MLB Player News

Schmidt (3-3) tallied the win Wednesday against the Royals after giving up two hits and three walks in six shutout innings. He struck out seven.

It was Schmidt's second scoreless start in his last three outings, and he's now thrown at least six frames in five of his last seven appearances. The 29-year-old right-hander scattered two singles, and he came one strikeout shy of tying his season high. Schmidt holds a quality 3.60 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 57:24 K:BB across 55 innings, and he'll remain worth deploying in the vast majority of fantasy formats versus the Angels in his next scheduled start.

Buehler (5-4) tallied the win Wednesday against the Rays after giving up three runs on six hits and one walk in seven innings. He struck out seven.

It was an encouraging bounce-back performance for Buehler, who was crushed for a season-high seven runs in his previous start against the Yankees. The 30-year-old right-hander tied his second-highest strikeout total of the year, and he fired a season-high seven frames for his fourth quality start of the campaign. Buehler will look to further improve on his 5.01 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and 51:18 K:BB over 55.2 innings in his next outing, which is set to come at pitcher-friendly T-Mobile Park against a Mariners club that has a .600 OPS at home since May 1.

Littell (6-6) was charged with the loss Wednesday against the Red Sox after giving up four runs on eight hits and no walks in six innings. He struck out six.

Littell's control remained nearly impeccable, as he issued one walk or fewer in his 10th straight start, but his struggles containing the long ball resurfaced. The 29-year-old right-hander served up a whopping four homers for the second time already this year, and he now inauspiciously leads the majors in homers allowed (21). Littell still owns a steady 3.84 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 58:11 K:BB across 86.2 innings, and he'll aim to reduce the hard contact the next time he's scheduled to take the hill, likely next week versus the Orioles.

Leiter (4-3) took the loss against Minnesota on Wednesday, allowing four runs on five hits and four walks while striking out three batters over four-plus innings.

Leiter gave up a three-run homer to Byron Buxton in the third inning to account for most of the damage against him. The right-hander also struggled with his control, throwing just 51 of 87 pitches for strikes and issuing four free passes. Leiter had been pitching well entering Wednesday, posting a 2.20 ERA and 1.05 WHIP over five starts since his previous loss May 8, so he has earned himself a lengthy leash in terms of the security of his rotation spot. He'll look to get back on track in his next start, which is projected to be a matchup at home versus Kansas City.

Festa (1-1) earned the win over Texas on Wednesday, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out four batters over six innings.

Festa finally picked up a victory in his fifth start of the season and also notched his first quality start. In fact, Wednesday marked the first time over his five outings that the right-hander has completed more than 4.2 frames. It was certainly a promising turnaround after Festa surrendered eight runs across 3.2 innings against the A's in his previous start. Festa has an opportunity to lock down a rotation spot with Pablo Lopez (shoulder) and Zebby Matthews (shoulder) both out for an extended period, and Festa's performance Wednesday could go a long way toward achieving that goal. He'll try to take another positive step the next time he takes the mound, which tentatively lines up to be on the road against Cincinnati.

Mize (6-2) took the loss Wednesday against the Orioles, allowing two runs on eight hits and two walks over 5.1 innings. He struck out seven.

It was a decent outing overall for Mize, who had failed to make it through five frames in his previous two starts. The only damage against right-hander came on Ramon Urias' two-run homer in the third inning, though the Tigers could only muster one run of support, leaving Mize with his second loss. The 28-year-old Mize now sports a 2.95 ERA with a 1.28 WHIP and 55:18 K:BB through 11 starts (61 innings) this season. He's currently slated to face the Pirates at home in his next outing.

Eflin (6-2) earned the win Wednesday over the Tigers, allowing a run on five hits and a walk over 6.2 innings. He struck out five.

It was another strong outing from Eflin, who held Detroit scoreless through six innings before giving up a lone run in the seventh. Eflin has won his last three starts, allowing just four runs over 19.1 innings. The right-hander's lowered his ERA to 4.08 through nine starts (53 innings) this year with a 1.09 WHIP and 36:7 K:BB. Eflin is currently lined up to face the Rays on the road in his next outing.

Woo (5-4) took the loss against the Diamondbacks on Wednesday, allowing five runs on seven hits and one walk with three strikeouts over six innings.

All five runs surrendered by Woo came via two home runs in the sixth inning, including a grand slam by Eugenio Suarez. While the 25-year-old righty impressively completed six frames for the 13th straight start, he's now allowed nine earned runs through two June outings. On the season, he owns a 3.39 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 72:12 K:BB across 82.1 innings and will look to get back on track at home against the Red Sox next week.

Sears allowed two runs on four hits over 5.1 innings in a no-decision Wednesday against the Angels. He struck out nine.

Sears was dominant early, allowing just two singles through five scoreless frames. However, he'd give up back-to-back base hits to start the sixth, both of whom would come around to score after the A's turned to the bullpen. After going six or more innings in three of his first four starts this season, Sears has gone seven outings without recording a quality start. Overall, the left-hander has a 5-5 record with a 5.08 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 58:14 K:BB across 14 starts (72.2 innings) this season. Sears is currently lined up to face the Astros at home in his next outing.

Allen (4-4) picked up the win Wednesday, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk over six innings during an 11-2 rout of the Reds. He struck out six.

The left-hander did serve up two solo shots, getting taken deep by Elly De La Cruz in the fourth inning and TJ Friedl in the sixth, but Allen had already been staked to a 4-0 lead by the end of the third. The quality start was only Allen's second of the year, but Wednesday's outing was the first time he's given up multiple homers in the same game. He'll take a 4.28 ERA, 1.51 WHIP and 46:28 K:BB through 61 innings into his next start, which is scheduled to come on the road next week in San Francisco.