MLB Player News

Smith tossed two scoreless innings in a no-decision against Pittsburgh on Thursday, allowing two hits and striking out three batters.

Smith made his first big-league start, but he ended up working a short stint as the opener for Erick Fedde, who followed with 5.1 frames of bulk relief. Smith looked great during his brief time in the game, notching five whiffs on his 33 pitches and keeping Pittsburgh out of the scoring column. The rookie left-hander has thrived as a big leaguer so far, yielding just one earned run through 18 innings spanning 11 appearances while posting a 26:10 K:BB. He worked mostly as a starter in the minors, but Chicago may hold him to shorter outings given his success in that role so far.

Montgomery earned a save against the White Sox on Thursday, allowing one hit with one strikeout and no walks over one scoreless inning.

Montgomery was summoned in the ninth inning with Pittsburgh up 2-0. He gave up a leadoff single to allow the tying run to come to the plate but retired each of the next three batters, getting the final out on a strikeout. Montgomery has notched a save each of the past two days and already has five saves through the first 10 days of September. He's been a revelation as the Pirates' closer and has now gone 20 straight contests without giving up an earned run. Over that stretch, Montgomery has earned three wins, gone 10-for-10 in save chances and posted a 30:4 K:BB over 19.1 innings.

Jones (4-6) earned the win over the White Sox on Thursday, allowing one hit and issuing two walks while striking out eight batters over seven scoreless innings.

Jones limited Chicago to just one knock -- a Colson Montgomery double. He racked up a whopping 20 whiffs and struck out eight while throwing an efficient 90 pitches over seven frames in his longest start of the season. It's been an up-and-down campaign for Jones in his first year back from elbow surgery, and his 4.10 ERA through 18 starts is far from dominant. However, the right-hander has kicked off September in fine form, tossing 13 shutout innings while posting a 17:3 K:BB across his first two starts of the month. He'll look to keep rolling his next time out, which is projected to be a matchup against Milwaukee at home.

Garcia went 1-for-5 with a two-run home run against Colorado in a 10-3 win Thursday.

Garcia gave New York a quick lead with a two-run homer to center field in the first inning. It was his second homer in as many days and his seventh through 32 contests since joining the Yankees at the trade deadline. Garcia is batting a hearty .299 during his time with New York and has added six doubles, 17 runs, 15 RBI and one stolen base. He's at 30 homers and 91 RBI overall this year, both of which are already career-best marks.

Volpe went 3-for-4 with a grand slam, an additional RBI and a stolen base in a 10-3 win against the Rockies on Thursday.

Volpe logged his first MLB action since Aug. 1 after being called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre earlier Thursday. The 25-year-old knocked an RBI single in his first plate appearance and later made an even bigger splash with a grand slam in the seventh inning. Volpe started at second base Thursday, and he could get plenty of starts there in the short term with Jazz Chisholm (thumb) on the injured list. Volpe hasn't produced consistently at the plate as a major leaguer, though he had been red hot in the minors prior to his call-up, posting a 1.675 OPS with five homers and five steals over his past eight games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Feltner (5-10) allowed four runs on six hits and one walk while striking out two batters over five innings in a loss to the Yankees on Thursday.

Feltner fell behind quickly when he gave up a two-run homer to Luis Garcia in the first inning. The Yankees plated two more runs against him in the second, and though Feltner finished his outing with three scoreless frames, the early damage was enough to send him to his 10th loss. The right-hander has given up at least four runs in four of his past five starts, stumbling to a 6.93 ERA with a 22:13 K:BB across 24.2 innings during that stretch. His season-long 5.88 ERA is sixth worst in the majors among hurlers who have tossed at least 100 innings, but Feltner still figures to finish out the campaign in Colorado's rotation. His next start is projected to be a home matchup against San Diego.

Fried allowed one run on one hit and two walks while striking out seven batters over 3.1 innings in a no-decision against Colorado on Thursday.

Fried was effective but not efficient at recording outs, as the Rockies managed only four baserunners against him (on one hit, two walks and an error). The left-hander racked up a strong 12 whiffs and seven punchouts, but that helped drive up his pitch count -- Fried needed 80 pitches to retire just 10 batters. The veteran hurler spent time on the IL due to an elbow injury in August and hasn't yet worked back up to a full workload, as he's thrown 63, 72 and 80 pitches, respectively, in his first three starts back. That's throttling his ability to go deep into games for now, but Fried may have a longer leash his next time out, which is slated to be a road game in Minnesota.

Pederson went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in a loss to the Mariners on Thursday.

Pederson opened the scoring in the contest with a two-run blast off Logan Gilbert in the third inning. That was his lone hit of the game, and Pederson has now gone 39 contests since his last multi-hit effort. Still, he's continued to provide power when in the lineup -- Pederson has gone just 15-for-88 (.170 batting average) during the aforementioned 39-game stretch, but seven of those hits have left the park. With 26 long balls overall on the campaign, Pederson has tied the second highest single-season mark of his career.

Rodriguez went 1-for-3 with a three-run home run in Thursday's 4-3 win over the Rangers.

Jacob deGrom dominated Texas over the first six innings of Thursday's matchup, but Seattle pounced in the seventh following deGrom's departure. Rodriguez came up with the big hit in that frame, belting a three-run shot to left-center field to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead. The long ball snapped a 14-game homerless stretch for Rodriguez, and he had been ice cold during that span, slashing just .153/.180/.203 with a 27.9 percent strikeout rate. He did steal four bases during that stretch, however, and with 21 homers and 20 thefts on the campaign, Rodriguez is one of seven big leaguers to reach the 20/20 mark to this point in the season.

DeGrom allowed one hit and struck out 12 batters over six innings in a no-decision against Seattle on Thursday.

DeGrom was downright dominant from the outset, striking out eight of the first nine batters he faced. The veteran hurler racked up 20 whiffs and 12 punchouts overall on a modest 92 pitches. The Mariners put only one runner on base against him, and that came on an infield single in his sixth and final frame. When deGrom departed he was in line for the win, but the Rangers' bullpen let him down and couldn't hold a 3-0 lead. Still, this was a third straight impressive outing by the right-hander following an eight-run, 3.2-inning blowup against the White Sox on Aug. 25. During those subsequent three contests, deGrom has allowed only two runs across 19 frames while posting an incredible 27:1 K:BB. He'll look to keep rolling in his next start, which is slated to be a home tilt versus Boston.