MLB Player News

The Pirates placed Perdomo on the 15-day injured list Sunday with left elbow discomfort, Alex Stumpf of DKPittsburghSports.com reports.

Perdomo presumably picked up the injury during his most recent relief appearance in the Pirates' 5-1 loss to Minnesota on Friday, when he was touched up for two earned runs on three hits and one walk while retiring two batters. The Pirates could send Perdomo in for additional tests on his elbow to determine if he's dealing with anything more than soreness, but the southpaw will be on the shelf for at least the next two weeks. Right-handed reliever Dauri Moreta (back) was brought back from the 15-day IL in a corresponding move.

The Pirates reinstated Moreta (back) from the 15-day injured list Sunday.

Moreta received the green light to rejoin Pittsburgh after striking out two over a scoreless inning in his lone rehab appearance Thursday with Triple-A Indianapolis. Prior to landing on the IL on Aug. 4 with lower-back soreness, Moreta had notched four wins, one save and four holds over 48.1 innings out of the Pittsburgh bullpen while pitching to a 4.10 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 63:22 K:BB. He should step back into a key setup role in front of closer David Bednar.

Ortega was recalled from Triple-A Rochester on Sunday, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

After getting sent down to Rochester on July 26, Ortega turned in a 0.87 ERA with 15 strikeouts against two walks across 10.1 innings over his seven appearances. He'll now get the chance to fill a middle-innings role in the Minnesota bullpen after the Twins optioned the struggling Jordan Balazovic to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

The Twins optioned Balazovic to Triple-A Rochester on Sunday, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Balazovic will head back to the minors after giving up three runs on three hits and three walks over an inning out of the bullpen in Saturday's 7-4 loss to the Pirates. He's struggled with an 8.71 ERA and 7:8 K:BB ratio in 10.1 innings over his last seven appearances. Balazovic could return to the Twins in September if he can rebound with a sustained run of success at Triple-A.

Romano picked up the save in Saturday's 4-3 win over Cincinnati. He allowed a hit and a walk while striking out one in a scoreless ninth inning.

Romano was tasked with preserving a one-run lead in the ninth inning and immediately found himself in hot water, allowing the first two batters to reach on a walk and a base hit. The All-Star closer then induced a flyout, a swinging strikeout and a groundout to end the threat and earn his 30th save. Romano has successfully converted both of his save opportunities since his return from the injured list.

The Reds optioned Busenitz to Triple-A Louisville on Sunday.

He'll cede his spot on the 26-man active for to right-hander Hunter Greene (hip), who was reinstated from the 60-day injured list ahead of his scheduled start Sunday versus the Blue Jays. During his four-day stint with the Reds, Busenitz tossed a scoreless inning in his lone relief appearance.

Borucki will serve as the Pirates' opening pitcher for Sunday's game against the Twins, Justice delos Santos of MLB.com reports.

He's expected to work in front of Osvaldo Bido, who will likely serve as a bulk reliever after he had been initially listed as the Pirates' starting pitcher for the series finale in Minnesota. The left-handed Borucki previously served as an opener for Bido on July 22 against the Angels, striking out three over 1.2 scoreless frames.

Barria gave up nine runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out three batters over 2.1 innings in a loss to the Rays in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday.

Angels starter Patrick Sandoval had a rough outing of his own, and Los Angeles was already down 6-0 when Barria entered in the bottom of the fifth. Things got much worse for the team when Barria surrendered seven runs in the following frame, but manager Phil Nevin let the right-hander take his lumps, keeping him in the contest for another inning, during which he allowed two more runs. While the first two knocks the Rays notched against Barria were infield singles, the veteran gave up plenty of hard contact as well and served up three homers. He's been tagged for 13 runs over 3.1 frames across his past two outings, raising his ERA from 3.86 all the way up to 5.32.

Bednar allowed one earned run on two hits and a walk across 1.1 innings to earn the save Saturday against the Twins.

Bednar entered the game in the eighth inning with a one-run lead and got Christian Vazquez to ground out to end the frame. The Pirates added some insurance in the top of the ninth frame, and Bednar needed it after allowing the first three batters to reach base and a run to score in the final inning. He escaped the jam to tally his 26th save of the season, though Bednar has allowed at least one earned run in four of his last six appearances.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Pivetta will work as a bulk reliever in Sunday's game against the Yankees behind opening pitcher Josh Winckowski, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

Pivetta operated as a traditional starter in both of his last two appearances, but he'll return to a familiar bulk-relief role Sunday while the Red Sox deploy him behind Winckowski, who is unlikely to work more than 1-to-3 innings before being pulled from the contest. The arrangement should improve Pivetta's odds of factoring into any decision, though it may take some strikeout upside off the table while he presumably covers fewer innings than he might as a traditional starter. The Red Sox are expected to get Tanner Houck (face) back from the 15-day injured list either Monday or Tuesday and plan on having him fill a spot in the rotation, so Pivetta could end up sticking in a bullpen role permanently moving forward.