MLB Player News

Helsley (elbow) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk on Saturday, Matt Betts of MLB.com reports.

Helsley has been on the 15-day injured list since late June with right elbow discomfort, and the right-hander threw 24 pitches in live batting practice Tuesday. The rehab outing will be his first game action in over two months, so he'll likely need to get a few appearances under his belt before becoming an option to rejoin the Orioles. A return before the end of the season remains in the cards, though.

Pecko did not factor into the decision in Friday's 3-1 loss to the Rays, allowing one run on one hit and two walks with four strikeouts over 5.2 innings.

Pecko entered with one out in the third inning and delivered his best performance in five outings with the Astros. The 24-year-old threw only 44 of 75 pitches for strikes, but he's now yielded one earned run in consecutive outings. He owns a 4.30 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 15:12 K:BB across 23 major-league innings and lines up for a home matchup with the Royals next week.

Dingler went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Friday's 6-2 win over the Rockies.

Dingler recorded his 27th home run of the season in the sixth inning, which snapped a 28-game streak without a long ball. During that power drought, the Detroit catcher slashed just .123/.174/.151 with seven RBI and 29 strikeouts. Even with that slump, Dingler still leads the Tigers in homers and is second in the majors in long balls among backstops, which is a testament to just how well he was playing earlier in the year.

Gray (17-5) was tagged with the loss in Friday's game against the Royals, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out five across six innings.

All three of the runs Gray allowed came over the first three innings of Friday's start. The veteran right-hander was able to get through six innings on 90 pitches (60 strikes) for his 18th quality start of the season, tied for sixth-most in the majors, but he didn't receive enough run support from his Red Sox teammates to avoid the loss. It was Gray's second loss in three starts, but it has still been a strong season for the 37-year-old, whose 17 wins are tied with Cristopher Sanchez for most in the majors. Gray will take a 2.76 ERA and 1.17 WHIP over 156.2 innings into his next start, tentatively slated for next week on the road against the Rangers.

Rasmussen did not factor into the decision in Friday's 3-1 win over the Astros, allowing one run on eight hits and no walks with four strikeouts over seven innings.

Rasmussen allowed a run in the fourth inning but was otherwise strong despite generating just seven swinging strikes on 92 pitches. It was the 31-year-old's fourth straight quality start and seventh overall in 10 second-half outings. He'll carry a 2.81 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 160:27 K:BB across a career-high 160.1 innings this season into a home matchup with the Athletics next week.

Cruz earned the save in Friday's 3-2 win over Boston, striking out one batter in a scoreless ninth inning.

With Nate Pearson holding firm in the eighth inning, the Royals turned to Cruz to close things out in the ninth, with the latter promptly doing so on only 10 pitches (six strikes) and ending the frame by striking out Roman Anthony. It was the seventh save of the season for Cruz, all of which have come since the All-Star break, and the 27-year-old right-hander has a 4.04 ERA and 1.24 WHIP across 55.2 innings this season.

Mesa went 1-for-2 with a solo home run, a walk and a stolen base in Friday's 3-1 win over the Astros.

Mesa got the Rays on the board with a solo shot in the fifth inning before adding a stolen base in the seventh. The 25-year-old is now riding a modest seven-game hitting streak, delivering three homers, six RBI, six runs scored and three stolen bases during that stretch. For the year, he's slashing .250/.316/.500 with 13 long balls, 28 RBI, 28 runs scored and nine steals across 214 plate appearances.

Jensen went 2-for-5 with two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored during the Royals' 3-2 win over the Red Sox on Friday.

Jensen came around to score in the first inning on a Salvador Perez RBI single. The former added an RBI double of his own in the third before coming home to score later in the frame for what turned out to be the game-winning run. It was Jensen's fourth multi-hit game of September, and so far this month, he's gone 12-for-34 (.353) with 11 extra-base hits (including four home runs), nine RBI and 11 runs scored.

Caminero went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Friday's 3-1 win over the Astros.

Caminero reached the 40-homer mark for the second straight season in dramatic fashion, launching a walk-off blast in the bottom of the ninth inning to clinch a playoff berth for the Rays. The 23-year-old slugger has now gone deep in three of his past six games, becoming the first player in the American League to reach 40 long balls this season. Overall, he's slashing .279/.365/.534 with 95 RBI, 90 runs scored and three steals across 643 plate appearances.

Lugo (7-8) earned the win against the Red Sox on Friday, allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out seven across five innings.

Lugo allowed two baserunners in each of the first two innings of his start but kept the Red Sox off the board until the fifth, when he allowed a solo homer to Mickey Gasper and an RBI double to Wilyer Abreu. The Royals' bullpen took care of the rest to secure Lugo's fourth win since the All-Star break, and his seven strikeouts tied a season high that he set four times prior to Friday's start. Lugo has allowed three earned runs or less in three of his last four outings, and he'll take a 4.99 ERA and 1.45 WHIP over 164 innings into his next start, tentatively slated for next week on the road against the Astros.