MLB Player News

Thrust into the closer role after Emilio Pagán’s injury on Tuesday, Ashcraft fell apart here. With his team headed for their sixth straight loss, they rallied in the top of the ninth to take a two-run lead. That wouldn’t be enough for Ashcraft though, who promptly gave up a game-tying, two-run home run to Pete Crow-Armstrong that barely stretched over the ivy in left-center field. Tony Santillan or Ashcraft remain the logical choices to get save opportunities in Cincinnati, unless this outing sours Terry Francona’s confidence in the latter.

Espada, 29, has allowed two hits over one scoreless frame in his only appearance with the Orioles this season. He’ll add a fresh arm to the club’s middle relief corps for Sunday’s series finale against the Athletics.

The 34-year-old hurler was just signed to a one-year deal on Monday, but he’ll head right back to waivers after registering an 18.00 ERA and 3.00 WHIP across three innings in his two appearances with the club. Jose Espada was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk in a corresponding move to take his place in the O’s bullpen. Once again, it’s possible that Trivino attracts some interest on waivers.

With Carlos Rodón returning from the injured list on Sunday, the Yankees needed to clear a spot on their active roster and as the last man in the bullpen Castro was an easy target. The 27-year-old hurler allowed one run on two hits while striking out a pair over two innings in his lone appearance with the Yankees. He should get another opportunity with the big league club over the summer.

The 33-year-old southpaw has finished up his rehab from offseason elbow surgery and is ready to make his highly anticipated season debut on Sunday against the Brewers. Rodón did surrender six runs in his final minor league rehab start, so fantasy managers may want to see him shake off the rust first before throwing him right back into lineups. He should wind up being a nice impact addition for those that were patient and held him since the start of the season.

Harper was pulled from Saturday’s contest in the first inning due to the sudden onset of a migraine. It sounds like it’s just an isolated issue though and Phillies’ skipper Don Mattingly expects Harper to be in the lineup for Sunday’s series finale against the Rockies.

Lowe picked up two RBI on a triple, another on a double and had a sac fly in his 16th career four-RBI game. It’s the first time in his career that he’s driven in four without homering. He’s at .269/.369/.585 with 10 homers in the season, though his peripherals still don’t really back it up. Still, 30 homers should be within reach if he can avoid the IL for once.

The lone run came on a Bryce Eldridge homer in the sixth. Ashcraft struck out six and walked none in moving to 2-2 with a 2.77 ERA. It’s going to be fascinating to see how he progressed from here, given that he’s never thrown more than 118 innings in a season. The stuff is legit, though, and he’s a fine play at home against the Phillies next week.

It was four scoreless innings to start the game, but Roupp came out after Matt Chapman, adding to his candidacy for MLB’s most overrated player, couldn’t throw out Joey Bart on an infield single to open the fifth. Bart went on to score afterwards, putting Roupp in line for the loss, and Buster Posey’s team never overcame the deficit. This leaves Roupp 5-3 with a 3.09 ERA in spite of his best efforts, which are clearly much better than Posey’s. He’ll face the A’s in Sacramento next weekend.

Walker allowed three hits and walked one after coming on during the fifth inning. Those who picked up Caleb Killian or Keaton Winn still aren’t assured much of anything, but that Walker was used so early and fared poorly tonight bodes well for the Giants’ alternatives in the ninth.

Strider struck out eight and walked two with his fastball velocity up 1.8 mph from his season debut against the Rockies on Sunday. That’s pretty exciting, but it’s still worth wondering why his stuff was so much better tonight than it was six days ago. Anticipating consistency from Strider seems like a bad idea, but it’s nice to know that he has performances like tonight in him. His next start figures to come at home against the Red Sox.