MLB Player News

Topa (3-4) took the extra-inning loss against the White Sox on Wednesday, allowing an unearned run without retiring a batter.

Topa was in for all of two pitches in the 10th inning, and while facing Elvis Andrus, J.P. Crawford's throwing error on a rundown attempt allowed inning-opening runner Tim Anderson to score the winning run for Chicago. The run was the first of any kind on Topa's line since July 22, a span of 13.1 innings across 13 appearances.

Martinez (0-2) took the loss against the Royals on Wednesday, allowing an earned run on three hits, a hit batsman and a walk over 2.1 innings. He struck out three.

Martinez's one big mistake was deposited by Dairon Blanco into the left-field seats in the third inning for the first run of the game. The right-hander has allowed at least one run in all four appearances he's logged since returning to the majors Aug. 8 while pitching to a 5.73 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 4.1 BB/9 and 1.6 HR/9 across 11 innings. With both Luis Medina (finger) and Freddy Tarnok (calf) on the injured list for the time being, Martinez could be called on for another spot start early next week.

Jansen reported improvement with his injured right hamstring Thursday and is confident he can avoid a stint on the injured list, Christopher Smith of The Springfield Republican reports.

Jansen had to be lifted from Wednesday's appearance in Houston because of tightness in the hamstring, but he's feeling better after presumably receiving some treatment. The closer noted that he will see how he feels in the coming days, which would seem to indicate he could be unavailable for at least a day or two. However, at this juncture it looks like Jansen should be able to bypass the IL as the Red Sox fight for a playoff spot. Chris Martin might be needed in the short term should some save chances arise for Boston.

Ferguson is expected to serve as the Dodgers' opening pitcher in Thursday's later game against the Guardians, Eric Stephen of SBNation.com reports.

The Dodgers' plans could change depending on how the bullpen usage shakes out in the resumption of Wednesday's suspended game. Whatever the case, Ryan Pepiot will be called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City to handle the bulk of the innings for Los Angeles in Thursday's regularly-scheduled tilt at Cleveland. If Ferguson does open the game, he'll likely cover only the first inning.

Armstrong is scheduled to serve as the Rays' opening pitcher for Thursday's game against the Rockies, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

He'll draw a starting assignment for the fifth time this season but likely won't be asked to cover more than few innings before exiting the contest. The Rays haven't named a designated bulk reliever to work behind Armstrong, but Erasmo Ramirez is available on five days' rest and looks like the Tampa Bay bullpen arm most likely to work the longest during Thursday's contest.

Houston optioned Martinez to Triple-A Sugar Land on Thursday, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Brandon Bielak will fill the vacancy in the Astros' bullpen ahead of Thursday's series finale against the Red Sox. Martinez, 28, has struggled to a 5.23 ERA and 1.49 WHIP in 43 innings of relief this season at the major-league level.

Santos allowed three earned runs on four hits and a walk while striking out two across 1.1 innings to blow a save chance Wednesday against the Mariners.

Santos entered the game in the eighth inning and was in line to attempt a five-out save. However, he unraveled after striking out the leadoff man in the final frame, allowing five consecutive batters to reach base while blowing a two-run advantage. Santos has now blown each of his last two save chances while allowing six earned runs across a combined 2.2 innings. The White Sox lack high-quality relievers in the back of their bullpen, but if he continues to struggle it's possible that Jimmy Lambert or Aaron Bummer could see save chances across the final month of the campaign.

Avila is scheduled to start Saturday's game against the Brewers at American Family Field, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.

The Padres will skip the struggling Rich Hill's turn through the rotation and will instead give Avila the chance to prove he's deserving of a longer look in a starting role. Avila has already previously made one spot start for the Padres on Aug. 1, when he struck out seven Rockies over four innings of a one-run ball at Coors Field. Since moving to the bullpen following that start, Avila has excelled as a multi-inning reliever, generating a 1.29 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 14:2 K:BB in 14 frames. The Padres will likely cap Avila at around 4-to-6 innings Saturday and could even deploy him in tandem with Hill. The coaching staff will likely wait and see how Avila performs against Milwaukee before determining whether he or Hill will draw the nod the next time a fifth starter is needed.

Neal is listed as the Athletics' probable starting pitcher for Friday's game against the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.

With Luis Medina (finger) and Freddy Tarnok (calf) both recently landing on the injured list, Neal will get a chance to stake his claim to one of the vacant rotation spots. Between two stints on Oakland's 26-man active roster this season, Neal has made all seven of his appearances out of the bullpen, logging an 8.25 ERA and 1.92 WHIP across 12 innings. He previously made nine starts with Triple-A Las Vegas this season and covered 3.1 innings in his most recent extend relief appearance for Oakland on Aug. 20, so he should be relatively stretched out compared to most pitchers transitioning from the bullpen to the rotation. Even so, Neal could struggle to reach the five innings that he would need to hit Friday in order to qualify for a win.

Ward (shoulder) will make his next rehab appearance Thursday at High-A Wilmington, and the Nationals intend to stretch him out for a possible role in the rotation in September, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports reports.

Taken in this year's Rule 5 draft from the Red Sox system, Ward struggled to a 7.12 ERA, 1.65 WHIP and 26:24 K:BB through his first 30.1 big-league innings, all in relief, before being sidelined in early July with shoulder inflammation. The 26-year-old right-hander is seen as a possible future rotation piece however, and with the club keeping an eye on the workloads of young starters MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin, there could be an opening for Ward over the final weeks. He's hoping to build up to four innings in Thursday's game after tossing five total innings across two appearances for the Nats' FCL affiliate last week.