MLB Player News

Gilbreath worked around a walk to record the final two outs of the seventh inning in his relief appearance Wednesday in the Rockies' 3-2 win over Atlanta.

The scoreless appearance was Gilbreath's 14th in a row, and the rookie lefty has struck out 13 while allowing only 11 baserunners over that 14-inning stretch. Carlos Estevez appears to have settled in as the Rockies' new closer in place of the deposed Daniel Bard, but Gilbreath looks like he'll at least factor more prominently into the setup mix in light of his recent success.

Padres manager Jayce Tingler said Johnson would serve as the team's opening pitcher in a bullpen game Thursday in San Francisco, Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports.

Over the past four days, Johnson has made two relief appearances and tossed 33 pitches in total, so the Padres likely won't ask him to cover more than one or two innings Thursday before turning the game over to the bullpen. The Padres don't have an obvious primary pitcher to follow Johnson, making it difficult to predict which reliever is most likely to factor into a decision.

Atlanta placed Jackson on the paternity list Thursday.

The team will replace Jackson in the bullpen with Chris Martin (elbow), who was reinstated from the 10-day injured list in a corresponding move. Jackson will be away from Atlanta for 1-to-3 days to spend time with his newborn child, and he should rejoin the team at some point during its 10-game West Coast road trip that kicks off Friday.

Atlanta reinstated Martin (elbow) from the 10-day injured list ahead of Thursday's game against the Rockies.

He'll assume the 28-man roster spot of reliever Luke Jackson (personal), who was placed on the paternity list. Martin spent just over two weeks on the injured list with an inflamed right elbow, but he proved healthy during his rehab appearance Tuesday at Triple-A Gwinnett, tossing a perfect inning. Look for him to quickly slot back into a setup role in front of closer Will Smith.

Romano struck out one in a perfect ninth inning Wednesday to record his 18th save of the season in a 6-3 win over the Rays.

The Jays closer had a bumpy couple outings earlier in September, but for the most part Romano has been outstanding this season. He sports a 2.41 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 73:20 K:BB through 56 innings, and he's picked up a win (seven), save or hold (five) in 30 of his 56 appearances.

Leone (3-4) gave up two runs on two hits while striking out one over one-third of an inning to take the loss against San Diego on Wednesday.

The right-hander had excelled in his previous stints as an opener, but he couldn't get it done against the Padres on Wednesday. Leone allowed a pair of hits to open the contest, and though he followed by striking out Manny Machado, both runners eventually came around to score after his departure. San Francisco is still dealing with a shorthanded rotation, so Leone could get another turn as an opener depending on when Alex Wood (COVID-19) and Johnny Cueto (elbow) are able to return to the rotation.

Jansen picked up the save against the Diamondbacks on Wednesday, striking out all three batters he faced in a scoreless inning.

The veteran closer was at his best Wednesday, mowing down the side on only 11 pitches. As a result, Jansen picked up his 33rd save of the campaign, moving him into third place overall in MLB. Since his last blown save July 22, the right-hander has converted 12 straight save chances while registering a 1.17 ERA, 0.74 WHIP and 29:8 K:BB across 23 innings.

Hernandez (6-2) allowed seven earned runs on nine hits and four walks while striking out three across four innings to take the loss Wednesday against the Athletics.

Entering Wednesday's outing, Hernandez had allowed multiple runs in only two of his last eight starts and had completed at least six innings six times in that span. While he allowed only a solo home run and no additional extra-base hits, Hernandez walked four batters -- his highest total since July 24. Control of the strike zone is an emerging concern for Hernandez, as he has now surrendered 10 free passes across his last 16 innings of work. Despite the poor outing and some concerning trends in his skills, Hernandez likely deserves the benefit of the doubt heading into his next start based on his excellent results across the last two months.

Chafin allowed one earned run on two hits and two walks while striking out one across 1.1 innings to earn the save Wednesday against the Royals.

Chafin bailed Jake Diekman out of a jam by recording the final out in the eighth inning. He remained on the mound for the final frame, but he had trouble of his own by allowing the first three batters he faced to reach base. Chafin settled down to escape the jam, though the bases were loaded when he recorded the final out to earn his fourth save of the season. This was his first outing since blowing a save and taking the loss Sept. 11, though he appears to be the Athletics' chosen closer for the time being despite his recent struggles.

Manaea (10-9) allowed five earned runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out three across five innings to earn the win Wednesday against the Royals.

Manaea wasn't particularly sharp, though the only extra-base hit he surrendered was a solo home run by Salvador Perez. The majority of the damage against him came in the fourth inning, when he allowed three consecutive singles to begin the frame. Manaea has mostly struggled since August began, as he now has a 6.49 ERA across seven starts and 34.2 innings in that span. That's inflated his ERA on the season to 3.95 across 161.2 frames.