MLB Player News

Scrubb tweaked "something in his leg" and was unavailable for Saturday's game against the Rangers, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The 26-year-old apparently suffered the injury while warming up for Saturday's contest. It's unclear if Scrubb will be available for Sunday's series finale or if a trip to the injured list is being considered.

Puk (biceps) was charged with the loss in Triple-A Las Vegas' defeat at the hands of Reno on Friday, allowing an earned run on one hit over one inning while also recording a strikeout.

Puk threw 10 of 17 pitches for strikes in what was his second rehab outing for the Aviators. The big left-hander is likely slated for at least a couple more appearances before activation is considered, with a potential bump in workload on tap forthcoming after Puk logged an inning apiece in each of his first two trips to the mound for Las Vegas.

Trivino, who fired a scoreless ninth inning in a win over the Twins on Friday, has three consecutive scoreless appearances since giving up five earned runs over one-third of an inning to the Blue Jays on May 5.

Manager Bob Melvin got his part-time closer some low-leverage work in Friday's 6-1 win, giving Trivino an opportunity to build on a strong stretch of outings following his May 5 meltdown versus Toronto. The 29-year-old picked up a save and a hold in his other two trips to the mound since that appearance, and he and left-hander Jake Diekman figure to continue divvying up save chances during Trevor Rosenthal's long recovery from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery.

Fleming will start Sunday's game against the Mets, Steve Carney of Sports Radio 620 WDAE reports.

This will mark the fourth start of 2021 for Fleming, who has also made three relief appearances and has posted a 2.73 ERA in 29.2 total innings pitched. Fleming could match up nicely against the Mets' lefty-heavy lineup.

Smeltzer has nerve irritation in his left elbow and will not throw for several weeks, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

The positive news is that Smeltzer's ligament appeared to be OK. Nevertheless, his absence could be lengthy. Manager Rocco Baldelli said that he hopes Smeltzer can avoid the 60-day injured list.

Ottavino struck out two over a scoreless eighth inning to earn a hold in Friday's 4-3 win over the Angels.

The Red Sox had taken the lead a half-inning earlier and went to Ottavino, their usual eighth-inning bridge to closer Matt Barnes, to face the top of the Angels' order. He induced a ground out from David Fletcher, then struck out Shohei Ohtani (swinging) and Mike Trout (called) in one of his best outings of the season. The hold was Ottavino's eighth.

Lakins (1-4) was handed the loss Friday against the Yankees after allowing one run on one hit while striking out two over 1.2 innings.

Lakins relieved Cole Sulser with one out and two men on in the seventh and promptly served up a three-run homer to Gio Urshela to give the Yankees a 5-4 lead. The 27-year-old had not allowed an earned run in his first nine appearances this season but has since given up six runs over his last 4.1 innings and now owns a 4.38 ERA.

Loaisiga pitched a clean ninth while needing just six pitches to earn his second save of the year in a 5-4 win over the Orioles on Friday.

Loaisiga was called upon to close out Friday's game after Aroldis Chapman had pitched four of the last six days and was given a breather. The 26-year-old Loaisiga came in to relieve Wandy Peralta after he allowed a leadoff single and was able to induce a 5-4-3 double play before getting Pedro Severino to foul out for the final out. Loaisiga has been quite solid aside from an uncharacteristic blowup against the Nationals last week, as he owns a 2.49 ERA and 20:4 K:BB over 21.2 innings.

Yang allowed three runs on three hits and three walks over four innings in Friday's 10-4 loss to the Astros.

Yang was needed for bulk work after starter Wes Benjamin was yanked with two outs in the second inning. Yang had been considered as a fill-in starter for the injured Kohei Arihara (finger), but the Rangers opted to call up Benjamin for Friday's start. It's unclear if Yang will remain in the bullpen or move into the rotation for Arihara's next turn due Wednesday against the Yankees.

Heuer (3-1) earned the win in the second game of Friday's doubleheader. He allowed one hit and struck out two over a scoreless inning in a 3-1 win over the Royals.

Michael Kopech made a spot start in the nightcap but was pulled after four innings, gifting Heuer a chance for his third win. The right-handed setup man has not allowed a run in seven of his last nine outings, picking up two wins and three holds during that run.