MLB Player News

Holmes (fibula) surrendered two earned runs on three hits and two walks while striking out two batters across 2.1 innings in a rehab start with Triple-A Syracuse on Thursday.

Holmes was expected to pitch three frames in his first minor-league rehab outing since suffering a fractured right fibula in mid-May, and he fell two outs short of the goal. The right-hander had a tough time finding the strike zone at times, tossing only 28 of his 51 total pitches for strikes. Holmes will require at least one more rehab start before being activated from the 60-day injured list.

Palmquist will serve as the Nationals' opening pitcher for Friday's game against the Diamondbacks, Kyle Williams of TheBanner.com reports.

Palmquist gave up four earned runs in 1.2 innings the last time he served as an opener Tuesday against the Rockies, but the Nationals will give him another chance to handle the opening frame or two during Friday's contest. Zack Littell is in line to pitch in bulk relief once Palmquist exits the game.

Urias (elbows) has been sent to Triple-A Memphis and will begin a rehab assignment Saturday, Amber Winkler of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Urias has been limited to only 25 games this season due to tennis elbow in both arms, an issue he's dealt with dating back to spring training. He's been out since early May and had to be pulled off his initial rehab assignment in early June following a setback. Given the length of his absence, Urias' rehab stint might last at least a couple weeks.

Marte was scratched from Thursday's lineup in St. Louis due to back stiffness, Steve Zinsmeister of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM reports.

Marte has a history of back issues and this flareup looks like a day-to-day situation for the time being. Tyler Locklear entered the Diamondbacks' lineup in Marte's place, with Tim Tawa shifting to third base and Ildemaro Vargas to second base.

Smith went 1-for-3 with a three-run homer in Thursday's 6-5 win over the Padres.

Making just his second start in six games, Smith put Atlanta ahead in the fourth inning by taking Griffin Canning deep for his seventh homer this season and first since June 6. Smith had gone just 3-for-19 with five walks and no extra-base hits in nine games prior to Thursday. Overall, he's slashing .264/.318/.395 with 39 RBI and 35 runs scored across 246 plate appearances this season.

Canning (1-9) took the loss Thursday against Atlanta, allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits across 2.2 innings. He struck out four.

The Padres elected to use an opener ahead of Canning on Thursday, but it didn't seem to help the right-hander. Canning gave up three homers in the loss -- two solo shots before Dominic Smith added a three-run blast in the fourth. Canning has now taken the loss in four consecutive outings while allowing eight earned runs across just 6.1 innings in his last two appearances. His ERA is up to 6.97 across 62 innings this season with a 1.63 WHIP and 63:32 K:BB.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Thursday that Dobbins will remain with the major-league club for the time being, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Dobbins tossed six shutout innings Wednesday versus the Angels in what had seemed likely to be just a spot start. He will remain with the big club for now and could get another turn in the rotation next week, though that seems dependent on whether the Cardinals need to use Dobbins' roster spot for a reliever between now and then. A possible trade of Dustin May before the deadline would also open up a rotation spot for Dobbins, who has authored a 3.18 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 28:10 K:BB across 28.1 innings with St. Louis.

Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said Thursday that he expects Acuna (hamstring) to be activated from the 10-day injured list before the end of this weekend, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

Acuna will play his eighth and likely final rehab game Thursday with Triple-A Gwinnett. A return to the active roster Friday is possible, though the club could elect to give Acuna a day to rest before activating him later in the weekend. The star outfielder has been sidelined since early June due to a Grade 1 left hamstring strain.

Murphy (finger) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett on Friday, Harrison Smajovits of SI.com reports.

Murphy has been limited to only four games for Atlanta this season, first due to offseason hip surgery and more recently because of a fractured left middle finger that's kept him shelved since mid-May. The veteran catcher should be ready to rejoin the active roster in early August if all goes well on his rehab assignment.

Iglesias earned the save in Thursday's 6-5 win over San Diego, working around two hits while striking out two in a scoreless ninth inning.

Iglesias found himself in some trouble in the ninth after the Padres logged back-to-back singles. However, the right-hander struck out Luis Rengifo to end the game, stranding the tying and go-ahead runs on base. It's a nice bounce-back outing from Iglesias, who gave up a home run in each of his previous two appearances. He's up to 21 saves this season while posting a 2.50 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 42:7 K:BB across 36 innings.