MLB Player News

Melancon (2-1) won Thursday's 9-8 game against the Nationals, pitching one inning and permitting a walk.

Melancon entered an 8-8 tie in the top of the ninth and did his job by keeping Washington off the board, then became the winner when San Diego walked it off in the bottom of the inning. The MLB saves leader has proven to be an extremely reliable option as the Padres have lost only three of the 37 games Melancon has pitched. He should remain a go-to option for manager Jayce Tingler for the foreseeable future.

Rogers earned the save in Thursday's 5-3 victory over the Tigers, pitching a 1-2-3 ninth with one strikeout.

Manager Rocco Baldelli called on Rogers to protect a two-run lead in the ninth and the lefty delivered with his first save in nearly three weeks. In that time, co-closer Hansel Robles has three saves. The situation appears to be matchup dependent.

Wittgren allowed a walk and struck out one in a scoreless inning during Thursday's 7-4 win over Kansas City.

Scoreless innings have been hard to come by for Wittgren -- he's given up five runs in his last 6.2 innings. The right-hander remains in a fairly low-leverage role with a 4.70 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 33:7 K:BB through 30.2 innings. He's picked up a save and six holds, but he's only recorded three holds in his last 16 appearances.

Maton struck out two in a perfect inning in Thursday's 7-4 win over Kansas City.

The 28-year-old pitched the fifth inning after starter Zach Plesac gave up three runs in four innings in his first start back from a broken thumb. Maton has strung together 5.1 scoreless innings in his last five appearances, which is his longest scoreless streak of the year. The reliever has a 4.93 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 50:16 K:BB across 34.2 innings in a low-leverage role.

Barlow allowed three runs on a hit and two walks with one strikeout in one inning, taking a blown save in Thursday's 7-4 loss to Cleveland.

Barlow pitched the eighth inning, but he wasn't able to get through it without giving up a three-run home run to Cleveland catcher Roberto Perez. This was Barlow's second blown save in as many outings, although he avoided taking the loss as he did Wednesday versus Cincinnati. The right-hander has a 2.95 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 60:19 K:BB through 42.2 innings this season. With both Barlow and Greg Holland struggling recently, Josh Staumont or Kyle Zimmer could see more high-leverage work in Kansas City's closing committee.

Williams (6-1) struck out two in a perfect inning, earning the win in Thursday's victory over Cincinnati.

Williams did his job to keep the game tied through the top of the eighth, and Avisail Garcia put Milwaukee ahead in the bottom half of the frame. In his last seven outings, Williams has produced some solid value with four wins and three holds. The setup man has a 3.06 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 51:20 K:BB across 32.1 innings this season. He's added 15 holds and three blown saves in 36 appearances.

Hader struck out two in a perfect inning to earn the save in Thursday's 5-3 win over Cincinnati.

The lefty took his first blown save of the year in Game 1 of Wednesday's doubleheader versus the Mets. Manager Craig Counsell showed no hesitation to turn back to Hader on Thursday, and the 27-year-old was back to his usual dominant self. He's now 21-for-22 in save chances with a 0.78 ERA, 0.72 WHIP and 59:12 K:BB across 34.2 innings.

Alzolay (4-9) allowed four runs on five hits and a walk while striking out five in five innings as he took the loss versus Philadelphia on Thursday.

The right-hander didn't get a ton of help from the Cubs, who were limited to five singles and three walks in the contest. Alzolay gave up two of the three home runs Brad Miller hit in the game -- which is the fourth straight time he's allowed multiple homers in a start. Alzolay has a 4.66 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 81:22 K:BB through 77.1 innings overall.

Karinchak (5-2) blew the save Thursday against the Royals but registered the victory after allowing one run on two hits in one inning. He struck out a pair.

Karinchak was tasked with protecting a 4-3 lead in the ninth inning, but Carlos Santana blasted a leadoff home run to center field on a full-count pitch to tie things up. Cleveland turned Karinchak's blown save into a win when Franmil Reyes hit a walkoff three-run dinger in the bottom of the inning. It was only the second blown save in 11 opportunities for Karinchak, who owns a 2.58 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 38.1 innings on the season. Opponents are hitting just .129 off the 25-year-old, who has racked up 66 strikeouts against 22 walks.

Diekman allowed one hit in a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save Thursday against the Astros.

Diekman earned his seventh save of the season, but his first since May 26. He was presumably called upon in favor of Lou Trivino due to lefties Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker being due up in the final frame. Given that Trivino has racked up 13 saves to this point in the season -- seven of which came since Diekman's most recent save prior to Thursday -- Trivino should be considered the Athletics' primary closer. However, with Trevor Rosenthal (hip/shoulder) ruled out for the season, Diekman should still see occasional save chances moving forward.