MLB Player News

Lopez (groin) tossed a scoreless inning of relief to earn a hold in Saturday's 5-3 win over the Nationals. He allowed one walk and struck out one.

Lopez, who missed eight days due to a groin injury, looked good in his return to the mound. The righty has a stellar 2.34 ERA overall this season and has been even better since making his Chicago debut in late June. Across 23.2 innings with the Cubs, Lopez has turned in a 0.76 ERA and has struck out 26 batters. Porter Hodge earned the save Saturday and is likely first in line to close games moving forward, though Lopez figures to be in the mix as well now that he's healthy.

Steer batted leadoff and went 2-for-5 with two RBI in Saturday's 5-4 loss to the Brewers.

Steer is normally a middle-of-the-order bat for the Reds, but he was moved to leadoff as Jonathan India received a rest day. It was Steer's fourth time batting leadoff this season, and he is 5-for-11 with three home runs and 10 RBI from atop the order.

Espinal (shin) entered Saturday's game as a pinch hitter and went 0-for-1 in a 5-4 loss to Milwaukee.

Espinal, who sustained an injury to his left shin during Friday's game, took infield practice prior to the game and was moving around, but he was held out of the starting lineup. Reds manager David Bell told MLB.com that they're trying to keep Espinal off his feet as much as possible and suggested the infielder may be able to play Sunday.

Thompson (7-4) was the losing pitcher in Saturday's game against the Dodgers, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out one over one inning.

Thompson entered with one out and a runner on and got the Diamondbacks out of the eighth inning unscathed, but trouble followed him in the ninth. He was removed after a pair of singles and a sacrifice bunt, then watched Justin Martinez let his two runners score. Thompson has largely been a dependable bullpen arm but is showing cracks this month. The submarining right-hander has a 6.17 ERA and a .327 batting-average against over 11.2 innings in August.

Carroll went 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI in Saturday's 8-6 loss to the Dodgers.

Carroll legged out an inside-the-park home run to lead off the bottom of the first inning, igniting a four-run inning that wiped out Los Angeles' early 3-0 lead. He later knocked in a run on a sacrifice fly. The homer extended Carroll's hit streak to 10 games, during which he's 13-for-39 with six home runs and 13 RBI. His average is up to .228, the highest its been since the middle of April.

Alonso went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run and an additional run scored Saturday in a 5-3 victory versus the White Sox.

Alonso gave New York an early lead with his first-inning, two-run shot to left-center field. It was his 30th homer of the campaign, marking the fifth time in six career seasons he's reached that total (the only exception was the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign). In August, Alonso posted a .250 batting average with eight homers, 19 RBI and 16 runs over 104 at-bats.

Gurriel went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, a two-run double and an additional run scored in Saturday's 8-6 loss to the Dodgers.

Gurriel was excellent in August, going 25-for-82 (.305) with three homers, 12 RBI, 17 runs scored and two stolen bases over 24 contests for the month. He did his damage early Saturday, providing both hits over his first two at-bats. For the season, Gurriel has a .275/.317/.431 slash line with 17 homers, 70 RBI, 69 runs scored, 22 doubles and seven stolen bases through 124 games.

Kelly allowed six runs (four earned) on 10 hits and a walk while striking out one over 5.1 innings in a no-decision versus the Dodgers on Saturday.

Kelly looked to be in for a long night after giving up solo home runs to Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman over his first 11 pitches. Kelly struggled against the top of the Dodgers' order in the second inning as well, but he was able to settle down after that. The right-hander hasn't been very good since he returned from a four-month absence with a shoulder injury -- he's allowed 18 runs (16 earned), including six homers, over 21.1 innings since he returned to action Aug. 11. Kelly has a 4.30 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 33:14 K:BB through 46 innings over eight starts this season. He's tentatively projected to make his next start at San Francisco.

Winker went 3-for-3 with a a solo home run and an additional RBI in Saturday's 5-3 win over the White Sox.

Winker helped the Mets get off to a fast start with his 404-foot solo shot in the first inning. He added an RBI single in the third frame and notched another hit in the sixth. Winker finished with his second straight three-hit performance and his third consecutive multi-hit effort. Over the latter stretch, he's gone 8-for-11 with three-extra base hits to push his season slash line up to .273/.372/.433.

Edman went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a stolen base in Saturday's 8-6 win over the Diamondbacks.

Edman didn't start the contest, but he was impactful after entering the game as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning. He delivered the winning hit, a two-run single in the ninth. This was his third multi-hit effort over 11 games this season, and he's now hitting .275 with three RBI, three steals and five runs scored, though he's still searching for his first home run in Dodger blue.