MLB Player News

DeGrom (10-8) notched the win after giving up four hits while striking out nine over seven scoreless innings Friday night against the Reds.

DeGrom was lights out Friday night, hurling 70 of 96 pitches for strikes on the way to victory. The reigning Cy Young winner has surrendered just one run over his last three outings, and he's worked seven frames in each of his last seven starts. DeGrom owns a sparkling 2.51 ERA and 0.99 WHIP with 248 punchouts over 197 innings this year.

Smyly (3-2) took the loss after giving up four runs on five hits and three walks over two innings Friday night against the Indians.

Smyly struggled right from the start in this one, allowing two runs in the first inning followed by two more in the second prior to being lifted. Prior to Friday's rough outing, the 30-year-old southpaw has surrendered just four earned runs over his last three starts, though he sits with a 6.44 ERA and 1.64 WHIP with 110 punchouts over 107.2 innings this season.

Gallen won't make his scheduled start Saturday against the Padres, Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports.

Gallen will have his turn in the rotation skipped, as Luke Weaver (elbow) is set to toe the rubber Saturday. Gallen would be in line to make his next start Sept. 27 against San Diego.

Martinez recorded the final two outs of the ninth inning while walking one batter to record a save during a 2-1 victory against the Cubs on Friday.

It wasn't a full-inning save, but Martinez bounced back from yielding three runs against the Cubs on Thursday to post his 22nd save of the year. Despite the rough outing, his appearance Thursday didn't count as a blown save, so Martinez has converted 11 straight save chances. He is 4-2 with a 3.45 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 48 strikeouts in 44.1 innings this season.

Wacha allowed one run on five hits with two walks and one strikeout across four innings during a no-decision against the Cubs on Friday.

The 28-year-old pitched well, but he didn't receive the run support or pitch the required five innings to earn the win. The Cardinals scored two runs in the sixth, though, to get Wacha off the hook for the loss. Wacha has now allowed just one run in his last nine innings. He is 6-7 with a 4.68 ERA, 1.54 WHIP and 101 strikeouts in 125 innings this season. Wacha will make his last start of the regular season Wednesday at the Diamondbacks.

Hill (knee) is expected to pitch the first two innings of Tuesday's game against the Padres, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Hill tossed a successful bullpen session Friday, and he's now in line to return to game action early next week. He's pitched in just one big-league game since mid-June, tossing 0.2 innings Sept. 12 against Baltimore.

Hill (knee) threw a successful 17-pitch bullpen session Friday and is expected to pitch Tuesday against San Diego, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Hill has been wearing a brace on his left knee while throwing, and he's felt great so far, per DiGiovanna. Assuming he feels strong over the next few days, the veteran southpaw should be available out of the bullpen for Tuesday's matchup with the Padres.

Lorenzen is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Mets.

Lorenzen started four of the last five games in center field but has gone just 1-for-17 at the plate over that stretch while also making a couple of relief appearances. Phillip Ervin starts in center field Friday.

Martinez was credited with his third hold in an extra-inning win over the Cubs on Thursday but allowed three earned runs on three hits and a walk over one-third of an inning while also recording one strikeout.

The normally reliable closer didn't have it Thursday, a rare occurrence during what has been a largely stellar stretch of high-leverage work for Martinez. Asked to slam the door in the bottom of the ninth with the Cardinals holding a 4-1 advantage, Martinez got himself into immediate trouble by issuing a leadoff walk to Nicholas Castellanos and a subsequent single to Kris Bryant. A Kyle Schwarber strikeout later, Ben Zobrist laced an RBI double and Willson Contreras immediately followed with a run-scoring single. The multi-run outing was the first on Martinez's ledger since Aug. 18 and also snapped the 11-appearance scoreless streak he'd forged since that outing.

Flaherty didn't factor into the decision against the Cubs on Thursday, giving up one earned run on three hits over eight innings, striking out eight and walking one as the Cardinals eventually won 5-4.

The right-hander continued his lights-out second half with another stellar effort, with this start marking the third time in his last four outings he's worked eight innings. He's also tossed a quality start in 10 out of his last 11 outings. Flaherty had an uneven start to the season, but he's been virtually untouchable since the start of July, with the torrid stretch he's on lowering his ERA to 2.96, his WHIP to 1.01 and giving him a fantastic 214:52 K:BB across 182.1 innings.