MLB Player News

The Cubs are expected to activate reliever Neil Ramirez in time for Sunday's series-finale against the Cardinals. Ramirez has been out since the middle of April with shoulder inflammation. 

No move has been officially announced by the team as of yet, and it is not known who will be sent down to clear room on the roster.

Cardinals standout starter Michael Wacha doesn't generally require much run support to win. But what the heck - his offense gave him plenty anyway Saturday against the Cubs.

The game started out taut, but St. Louis scored four in the fourth and four more in the fifth to allow Wacha to cruise to his 10th victory, which is tied for second in the majors.

The onslaught allowed Wacha to depart after six inning and 91 pitches. He allowed one run on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts. He actually fell behind 1-0 on an RBI single by opposing pitcher Donn Roach in the second inning.

The fine outing continued a period of inconsistency for Wacha, who has traded excellent outings with mediocre ones over the past month.

It appeared that former Braves ace Julio Teheran had turned around his season when he pitched seven shutout innings against the Mets on Sunday.

Appearances can be deceiving.

Teheran reverted to the form Saturday in Pittsburgh that has made this season a personal disappointment. He yielded six runs on nine hits in six innings to raise his ERA to 4.94. Several strong outings still have his record at 5-4.

The right-hander nearly didn't make it out of the first inning. He gave up five hits, including a Starling Marte single, Pedro Alvarez double and Francisco Cervelli single successively that plated four runs. By the time the dust had cleared, he had faced 10 batters in the inning and surrendered five runs.

Teheran settled down thereafter, allowing just one more run, but the brutal start put the Braves behind to stay. And it had Fredi Gonzalez quite unhappy.

"There's something there that we've got to fix," he told MLB.com. "We've got to take care of it collectively. Julio has a big voice in this. When we get home and he throws his side [session] on Tuesday, we've got to sit down and figure out what needs to be addressed."

Pirates starter Charlie Morton went from cruising to struggling to leaving Saturday against visiting Atlanta. But a stellar performance from the bullpen made certain he emerged with his sixth win in seven decisions.

Morton had retired 11 in a row entering the seventh inning with a 6-1 lead. But he allowed two singles, a hit-by-pitch and three-run double to Jace Peterson that proved the knockout blow before departing. He finished having given up 10 hits with no walks and six strikeouts.

He has surrendered just 10 runs in 39 1/3 innings this season aside from his disastrous last start in which he couldn't get out of the first.

Reds rookie right-hander Michael Lorenzen pitched well against the Mets on Saturday. Lorenzen went 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run on six hits. He walked four and struck out four, as he took a no-decision. 

Lorenzen gave up a third-inning solo home run to Curtis Granderson for his only blemish on the afternoon. He left in the sixth inning with the bases loaded and two outs, but no further damage was done.

The game was suspended by rain after the sixth inning with the score tied 1-1, and it will be resumed prior to the scheduled game on Sunday afternoon.

The last time Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw lost three consecutive starts was ... never.

That is, until Saturday. The super southpaw performed well again, but has received just seven runs of support over that stretch. And he got no support in his latest outing from a defense that committed two errors that led to two unearned runs.

Kershaw allowed only one earned run on seven hits in seven innings with no walks and nine strikeouts. The three runs scored on the two errors and a wild pitch. He settled down thereafter and pitched shutout ball over the last five innings, but his record still stands at an uncharacteristic 5-6.

"You really can't ask Clayton to pitch a whole lot better," Don Mattingly told MLB.com. "...We just weren't able to put any runs on the board tonight to overcome our couple mistakes."

Kershaw did lower his ERA to a season-best 3.20.

The Nationals matchup against the Phillies was rained out on Saturday before the bottom of the second inning. The team's will play a doubleheader on Sunday.

Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez was able to throw an inning, in which he allowed a hit. Adam Morgan allowed three hits over the two innings he managed to throw.

Phillies starter Kevin Correia will throw in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader. Stephen Strasburg is projected to start for the Nationals.

Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia didn't throw his bullpen session as planned on Saturday, and he's been scratched from his scheduled start on Tuesday. 

Garcia was forced to leave his previous start after injuring his groin running the bases. 

Lance Lynn will make the start on Tuesday in Garcia's place, per the Belleville News Democrat.

The Braves will call up RHP Jake Brigham on Saturday, per MLB.com.

Brigham was 6-3, 3.05 in 12 starts at Double-A Mississippi and won his only start at Triple-A Gwinnett. He has never appeared in a MLB game. 

The Braves created a roster spot by placing pitcher Williams Perez on the 15-day disabled list with a left foot contusion.

Diamondbacks left-hander Robbie Ray was solid in his start against the Padres on Friday, but he was saddled with his third loss of the season. Ray pitched six innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits. He struck out five and did not walk a batter on the evening. 

Ray (2-3, 1.98 ERA) gave up individual runs in the first, third and sixth innings on Friday, but overall he pitched well enough to win. 

The lefty has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his six starts this season with Arizona.