MLB Player News

Wantz signed a minor-league contract with the Cubs on Saturday.

Wantz will report to Triple-A Iowa with his new organization. Before electing free agency last week upon clearing waivers, Wantz was lit up for five earned runs over 1.2 innings in his lone relief appearance for the Rays and posted a 7.04 ERA, 1.78 WHIP and 23:11 K:BB across 23 innings with their Triple-A affiliate in Durham.

Perkins is slated to start Wednesday's game against the Brewers in Las Vegas.

Perkins made his first 17 appearances of the season out of the bullpen before the Athletics elected to slide him into the rotation last week in the wake of Aaron Civale (shoulder) and Luis Severino (shoulder) both landing on the injured list within a few days. The right-handed Perkins was handed a limited workload in his first start Friday, tossing 75 pitches and four innings while striking out six batters and yielding five earned runs on five hits and two walks. While Perkins should have the opportunity to build up his pitch count in Wednesday's outing, he'll carry plenty of risk as a streaming option while pitching in an even more hitter-friendly venue (Las Vegas Ballpark) than the Athletics' usual home park in Sacramento (Sutter Health Park). The Brewers and Athletics combined for 29 runs and 11 home runs -- both MLB single-game season highs -- over 12 innings during Monday's series opener.

Patrick picked up the save in Monday's 15-14 extra-innings win over the Athletics. He allowed no hits and an intentional walk while striking out two over a scoreless inning.

Patrick was called upon to pitch the 12th inning and was able to shut the door on Monday's offensive slugfest. It marked the right-hander's third save of the campaign, as he has been deployed in a variety of roles throughout the season and succeeded to the tune of a 3-2 record, 2.22 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 41:21 K:BB across 52.2 innings (17 appearances). Abner Uribe pitched the 11th inning and picked up the win, while Trevor Megill, who leads the club with eight saves, went unused despite not pitching since Friday.

Harris blew the save in Monday's extra-innings loss against the Brewers. He allowed two runs on two hits and a walk while striking out three over 1.2 innings.

Harris entered for a five-out save and was able to escape trouble in the eighth inning but couldn't finish the job in the ninth frame, surrendering a game-tying, two-run double to Andrew Vaughn. The Athletics' closer situation remains fluid, with manager Mark Kotsay frequently mixing and matching in high-leverage spots, though Harris still leads the club with five saves to go along with two blown saves. After Monday's rough outing, the southpaw owns a 2.84 ERA, 1.52 WHIP and 37:23 K:BB across 31.2 innings this season.

Varland picked up the save in Monday's 4-3 win over San Francisco. He allowed a hit and a walk while striking out two over a scoreless inning.

With Clayton Beeter recording four outs between the seventh and eighth innings, Varland was called upon to handle the ninth frame and worked around a leadoff walk to Rafael Devers and a two-out single by Jung Hoo Lee to secure the win for Washington. It marked Varland's fifth save of the campaign and first since May 7. Overall, the right-hander owns a 4.01 ERA, 1.58 WHIP and 23:12 K:BB across 24.2 innings. He's in the mix for save opportunities, though Beeter likely sits slightly ahead of Varland in the pecking order.

Winn (2-2) blew the save and took the loss Monday against the Nationals. He allowed three runs on three hits and a hit-by-pitch while striking out one over two-thirds of an inning.

After eight brilliant innings from Logan Webb, Winn was unable to protect a two-run lead, allowing a two-run single to CJ Abrams and a go-ahead single to Daylen Lile before being lifted with one out remaining in the frame. Other high-leverage relievers Caleb Kilian and Erik Miller were presumably unavailable after pitching in each of the previous two games, making Winn the logical choice for the save opportunity. The 28-year-old now owns a 3.23 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 26:9 K:BB while converting one of two save opportunities across 30.2 innings.

Mikolas allowed three hits and no walks while striking out two over 4.2 scoreless innings of bulk relief Monday against the Giants.

Entering in the second inning following opener Richard Lovelady, Mikolas didn't miss many bats but kept the Giants' offense off the board before exiting after 54 pitches (41 strikes). It was a nice rebound outing after he surrendered six runs across six frames in his previous start against the Marlins, though the right-hander's season numbers remain quite poor. Mikolas will take a 1-5 record with a 5.90 ERA and 1.34 WHIP across 61 innings (14 appearances) into his next outing, which is tentatively scheduled for Sunday against the Mariners.

Yates blew a save chance against the Astros on Monday, allowing one run on one hit and one walk while striking out one batter over one inning.

With the Angels up 5-4 entering the ninth inning, manager Kurt Suzuki turned to Yates to shut the door. The veteran right-hander couldn't do so, as Jeremy Pena led off the inning with a walk, stole second base and came around to score on a one-out Christian Walker single. Monday marked Yates' first save opportunity since he logged his lone save May 23, but that's largely due to the Angels' struggles as a team, as the club as a whole has zero saves since then. Though Yates has pitched to a poor 5.23 ERA this season, Suzuki seemed to commit to giving him more ninth-inning opportunities moving forward, saying after the game, "We signed him to be our closer, and we're going to give him a chance to close," per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com.

Abreu notched a save against the Angels on Monday, allowing one hit and striking out one batter over one scoreless inning.

Josh Hader was deployed with the score tied in the bottom of the ninth inning and struck out the side in order. After Houston plated a run in the top of the 10th, manager Joe Espada turned to Abreu, whose last save had come May 19. The right-hander got the job done with some help from his defense -- Jose Siri singled off Abreu to lead off the frame, but Brice Matthews threw Mike Trout out at home plate. With Hader back in action, Abreu isn't likely to get many save chances moving forward, but he should be an option on days when Hader is unavailable.

Duran earned a save over the Blue Jays on Monday, allowing one hit over a scoreless inning.

Duran had a three-run lead to work with when he entered in the ninth frame and needed just nine pitches to record three outs. The fireballing right-hander notched his eighth straight scoreless outing, and he's converted all 16 of his save opportunities this season. Duran recorded a career-high 32 regular-season saves last year, and he's currently on pace to exceed that mark. His 1.25 ERA and 0.83 WHIP are also tracking toward career-best numbers.