MLB Player News

Verlander gave up two runs on six hits and a walk over seven innings while striking out eight but had to settle for a no-decision in Wednesday's 4-3 loss to the Royals.

If the veteran right-hander was auditioning for other teams as the trade deadline approaches he made a great impression, firing 78 of 107 pitches for strikes while delivering his 11th quality start of the year. Barring a change in uniform before then, Verlander will get a rematch with the Royals back home in Detroit on Monday.

Rodon (1-3) allowed five runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out four over 3.2 innings in Wednesday's rain-shortened 9-1 loss to the Dodgers.

Rodon, who was making his fourth start of the season, was tagged for four home runs by the Dodgers over his 3.2 innings. With Jose Quintana shipped cross town to the Cubs, Rodon is being groomed to be the White Sox's ace but obviously the long layoff due to a biceps injury is not leading to ace-like results. He'll continue to take the ball every fifth day and there will be better days ahead, but fantasy owners must realize, in addition to the long layoff, the left-hander is pitching for a team with the worst record in the American League and an offense that won't steal many games for him. Rodon will next take the bump Tuesday against the Cubs on the north side of town.

Perez (5-7) gave up five runs -- four earned -- on seven hits and a walk while striking out three over six-plus innings in Wednesday's 10-2 loss to Baltimore.

Things got a lot uglier after he left, but Perez made them plenty ugly on his own, digging an early hole and then unraveling entirely (thanks in part to bad defense) after coming out to start the seventh inning. Of course, starts like this from the 26-year-old lefty should be no surprise, as he's earned a reputation for striking out too few batters, walking too many, and relying on his groundballing ways to make up for that. Perez's formula clearly isn't working very well, as his 4.63 ERA and 1.62 WHIP will attest.

Gausman (6-7) struck out eight Rangers while allowing just a single run on four hits and two walks over six innings in a 10-2 victory Wednesday.

Starts like this one have certainly been the exception rather than the rule for the flame-throwing 26-year-old in 2017, and he needed a positive outing badly with manager Buck Showalter recently having floated the possibility of a demotion to the minors. Gausman has been truly horrendous this season, as that 6.11 ERA and 1.75 WHIP loudly advertise, and it'll take more than one good game for him to get back in the circle of trust for fantasy owners. Fortunately, his next start will come Monday against the Rays, whom he shut out over seven innings with nine strikeouts in his first start of July.

Carrasco tossed six innings Wednesday, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out six Giants in a no-decision.

The right-hander managed to work around trouble on a day when just 59 percent of his pitches went for strikes, departing with a 3-2 lead that the bullpen couldn't hang onto. Carrasco entered the All-Star break on a five-game winning streak, but he's failed to capture a victory in his two starts -- both of which were favorable matchups -- since the Midsummer Classic. He'll look to get back on track at home Wednesday against the Angels.

Gray (6-4) allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out six batters over 6.1 innings during Wednesday's win over Tampa Bay.

Gray has now picked up four wins and 27 strikeouts through his past five starts to improve to a 3.66 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 8.4 K/9 for the campaign. The 27-year-old righty is a prime candidate to be dealt to a contender before the trade deadline, and his fantasy value will likely receive a boost pitching for a better club. If he sticks with Oakland for another turn in the rotation, Gray lines up to face Toronto at Rogers Centre in his next start.

Meyer was called up from Triple-A Salt Lake on Wednesday.

Meyer will take the mound against the Nationals on Wednesday, marking his first start at the big-league level since July 3, when he took the loss against Minnesota. During 12 starts with the Angels this year, Meyer has posted a 4.18 ERA with a 1.46 WHIP and a 68:41 K:BB. The team demoted Eduardo Paredes to Salt Lake in a corresponding move.

Morton (7-4) tossed 6.2 innings Wednesday, allowing four runs on six hits while striking out five in a losing effort against the Mariners.

Morton rolled through the first three innings before allowing a single and a Ben Game home run to start the fourth inning. The right-hander filled the zone with 66 of his 102 offerings going for strikes, but it simply wasn't enough given that the Houston bats fell silent at the hands of Seattle's James Paxton. Morton will look to get back into the win column Tuesday against the Phillies.

Paxton (9-3) dominated the Astros on Wednesday, firing seven innings of one-run ball while allowing six hits, walking one batter and striking out seven.

The southpaw has dominated the Astros this season, with the third-inning sacrifice fly by George Springer marking the first run allowed by Paxton in 20 innings against Houston this season. He also threw nearly 80 percent of his pitches for strikes and lowered his ERA to 3.05 on the season. Paxton now has fired six straight quality starts, a streak he'll look to continue against the Red Sox on Monday.

Montgomery (6-5) took the loss Wednesday against the Twins after giving up six runs on seven hits and a walk in six innings of work. He also struck out three.

All of the damage done to Montgomery came in the second inning, when the Twins strung together five hits (the last knock being a three-run homer off the bat of Miguel Sano) to produce all six of their runs. Outside of that, Montgomery was fine, throwing 64 of his 104 pitches for strikes and retiring the final ten batters he faced. Nonetheless, his ERA now sits at a lackluster 4.09 mark while his home run rate remains at a lofty 1.3 homers per nine innings. The southpaw will look to get back on track Tuesday in an interleague matchup with the Reds.