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Brycen Mautz RP | STL
Cardinals' Brycen Mautz: Pitching in relief at Memphis
Mautz's last two appearances at Triple-A Memphis have come in relief. He's tossed four scoreless frames with a 4:0 K:BB in those outings.
The lefty's two relief outings came after a five-start stretch that saw him post a 4.58 ERA and 16:22 K:BB over 19.2 innings. It's unclear whether Mautz's shift to the bullpen is permanent, but if it is, it could lead to a quicker big-league promotion. Righties have slashed .222/.361/.349 off Mautz this season, while lefties have hit only .189/.324/.267.
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Gregory Soto RP | PIT
Pirates' Gregory Soto: Collects 13th save
Soto recorded his 13th save of the season in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader split with the Yankees, striking out one in a perfect 10th inning.
The southpaw did send the phantom runner to third base on a wild pitch as he looked to protect a 5-3 lead, but Soto left him stranded thanks to two popups and a strikeout of Cody Bellinger. Soto has been struggling over the summer, blowing three of nine save chances since the beginning of June, but he may be turning things around in July, getting scored upon just once in six appearances while posting a 1.35 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 6:3 K:BB over 6.2 innings.
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Steven Cruz RP | KC
Royals' Steven Cruz: Snags first career save
Cruz struck out one and served up a solo home run in the ninth inning Wednesday to record his first career save in a 5-4 win over the Giants.
With Alex Lange having worked the prior two days, Cruz got the call in the ninth and got the job done, although he was taken deep by Casey Schmitt to make things interesting. Cruz has been scored upon just twice in his last 13 appearances, both times on solo shots, and over that stretch the right-hander has a 1.38 ERA, 0.69 WHIP and 12:3 K:BB in 13 innings.
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Kyle Hart RP | SD
Padres' Kyle Hart: Opening Thursday's game
Hart will serve as the Padres' opening pitcher for Thursday's game in Atlanta.
Hart -- who has an ugly 10.80 ERA in six appearances this month -- will handle the first inning or two for the Padres before turning things over to Griffin Canning. The lefty has had one other opener assignment this season, giving up one run in two frames on June 27 versus the Dodgers.
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Jacob Latz RP | TEX
Rangers' Jacob Latz: Appears in non-save situation
Latz struck out one and retired all three batters faced in Wednesday's 4-2 loss to the White Sox.
Latz threw 14 pitches (10 strikes) in a non-save situation after not having pitched since Saturday. It appears manager Skip Schumaker didn't want his All-Star closer getting rusty. The Rangers are off Thursday, and Latz will be available as normal when the club returns to action Friday against Seattle.
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Bryan Baker RP | TB
Rays' Bryan Baker: Gets 26th save
Baker earned the save in Wednesday's win over the Blue Jays, firing a scoreless inning and recording one strikeout.
Baker needed only nine pitches to get his 26th save of the season and vault into a tie for second place in MLB in that category behind the Guardians' Cade Smith. The All-Star has not blown a save since May 13 and has not allowed a run since June 24. Baker has also been quite efficient of late, needing 16 pitches or less to get through an inning in each of his last seven outings.
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Braydon Fisher RP | TOR
Blue Jays' Braydon Fisher: Allows run as opener
Fisher threw 1.1 innings as the opener and gave up one earned run on no hits and two walks in Wednesday's loss to the Rays. He struck out one.
Fisher walked the last two batters he faced before exiting, and the second subsequently came around to score on Victor Mesa's RBI single off Spencer Miles. That resulted in Fisher being charged with a run for the fourth time in his last five appearances. After a strong start to the season, Fisher has struggled over the last month while pitching to a 6.52 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 1.9 HR/9 across the 9.2 innings covering his last nine trips to the mound.
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Cal Quantrill RP | TEX
Rangers' Cal Quantrill: Takes loss in bulk-relief outing
Quantrill (3-3) allowed two runs on two hits and three walks while striking out one over three innings to take the loss versus the White Sox on Wednesday.
Tyler Alexander allowed one run over the first two innings of the game before Quantrill came in for a bulk-relief assignment. It wasn't an encouraging performance, as Quantrill threw 30 of 55 pitches for strikes and gave up a pair of runs in the fourth inning, which was ultimately the difference. Over four games in July, Quantrill has yielded 12 runs (11 earned) across 18 innings with a 7:6 K:BB. He's posted a 4.05 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 32:17 K:BB through 53.1 innings over 21 games (five starts) overall. Quantrill could be at risk of losing his rotation spot once Jordan Montgomery (elbow) is activated from the 60-day injured list -- Montgomery has posted a 5.52 ERA over 14.2 innings across six outings during his rehab assignment.