MLB Player News

The Athletics announced Wednesday they are listing Saturday's starter at Toronto as to be announced. However, manager Bob Melvin said it will not be Tommy Milone, who is scheduled to pitch for Triple-A Sacramento Thursday.

A.J. Griffin is being pushed back a day to Sunday, but he said he is fine from a health standpoint. The Oakland Tribune, however, suggests pitching prospect Sonny Gray might be promoted from the minors to start Saturday.

And just like that, Justin Verlander's days of disappointing his Fantasy owners are over.

Because of one good start at Cleveland? Really?

Yes, really. See, it wasn't just the fact that the Tigers ace allowed one earned run in eight innings. It was how he did it, repeatedly hitting 100 mph with his fastball and going without a walk for the first time all year.

He looked like a different pitcher and basically was, according to his average fastball velocity of 96.1 mph. Prior to Wednesday, he had topped 95 only once all season.

Considering a mechanical adjustment accompanied the turnaround, I'm thinking it's legitimate. Verlander himself called it "a huge stride in the right direction."

I never completely lost faith in Verlander, dropping him to 15th in my starting pitcher rankings, but now he's back up to 12th. And another couple outings like this one could easily vault him back into the top five.

Orioles starting pitcher Jason Hammel (forearm) tried to throw Tuesday, but he experienced some discomfort and might not be ready to come off the disabled list when eligible Aug. 13, reports MLB.com. Hammel is taking anti-inflammatory medicine, but he's not recovering as quickly as expected.

The Indians announced Wednesday starting pitcher Corey Kluber will miss 4-6 weeks because of a sprained finger. He will begin a throwing program when symptom-free.

Tigers catcher Alex Avila dubbed starting pitcher Justin Verlander's performance Tuesday against the Indians as "probably his best start this year." After allowing hits to three of the first five batters, Verlander settled down to allow one run in eight innings and didn't walk a batter for the first time all year.

"I think that was probably his best start this year as far as his command at velocity like that," Avila said, per MLive.com, "plus his curveball was the best it has been, too. I think that just kind of carried over once he found that command with the fastball."

Verlander said he fixed a flaw in his delivery after comparing film from 2011 to film from this season. He said his left leg was landing about five or six inches more toward the third-base side than it should have been.

"I was kind of tying myself up," he said. "It was hard for me to locate down and away to a righty and in to a lefty. And it was hard for me to get on top of stuff, because when you're closed off, you kind of have to fall off to one side and I think that was leading to a lot of problems."

Indians starting pitcher Corey Kluber became the second Cleveland pitcher to land on the disabled list this season with a sprained finger. Zach McAllister spent six weeks on the disabled list recently with a middle finger sprain as well.

McAllister suffered his injury throwing a curveball and Kluber was also injured throwing a breaking ball Monday against the Tigers.

"He felt it on a breaking ball four pitches before he came out," manager Terry Francona said Tuesday, according to The Plain Dealer. "We got him scanned (MRI).  At the minimum he'll be on the disabled list. We'll know more on Wednesday."

The injury could end Kluber's season, but the Indians remain hopeful that won't happen.

"He's been great for us this year," fellow starter Justin Masterson said. "Our hope is that it's not as bad as McAllister's was. He was out for quite sometime."

Texas starter Yu Darvish wasn't at his best Tuesday night but still managed a quality start and a win in Anaheim.

Darvish improved to 11-5 on the season as he went seven innings and allowed three runs on eight hits and three walks. He threw 113 pitches and allowed two homers. He struck out six and his ERA is now at 2.72.

Darvish had been phenomenal in his previous two outings with 25 strikeouts over 13 innings. He's up to 192 Ks over 145 2/3 innings on the season. Darvish will next take the mound for the Rangers to close out a four-game series in Houston Monday. The Astros have more strikeouts as a team than any other club in the majors and Darvish needs eight to become the first major league pitcher this season with 200.

White Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale snapped a three game losing streak Tuesday, in a 3-2 win over the Yankees.

Sale, who has struggled to find much run support this season, was given little room for error yet again this time around. He pitched into the eighth inning for the third time in four starts, limiting the Yankees to just one run on five hits and four walks in 7 1/3 innings. He struck out six and threw 62 of 108 pitches for strikes in the win.

Sale is now just 7-11 through 21 starts, despite ranking seventh in the American League with a 2.83 ERA. He is 1-3 with a 2.76 ERA since the All-Star break.

Chicago's All-Star starter is next scheduled to take the hill for manager Robin Ventura on Sunday against Minnesota.

Astros starter Jordan Lyles was given a 5-0 lead after two innings at home against the Boston Red Sox Tuesday. He couldn't even come close to holding onto that lead.

Lyles ended up taking the loss to fall to 4-6 on the year in a wild game that saw Boston blow it open with three runs in the third and five more in the fifth off the starter. The Houston starter gave up the eight earned runs on nine hits and three walks over just 4 2/3 innings before getting pulled. He struck out six and threw 92 pitches as his ERA is now at 5.40 on the year.

The 22-year-old Lyles has lost his last five decisions and hasn't won a start since back on June 18 against Milwaukee when he moved to 4-1. It has been nothing but struggles since as he hasn't completed seven innings since that start versus the Brewers. Lyles is scheduled to make his next starting appearance for the Astros on Monday to open a series against Texas.

Indians starter Justin Masterson has 13 wins this season but couldn't record another Tuesday night at home against the Detroit Tigers. Masterson suffered the loss as he ran into the Detroit offense in the fifth inning.

Masterson was breezing through four scoreless frames before the fifth inning began. Torii Hunter grounded into a fielder's choice for an RBI, Miguel Cabrera doubled to deep center for another and Don Kelly capped the scoring with a three-run homer off Masterson in the inning.

In the end, Masterson allowed five runs on seven hits and two walks over seven innings and exactly 100 pitches. He took the loss to fall to 13-8 with a 3.46 ERA and struck out six batters.

The 28-year-old right-handed starter had allowed just two runs over his previous three starts -- all wins -- spanning 21 1/3 innings with 23 Ks over that stretch. He had a hiccup in the fifth inning Tuesday but should bounce right back. The Cleveland ace is scheduled to make his next starting appearance on Monday to begin a series at Minnesota.