MLB Player News

Chirinos (5-5) was credited with the win in Wednesday's 8-7 victory over the Yankees, allowing three hits and two walks over four scoreless innings of relief while striking out three.

After Ryne Stanek was tagged for three runs in the first inning as the Rays' opener, Chirinos came on and quieted the Yankees' bats in what's likely to be his final appearance of the season. The 24-year-old has a 3.51 ERA and 75:25 K:BB over 89.2 innings in his first season in the majors. His role on the staff in 2019 has yet to be determined.

Boyd (9-13) took the loss Wednesday, allowing six runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out three over 3.2 innings against the Twins.

Boyd was done in by the long ball, allowing a trio of home runs that accounted for five of the six runs. The southpaw got off to a solid start to September, but he'll finish the season with back-to-back rough outings to leave his ERA at 4.39 -- his highest mark since July.

Bieber (11-5) got the win Wednesday, firing six shutout innings with nine strikeouts against two hits and two walks versus the White Sox.

Bieber was sharp in this one, not allowing his first hit -- an infield single -- until two outs into the fifth inning. With the nine punchouts, the 23-year-old improved his K:BB to an impressive 118:23 over 114.2 innings of work to go along with a 4.55 ERA. Cleveland may elect to shift the rookie to the bullpen for the playoffs, but he will very much be in the mix for a rotation spot come spring training.

Odorizzi allowed four runs on six hits and five walks while striking out three over three innings in Wednesday's win over the Tigers. He did not factor into the decision.

Odorizzi struggled with control, walking at least one batter in all four frames in which he appeared en route to matching a season high with the five walks. The Minnesota bats provided enough offense to bail him out of a loss, but it was still a disappointing finish to the 2018 campaign. The 28-year-old ends the seasons with a career-high 4.49 ERA along with 162:70 K:BB across 164.1 innings.

Perez is listed as the Rangers' scheduled starter for Friday's series opener in Seattle, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

After shutting down Mike Minor for rest purposes, the Rangers will have room in their rotation for Perez to pick up one more start before the campaign concludes. While facing a limited pitch count in his previous start Sept. 23 against the Mariners, Perez delivered one of his best outings of the season, allowing one run on two hits and no walks over four frames. Don't expect him to work much deeper in Friday's turn, especially after he came on for an 11-pitch appearance in relief Tuesday.

Keuchel is only expected to pitch 2-to-4 innings during his final start of the regular season against the Orioles on Saturday, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports.

Framber Valdez will likely take over after Keuchel departs Saturday's start. Manager A.J. Hinch doesn't want to work Keuchel too hard with the postseason right around the corner, so the left-hander will only make a brief outing in Baltimore. This will mark Keuchel's 34th start of the season, which is a career high for the 30-year-old.

Glasnow is scheduled to make his final start of the season Friday against the Blue Jays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Since Glasnow's previous start came Saturday in Toronto, he would be available to take the hill for Thursday's series finale against the Yankees on his normal four days' rest, but Rays manager Kevin Cash elected to give the hard-throwing righty an additional day off. Fantasy owners probably won't complain about the delayed start, as Glasnow will now skip out on a matchup with a Yankees squad that leads the majors in home runs and instead close out his campaign against a Toronto offense that ranks in the bottom half of the league in wOBA thus far in September.

Chirinos is expected to work as the Rays' primary pitcher out of the bullpen behind opener Ryne Stanek in Wednesday's game against the Yankees, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Chirinos has been stellar in each of his four outings this month, covering no fewer than 4.2 innings on any occasions and netting a 2.70 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 21:5 K:BB. He'll likely get extended work again Wednesday in what probably amounts to his final appearance of 2018.

Manager Alex Cora said Rodriguez is expected to pitch an inning of relief against the Orioles on Wednesday or versus the Yankees on Friday. If he doesn't make an appearance in either contest, he could take the mound for a "short start" this weekend, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

This likely points toward Rodriguez serving out of the bullpen during the ALDS as the Red Sox seem to be readying the left-hander for a relief role. His last outing was a two-inning relief appearance versus Baltimore on Monday, during which he allowed just one hit while striking out a pair. If Rodriguez winds up pitching out of the bullpen within the next couple days, look for Nathan Eovaldi and Brian Johnson to start this weekend against New York.

Carrasco (16-10) allowed three runs on four hits and four walks across 4.1 innings Tuesday to take the loss against the White Sox. He struck out eight.

Carrasco followed Trevor Bauer in this one, entering in the fifth inning. Though he started well enough, he narrowly escaped a jam in the eighth inning and blew a two-run lead in the ninth, when he allowed four of five hitters to reach as the home team plated three runs to win. Carrasco worked up to 81 pitches in this relief outing and will presumably be able to take on a normal workload Sunday against the Royals in his final regular-season start.