MLB Player News

Helsley gave up a hit and walked two batters in a scoreless ninth inning Saturday to record his seventh save of the season in a 4-2 win over the Nationals.

After retiring the first two batters in the ninth, Helsley loaded the bases but was able to escape the jam by getting CJ Abrams to fly out. The Cardinals closer has been putting plenty of traffic on the basepaths this year, leading to two blown saves in nine chances along with a 3.21 ERA, 1.64 WHIP and 14:10 K:BB through 14 innings -- numbers which represent a significant step back from his dazzling 2024 campaign.

Wagaman went 1-for-4 with a two-run triple in Saturday's 3-1 win over the White Sox.

Wagaman, who went 0-for-8 in his two games prior to Saturday, got off to a slow start after he struck out swinging in each of his first two plate appearances. However, he came up clutch in the eighth inning, when his triple off Brandon Eisert brought Dane Myers and Nick Fortes home. Wagaman has struggled at the plate of late with a .115/.148/.231 slash line over his last seven games.

Pallante (3-2) picked up the win Saturday, allowing two runs on five hits over 7.1 innings in a 4-2 victory over the Nationals. He struck out seven without walking a batter.

In his longest outing of the season, Pallante took a shutout into the eighth inning before Dylan Crews connected on a two-run homer. The right-hander fired 61 of 91 pitches for strikes in his first win in nearly a month, and he'll take a 4.36 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and 28:16 K:BB through 43.1 innings into his next start, which lines up to come on the road next weekend in Kansas City.

Kolek (2-0) earned the win against Colorado on Saturday, tossing a nine-inning complete game shutout during which he allowed five hits and two walks while striking out seven batters.

The Rockies are now 6-33 on the season, so Kolek's competition wasn't the stiffest, but this was nonetheless a very impressive performance by the former reliever in his second career MLB start. The right-hander was efficient enough (he tossed 104 total pitches) to go the distance while San Diego's offense supported him with a massive 21-run outburst at Coors Field. Kolek began the season in the minors but has shined since being called up May 4, tossing 14.1 scoreless frames with an 11:4 K:BB across two starts. He appears to have locked himself into a rotation spot with the Padres, and his next start is lined up to be a matchup at home against Seattle next week.

Cabrera did not factor into Saturday's decision against the White Sox, allowing one run on three hits and one walk while striking out two over five innings.

Cabrera got off to a shaky start after yielding a solo home run to Andrew Vaughn in the first inning. Cabrera was able to recover and kept the White Sox off the board for the next four frames, tossing 85 pitches (55 strikes). It was the least amount of hits and runs allowed across his six starts this season, though he still has a 5.52 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and 26:13 K:BB across 29.1 innings. Cabrera is lineup to face Tampa Bay at home next weekend.

Baty went 2-for-4 with a pair of home runs and five RBI in Saturday's loss to the Cubs.

All five of New York's runs in the contest came as a result of a Baty homer -- he belted a three-run shot in the fourth frame and added a two-run blast in the eighth. He's started at third base in three straight games and has gone 4-for-12 with three homers and six RBI during that span. Mark Vientos was on the bench for the first two of those contests and started at DH on Saturday, and given his mediocre results so far this season (he has a .675 OPS through 36 games), Vientos could be asked to cede more starts at third while Baty is swinging a hot bat.

Singer did not factor into the decision against the Astros on Saturday, allowing seven runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out one batter across 2.1 innings.

It took some time for Singer to take the mound Saturday after the Reds racked up 10 runs in the top of the first inning. However, that commanding lead was short lived as he proceeded to yield six runs in the third frame, highlighted by a Victor Caratini two-run homer that led to Singer being lifted for Lyon Richardson. It ended Singer's streak of six-inning outings at three, and his ERA ballooned from 3.66 to 4.97. He's slated to face the Guardians at home next weekend, when he'll look to get back in the win column.

McLain went 1-for-3 with a stolen base, two-run home run and two additional runs scored in Saturday's 13-9 win over the Astros.

After drawing a bases-loaded walk in the first inning, McLain pushed the Reds' lead to 11 runs in the third with a two-run homer off Logan VanWey. It was McLain's fifth home run of the season, but his first since April 18 against the Orioles. He also managed to extend his on-base streak to 11 games, and over that span he has gone 8-for-41 with six stolen bases, six runs scored, one home run and four RBI.

De La Cruz went 1-for-4 with a three-run homer and an additional RBI in Saturday's 13-9 win over the Astros.

De La Cruz -- who entered Saturday's game 0-for-8 with four strikeouts over his prior two games -- put the Reds on the board with a three-run home run off Lance McCullers in the first inning, and the shortstop tacked on another run in the same frame on an RBI groundout. De La Cruz has struggled at the plate in May, going 6-for-39 (.154 average) with a 31.1 percent strikeout rate.

Swanson went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, an additional RBI and a walk in a 6-5 win against the Mets on Saturday.

Swanson plated a run on an infield single in the first inning and added a solo shot to left-center field in the fourth. The veteran shortstop has reached base safely in 11 consecutive contests, batting .421 (16-for-38) with four homers, 11 runs and seven RBI over that stretch. Swanson was hitting below the Mendoza Line as recently as April 29, but the hot stretch has pushed his season slash line to .240/.298/.455 with eight home runs, 22 RBI, 28 runs and four stolen bases through 40 games.