MLB Player News

For the first time this season, Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels was able to pitch past the seventh inning during Monday's 4-3 win over the Rockies.

Hamels allowed one run on six hits over 7 1/3 innings of work to pick up his fourth win of the season. He also struck out seven batters and walked one during the outing. He lowered his ERA to 3.24 after Monday’s start.

"I had the utmost confidence -- just the way we've been playing -- that we were going to put up some runs," Hamels said, per MLB.com. "I wasn't trying to be too fine, just really trying to challenge them."

After surrendering seven home runs in his first three starts of the season, Hamels has given up one home run in his last six starts. He has now pitched at least seven innings and given up two or fewer runs in three-consecutive starts.

His next expected start is scheduled for Saturday at Washington.

Rockies pitcher Jordan Lyles allowed four runs on seven hits over six innings of work during Monday's 4-3 loss to the Phillies.

Lyles struck out three batters and walked two during the outing. His troubles began in the first inning when he surrendered one run on two hits. He was able to settle down before running into trouble in the sixth inning. During the inning, Lyles gave up three hits, which led to three runs. He took the loss for his effort.

"They put together some at-bats on him -- found the barrel -- but I felt like he was still throwing the ball pretty well," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said, per MLB.com. "He just got some pitches elevated."

Lyles has given up at least four runs in each of his last three starts. He is now 2-4 with a 4.53 ERA. His next expected start is scheduled for Saturday against the Giants.

Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin (elbow) tossed 54 pitches over five innings Monday in an instrasquad game in extended spring training, reports MLB.com. 

Corbin underwent Tommy John surgery following the 2013 season. 

"He looked good," D-backs manager Chip Hale said of the report he reviewed. "His off-speed stuff looked pretty good today. When he got up in the zone a little bit, he got hit a little bit." 

Monday's outing was the left hander's third extended spring rehab game. 

"We'll see where he goes next," Hale added. "It's not always going to be easy, so he's going to have to have some soreness. We'll see how many days we give him in between this one."

Rockies pitcher Jordan Lyles is on the mound for Monday's game against the Phillies, the team announced. 

Lyles was iffy to make his start after taking a line drive off his hand from Albert Pujols in his last start. Lyles underwent treatment for his injury on Thursday. He is 2-3 with a 4.30 ERA in 37 2/3 innings of work.

The Rockies are currently the underdogs (+100) against Philadelphia.

Reds pitcher Anthony DeSclafani has fallen off from his strong start. DeSclafani is 0-4 with a 6.38 ERA in his last five starts of the season. He has also walked 17 batters in his last 24 innings, something he knows  will have to be fixed quickly, according to MLB.com.

"It's not going my way now, but I've got to keep working at it and trying to make adjustments and try to catch a rhythm in the next few starts," DeSclafani said.

Manager Bryan Price thinks getting him and the rest of the pitching staff some rest will help.

"We ran guys out there on fumes. That's the importance of good starting pitching, the guys that typically come in behind you are fresh and rested," Price said. "Our good fortune is we haven't seen a lot of that out of the rotation three games in a row -- five innings or less. ... I hope not to see it again or else we'll have a bullpen that's on fumes. I anticipate a lot better pitching from the rotation."

Reds manager Bryan Price knows he needs to be careful with his two rookie pitchers in Michael Lorenzen and Raisel Iglesias, according to MLB.com.

With Cincinnati scuffling a bit, Price knows both pitchers may be called on a bit more than usual. 

"We're going to be looking for situations like this in which to rest those guys and not overload their innings," Price said of Lorenzen and Iglesias. "That being said, you don't want to fall out of this thing and go into a free fall without getting the best you have available to you. I think if we're going to be competitive, we're going to have to get the best we can out of our pitching staff, and who those 12 guys are, there are still some question marks.

"That's speaking the obvious, that's not trying to make anyone nervous. We haven't had the consistency out of our pitching when we broke camp. And we're asking a lot out of the young guys to keep us in this race."

Lorenzen has a 1-1 record with a 4.00 ERA in 18 innings of work. Iglesias is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in 15 innings of work. 

Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn allowed one run on six hits in seven innings of work in St. Louis' 2-1 win over the Tigers on Sunday.

Lynn's only blemish came in the first inning when he allowed an RBI double to Miguel Cabrera, who drove home Ian Kinsler from first. Lynn settled in after that and struck out seven throughout the rest of his start.

"Lance was great, no question about it," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny  to MLB.com. "That's what you really want from a guy who is taking charge of a staff. That's an outing where we need somebody to step up big, bow his neck and say, 'This is my game.' That's exactly what he did."

Lynn, now 3-3, moved his ERA to 2.96 in 48 2/3 innings of work. He will look to keep rolling Friday against the Royals. 

Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg got off to a shaky start in his hometown of San Diego, allowing the Padres to open up an early 2-0 lead. But the pitcher settled down and rode his team's offensive attack to pick up his third victory of the season. 

Strasburg lasted just five innings, giving up three runs and five hits, but he did just enough to break a two-game losing streak as the Nationals picked up a 10-5 victory. Strasburg tied a season-high with seven strikeouts.

A former star at San Diego State, Strasburg has now beaten the Padres four straight times. With the victory, Strasburg lowered his ERA to 5.98.

Phillies pitcher Sean O'Sullivan tossed six scoreless innings, allowing five hits in Philadelphia's 6-0 win over the Diamondbacks on Sunday.

O'Sullivan's only issue came in the third inning when with two men on, he threw a wild pitch, allowing them to move to second and third. O'Sullivan worked out of it, however, getting A.J. Pollock to ground out to end the inning.

"Everyone's kind of feeding off each other," O'Sullivan said to MLB.com. "The rotation is kind of feeding off each other. It's almost like everyone's kind of accountable for their part because you don't want to be the guy that's not accountable for his part. I think everyone's really playing as a unit right now."

O'Sullivan, now 1-2, lowered his ERA to 3.68 in 22 innings of work. He will look to keep rolling Friday against the Nationals.

"It's been really frustrating," he said to Philly.com. "I've actually had conversations with [pitching coach Bob McClure] and Chooch [catcher Carlos Ruiz] about it. I wasn't giving up a lot of hits. It was just the one hit. Today, we really focused on when we got ahead of guys, trying to bury the ball or not be too fine early in the count. We worked on some mechanical things. After, I would say about the second inning, everything started to feel real smooth with the things we were working on. We were able to pound strike zone and let the guys behind us work."

Reds pitcher Anthony DeSclafani took the loss on Sunday, giving up six earned runs on six hits and three walks in just three innings while striking out two in his team's 9-8 defeat against the Giants.

DeSclafani (2-4) was hammered for four runs in the second inning before surrendering a two-run home run in the third. He was then lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom half of the third, ensuring he wouldn't get the chance to pick up what would have been his first win since April 20.

DeSclafani jumped out to a hot start after three outings but now owns a 3.80 ERA and 34:21 K:BB ratio in 45 innings. He's scheduled to face the Indians in Cleveland Saturday.