MLB Player News

Alvarez didn't factor into the decision Saturday against the Cardinals after allowing five hits and a walk while striking out eight over six scoreless innings.

Alvarez delivered one of his strongest outings of the season and matched his season-high output in strikeouts, which was set in his previous start Sept. 12 against the Angels. The left-hander exited with Washington ahead 3-0, but the bullpen surrendered the lead before the Nationals eventually prevailed 8-5 in 11 innings. Alvarez threw 61 of 92 pitches for strikes and lowered his ERA to 3.17. He hasn't given up more than three earned runs in any of his 15 outings since the All-Star break, posting a 3.58 ERA and 1.46 WHIP with a 65:29 K:BB across 60.1 innings over that stretch. Alvarez is expected to make his final start of the regular season Friday at home against the Mets.

Carroll batted fifth and went 0-for-2 with a walk and an RBI in Saturday's 5-3 win over the Yankees.

Carroll tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth inning with a run-scoring sacrifice fly. One game after he was slotted in as the seventh batter, manager Torey Lovullo moved the outfielder back up to fifth in the order. A recent slump prompted the manager to drop Carroll from the upper third of the order to fifth and then a one-day sentence to seventh. He's batting .192 with a .637 OPS during September.

Bachar will serve as the Pirates' opening pitcher in a bullpen game Sunday against the Royals, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Bachar will be making his 11th start of the season but hasn't covered more than three innings in any of those prior 10 appearances and will be in line for an abbreviated workload once again Sunday. After tossing three scoreless innings in a long-relief appearance against the Brewers on Tuesday, Antwone Kelly could be called upon to work multiple frames out of the bullpen once Bachar exits the game.

Smith entered as a pinch hitter and hit a walk-off, two-run home run in Saturday's 5-3 win over the Yankees.

Smith took Michael Fulmer deep in dramatic fashion, which helped snap the team's three-game losing streak and inched the Diamondbacks closer in the wild-card standings. It was Smith's second home run in three games. He usually finds himself in the starting lineup against right-handers but opened Saturday's contest on the bench against New York righty Cam Schlittler. Since having his contract selected from Triple-A Reno last week, Smith is 5-for-15 with three extra-base hits and four RBI through six games.

Caglianone went 2-for-3 with two walks, one RBI and two runs scored in Saturday's 6-5 loss to the Pirates.

Caglianone sat out Friday's contest with a minor hand injury but returned in a big way, reaching base four times and tallying his first stolen base since Aug. 15. It was a much-needed effort from the 23-year-old, who entered the game just 4-for-27 with a 1:11 BB:K through his first 10 September contests. On the season, Cags is slashing .279/.332/.485 with 23 homers, 71 RBI, 68 runs scored and seven steals across 527 plate appearances.

Simon went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Saturday's 6-5 win over the Royals.

Simon opened the scoring with his first career major-league home run in the second inning. The 26-year-old has been solid in a small sample this season, hitting .313 with four extra-base hits, four RBI, nine runs scored and seven steals across just 52 plate appearances with the Pirates.

Lowe went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and an additional run scored in Saturday's 6-5 win over the Royals.

Lowe hit what proved to be the game-winning blast in the bottom of the eighth inning. It continued a strong run by the 32-year-old, who's hit safely in 10 of his past 11 games while going deep in four of his last five. For the year, he leads all second basemen with 33 long balls while slashing .262/.332/.494 with 93 RBI, 92 runs scored and two steals across 630 plate appearances.

Walton went 3-for-3 with a home run, four RBI and a stolen base in Saturdays' 12-6 loss to the Guardians.

Walton did all he could in a losing effort, driving in runs on three separate occasions while tallying a homer and a steal in the same game for the first time in his career. The 32-year-old journeyman's production has been a mixed bag over his past 10 games -- he's gone hitless six times but has gone deep three times and recorded three multi-hit performances. For the season, he's slashing .269/.367/.458 with eight long balls, 29 RBI, 35 runs scored and three stolen bases across a career-high 247 plate appearances.

DeLauter went 2-for-5 with a three-run home run and an additional run scored in Saturday's 12-6 win over the Athletics.

DeLauter got the Guardians on the board with a blast in the first inning before coming around to score after a single in the third. It continued a steady second half for the 24-year-old, who owns an .868 OPS with 18 extra-base hits, 19 RBI, 26 runs scored and eight stolen bases over 47 games since the All-Star break. Overall, he's slashing .290/.363/.458 with 15 homers, 65 RBI, 59 runs scored and 11 steals across 531 plate appearances in what has been a successful rookie campaign.

Martinez went 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double, four RBI and three runs scored in Saturday's 12-6 win over the Athletics.

In his first game since Monday, Martinez fell a triple shy of the cycle and notched his second two-homer game of the season. It continued a long stretch of strong play by the 24-year-old, who's hitting .325 with 18 extra-base hits, 24 RBI and 19 runs scored over 35 games since the calendar flipped to August. For the year, he's slashing .255/.292/.467 with 17 home runs, 57 RBI, 47 runs scored and 11 steals across 390 plate appearances.