MLB Player News

Moore (7-7) allowed just one unearned run on four hits, five strikeouts and four walks over 6.2 innings in a victory over the Dodgers on Wednesday afternoon.

After two strong months to begin the year, Moore blew up in June, but he's back to his early season form in July. This month, he's 3-2 with a 2.44 ERA, which is easily his best ERA of any month this season. His fantasy value will greatly depend on whether he's traded before the deadline or not, but it's a great sign he's pitching so well. If he stays in Tampa Bay, his next start will be Tuesday versus the Royals.

Wilson earned the first save of his career, retiring the Red Sox in order during a 4-3 victory Wednesday afternoon.

Detroit's regular closer Francisco Rodriguez was unavailable because he was home tending to a personal matter, so that left the ninth inning to Wilson. He did just fine, not allowing a base runner, recording 13 strikes on 19 pitches and one strikeout. In addition to one save, he is 2-3 with 20 holds, a 3.46 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 47 strikeouts in 39.0 innings.

Fulmer allowed three runs on seven hits, struck out three and walked none in a no-decision against the Red Sox on Wednesday.

It's great to see the 23-year-old continue to display great control, but two homers hurt him Wednesday afternoon, as he coughed up the lead in the eighth. And although he's had great command, Fulmer has just 14 strikeouts over his last 26.2 innings. Even still, hard to complain about the 23-year-old. He is 9-2 with a 2.50 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 84 strikeouts in 97.1 innings. His next start will be Tuesday against the White Sox.

Alvarez was traded to the Rangers on Wednesday, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

The 27 year-old is having a solid season for the Braves, compiling a 3.00 ERA and 1.07 WHIP with 28 strikeouts in 15 innings. Alvarez will join the fellow left-handers Jake Diekman and Alex Claudio in the Rangers bullpen. Lucas Harrell is heading to Texas as well. The Braves will receive prospect Travis Demeritte in return.

Boxberger (oblique) pitched a scoreless inning for High-A Charlotte on Tuesday, allowing two hits and a walk.

The rehabbing reliever fired 18 pitches, half of which went for strikes. Boxberger has now allowed two earned runs on five hits and a walk over four innings in four appearances for the Stone Crabs. He's scheduled for another short appearance Wednesday and absent any setbacks, will rejoin the big league club this weekend.

VerHagen will undergo season-ending thoracic outlet surgery, Katie Strang of ESPN reports.

VerHagen was expected to make a return in August, but his injury turned out to be more serious. Recovery periods from this type of surgery can range anywhere from 1-to-6 months, so VerHagen should be ready for spring training next season if there are no complications.

Kimbrel (knee) threw Wednesday and could be on the verge of beginning a rehab assignment, Ryan Hannable of WEEI reports.

The Red Sox figure to release an official update on Kimbrel's status in the near future, but the report notes there were "fist pumps all around" after Kimbrel threw Wednesday morning, so he could be ready to head out on a rehab assignment in the near future. Kimbel could throw a couple times in the minors having been sidelined for several weeks, but he remains on track to rejoin the Red Sox at some point in the early portion of August.

The Blue Jays optioned Schultz to Triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday, Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith reports.

Schultz did not allow a run in his first six appearances with the Blue Jays in July, but he was tagged for two earned runs while recording just one out last time he was on the mound Monday, so the Blue Jays decided he would be the reliever to go to make room on the roster for Joaquin Benoit.

Kelly had a one-pitch appearance Tuesday, retiring Detroit's Ian Kinsler on a slider in Boston's 9-8 loss, Julian Benbow of the Boston Globe reports.

Kelly is adjusting to life out of the bullpen and part of that adjustment is using all of the pitches available to him. When he was called up to Boston over the weekend, he told reporters his mindset is trying to strike everyone out as a reliever. On Monday, he relied heavily on the fastball, hitting 100 mph multiple times, but velocity didn't stop Detroit's Justin Upton from tripling and eventually scoring the winning run. "The same thing applies in this role as it did while he was starting," Boston manager John Farrell said. "His need to use the secondary pitches exists. That's going to always be a part of Joe's plan for success - that he can't rely just on velocity because as we've seen, the swing-and-miss rate is low despite upper-90s to 100 miles an hour." Going forward, Kelly said he'll need to rely on his slider more often in order to keep hitters off balance.

Martinez (1-3) allowed five runs on six hits and a walk with two strikeouts over four innings in a loss Tuesday to the Athletics.

Martinez was called up to make this start as a replacement for the ineffective Kyle Lohse, but Martinez didn't fare much better. He allowed three home runs and managed just three strikeouts as he wasn't fooling anybody. Martinez allowed four home runs in the three starts prior to his demotion, and with no sign that he's fixed the problem, his stay in the Rangers' rotation could be a short one.