MLB Player News

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw saw his dominant scoreless streak come to an end at 41 2/3 innings, but still posted a complete game victory Thursday night against the Padres.

Making his last start before the All-Star break, Kershaw allowed a solo home run to Chase Headley in the sixth inning for his only damage of the night. The right-hander allowed one run on three hits and one walk while striking out 11 over nine innings of 2-1 win. Of his 115 pitches, 85 were strikes.

Kerhsaw has three complete games this season. He owns a 1.78 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP over 14 starts (96 1/3 innings). The Dodgers have not announced their pitching plans after the All-Star break, but he will likely be one of the first Los Angeles pitchers to take the hill after the break.

Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks was sent down to Triple-A following Thursday's start.

Hendricks allowed four runs over six innings of work. The move signals that the team is willing to give infielder Arismendy Alcantara more time in the majors. It's unclear whether Hendricks will be up again shortly after the All-Star break. 

Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks struggled in his 2014 debut against the Reds. 

Hendricks allowed four runs on five hits over six innings of work. He issued three walks while striking out seven. Hendricks ran into most of his trouble during the first inning. He walked the first two batters he faced. After getting one out, Hendricks allowed three consecutive hits, scoring three runs. He faced all nine of the Reds hitters during that first inning. 

At that point, Hendricks seemed to settle in. Other than a third inning home run from Ryan Ludwick, he kept the Reds bats quiet over the next five innings. Hendricks did not receive a decision for the start. It's unclear whether he'll stay in the rotation moving forward, so his next start is in limbo. 

Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks was promoted from Triple-A Iowa Thursday, ahead of his major-league debut against the Reds.

Hendricks had a 10-5 records and 3.59 ERA in 102 2/3 innings for Iowa.

Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn picked up his 10th win Wednesday.

Lynn allowed two earned runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings of work. He walked two and struck out four during the outing. Neil Walker proved to be a thorn in his side Wednesday. Walker hit a solo home run in the second inning, and then doubled, and eventually came around to score, in the fourth. He accounted for both runs against Lynn. 

The win moves Lynn to 10-3 on the year. His next start should come shortly after the All-Star break .

Jacob deGrom has shown enough flashes of potential over his last few starts that you wouldn't be wrong to take a flier on him in a 12-team mixed league, especially since the waiver wire, at least in competitive leagues, no longer abounds with starting pitcher talent.

But taking a flier on him isn't the same as putting your trust in him, and I'm not quite ready for the latter yet.

For one thing, his high strikeout rate is mostly the result of four starts: an 11-strikeout effort May 31 at the Phillies, a seven-strikeout effort June 21 at the Marlins, an eight-strikeout effort July 2 at the Braves and the latest 11-strikeout effort Tuesday, also against the Braves.

The Marlins have struck out the most of any team in baseball, and the Braves have struck out the fourth-most. The Phillies aren't quite as bad, but they've struck out the ninth-most and have several notable high-strikeout hitters.

deGrom wasn't a strikeout pitcher in the minors, never averaging more than 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings in a full season -- and that was in the lower levels. He wasn't a pitcher of any note in the minors, compiling a 3.62 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 58 starts, and if you look at his game log, you'll see he's been just as spotty so far in the majors, with his innings and walks varying as much from start to start as his strikeouts.

But watching him pitch, I'll admit he looks better than the numbers would suggest, and I would have said the same for Corey Kluber early last year. For that reason, I'm not overlooking deGrom in Fantasy. I'm just not ready to commit to him yet.

Marlins pitcher Nathan Eovaldi didn't factor into Wednesday's decision, giving up one earned run on four hits and one walk in seven innings and striking out two in his team's 4-3, 10-inning loss to the Diamondbacks.

Eovaldi put together seven scoreless innings heading into the eighth, where he surrendered a leadoff triple and a game-tying single before being removed with no outs. He hasn't struck out more than three batters in any of his last six starts. Eovaldi takes a 3.61 ERA and 83:23 K:BB ratio in 119 2/3 innings into the break.

The Pirates announced pitcher Vance Worley is being moved to the bullpen with Francisco Liriano (oblique) set to make his return to the rotation Sunday at Cincinnati. Worley will be available in the bullpen starting Saturday.

In a battle of All-Star pitchers Wednesday, Tigers right-hander Max Scherzer outdueled Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke in a 4-1 win for Detroit. Greinke allowed three runs on seven hits and no walks, while striking out eight in seven innings.

Greinke (11-5) got off to a rough start Wednesday. He allowed a leadoff triple to Austin Jackson before Ian Kinsler drove him home with an RBI single. Don Kelly added a two-out RBI single in the first inning to give Detroit an early 2-0 lead.

Greinke would settle down, though, retiring seven straight batters after Kelly's RBI single. However, he ran into more trouble in the fourth inning, as he allowed singles to the first three batters. The last single was an RBI hit from Nick Castellanos.

Greinke would toss three scoreless innings to finish his day, but the Dodgers could not rally against Scherzer, who allowed just one run in seven innings. Greinke lost for the second time in four starts.

Greinke will not make another start before the All-Star break. The team has not yet announced its post-break rotation plans.

Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez had a tough time with the long ball Tuesday against the Pirates. 

Martinez tossed six innings, giving up four runs. He allowed eight hits and walked two. Martinez did manage to strike out six hitters. While he proved to be hittable during the course of the game, there were only two hits that really mattered. Pedro Alvarez clubbed a two-run shot to right center in the fourth inning, and Andrew McCutchen followed that up with a two-run shot the following inning. 

Despite giving up four runs, Martinez did not factor into the decision. His next start will come against the Brewers.