MLB Player News

Witt went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run against Detroit in a 5-1 win Saturday.

Witt hit a grounder up the first-base line in his first plate appearance, and the ball bounced off the side wall in right field and past outfielder Kerry Carpenter. That was enough for Witt to motor all the way home for his second career inside-the-park homer. Of course, it counts just the same as if Witt had slugged the ball over the outfield fence, and he now has five home runs over his past 13 contests after opening the campaign with a 27-game homerless stretch.

Morris will serve as the Twins' starting pitcher for Sunday's series finale against the Guardians, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.

Despite tossing two-thirds of an inning during the Twins' 2-1 win over the Guardians in 11 innings Saturday, Morris will pick up his first MLB start Sunday. Expect the Twins to treat the series finale in Cleveland as more of a bullpen day, though Morris should be capable of providing more length than the typical opener after previously operating as a starter at Triple-A St. Paul to begin the season and having covered three-plus innings on three occasions since being called up to Minnesota on April 11. With Taj Bradley (pectoral) recently joining Mick Abel (elbow) on the injured list, the Twins could have a spot available in the rotation for Morris until the team reclaims some health.

Massey went 1-for-3 with a three-run home run in Saturday's 5-1 victory versus the Tigers.

Massey's three-run shot in the fourth frame gave the Royals a 5-0 lead. It was the infielder's second long ball over his past four games after he went deep just once across his first 23 contests of the campaign. Massey isn't a big power guy, but he did hit a combined 29 home runs over the 2023 and 2024 regular seasons, so he may have more pop in his bat than the three long balls he tallied across 277 plate appearances last year.

Buxton went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and an RBI double in Saturday's 2-1 extra-innings win over the Guardians.

The center fielder's incredible power surge continued, and he even accounted for Minnesota's entire output in both hits and runs Saturday. Buxton opened the game with a first-inning homer and then delivered an RBI double in the 11th inning. Over his last 23 games (103 at-bats), he is batting .301 with 13 homers, four doubles, 20 RBI and 20 runs scored. He's also hit safely in 19 contests during that stretch.

Madden allowed three runs on two hits and two walks while striking out five batters over six relief innings in a no-decision versus Kansas City on Saturday.

Detroit opted to go with an opener Saturday, so Madden didn't enter until the third frame. That saved him from being tagged with a loss, though it also prevented him from notching a quality start, which he would have earned otherwise with three runs allowed across six innings. Madden covered a starter's workload, tossing 87 pitches, 53 of which were strikes. The right-hander has worked in bulk relief in each of his two outings so far this season and has fared well, as he tossed five scoreless frames with seven punchouts in his previous appearance May 4 versus Boston. Given that success, the Tigers may opt to keep deploying Madden behind an opener, but regardless he seems likely to continue working as a rotation piece for Detroit.

Garcia secured the save Saturday against Cleveland, retiring all three batters he faced with no strikeouts during the 11th inning.

The journeyman reliever nabbed his first save of the season in extra innings Saturday, which was highlighted by an impressive play by Kody Clemens at second base for the game's final out. With a 10.64 ERA, 2.00 WHIP and 4:4 K:BB over 11 innings for the Mets and Twins this year, Garcia doesn't appear to be in the mix for steady high-leverage work going forward despite Saturday's showing.

Ryan didn't factor into the decision Saturday against the Guardians, allowing one run on two hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out five.

After leaving his last start early with elbow soreness, the All-Star right-hander looked no worse for wear Saturday. Ryan threw a season-high 107 pitches (66 strikes), and, excluding his most recent injury-shortened outing, pitched at least six innings while yielding two runs or fewer for the third time in his past four appearances. He'll carry a strong 3.43 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 45:13 K:BB over 44.2 innings into a tough assignment against the Brewers in his next scheduled start.

Wacha (4-2) earned the win over Detroit on Saturday, tossing seven scoreless innings during which he gave up two hits and walked two batters while striking out six.

Wacha faced little resistance from the Tigers, who managed just two hits against him. The veteran righty tossed 54 of 89 pitches for strikes and tallied six punchouts despite inducing only four whiffs. Wacha registered his second straight quality start and sixth overall through eight outings on the season. As usual, he hasn't been racking up punchouts with a modest 42 through 51.1 frames overall, but Wacha has otherwise been a valuable fantasy asset given his 2.63 ERA and 0.99 WHIP, both of which rank within the top 20 among qualified pitchers.

Bibee didn't factor into the decision Saturday against the Twins, allowing one run on one hit and two walks in six innings. He struck out nine.

Byron Buxton led off the game Saturday with a homer off Bibee, but that was essentially all the Twins mustered against the hurler. Bibee was nearly flawless thereafter, issuing only a pair of free passes en route to registering a whopping 20 whiffs and fanning a season-high nine, though he was unable to pick up his first win of the season. He'll look to further improve on a 4.17 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 45:18 K:BB over 45.1 innings in his next start, which is slated to come versus the Reds.

Baz (1-4) took the loss Wednesday as the Orioles were downed 6-2 by the A's, coughing up five runs on five hits and three walks over 4.2 innings. He struck out five.

Three of the five hits off the right-hander went for extra bases, including a three-run blast by Brent Rooker in the third inning that effectively put the game out of reach. Baz has been tagged for at least four earned runs in four of his last five outings, a stretch in which he's stumbled to a 6.04 ERA, 1.55 WHIP and 25:14 K:BB over 28.1 innings. He'll look to turn things around in his next trip to the mound, which lines up to come on the road next weekend against the Nationals.