MLB Player News

Puk retired one of the three hitters he faced and was credited with a hold in his MLB debut Wednesday in the Athletics' 6-4 triumph over the Yankees.

Manager Bob Melvin didn't hesitate to break Puk into the big leagues with a high-leverage appearance, summoning the hard-throwing lefty for the top of the eighth with the Athletics holding a two-run lead. The outing wasn't much to write home about, as Puk issued a walk and surrendered a base hit before departing with one out and runners on the corners. Fortunately for Puk, he was able to avoid any damage to his ERA after closer Liam Hendriks came on to finish off the frame with a pair of strikeouts before retiring the side in the ninth inning.

Hernandez (1-0) allowed one run and two walks while striking out one over 2.1 innings Wednesday to earn the win against the Angels.

While the Rangers plated four runs over the final three innings, including Hunter Pence's walkoff single, Hernandez shut down the Angels to record the first win of his MLB career. The right-hander had been a minor-league starter for most of his career until the organization turned him into a reliever a few weeks ago at Double-A Frisco, according to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Hernandez had trouble repeating his delivery and holding his arm slot over a starter's inning load, so the Rangers shifted him to the bullpen, hoping it would be easier to do in shorter outings.

Burke will make his next start Sunday on the road against the White Sox, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports.

Texas manager Chris Woodward confirmed that Burke will stay in the rotation after the rookie left-hander fired six scoreless innings in his debut Tuesday. Burke managed just five swinging strikes among his 99 pitches (29 foul balls), but Woodward feels he'll get better as Burke learns to elevate the fastball, rather than keeping it down in the zone.

Hendriks got the save against the Yankees on Wednesday, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings without allowing a baserunner to close out Oakland's 6-4 victory. He struck out three.

Hendriks' stellar campaign continues, as he easily picked up a five-out save in this contest, fanning three more batters to give him 93 strikeouts on the season in just 67 innings. He's been especially effective of late, as Hendriks hasn't allowed a run in any of his last eight appearances, lowering his ERA to a brilliant 1.48 and his WHIP to 0.99 over that stretch.

Hand allowed two runs on three hits and one walk with no strikeouts through two-thirds of an inning to take the loss against the Mets on Wednesday.

Given a one-run lead in the 10th inning, Hand surrendered three hits and a walk while allowing the tying and winning runs to score. it's been a tough stretch for Hand, posting a 6.14 ERA in his last 15 appearances with blown saves in his last three. The 29-year-old has a 3.35 ERA and 29 saves this season.

Jimenez worked around a hit to pitch a scoreless ninth inning and earn the save in Wednesday's 2-1 win over the Astros. He struck out two.

Jimenez struck out the first two hitters of the ninth inning, then got some good fortune when Robinson Chirinos was thrown out attempting to stretch a double into a triple. The 24-year-old righty is now 4-for-4 in save opportunities since the Tigers traded incumbent closer Shane Greene, and Jimenez should remain locked into the role for the rest of the season.

Garcia will work out of the bullpen for the remainder of the season, Conor Foley of The Scranton Times-Tribune reports.

Garcia made his first appearance out of the bullpen this season Saturday -- though he still worked five innings -- but he'll now make the transition to a reliever. It will be a brief trial run for the 20-year-old, as he's a candidate to join the Yankees when rosters expanded in September.

Pagan (3-2) earned the win against the Mariners on Wednesday despite also being charged with a blown save, allowing three runs on three hits while recording one strikeout during the ninth inning.

Fortunately for Pagan, after he gave up a two-run lead, the Rays rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth to afford him the victory. Prior to Wednesday, Pagan had converted seven straight saves and allowed just one run in his last 10 innings. He has 13 saves with a 2.35 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and 77 strikeouts in 53.2 innings this season.

Adam was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Adam has made four appearances for the big club this season -- all since the start of August -- allowing just one run across seven innings. He'll take the roster spot of Sean Reid-Foley, who was optioned to Buffalo after struggling as the bulk pitcher Tuesday.

Manager Ron Gardenhire plans to use Alexander as a "piggyback" reliever behind starter Daniel Norris in Wednesday's game against the Astros, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

Drew VerHagen had piggybacked Norris in the latter's last two turns through the rotation, but Alexander now looks on track to get a trial in that role after moving back up to the big club Tuesday, when Matthew Boyd (personal) was placed on the paternity list. Expect Norris to work around 3-to-4 innings before giving way to Alexander, who should handle a similar workload.