MLB Player News

Musgrove (1-2) was handed the loss Tuesday against the Cubs, allowing four runs on five hits and three walks over four innings. He struck out five.

All of the damage against Musgrove came in the fifth, as he surrendered a solo homer to Yan Gomes to open up the inning, then gave up a walk, a single and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases. While Musgrove was pulled at that point, he was stuck with three earned runs as reliever Stephen Kolek surrendered a grand slam to Christopher Morel on his very first pitch. After finishing each of the last three seasons with an ERA below 3.20, Musgrove's ERA sits at 6.87 through four starts. He's allowed at least four runs in all but one appearance and will look for improvement Monday when he's projected to start against the Brewers.

Morel went 2-for-4 with a grand slam during Tuesday's 5-1 win over San Diego.

Morel launched his third homer of 2024 on Tuesday, tagging reliever Stephen Kolek for the grand slam on Kolek's first pitch out of the bullpen. The long ball was Morel's first grand slam of his career. He's now logged a hit in 10 of his 11 games this season and is slashing .326/.370/.605 with an excellent 10.9 percent strikeout rate across 46 plate appearances.

Brown didn't factor into the decision Tuesday, allowing three hits and one walk over 4.2 scoreless innings against San Diego. He struck out five.

After coming out of the bullpen in his first two appearances, Brown took the ball for his first career start. He was held to just 77 pitches and isn't quite fully stretched out after throwing 44 and 52 pitches in his first two outings. However, after yielding six runs in 1.2 innings during his MLB debut, Brown has rebounded with one run allowed in his last 8.2 frames and seems to have the hold on Justin Steele's (hamstring) slot in the rotation. Brown's tentatively expected to take the mound Monday against the Diamondbacks for his next start.

Spiers allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and three walks while striking out one over four relief innings in Tuesday's 9-5 loss to Milwaukee.

Spiers, who was called up Monday to replace Tejay Antone (elbow), was needed for a bullpen-saving stint. After the Reds had fallen behind, 9-1 in the seventh inning, the game was in the hands of Spiers, who had been part of the rotation at Triple-A Louisville.

Encarnacion-Strand went 2-for-5 with two runs scored in Tuesday's 9-5 loss to the Brewers.

Encarnacion-Strand is fighting a slump and entered the night with a .136 average after a 1-for-20 stretch. Cincinnati needs better from the player that bats third in the order. The silver lining is that Encarnacion-Strand's underlying numbers indicate some bad luck (.206 BABIP). His average stands at .163 following Tuesday's two-hit night, but Statcast has him at an expected average of .245.

India started at second base and went 1-for-4 with a walk and stolen base in Tuesday's 9-5 loss to Milwaukee.

India, who was scratched from Monday's game after taking a batted ball off his leg during pregame warmups, returned to the lineup. All signs indicate the scratch was a precautionary move by manager David Bell. India played the field, batted leadoff and recorded his second steal.

Kelly (2-0) got the win over the Rockies on Tuesday, allowing two runs on six hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out four.

Five of the six hits allowed by Kelly went for singles, as he was able to keep the damage against him to a minimum in a ballpark where baseballs tend to travel far. It was his first outing of the year with multiple walks, but he now has three quality starts in as many tries to open 2024 and owns a 2.29 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 16:4 K:BB in 19.2 innings. He tentatively lines up for a start against the Cubs his next time out.

Ginkel fired a perfect ninth in a 3-2 win over the Rockies on Tuesday to pick up his first save of the year. He struck out two.

Ginkel finally earned his first save of the year as the team's primary fill-in closer while Paul Sewald (oblique) is on the mend. The 30-year-old was able to bounce back after giving up runs in back-to-back outings. He has kept things pretty clean overall though with a 3.38 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 7:0 K:BB in 5.1 innings.

Moreno went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles in Tuesday's 3-2 win over the Rockies.

With two regulars resting, Moreno was moved up to second in the order and delivered his first multi-hit game since Opening Day. The Diamondbacks' primary catcher is slashing .250/.357/.389 over 11 games (nine starts).

Grichuk started in right field and went 1-for-3 with a walk and solo home run in Tuesday's 3-2 win over Colorado.

Grichuk provided what eventually turned out to be the game-winning hit with a second-inning home run, his first of the season. He's started four consecutive games; the first three were against lefties, as expected, before Tuesday's start against a right-hander. Grichuk got the start in place of a resting Lourdes Gurriel.