MLB Player News

Finnegan threw 29 pitches on Wednesday, but the Tigers asked him for 17 more on Thursday and he delivered. The appearance lowered his ERA on the year to 0.57, though his underlying metrics are quite shaky. Kenley Jansen has taken the loss in his past two appearances, including a blown save on Wednesday, so the ninth inning could be more of a committee going forward. Drew Anderson is the only other Tigers pitcher with a save this season, but that was of the three-inning variety.

Langeliers brought a pair of runs home on a double in the second inning. He later led off the eighth with a solo blast off George Soriano. It was the 12th of the season for the 28-year-old backstop. He’s slashing an incredible .340/.396/.641 with 29 runs scored and 25 RBI across 169 plate appearances.

O’Brien was summoned in the ninth inning with a two-run lead to close out the game against the A’s. He walked the leadoff man, then induced a ground ball double play before recording the final out for his 12th save of the season. The 31-year-old right-hander has been one of the best closers in baseball, recording a 2.70 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and a 23/2 K/BB ratio across 20 innings.

Pallante gave the Cardinals five solid innings in Sacramento, with all three runs against him coming in the second inning on four straight hits, including a two-run double by Shea Langeliers. Pallante would face the minimum over his final three innings. He struck out four. The 27-year-old right-hander will take a 4.46 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and a 33/19 K/BB ratio across 42 1/3 innings into a start against the Royals in St. Louis on Sunday.

The Cardinals got to Springs right away, putting four runs on the board on a walk and four hits in the opening frame. He settled in to give the A’s four more scoreless innings, scattering three more hits and two walks while collecting five strikeouts. The 33-year-old left-hander will take a 4.22 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, and a 44/15 K/BB ratio across 49 innings into a start against the Giants in Sacramento on Friday.

Ortiz had a 395-foot homer and a 381-foot sac fly. Incredibly, the homer was his first since last July 19. He’d gone 85 straight games without one, even though he had seven in his first 95 games last year and 11 in 142 games in 2024. Ortiz is batting just .198/.260/.244 this season, and he really needs to pick it up if he expects to stick around much longer. The Brewers are having him split time with David Hamilton right now, and they’ll probably want to give Cooper Pratt a look at shortstop at some point.

It wasn’t Sproat’s best performance to date, but he’s finally on the board after going 0-2 in four starts for the Mets last season and 0-2 in five starts and two relief appearances to begin this year. He’s currently sporting a 5.75 ERA and a 36/20 K/BB in 36 innings. It’s likely that he’ll make his next start Sunday against the Twins.

Patrick pitched out of the pen last time out, too, but that was a three-inning stint. That he was just used for an inning tonight suggests he might be in the pen at least semi-permanently. That’d be good news for Brandon Sproat and Logan Henderson, as both would be in line to keep their rotation spots when Brandon Woodruff returns. Quinn Priester, though, might overtake one in a few weeks.

Uribe followed Trevor Megill, who allowed one run despite striking out three in the eighth. That just adds to Uribe’s buffer in the closer’s role. He seems pretty well ahead of Megill at this point.

Waldron was supposed to go long as a bulk guy tonight, but after entering to begin the second, he couldn’t make it out of the fourth. He’s probably Triple-A bound now with his ERA up to 9.28. Lucas Giolito can come up and replace him in the rotation.

Andujar was 1-for-15 in his previous four games, but he’s hitting a fine .292/.318/.491 overall. It’s just not ideal that most of his production is coming against righties, when the Padres need him more versus lefties, but at least it’s helping him stay in the lineup over Ty France and Nick Castellanos.