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Enyel De Los Santos RP | HOU
Guardians' Enyel De Los Santos: Nabs second win
De Los Santos (2-0) earned the win Monday over the Yankees, recording two outs without allowing a baserunner.
De Los Santos got the last two outs of the eighth inning, picking off Anthony Volpe at first base and getting Anthony Rizzo to ground out after replacing starter Cal Quantrill. In the ninth, the Guardians rallied for the lead, and Emmanuel Clase was able to close it out. De Los Santos has given up just three runs (two earned) over 10.1 innings this season, good for a 1.74 ERA. He also has a 1.06 WHIP, 9:5 K:BB and a hold through 11 appearances. De Los Santos isn't likely to get many save chances, but he's holding his own while seeing some high-leverage opportunities.
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Gus Varland RP | WAS
Brewers' Gus Varland: Moves rehab to Triple-A
Varland (hand) had his rehab assignment transferred Tuesday from Low-A Wisconsin to Triple-A Nashville, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.
Varland surrendered three earned runs on four hits and one walk over two innings (two appearances) at Wisconsin, but he remains on track to return to the Brewers' bullpen sometime this week. The 26-year-old right-hander landed on the injured list April 16 after taking a comebacker off his throwing hand, but X-rays subsequently ruled out any fractures.
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Clay Holmes SP | CHC
Yankees' Clay Holmes: Blows save in loss
Holmes (0-2) blew the save and took the loss during Monday's 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Guardians, allowing two runs on two hits and zero walks while failing to record an out.
Domingo German took a shutout into the ninth inning, but after a one-out single, he was pulled after just 88 pitches. Holmes was called on to replace the starter, but he allowed the first batter to reach on a fielding error and surrendered back-to-back singles to tie the game at 2-2. After securing his first four save opportunities this season, he's blown back-to-back chances, so the Yankees might start looking elsewhere for potential closing options, with Michael King being the most likely candidate.
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Emmanuel Clase RP | CLE
Guardians' Emmanuel Clase: Reaches double-digit saves
Clase picked up the save during Monday's 3-2 win over the Yankees, tossing a perfect ninth inning while striking out one.
The Guardians struck for three runs in the top of the ninth to take a one-run lead, so Clase came on in the bottom half of the frame. The hard-throwing reliever retired Gleyber Torres, DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Hicks in order to secure his 10th save, tying him with Josh Hader for the MLB lead. It was a solid bounce-back effort for the right-hander, who blew his second save chance of the season during Saturday's loss to Boston. Clase currently sports a 1.76 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP, but he has just nine strikeouts through 15.1 innings.
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Dominic Leone RP | CHW
Dominic Leone: Heads to free agency
Leone opted out of his minor-league contract with the Rangers on Tuesday and is now a free agent.
Leone posted a 1.59 ERA and 15:2 K:BB over 11.1 innings at Triple-A Round Rock but was evidently told by the Rangers that a promotion wasn't imminent. The 31-year-old should be able to latch on with another club quickly, perhaps even on a major-league deal.
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Josh Winckowski RP | TOR
Red Sox's Josh Winckowski: Picks up win
Winckowski (2-0) allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits and one walk while striking out one over two innings to record Monday's win over Toronto.
Winckowski was victimized in the eighth inning by shortstop Enrique Hernandez, whose two throwing errors contributed to the Blue Jays knotting the game at 5-5. The right-hander came back out to throw the ninth and was the pitcher of record when Alex Verdugo walked off Toronto. Boston manager Alex Cora would have had the pitcher come back out for a third inning if Verdugo hadn't ended the game, per Christopher Smith of MassLive.com. Winckowski has been valuable out of the bullpen and gets a lot of chances to pitch in support of a starting staff that ranks 27th with a 6.01 ERA. Monday's outing was the eighth multi-inning relief effort for the 24-year-old starter-turned-reliever, who is 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA, 17 strikeouts and five walks over 21.1 innings (11 appearances).
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David Robertson RP | PHI
Mets' David Robertson: Logs two-inning save Monday
Robertson earned a save against Atlanta in the second game of Monday's twin bill, allowing two hits and striking out four batters over two scoreless innings.
The Mets turned to Robertson in the eighth inning Monday while nursing a one-run lead. The right-hander worked around a one-out single in that frame, then continued into the ninth after New York posted an insurance run to make the score 5-3. Robertson gave up a leadoff double to Ozzie Albies to begin the ninth, but he fanned the next two batters and ended the contest by getting Chadwick Tromp to pop out. Robertson is now a perfect 6-for-6 in save chances this season, and he has given up only one earned run over 13.1 frames. Monday's outing was his first two-inning appearance of the campaign.
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A.J. Minter RP | MIN
Braves' A.J. Minter: Nabs sixth save
Minter earned a save in the first game of Monday's doubleheader against the Mets, allowing one run on one hit while striking out one batter over one inning.
Minter inherited a 9-7 lead in the ninth inning and retired the first two batters he faced. Eduardo Escobar then tagged him for a solo homer, but Minter got Brett Baty to line out to end the contest and earn the save. Despite the successful outcome, the run the southpaw allowed marked the fourth time in his past five outings that he has been scored upon. Over that stretch, Minter has taken three losses and a blown save while allowing 11 earned runs across 4.2 frames. With Raisel Iglesias (shoulder) expected back by the end of the week, Minter probably won't hang onto the closer role much longer.
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Domingo Tapia RP | SD
Padres' Domingo Tapia: Notches first save
Tapia struck out two batters across two perfect frames to earn a save over the Reds on Monday.
Tapia was promoted from Triple-A El Paso on Monday and immediately impressed in his first MLB appearance since April 15. He tossed 17 of 26 pitches for strikes to quickly take care of the Reds in order over two frames. He lowered his ERA to 3.48 with an 11:6 K:BB through 10.1 innings this season. With an 8-3 final score, normal closer Josh Hader didn't get the chance to enter the contest.
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Luis Garcia RP | MIN
Padres' Luis Garcia: Grabs win in relief
Garcia (1-2) earned the win over San Francisco on Sunday, striking out two batters over two scoreless innings.
Garcia got the call from the bullpen for San Diego in the seventh inning with the Giants up a run. He worked around a one-out Xander Bogaerts error in the seventh and a two-out hit-by-pitch in the eighth to keep San Francisco off the scoreboard and was credited with the win when the Padres tallied three runs in the ninth. Garcia has an unattractive 7.11 ERA on the campaign through 12.2 innings, though that's mostly due to two blow-ups. In two separate games against Arizona, he allowed a combined nine earned runs over two-thirds of an inning; in his other 11 appearances, he has yielded just one earned run over 12.0 frames.