MLB Player News

Bednar allowed one hit but struck out three across a scoreless inning to earn a hold Friday against the Cubs.

Bednar entered the game in the eighth inning with a 4-2 lead. He surrendered a leadoff hit, but he struck out the next three batters he faced. Bednar has made consecutive appearances pitching in high-leverage situations, rather than in the ninth inning to collect a save. As the team's best reliever, that usage makes sense. However, it also means that Chris Stratton is likely to pick up saves on occasions when Bednar is used earlier in the game.

Graveman (0-1) allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits and one walk while striking out one across 1.1 innings to take the loss Friday against the Twins.

Graveman entered the game in the eighth inning with a 1-0 lead. He retired the first two batters in order before surrendering a ground-rule double to Ryan Jeffers and a walk to Luis Arraez. Both runners came around to score on an error by Jose Abreu, which ultimately saddled Graveman with the loss. After holding opponents scoreless across his first 5.2 innings of the season, Graveman has now surrendered four runs (two earned) across his last two appearances.

Munoz picked up the save during Friday's 4-1 win over the Royals, allowing a hit and a walk with one strikeout in the ninth inning.

With Drew Steckenrider and Diego Castillo struggling of late and Paul Sewald on the Covid-19 IL, manager Scott Servais turned to the 23-year-old Munoz for Friday's save and he delivered. Despite permitting two baserunners, Munoz was never in any real danger and has shown significant strikeout upside with 11 in six innings this season. Despite limited big-league experience -- 23.2 innings over the last three seasons -- Munoz is logging meaningful innings and is a reliever to keep an eye on if he receives more save chances.

Helsley has yet to allow a run across 5.1 innings this season.

Helsley hasn't been giving much up at all -- he's yielded just one hit with no walks while dialing up 11 strikeouts. He threw 1.1 perfect innings to earn his third hold of the year Friday versus the Reds. The 27-year-old should continue to see plenty of high-leverage opportunities, though Giovanny Gallegos has done well as the closer so far, so Helsley's usage is likely to come before the ninth inning in most games.

Wittgren walked one batter in a scoreless inning to earn a hold in Friday's 4-2 win over the Reds.

Wittgren has picked up three holds through six appearances this season. The right-hander has been effective in limited time, as he's only covered a full inning in three of his outings. He's yielded one run, five hits and two walks while striking out two in 4.1 innings. Wittgren amassed 31 holds over the last three years with Cleveland, and he appears to be reprising a similar role as part of the high-leverage bridge to closer Giovanny Gallegos.

Duffey (1-2) earned the victory, striking out two in one perfect inning in a 2-1 win Friday over the White Sox.

Duffey entered the game in the top of the eighth inning with the Twins losing 1-0 and had his best outing of the season. Facing the top of the Chicago lineup, he struck out the first two batters before getting Jose Abreu to ground out. Minnesota scored twice in the bottom half of the inning to put Duffey in line for the win. The 31-year-old got off to a rocky start this season, blowing two saves in his first four appearances, but was called upon late in a close game and was rewarded with the victory when he got the job done.

Pagan earned the save after pitching a scoreless ninth inning in a 2-1 win Friday over the White Sox. He walked two, allowed a hit and struck out one.

Pagan threw 17 of his 34 pitches for strikes and loaded the bases with one out before inducing a pop-out. After running the count full on Jake Burger, he painted the corner for a strikeout to end the game. The righty has recorded a save in consecutive games for the Twins and is the only member of the Minnesota bullpen to close out a ballgame successfully. He appears to be manager Rocco Baldelli's preferred option in save situations but has not officially been named the closer.

Feyereisen will serve as the "starter" in Saturday's game against the Red Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The Rays are set for a bullpen game Saturday, as Ryan Yarbrough (groin) will be on a rehab outing while Chris Mazza (back) landed on the injured list Friday. Feyereisen has served as an opener once before this season, and he worked two scoreless innings while striking out three. It's possible he covers multiple frames again Saturday, but he won't pitch deep into the matchup.

Morgan (1-1) allowed two runs on one hit and two walks over three innings Friday, striking out five and taking a loss against the Yankees.

Morgan got through 2.2 innings with little resistance from the Yankees. He then issued a two-out walk to DJ LeMahieu followed by a two-run homer off the bat of Aaron Judge. The 25-year-old righty has coughed up four runs over his last four innings of work. Morgan will likely head back to the bullpen with Cal Quantrill expected to return from the COVID-19 injured list Saturday.

Gallegos earned the save Saturday against the Reds after giving up a run on two hits during the ninth inning. He didn't strike out or walk a batter.

The 30-year-old surrendered his first run of the season on a single, a double and a wild pitch, but he fortunately entered with a three-run cushion and still finished out the save. Its Gallegos' fourth save in as many chances this season, and he's given up one run on four hits with a 5:2 K:BB across 6.1 innings.