MLB Player News

Sousa was a key component of Houston’s high-leverage mix last year and appears to be getting close to returning after opening the season on the shelf with an oblique strain. The 30-year-old southpaw should be cleared for a minor league rehab assignment at some point soon.

It seems like a possibility that Hernández will require a trip to the injured list, depending on the severity. The 33-year-old veteran slugger suffered the injury while attempting to beat out attempting to beat out a second-inning grounder. He was replaced in left field by Hyeseong Kim. There should be some additional clarity on his status prior to Friday’s series opener against the Phillies.

De Los Santos continues to rack up saves that require him to put in more than one inning of work. The righty came in the game with two outs in the eighth inning and struck out three of the five batters he faced. With Josh Hader scheduled to begin making rehab starts soon and set to resume his role as closer, it’s safe to assume De Los Santos isn’t worth adding ahead of next week.

Alvarez hit his 19th and 20th homers of the season in this one, with his first coming in the third inning off Jacob deGrom to tie the game at 2-2. Alvarez would later hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning off of reliever Tyler Alexander to put the Astros up 3-2. The 28-year-old lefty has been on a tear this month despite slashing just .250/.366/.560. His eight homers being tied for the second-most of any player in May.

Pederson blasted a 436-foot shot off of Mike Burrows in the third inning to put the Rangers up 2-1. It was the fifth homer of the season for Pederson, who has now homered in back-to-back games and three times in May. Pederson was responsible for three of the Rangers’ six hits in this one, doing everything he could to help out starter Jacob deGrom, who picked up the no-decision. Pederson is slashing .281/.386/.561 this month and has also driven in 11 runs.

Burrows allowed four hits in the first inning, but managed to hold the Rangers to just one run despite the early trouble. After pitching a scoreless second inning, Burrows would be taken deep by Joc Pederson for a solo homer in the third inning to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead, but he would settle in from there. Burrows didn’t allow another run on the night while getting through seven innings, and left with the game deadlocked at 2-2. Burrows has struggled throughout most of this season and ends this month with a 5.11 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. His next start is scheduled for Tuesday against the Pirates.

The first run deGrom allowed on the evening came on a sacrifice fly in the second inning that scored Taylor Trammell from third after he doubled to lead off the inning. deGrom would later surrender a solo homer to Yordan Alvarez in the fourth inning, but otherwise did his part to limit runs and keep players off base. The veteran righty struggled in May, allowing four or more earned runs in three of his five starts while posting a 6.45 ERA on the month. His next start is scheduled for Monday on the road against the Cardinals.

Soler and Donovan Walton were the only players to register a hit for the Angels in Wednesday’s loss to the Tigers. Soler’s single in the second inning pushed his hitting streak to five straight games, but the right-handed slugger has just one extra-base hit in the past week and only two RBI over that span.

Things have not gone well for the Mets despite another tremendous season from Soto. His first inning home run gave them their first lead since last Friday, which they also got from a Soto first inning home run. Also, he was caught stealing for the second time this season in seven tries. For comparison, he was 38-for-42 as a base stealer last season. Even without carrying his newfound speed into this campaign, he has 12 home runs, a .301 batting average, and a .986 OPS through 39 games this season.

Williams did his best Houdini impression here, walking the first two batters he faced in a two-run game and eventually walking the bases loaded. Eventually, he struck out the other three batters he faced to secure the stressful save. After throwing 10 straight scoreless outings and only allowing two hits over that span, Williams coughed up a walk-off grand slam last time out and was shaky once again here. It looks like this could just be a Jekyll and Hyde type of season from the right-hander.

Tong was not as sharp here compared to his season debut against the Marlins last time out. There was some shoddy defense behind him – including his own error which led to an unearned run – but his changeup lacked serious bite and his curveball was literally all over the place. The one saving grace was his cutter. While also being erratic, it flashed as the exact swing-and-miss offering he’s desperately searching for to pair with his lively fastball. Tong is taking baby steps and should be left on waiver wires as he tries to build up his repertoire while working in this bulk relief role.