so workload management may be a factor later in the campaign. He is lined up for a home start versus the Athletics in his next outing.

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said after Saturday's 3-2 win over the Dodgers that Contreras (head) is on track to return to the lineup for Sunday's series finale, Tim Healey of The Boston Globe reports.

Contreras was struck in the head by a pitch during Friday's series opener. He was removed from that game and was held out of Saturday's lineup as a precaution, but since he's not exhibiting any symptoms of a concussion, Contreras looks poised to start at first base Sunday. Nick Sogard filled in for Contreras on Saturday and went 0-for-2 with a walk.

The Tigers acquired Smith, River Ryan and Zyhir Hope from the Dodgers on Saturday in exchange for Tarik Skubal, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.

Smith was a third-round selection of the Dodgers in the 2023 First-Year Player Draft. He's spent the majority of the 2026 season with Single-A Ontario but was promoted to High-A Great Lakes on July 21 and has a 4.36 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 113:30 K:BB over 74.1 innings across the two minor-league levels.