MLB Player News

Wood (11-1) served up nine runs (seven earned) on nine hits and four walks with four strikeouts over just 4.2 innings in his first loss Friday night against Atlanta.

Finally, Wood is human. Not only was this his first loss of the season, but it was the first time he failed to complete the fifth inning since April 21 against Arizona, when he was making a spot start and wasn't stretched out. Wood was bound to stumble eventually, but his consistency this season has been impressive. Despite the disaster, Wood's ERA still sits at a pristine 2.17.

Urena (8-4) allowed one run on three hits and one walk while striking out four across six innings to earn the win Friday against the Reds.

Urena was provided a two-run lead in the first inning and was able to hold onto it until turning the game over to the bullpen for the final three frames. This was the first time in three outings that he was able to fire a quality start, and he currently owns at 3.78 ERA, which has made him a solid but unspectacular fantasy option. He'll make his next start Wednesday against the Rangers.

Matz (2-3) allowed three runs and nine hits while striking out five across five innings, but didn't factor into the decision Friday against the Athletics.

Matz entered the fifth inning with a 2-1 lead, but gave up a pair of runs to hasten his exit from the contest. However, the Mets offense was able to wipe out the deficit, keeping him from taking his fourth loss of the season. As recently as July 3, he had a 2.12 ERA before a couple of horrible outings inflated it, and he's hopefully turning the corner to return to his status as a reliable fantasy option. He'll make his next start Wednesday against the Padres.

Nola (7-6) allowed one run on five hits and two walks while striking out nine over seven innings to earn the win Friday against the Brewers.

Other than allowing a solo homer in the second inning, Nola dominated the Brewers while getting plenty of run support to earn him his seventh win of the year. He's held opponents to two or fewer earned runs in six straight starts to lower his ERA from 4.76 to 3.38 and he's emerging as a top-end fantasy starter. He'll make his next start Wednesday against the Astros.

Martinez (6-8) allowed three runs, two of which were earned, on 10 hits and one walk while striking out three across six innings, but received no decision Friday against the Cubs.

Martinez gave up a two-run homer to Willson Contreras in the first inning, and left the game with a 3-2 deficit, though the offense came up big after his departure to take him off the hook for a potential loss. Although he's prone to the occasional rough outing, he's held opponents to two or fewer earned runs in six of his last eight starts, and he remains a quality fantasy option with an impressive 3.34 ERA. He'll make his next start Wednesday against the Rockies.

Buehler failed to record an out while giving up four runs on two hits and three walks on 29 pitches in Thursday's debut for Triple-A Oklahoma City.

The moment got the best of the Dodgers' top prospect. "I just didn't make pitches, man," Buehler said. "I felt like I could have and just didn't," he told Jacob Unruh of NewsOK.com. Fortunately, even though Buehler failed to record an out in his highly anticipated Triple-A debut, it was just due to poor execution and not an injury. Even after this ugly outing, Buehler still boasts a 3.44 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 91:23 K:BB in 65.1 innings across High-A, Double-A and Triple-A this season. He will remain in the rotation at Oklahoma City for now, but could earn a promotion to join either the big-league rotation or bullpen if he can right the ship against Pacific Coast League hitters.

Kolek got the start Thursday for the GCL Marlins, his first game action since undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2016.

The outing wasn't exactly a rousing success -- Kolek recorded only one out and was charged with four runs on a hit and two walks -- but the important thing is that he's pitching again. The 21-year-old right-hander was the second overall pick in 2014 and struggled with his control prior to surgery, so expect him to focus simply on building up some innings for the rest of the season rather than making any kind of rapid ascent up the ladder in the Marlins' system.

Phillies pitching coach Bob McClure credits Nola's fastball velocity increase this season to improved pitching mechanics, Matt Gelb of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Nola tweaked his mechanics in the offseason to use his legs more, which helped take some stress off his arm and allowed him to add a little more velocity. Last year, he averaged 90.7 mph with his fastball, but has bumped that up to 92 mph this season. Opponents have hit just .226 with a .384 slugging percentage against the fastball this year after teeing off on the pitch last season as Nola dealt with elbow problems. The 2014 first-round pick is 4-3 with a 2.65 ERA and a 59:16 K:BB in 54.1 innings since the beginning of June. He faces the Brewers at home Friday.

Keller exited Thursday's outing after being struck on the shin by a comebacker.

There's still no word on the severity of Keller's injury, but this is certainly a concerning development for one of the Pirates' top prospects. More updates on Keller's status will be provided as more details become available in the coming days.

Taillon (6-3) picked up the victory Thursday against the Brewers, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out eight across 5.1 innings pitched.

Although he didn't notch a quality start, Taillon held the Brewers at bay all afternoon. His 116 pitch count also seems high at first glance, but it was mostly due to the Brewers fouling off a number of pitches, as 74 of his offerings crossed the plate. Since June 29, the 25-year-old has been excellent, allowing just six runs and striking out 26 in 21.2 innings of work. He'll look to keep the good times rolling in his next scheduled start Tuesday in San Francisco.