MLB Player News

The 29-year-old hurler had been designated for assignment by the Rays on Monday. He passed through waivers unclaimed and refused his outright assignment to Triple-A Durham, instead opting to explore his options on the open market. He has registered a terrific 2.25 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 35/14 K/BB ratio over 44 innings on the year, so it’s a bit surprising that there were no waiver claims in on him.

It was business as usual for Sale, who allowed just two baserunners on the evening in a game where his offense gave him an early 6-0 lead that proved to be more than enough for him to pick up the win. Sale needed only 89 pitches to get through seven innings and was pitching on somewhat extended rest after his last start was shortened by a two-hour rain delay in St. Louis. He has allowed three earned runs or fewer in every game this season and will make his next start on Wednesday at home against the Padres.

It doesn’t sound like anything that the Brewers are overly concerned about, but his availability for the remainder of the weekend will likely depend on how he’s feeling on Saturday. For now, he’s considered day-to-day.

Chapman made quick work of the Rays on Friday, needing just 13 pitches to retire the side in order to hand the Red Sox their 11th win in a row. Friday’s save marks the second year in a row in which Chapman has recorded 20 or more saves, and now gives him 387 for his career. He’s now just four saves away from passing Dennis Eckersley on the all-time saves list.

Abreu went deep off of Rays starter Mason Englert in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game at 2-2. Abreu would take Englert deep again in the third inning to give the Red Sox a 4-3 lead after the Rays had briefly tied the game, pushing his home run total to 13 on the season. He’s hitting on .234 in the month of July, but Abreu is enjoying a bit of a power surge, as seven of his 11 hits on the month have gone for extra bases.

After suffering an injury scare in the MLB All-Star Game, Caminero was back in the Rays lineup in his return from the break, and wasted little time showing everyone there was nothing to be worried about. The righty deposited a pitch from Eduardo Rivera 407 feet onto the Green Monster to tie the game at 3-3, giving him his 29th homer of the season. Caminero tallied a hit in both games of Friday’s double header and appears to be good to go after Tuesday’s scare.

The Red Sox got after Englert in the first inning, tallying three straight extra-base hits, which included back-to-back homers by Wilyer Abreu and Willson Contreras to put the Red Sox up 3-2. Abreu would get the best of Englert again in the third inning, when he blasted his second homer of the game, a solo shot, into the stands to put the Sox up 4-3 after the Rays had tied it in the top of the frame. He would allow two more runs before being pulled to start the sixth inning, but it goes without saying that this was a rough outing for Englert, who was making just his third start of the season. He’s now started back-to-back games for the Rays, but today’s start was likely due to the Rays playing the second game of a doubleheader. If he is to make another start when this spot in the rotation comes around, it would come on Wednesday against the Blue Jays.

Rivera retired the first two batters he faced to start the top of the first inning, but proceeded to allow the next three batters he faced to reach base. Jonny DeLuca made the most of the bases-loaded opportunity when he singled to drive home Ryan Vilade and Junior Caminero to put the Rays up 2-0. Rivera would make it through the second inning unscathed, but was pulled in the third after allowing a solo homer to Junior Caminero to tie the game at 3-3. Rivera would be pulled immediately after allowing the homer to Caminero, marking his shortest outing of the season. He hasn’t gone more than 3 2/3 innings in any of his three starts. If he gets another outing in the rotation, it will most likely come on Wednesday against the Orioles.

No word yet on what exactly occurred here, but Frelick was replaced by Luis Lara in right field when the Brewers took the field in the fifth inning. Expect the team to provide an update on his status as soon as more information becomes available.

Giants’ manager Tony Vitello told reporters on Friday that Chapman won’t be ready to return at any point during the team’s current road trip, but could be ready at the start of their next homestand which begins on July 24. Casey Schmitt will continue to man the hot corner in Chapman’s absence.

The 32-year-old southpaw allowed two runs on five hits over his three frames while striking out three batters. He threw 32 of his 52 pitches for strikes in the contest and did not walk a batter. He’s likely to require at least one additional rehab start, but if all goes well his next time out he could then be cleared to return to the Yankees’ rotation.