MLB Player News

Dunning took the loss in Thursday's 10-3 defeat to the Astros, allowing three runs on three hits and three walks over 2.2 innings. He struck out four.

Dunning has had a rough time in the postseason so far, contrasting with his 3.70 ERA in over 172 innings during the regular season. The right-hander had a roller coaster outing with his command, nullifying his strikeout gains by allowing too many free passes. He was replaced by Cody Bradford in the fourth inning after Dunning had loaded the bases, and Bradford promptly served up a sac fly and a home run to pin three runs onto Dunning's line. He now has a 7.71 ERA and 1.93 WHIP across 4.2 innings this postseason with five strikeouts.

Montgomery will start Game 5 of the ALCS on Friday against Houston, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.

Montgomery shut down the Astros in Game 1, throwing 6.1 scoreless innings while striking out six batters and walking one en route to a victory. Aside from a shaky outing against Baltimore in the ALDS, Montgomery has been solid in the postseason with an overall 2.08 ERA through 17.1 frames.

Verlander will start Game 5 of the ALCS on Friday at Texas, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

An easy call here for Astros manager Dusty Baker. Verlander took the loss in Game 1 of the ALCS on Sunday at Houston, but that was mostly due to a lack of run support. The veteran right-hander has allowed only two runs while tallying 11 strikeouts through 12.2 innings (two starts) this postseason.

Urquidy will start Game 4 of the ALCS on Thursday against the Rangers, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.

After coming into the postseason with the expectation of working out of the bullpen, Urquidy was granted a start against the Twins in Game 4 of the ALDS and gave up two runs over 5.2 innings. He'll now take the mound for another Game 4 and look to keep quiet a Rangers offense that has slashed .202/.269/.364 through the first three games of the ALCS.

Heaney will start Game 4 of the ALCS on Thursday against the Astros, Jeff Wilson of RangersToday.com reports.

Heaney turned in 3.2 innings of one-run ball during his first postseason appearance against Baltimore, and he's now set up to face an Astros lineup that has been relatively quiet through the first three games of the series. Heaney faced the Astros four times during the regular season, giving up six runs across 19.2 innings while striking out 16 batters and walking 11.

DeGrom (elbow) has full range of motion back in his pitching arm, he told Joel Sherman of the New York Post on Tuesday.

The goal for deGrom -- who is a little over four months removed from Tommy John surgery -- is to begin a throwing program early on in the new year and progress to mound work sometime during spring training. "My arm feels pretty close to normal already," he said. DeGrom is aiming to rejoin the Rangers' rotation by next August.

Javier has been confirmed as the starting pitcher for Game 3 of the ALCS against the Rangers, Adam Spolane of Sports Radio 610 reports.

Javier will be tasked with helping his club dig out of an 0-2 hole after Houston dropped both games at Minute Maid Park. The right-hander struggled with his command and issued five free passes during Game 3 of the ALDS against the Twins (five walks), but he managed to toss five scoreless innings on just one hit allowed while fanning nine batters.

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Scherzer will start Wednesday in Arlington for Game 3 of the American League Championship Series matchup with the Astros, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.

Bochy had left open the possibility that Scherzer could pitch in relief in Game 1, but after Scherzer wasn't needed out of the bullpen in Sunday's 2-0 win, he's officially on tap for Game 3. Scherzer will have gone about five weeks in between starts, as he had to be lifted from his final regular-season outing Sept. 12 with a teres major muscle strain in his right shoulder. It's not clear what kind of workload is planned for Scherzer, but he'll surely be limited to some degree following a 60-pitch simulated game last week.

Verlander took the loss in Sunday's 2-0 match against the Rangers in Game 1 of the ALCS, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks across 6.2 innings. He struck out five.

Verlander had a solid performance on the losing side of a pitchers duel, yet his team could not bail him out of the 12th loss of his postseason career. The veteran right-hander was victim to an RBI single in the second inning to give the Rangers an early lead, and a fifth-inning solo home run by Leody Taveras furthered the damage. However, Verlander hasn't lost a beat in his age-40 season, tossing his seventh quality start in eight games since September. So far this postseason, Verlander has pitched to a clean 1.42 ERA and 1.18 WHIP across 12.2 innings with 11 strikeouts.

Montgomery allowed five hits and one walk across 6.1 scoreless innings to earn the win in Sunday's 2-0 contest against the Astros in Game 1 of the ALCS. He struck out six.

Montgomery faltered in his previous start against Baltimore in the ALDS, but he was able to right the ship in this one to help cover the bulk of the shutout. The southpaw faced a tense moment in the fourth inning with the bases loaded but managed to strike out Martin Maldonado to keep the Astros off the board. Sunday's win marked the second for Montgomery this October and his first playoff start with at least six strikeouts. He now has a 2.08 ERA and 1.27 WHIP with 13 strikeouts across 17.1 innings this postseason.