MLB Player News

King (7-8) earned the win over the Astros on Saturday, allowing one run on three hits and one walk while striking out six batters over six innings.

King surrendered a second-inning Taylor Trammell solo homer, but that was the only time Houston scored against him. The right-hander finished with his 11th quality start of the season and snapped a four-outing winless stretch. King also had his swing-and-miss stuff working, racking up 15 whiffs on 93 pitches. Despite being saddled with a mediocre record, King has provided much-needed consistency for a San Diego rotation that has been beset by injuries and poor performances -- he leads the team's starters in just about every major category, including ERA (3.37), WHIP (1.17), strikeouts (114) and innings pitched (136.1).

Yamamoto allowed three hits, three walks and a hit batsman while striking out six over 5.2 innings in a no-decision versus the Diamondbacks on Saturday.

Yamamoto had covered at least six innings in each of his previous nine starts, but he fell an out short of that mark in a rare inefficient performance, throwing 62 of 107 pitches for strikes. On the bright side, it was his third scoreless outing in 21 starts this year, though a lack of run support left him without the win. Yamamoto has a stellar 2.65 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 127:32 K:BB through 139.1 innings on the year. He's projected to make his next start at home versus the Brewers.

Pfaadt allowed two hits and two walks while striking out two over seven scoreless innings in a no-decision versus the Dodgers on Saturday.

Pfaadt still hasn't allowed more than two runs in any of his eight starts since returning to the majors June 30. Over that span, he's given up just eight runs (seven earned) with a 23:7 K:BB across 47.2 innings, with Saturday's outing being only his second no-decision to go with six wins during the hot stretch. The lack of strikeouts is a little troubling, but the run prevention is worth it. Overall, Pfaadt has a 3.36 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 54:24 K:BB through 85.2 innings across 21 games (11 starts) this season. He'll look to keep the dominant run going in his next start, which is projected to be a tough road matchup in Atlanta.

Liberatore (5-9) took the loss against Colorado on Saturday, allowing five runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out three batters over five innings.

Liberatore fell behind quickly, giving up a homer to Jake McCarthy to begin the game. Though that was the only long ball the hurler allowed, he surrendered three more runs in the third inning and an additional tally in the fifth. It was the fifth time this season Liberatore has given up at least five earned runs in an outing, and four of those performances have come over has past nine appearances. Though Liberatore has improved his K/9 to a career-best 8.7 this season, he's otherwise struggled with a 5.15 ERA through 113.2 innings.

Freeland allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits and three walks while striking out three batters over 4.1 innings in a no-decision against St. Louis on Saturday.

Freeland recorded his first career complete game in a win over Kansas City his previous time out, but his outing Saturday went in an entirely different direction. The left-hander's inefficiency resulted in his shortest start since May 26, as he needed 101 pitches to get through 4.1 frames. However, Freeland's ERA actually improved since two of the three runs against him were unearned, courtesy of a first-inning passed ball by Hunter Goodman on what would have been an inning-ending strikeout. Freeland's 6.63 season ERA is still the second worst in MLB among pitchers who have thrown at least 100 frames, though he's projected for a favorable matchup in San Francisco for his next start.

Vasquez will start Sunday's game against the Astros in San Diego, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Vasquez will be making a second straight turn through the rotation after he tossed a gem his last time out Tuesday, holding Arizona scoreless over six innings while allowing just three baserunners. However, he struck out just one batter in the outing and now maintains a lowly 15 percent strikeout rate for the season. That rate places him 90th among the 94 pitches in the majors that have covered at least 100 innings this season.

Gasser took a no-decision against the Twins on Saturday, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks in 4.2 innings. He struck out three.

Minnesota did its damage in the second inning, plating each of its three runs on the evening to leave Gasser with a poor showing overall. The southpaw is beginning to lose his control a bit of late, walking multiple batters in back-to-back outings in August after issuing a lone free pass across his four July appearances. Gasser has a 4.57 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 61:18 K:BB over 67 innings, and he lines up for a difficult matchup versus the Dodgers his next time out.

Holmes (4-5) took the loss against the Royals on Saturday, allowing four runs on six hits and two walks in four innings. He struck out one.

Making both his Cubs team debut and return from nearly a two-month absence due to a fractured fibula, Holmes was mostly ineffective and failed to turn in a single clean inning of work. The 33-year-old right-hander managed to throw 70 pitches in what was arguably a season-worst outing, but his workload restrictions are likely to loosen in future starts. Holmes will aim to rebound in his next scheduled appearance against the Cardinals, still holding a strong 2.86 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 46:20 K:BB over 56.2 innings.

Washington optioned Palmquist to Triple-A Rochester on Saturday.

Palmquist will head back to Rochester for the first time since June 29. The southpaw opened Tuesday's game against Philadelphia and lasted just one-third of an inning after giving up one run on two hits. In 16.1 innings this season, the 25-year-old owns a 7.71 ERA, 1.78 WHIP and 15:8 K:BB.

Alvarez did not factor into the decision Saturday against the Reds, allowing one run on three hits and one walk while striking out two across 5.1 innings.

It wasn't a flashy performance by any means from Alvarez, but he managed to keep the Reds off the board through the first five innings. He was pulled in the sixth after yielding an infield single and was tagged for his lone run after Max Kranick gave up a two-run homer to Eugenio Suarez, which also removed Alvarez from the decision. Alvarez has yielded two earned runs or fewer in each of his last three outings and has a 3.76 ERA and 1.40 WHIP over 69.1 innings this season. His next start is lined up for next weekend on the road against the Mets.