MLB Player News

Kimbrel nailed down the Rays in order to record his 24th save of the season in a 8-6 victory.

The flame-throwing closer induced a foul out, strike out and fly out to retire the side on just 10 pitches. He closes August having allowed just one run in 11 innings and going a perfect 7-for-7 in save opportunities this month. In addition to 24 saves, he has a 2.86 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 69 strikeouts in 44 frames.

Farmer will be recalled from Triple-A Toledo on Friday.

After appearing in 10 games as a reliever for the Tigers throughout the season, Farmer has a 3.94 ERA and 1.38 WHIP. However, he's used as a starter with Toledo, where he owns a 3.96 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. Upon his return to the big club, he'll likely return to the bullpen.

Alexander was recalled from Triple-A Omaha on Wednesday, Joel Goldberg of FoxSports.com reports.

Alexander owns a modest 3.00 ERA and 1.40 WHIP at Omaha. However, those marks have inflated to 4.85 and 1.54 in the big leagues this season. His control has been lacking with the Royals as well, as he has a 3.5 BB/9.

Schultz was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday.

Schultz pitched in just one game during his four-day stint with the Blue Jays. His performance was rather disappointing as he pitched just one inning and gave up a two run home run. In a corresponding move, Aaron Sanchez was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo.

Tolliver (hamstring) was designated for assignment Wednesday.

In order to make room for the newly-acquired Kyle Lobstein on the 40-man roster, Tolliver was designated for assignment. Tolliver has been a solid reliever over his 11 games at Triple-A Norfolk, posting a 1.42 ERA and 1.34 WHIP over 12.2 innings, striking out 16 batters along the way.

The Indians optioned Armstrong to Low-A Lake County on Wednesday, MLB.com's Jordan Bastian reports.

Armstrong has allowed just one earned run in 3.2 innings over three appearances with the Indians this season, but the team needed a fresh bullpen arm and decided to remove him from the roster for the time being. Armstrong is expected to rejoin the Indians on Monday.

Graveman's next scheduled start has been moved up to Sunday against the Red Sox, the Bay Area News Group's John Hickey reports.

Sunday was supposed to be Sean Manaea's spot in the rotation, but he will be pushed back, or possibly skipped altogether, due to strained back. This will mean Graveman takes on a potent Red Sox offense instead of the mediocre Angels offense that he was in line to face Monday.

Diaz gave up a two-run homer in the ninth inning Tuesday at Texas for his first blown since taking over the closer job in early August.

Diaz pitched the eighth inning before heading out for the ninth. He walked two in the eighth, needing 24 pitches to get through the inning. Manager Scott Servais had no hesitation about going back to his best reliever an inning later in a one-run game. But Diaz left a 97 mph fastball over the plate that was crushed for the game winner. The plan was to use Steve Cishek for two innings in the seventh and eighth before Diaz in the ninth, but Cishek blew up in the seventh, which scuttled those plans. So, Servais needed two innings out of Diaz.

Betances (4-3) was tagged with a blown save after allowing an inherited runner score but picked up the win after two subsequent scoreless innings in Tuesday's game against the Royals.

After Tyler Clippard allowed the first runner of the eighth inning to reach, the Yankees let Betances try for a six-out save. Although he couldn't keep the runner from scoring, he did lock down the Royals for the rest of the eighth and ninth, and he was rewarded with a win after the Yankees scored in the top of the 10th. Chasen Shreve picked up a two-out save as the Yankees played matchups in extra innings. Despite the blown save, Betances continues to excel as the Yankees' closer -- he has allowed just one earned run with a 21:4 K:BB in 12.1 innings since Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman were shipped out at the trade deadline.

Graveman (10-9) allowed three runs on four hits and a walk over seven innings in a loss Tuesday to the Astros.

Despite the loss, Graveman now has quality starts in each of his last three outings and four of his last five. Graveman is still struggling to rack up strikeouts -- he managed just one in Tuesday's start and has just 14 over 35.2 innings (3.5 K/9) in his past five starts. As such, even when Graveman is pitching at his best, he lacks fantasy value in many formats, but his ERA is down to 3.96.