MLB Player News

Verlander set down 11 hitters on strikes while allowing two runs on four hits over six innings in Thursday's doubleheader-sweeping win over the Twins.

Verlander's 15th win of 2016 was actually his first in nearly a month, dating back to Aug. 26; the fault for that lies more with the Tigers' offense than with the 33-year-old fireballer. Indeed, despite having blown past his previous career high in homers allowed (24) with a whopping 30 this year, Verlander's had a great year by virtually every other metric. His strikeout rate has rebounded unbelievably from a disappointing past couple years -- in fact, his current 9.89 K/9 is the second-highest of his career. That's why even with all the long balls, he owns his best ERA (3.21) since 2012 and his best WHIP (1.01) since 2011.

Nolasco (7-14) allowed no runs on five hits and one walk while striking out five on Thursday in a 2-0 win over the Astros.

While the first half of Nolasco's season with Minnesota was disastrous by almost any measure, he has produced some respectable fantasy numbers in his 10 starts since being traded to the Angels in July. He's now 2-2 in September with a WHIP just above 1.00, and he hasn't allowed a run in 13 innings over his last two starts. The key drivers of his resurgence include a significantly lower home run rate and improved defensive play behind him (.226 BABIP).

McCullers (elbow) threw a bullpen session Thursday, Angel Verdejo Jr. of the Houston Chronicle reports.

McCullers threw approximately 30 pitches Thursday. This marked the first time that he'd thrown from a mound since Aug. 2. There hasn't been an indication as to when he'll be back, but the club has yet to rule out the possibility of a return during the 2016 campaign.

Bundy's next scheduled start will take place Sunday as the Orioles host the Diamondbacks.

Kevin Gausman's intercostal muscle injury forced the O's to reshuffle their rotation. Bundy looks like a risky play in his next go-round. In 13 starts this year, The righty carries a 7-5 record with a 4.73 ERA and 3.92 walks per nine innings. He's failed to top 5.1 innings in each of his last three outings, over which he's allowed 13 earned runs in 14 frames. Still, Bundy's 9.05 K/9 in the rotation points to a bright turnaround if he can improve his stamina in 2017. Of course, coming off his highest innings total since 2012 could limit his upside.

Gausman's next start will be pushed to Tuesday or Wednesday as he deals with an intercostal issue, Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com reports.

Gausman struggled in his Tuesday outing as he allowed five runs over the course of 6.1 innings. Although the team has yet to give a definite return for Gausman, it seems likely he'll be back on the mound early next week.

Cobb (1-1) just did not have it Wednesday against the Yankees, lasting only 1.1 innings and giving up seven runs on nine hits and a walk, taking the loss.

Cobb had been pitching well in his return from Tommy John, entering Wednesday with a 3.06 ERA over three starts. Then he ran into the Yankees, who rattled off hit after hit until Gary Sanchez really broke things open with a three-run homer down the left field line in the second, ending Cobb's night at 52 pitches. The outing more than doubled Cobb's ERA to 6.16. He'll try to forget the rough outing when he takes on the White Sox on Monday.

Berrios' start was shortened to just three innings due to rain that caused postponement of the game, and his stats will not count.

It's unfortunate for those counting on the rookie hurler, especially considering he had tossed three scoreless frames. His next outing is scheduled for Monday against the Royals.

Kluber (18-9) tossed 6.1 innings, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out nine Royals in Wednesday's win.

Wednesday marked the 14th straight start in which Kluber pitched at least six innings, a ridiculous stretch in which he's gone 10-1 and thrust himself into the Cy Young conversation. The 30-year-old ranks in the AL's top five for wins, innings pitched, strikeouts, ERA and WHIP. Kluber will continue his campaign when he travels to Detroit for his next start Monday.

Sale (16-9) suffered an embarrassing loss Wednesday against the Phillies. He allowed six runs on seven hits while striking out five in four innings.

Wednesday marked Sale's second-shortest outing of the season, but was arguably his most humiliating performance of 2016. Entering the game, the Phillies owned MLB's second-worst team batting average (.238) and ranked dead last in team OPS (.682). Sale had pitched at least eight innings in each of his previous five starts, owning a 1.50 ERA while notching 50 strikeouts over 42 innings. The left-hander will look to forget this lackluster effort when he makes his next start Tuesday at home against the Rays.

Gray (forearm) will face hitters Saturday, CSN's Joe Stiglich reports.

Gray has thrown several bullpen sessions without any setbacks, so he will take the next step down his recovery path and simulate game action Saturday. Gray has a chance to pitch for the A's at some point next week, but with the regular season nearly complete, the team could simply opt to shut him down even if things go as expected Saturday.