MLB Player News

The Twins optioned Varland to Triple-A St. Paul on Thursday.

Varland put together a quality start in a no-decision Wednesday against the Royals, yielding three earned runs over six innings. He nonetheless finds himself back in the minors, which means Zebby Matthews should remain in the Minnesota rotation indefinitely as the club's No. 5 starter.

Houck came away with a no-decision in Wednesday's 9-7 extra-inning loss to the Rangers, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks over 6.2 innings. He struck out three.

The right-hander left the mound after 108 pitches (64 strikes) with a 4-2 lead, but the Boston bullpen cost Houck his ninth win of the season. Instead, he had to settle for his 17th quality start, tying him with Luis Castillo, Seth Lugo, Cole Ragans and Zack Wheeler for fourth in the majors. While he's still giving the Red Sox some length in the rotation, Houck's overall performance had faded as the summer has worn on, and since the beginning of July he's posted a 3.92 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and poor 22:21 K:BB through 39 innings. He lines up to make his next start on the road early next week in Houston.

Garcia went 3-for-5 with two solo home runs in Wednesday's 9-7 extra-inning win over the Red Sox.

The 31-year-old outfielder put balls over the Green Monster off Tanner Houck in the sixth inning and Luis Garcia in the eighth, snapping a 15-game power drought in the process. While Garcia hasn't been supplying many homers lately, his bat has been coming around -- over his last 20 contests, he's slashing .303/.369/.461 with three homers, three steals, 11 runs and 13 RBI. Wednesday's performance also got Garcia to 20 long balls, a mark he's now reached in four straight seasons.

Yates struck out one in a perfect 10th inning Wednesday to record his 21st save of the season in a 9-7 win over the Red Sox.

The veteran right-hander needed only nine pitches (seven strikes) to carve up the heart of the Boston order. Yates still has yet to blow a save chance in 2024, and since the beginning of July he's delivered a stellar 1.13 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and 25:6 K:BB through 16 innings.

Varsho went 3-for-5 with a double, a three-run homer and three runs scored in Wednesday's win over the Angels.

Varsho doubled in his second trip to the plate before coming around to score on a Vladimir Guerrero single. The outfielder then smacked a three-run shot off Tyler Anderson in the fifth to extend Toronto's lead to six runs, giving him 15 long balls on the campaign. Varsho also posted three hits in the contest for only the second time this season, and he's now registered multiple knocks in two of his last four games. In the month of August, he's slashing .279 with two homers, five RBI and nine runs scored.

Dunning came away with a no-decision in Wednesday's 9-7 extra-inning win over the Red Sox, giving up four runs on five hits and a walk over five-plus innings. He struck out three.

Making his first start since June 16, Dunning was able to give the Rangers a solid 76 pitches (48 strikes), but he ran out of gas in the sixth inning and got the hook after serving up a Wilyer Abreu solo shot and a Masataka Yoshida single to begin the frame. With Jose Urena struggling and Texas dealing with multiple injuries to starting pitchers, Dunning's performance might have been good enough to keep him in the rotation for at least one more turn, but his 4.92 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 81:38 K:BB through 82.1 innings innings don't inspire a lot of confidence from a fantasy perspective.

Guerrero went 3-for-5 with a double, a homer and three RBI in Wednesday's win over the Angels.

Guerrero drove home Daulton Varsho with a single in the top of the third and later added a two-run homer in the ninth, marking the second game in a row in which he's gone deep. The first baseman has also registered multiple hits in four of his last seven contests and is now batting .426 in August with four homers, 10 RBI and 10 runs scored.

Anderson (9-11) took the loss against the Blue Jays on Wednesday, allowing seven runs on six hits and four walks over 5.2 innings while striking out eight.

The Blue Jays got to Anderson early and often Wednesday, tagging the veteran for runs in the second, third, fifth and sixth innings while the Angels' offense struggled to get anything going. The lefty gave up a season-high seven runs on the night while surrendering multiple home runs for the first time in his last five starts. Anderson's four walks in the contest were the most he's issued since June 25 against the Athletics (span of seven starts), and he's now allowed multiple free passes in two of his last three outings. On a positive note, Anderson has gone at least five innings in seven consecutive starts.

Berrios (11-9) picked up the win over the Angels on Wednesday, allowing one run on two hits and one walk over seven innings while striking out five.

Berrios allowed just one hit over the first four innings before coughing up a solo homer to Matt Thaiss in the bottom of the fifth, though Toronto had already backed the right-hander with six runs in support by that point. Berrios has now hurled seven innings of one-run ball in each of his last two starts, posting a 13:2 K:BB over that stretch. He'a also recorded at least five strikeouts in five consecutive outings and has won three of his last four decisions (spanning four starts).

Thomas went 0-for-2 with a walk, a hit-by-pitch, a stolen base and a run scored in Wednesday's 6-1 win over the Cubs.

Thomas is hitting just .104 over 14 contests with the Guardians, which largely explains why this was his first steal since he was traded from the Nationals. He's also struck out 21 times since the trade. The outfielder is still expected to handle a majority of the playing time in center field, but until he can find more consistency at the plate, he'll be pressured by Will Brennan, Daniel Schneemann and Tyler Freeman. Thomas is slashing .233/.314/.371 with 29 steals, eight home runs, 40 RBI and 47 runs scored across 91 contests between Cleveland and Washington.