MLB Player News

Chirinos (6-1) picked up the win in Monday's 8-3 victory over the Blue Jays, tossing five no-hit, scoreless innings while striking out seven and walking two.

Despite his dominance, Tampa manager Kevin Cash lifted Chirinos and turned to his bullpen as per usual after the right-hander had thrown 69 pitches (45 strikes), and Oliver Drake gave up a single to Luke Maile on the first pitch he threw in the seventh inning to break up the potential combined no-hitter. Chirinos will carry a 2.91 ERA and 42:10 K:BB through 55.2 innings into his next outing Saturday, at home against the Twins.

Paxton (knee) was cleared to return from the injured list Monday and is likely to do so prior to a start against the Padres on Wednesday, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports.

Paxton has been on the injured list with left knee inflammation since May 4. He's reportedly been pitching through some pain still in simulated games, but the problem had improved in recent days, and team doctors evidently feel he's ready to go. The lefty recorded a 3.11 ERA in seven starts prior to the injury.

Severino (lat) is visiting a doctor Monday in hopes of being cleared to play catch, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports.

Severino hasn't felt any pain in his strained lat for approximately three weeks. He hopes to be able to throw off flat ground Monday or Tuesday. It's an important step in his road to recovery, though he remains not particularly close to a return to action.

Paxton's knee felt better following a bullpen session Sunday, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports.

Paxton didn't say that his pain was completely gone, but he did say that the knee felt better than it had since he landed on the injured list in early May. He'll meet with a doctor Monday in hopes of getting cleared to return to the rotation Wednesday.

Mize allowed four hits and two walks while striking out six across eight scoreless innings Sunday against Double-A Bowie.

Mize turned in his second consecutive scoreless outing with his effort Sunday. His ERA with Double-A Erie is now 1.40, and he's struck out 35 across 38.2 innings. Mize continues to impress and is backing up his pedigree as the number one overall pick in the 2018 draft.

Springs (2-1) allowed four runs on four hits without retiring a batter in Sunday's 7-6 loss to the Angels.

Springs had not pitched in eight days, and it showed when he allowed the first four batters he faced to reach base. His replacement, Kyle Dowdy, also hadn't worked in eight days and couldn't stanch the bleeding. Springs and Dowdy coughed up a 5-1 lead and ruined a nice outing from Ariel Jurado, who worked into the seventh inning for the first time in his career. Manager Chris Woodward shouldered the blame for the loss, acknowledging he needs to get certain members of the bullpen more work. The manager tried to stay away from key relievers who had a big workload over the last week. "When you go to high leverage guys over and over, you are going to eventually end up with guys who haven't pitched in big leverage situations pitching in big situations," Woodward told Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. "We have to use everybody out there."

Kikuchi and pitching coach Paul Davis will review video of the left-hander's poor start Saturday against the Athletics to ensure he wasn't tipping his pitches, John Hickey of MLB.com reports.

Kikuchi had the first legitimate blow-up of his nascent stateside career Saturday versus Oakland, getting chased after giving up five runs on 10 hits over 3.1 innings. Eight of the hits the Japanese southpaw surrendered came on breaking balls, so he and Davis will examine the video to see if Kikuchi was inadvertently providing the A's with an advantage. Kikuchi has otherwise utilized his off-speed pitches with considerable success during his first major-league season, allowing just a .274 wOBA when utilizing his curveball and generating a 37.2 percent strikeout rate with his slider.

Luzardo (shoulder) threw live batting practice Saturday, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

The Athletics' top prospect threw 15 pitches overall, and he impressively hit 96 mph with his fastball. The velocity he achieved implies that Luzardo is well on his way to conquering the left shoulder strain that's sidelined him since March, but he's still not expected to return to minor-league game action until some point in June.

Turnbull (2-4) allowed four runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and a walk across seven innings while taking a loss against the Mets on Sunday.

While he gave up seven hits, Turnbull really only had one bad inning. During the fourth, he allowed four hits, including a homer, which led to all four runs against him. Turnbull has yielded a homer in four straight outings, but he's still only tossed up six long balls all season, so owners shouldn't really be concerned. Overall, he is 2-4 with a 2.97 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 62 strikeouts in 60.2 innings this season. He will start next against the Braves on Saturday.

Rodriguez (5-3) allowed one run on four hits and a walk while striking out five over six innings Sunday in a win over the Astros.

Rodriguez gave up a run in the first inning on a single to left field, but he would settle down and finish his day with five scoreless frames. The southpaw managed to bounce back following a tough couple of starts, as prior to Sunday's series finale, he'd yielded 11 runs over his last two outings. Rodriguez owns a 5.04 ERA with 66 punchouts over 60.2 innings this season.