MLB Player News

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.

Cruz gave up a run on three hits over 1.1 innings Wednesday, recording his first career save in a 4-2 win over the Tigers. He struck out two without walking a batter.

The right-hander topped out at 100 mph with his sinker as he gets another chance to establish himself as a high-leverage option for the Nationals. Acquired from the Yankees at the trade deadline, Cruz has struggled in his first exposure to big-league hitters this season, and through 9.2 innings for the Nats he's stumbled to a 7.45 ERA, 2.17 WHIP and 8:8 K:BB. He has some of the best pure stuff on the staff, however, and is working on adding a splitter to his repertoire as a weapon against lefties. Cruz could have a very prominent spot in Washington's bullpen plans next year.

Dion (2-2) picked up the win in Wednesday's 4-2 victory over the Tigers, allowing one run on three hits and a walk over two relief innings. He struck out four.

Brad Lord took on the largest workload during a bullpen day for the Nationals, tossing 3.1 scoreless frames ahead of Dion, but the southpaw was the pitcher of record when his team broke open a scoreless tie with a three-run sixth inning. Dion has been a versatile option since being acquired from the Guardians at the trade deadline, and over 14 appearances (one start) and 28 innings for the Nats he's produced a 3.21 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 28:13 K:BB with two wins, a save and a hold.

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.

Loaisiga earned the save after allowing one hit and one walk over a scoreless ninth inning in Wednesday's 5-3 win over the Rockies.

Loaisiga was handed a two-run lead and made things interesting before closing out Arizona's victory. Colorado eventually put runners at second and third with two outs, but the right-hander escaped without allowing either to score after retiring Ezequiel Tovar on a popout to first to end the game. The scoreless frame not only lowered Loaisiga's ERA to 2.22 and kept the Diamondbacks' slim playoff chances alive, but it also marked the right-hander's sixth consecutive scoreless outing. Loaisiga has given up just two earned runs over his last 16 appearances and 17.2 innings, posting a pristine 0.51 ERA with a 11:1 K:BB over that stretch.

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.

Englert (0-4) took the loss Wednesday against the Yankees, allowing eight runs on nine hits and a walk across 3.2 innings. He struck out four.

It was a rough night for Englert, who was recalled from Triple-A prior to the game for a spot start. The right-hander gave up four homers in the defeat, highlighted by a Ryan McMahon grand slam in the third inning. Englert will likely finish the regular season with a 5.95 ERA, 1.55 WHIP and 38:9 K:BB across 39.1 innings at the major-league level.