MLB Player News

Devenski (2-4) turned in four valuable innings of long relief in Friday's 15-8 victory over the Orioles, giving up an earned run on a hit and a walk. He struck out two.

Outside of a 423-foot solo shot by Pedro Alvarez in the fifth, Devenski provided some badly-needed stability after starter Colin McHugh turned in a disastrous outing. Devenski continues to eat up innings for the Astros when necessary, having worked 13.1 innings over three of his six August appearances already.

McHugh didn't factor into the decision Friday versus the Orioles, giving up seven runs (six earned) on nine hits - including four homers - and a walk over three innings. He struck out four.

He was haunted by the long ball in a surreal first inning. The trouble started from the first batter, as Adam Jones touched him up for a leadoff 371-foot solo shot. Two batters later, Manny Machado drove in Hyun-Soo Kim with a 416-foot blast and Chris Davis one-upped him with a 450-foot bomb immediately afterwards. Mark Trumbo then rubbed salt in the wound with a 401-foot round-tripper of his own to cap off the nightmarish opening frame. McHugh had a one-inning reprieve before running into trouble again in the third by giving up an RBI single to Jonathan Schoop and then allowing Matt Wieters to score on a wild pitch. The 29-year-old has not secured a victory since July 29 versus the Tigers and will try to get back in the win column versus the Pirates on Wednesday.

Pomeranz, who was able to go into the eighth inning in his last start, feels he'll become a more efficient pitcher as he understands an evolving pitch mix, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal reports.

Even as Pomeranz has been successful this season, he's been near the league lead in pitches per plate appearance. That's partially due to adding a cutter on the fly this season, as well as throwing a lot more curveballs. As he understands how best to mix the four pitches he now throws, Pomeranz feels he can shed the reputation of being a six-inning guy. "No one wants to be known as a six-inning guy," said the left-hander. "Six innings, you're doing your job. That's a good target to have, but I'm always looking to improve. There's three more innings of improvement left. Even pitching into the eighth last time out, there's still a whole other inning for a complete game."

Graveman tossed a 98-pitch shutout Friday, giving up just two hits while striking out five and walking zero to pick up the win against the White Sox.

He spun what many refer to as a "Maddux" -- a complete game shutout that requires fewer than 100 pitches -- and even got to speak to Greg Maddux on the phone earlier in the week, making Friday's start pretty surreal. Of course, even after Friday's brilliance his ERA still sits at 4.09 and he has just 85 strikeouts in 143 innings. He's useful in deeper formats, but he lacks the upside or the stuff to be valued heavily in standard leagues.

Wilson was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk on Friday.

The O's need some fresh bullpen help after Wade Miley lasted just 1.2 innings Friday, taxing the bullpen in the process. Wilson gave up four runs in two innings of relief Friday, essentially punching his ticket to Triple-A. Odrisamer Despaigne is a likely option to be recalled as a corresponding move.

Crockett was optioned to Triple-A Columbus on Friday.

The lefty only needed 10 pitches to retire the side Thursday but it was his second appearance in as many days and third in the last four, so he was going to be unavailable for a few days. Cleveland swapped Crockett out for a fresh arm in Shawn Armstrong but Crockett should be back in September, primarily eating low-leverage innings in mop up duty.

Armstrong was recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Friday.

The Tribe went ahead and swapped out Kyle Crockett, who pitched each of the last two days, for a fresh arm in Armstrong. It will be Armstrong's third stint with the big league club this season. He has been able to overcome some control issues at Columbus, posting a 1.96 ERA despite a 5.5 BB/9 rate, but Armstrong will have a tough time earning high-leverage work in Cleveland's strong bullpen.

Duffey (8-9) gave up only two hits Thursday, but also lasted only 3.2 innings thanks to allowing three walks and five runs in a loss to Kansas City.

Everything was going just fine until the fourth inning, when Duffey loaded the bases, hit Salvador Perez to force a run in, then gave up a grand slam to Alex Gordon and walked another batter for good measure before being yanked. Duffey had delivered two straight quality starts and three consecutive wins (with an impressive 20:2 K:BB in that span, no less), but he's lacked consistency and been painfully prone to both rallies and homers, which isn't a good mix.

Strahm worked 1.2 innings Wednesday against the Tigers, striking out one batter while not allowing any runs.

The 24-year-old lefty has been dominant since joining the Royals. Currently, he has a 1.35 ERA and 16.2 K/9 in 6.2 total innings of work. As a result, he could see his appearances increase in higher leveraged roles as the season progresses.

Robertson threw a scoreless ninth against the Indians on Wednesday to earn his 30th save of the season.

The scoreless outing was far from smooth sailing, as he allowed a leadoff walk to Mike Napoli, a one-out single to Lonnie Chisenhall, and he needed 26 pitches to get through the frame. Still, that's now three straight successful saves after he struggled to close a few games out earlier this month.