MLB Player News

Sale had a season-high 23 swings-and-misses on all his pitches Sunday, including 12 on his slider, Christoper Smith of MassLive.com reports.

Sale, who combined for 23 swings-and-misses on the slider over his first seven games, said he viewed a lot of video to get the slider back to where he wanted. "It's been probably the main concern," Sale said about his slider. "Early on, it wasn't where we wanted it to be." The left-hander allowed one run while striking out 12 over seven innings Sunday.

Kopech allowed two runs on one hit and four walks while striking out three for Triple-A Charlotte on Sunday.

This was Kopech's shortest outing of the season and a reminder he still has work to do before a promotion to the majors is warranted. Just 34 of his 66 pitches were in the zone, and he hit two batters. Command has been a recurring theme for Kopech throughout his career, but he's managed to keep his walks and HBP down this season until Sunday.

Blackburn (forearm) threw off a mound for the first time in his rehab Sunday, Michael Wagaman of MLB.com reports.

Blackburn had worked up to throwing from 90 feet earlier in the week. The 24-year-old right-hander has been sidelined since late in spring training, but recent developments have manager Bob Melvin encouraged. "He is on the mound so there's a natural progression that we go through to get them ready to go pitch rehab games," Melvin said. "It's still a little bit of a progression but the fact that he's throwing off the mound is very encouraging."

Gibson allowed three earned runs on four hits while walking two and striking out eight across 6.2 innings Sunday against the White Sox. He did not factor in the decision.

Gibson took advantage of one of the weaker lineups in the league Sunday, putting together his third consecutive strong outing. In that span, he has allowed four earned runs over 17.2 innings and struck out 24 batters. He's been a polarizing pitcher over the past few seasons, never living up to his potential, but he has undeniably put together a strong start to the season that is largely backed up by his peripheral stats.

Cobb (0-4) allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and one walk while striking out five across six innings as he took the loss Sunday against the Athletics.

Cobb has put together back-to-back quality starts, although he continues to search for his first win of the year. His offense failed him Sunday as the Orioles were able to push across just one run in the second inning on a Pedro Alvarez solo home run. Despite solid performances in his last two outings, Cobb sits with a 7.61 ERA and 2.03 WHIP as a result of a disastrous start to the season. His next appearance figures to come Saturday against the Rays.

Verlander (4-1) picked up his first loss of the season Sunday against the Diamondbacks. He allowed one run on three hits and three walks while striking out eight across six innings.

Verlander gave up just one run but didn't get any run support. Still, he's been dominant through eight starts this season, sporting a 1.17 ERA and 0.71 WHIP, and he's racked up 70 strikeouts across 53.2 innings. Verlander will look to stay sharp on the mound in his next start, which figures to come Saturday against the Rangers.

Sale (3-1) picked up his third win of the season Sunday, allowing just one run on four hits and one walk while striking out 12 across seven innings against Texas.

Sale had the strikeout pitch working Sunday as he reached his season high in punchouts. The 29-year-old left-hander was bounced back after receiving a no-decision his last start against Kansas City, despite allowing just one earned run across seven innings. He'll look to put together back-to-back wins in his next start, which figures to come Friday against the Blue Jays.

Boyd (1-3) took the loss Sunday against the Royals, allowing four earned runs over seven innings. He gave up six hits and a walk while striking out five.

Boyd pitched reasonably well, as he only allowed seven baserunners in his seven innings of work, but he ran into some trouble in the third inning. After retiring the first two hitters in the frame, he gave up a single, a walk, a double and another single, and Kansas City had three runs and a 4-0 lead. Boyd will take a solid 3.00 ERA into his next start, which is scheduled for Saturday against the Mariners.

Clevinger struck out 10 and walked four over 7.1 innings, giving up just one hit and two earned runs as the Indians fell 7-4 to the Yankees on Sunday.

The right-hander continued his strong start to the season with his first double-digit strikeout effort of the year against a tough Yankees lineup, but he didn't factor into the decision as Cody Allen and Dan Otero combined to give up five earned runs in relief. Still, Clevinger has a 2.76 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP and 39 strikeouts across 45.2 innings, so it looks like he's building off his solid showing last season when he had a 3.11 ERA in 121.2 innings. He'll take the mound next at home against the Royals next Sunday.

German didn't factor into the decision against the Indians on Sunday despite throwing six no-hit innings, striking out nine and walking two before the Yankees eventually prevailed 7-4.

With Jordan Montgomery (elbow) on the disabled list, German got the first crack at filling the rotation spot and he made the most of the opportunity, no-hitting the Twins through six innings on just 84 pitches. His relievers weren't able to see through the combined no-hit bid, but it was still a brilliant outing from the 25-year-old, who was making his first career start after working out of the bullpen prior to Montgomery's injury. While he won't be holding opponents hitless every start, German almost certainly earned another look to show he can continue to be the guy in Montgomery's absence. It's worth keeping an eye on whether he can continue to provide solid fantasy value for as long as he's in the rotation.