MLB Player News

The Rays selected Woodford's contract from Triple-A Durham on Thursday, Ryan Bass of Rays.tv reports.

Woodford will provide some bullpen protection after the Rays' relief corps was needed for 4.1 innings in Wednesday's loss to the Yankees. He's collected a 7.18 ERA and 1.78 WHIP with 23 strikeouts across 26.1 innings in the big leagues this season between stops with the Brewers and Cubs.

The Rays optioned Englert to Triple-A Durham on Thursday, Ryan Bass of Rays.tv reports.

Englert was knocked around for eight runs over 3.2 innings in a spot start Wednesday against the Yankees. He's being scrubbed from the active roster in order to make space for Jake Woodford, who will provide the Rays with a fresh bullpen arm.

The White Sox recalled Davis from Triple-A Charlotte on Thursday.

Davis will rejoin the White Sox's bullpen to replace Luis Castillo, who landed on the injured list Thursday with a shoulder injury. Davis owns a 6.12 ERA and 1.40 WHIP through 25 innings in the minors this year but has been far more effective in the majors, posting a 3.52 ERA and 1.17 WHIP across 30.2 frames.

The Royals recalled Bivens from the Arizona Complex League on Thursday.

Bivens will give the Royals another bullpen option while Steven Cruz (paternity) is away. The 32-year-old Bivens has been touched up for 10 runs (eight earned) over five innings covering his four outings in the big leagues this season.

The Royals placed Cruz on the paternity leave list Thursday.

By rule, Cruz will miss the next 1-to-3 games while welcoming a new baby, so he should be back for Sunday's season finale, at minimum. Cruz has registered three of the past four saves for the Royals, which includes his eighth save of the season in Wednesday's win over the White Sox. While Cruz is away, the Royals could turn to Nate Pearson for save chances.

Kittredge recorded his 11th save of the season in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Blue Jays, giving up a hit and striking out one in a scoreless ninth inning.

The right-hander has remained in the late-inning mix even with Felix Bautista back in the fold, and Kittredge (two) and Rico Garcia (four) have split Baltimore's last six saves. Since the beginning of August, Kittredge has collected two wins, three holds and seven saves in 19 appearances with a 3.63 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and 12:2 K:BB over 17.1 innings.

Van Eyk (0-2) took the loss in the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Orioles, giving up four runs on four hits over five innings. He struck out two without walking a batter.

The 28-year-old right-hander didn't pitch poorly in his first career start, but he got hit hard when Baltimore batters did make contact as three of the hits off Van Eyk went for extra bases, including a solo shot by Christian Encarnacion-Strand in the fourth inning. Van Eyk's first taste of the majors this season didn't go particularly well, as he sports a 5.40 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and meager 3:2 K:BB through five appearances and 11.2 innings for the Blue Jays.

Latz (3-4) took the loss after allowing one run on a hit and a walk while striking out two over 1.2 innings in Wednesday's 7-2 loss to the Mets.

Latz entered the game in the seventh inning, his earliest appearance since April 12, with two runners aboard and one out, and he escaped without allowing either runner to score. He returned for the eighth with the game tied 2-2, but Marcus Semien launched a two-out solo homer to left-center to put New York ahead for good. Latz now has 2.15 ERA on the season, but he's given up homers in two of his last three outings.

Smith (3-3) allowed one earned run on two hits while striking out two across two innings to take the loss Wednesday against the Royas.

Bryan Hudson was by far the White Sox's most ineffective pitcher, but Smith got stuck with the loss after allowing what became the game-winning run for the Royals. However, Smith continued to show promise in his short appearances in the majors, generating 10 called strikes on 33 total pitches. Wednesday's appearance also marked only the third time in 17 appearances that Smith has surrendered a run. He'll likely make one more regular-season appearance and should cover around two frames once again.

Hader (4-2) took the loss Wednesday against the Mariners, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits and four walks across 1.1 innings.

Hader managed to work around a single and a walk in the ninth inning to send the game to extras. However, it was a different story when he came back out for the 10th -- Hader would issue three walks in the frame, including one to Julio Rodriguez with the bases loaded that forced in the tying run, before Josh Naylor ended the contest with a walk-off single. Prior to Wednesday, Hader had given up just one run in his previous 26 innings, striking out 27 while walking just three in that span. The southpaw would need 44 pitches in the defeat, the most he's thrown in an outing since 2019, meaning he'll likely be unavailable for at least a couple days.