MLB Player News

McCullers gave up four hits and three walks while striking out two over five scoreless innings in a 2-0 loss to the Orioles on Friday. He did not factor into the decision.

McCullers held the Orioles scoreless in his third start of the season since returning from the 60-day injured list with a flexor tendon strain. McCullers allowed seven baserunners and only managed a couple of punchouts, but solid defensive play by Jose Altuve helped to keep the opposition off the board. Nevertheless, he was outdueled by Kyle Bradish and was forced to settle with the no-decision. McCullers lowered his ERA to 1.69 through 16 innings with the performance. He is tentatively expected to make his next start against the Angels.

Bradish (2-5) gave up two hits and two walks while striking out six over eight shutout innings to earn the win in a 2-0 victory over the Astros on Friday.

Bradish put together the best start of his young career, and it came on the road against a tough Astros lineup. Bradish threw his slider 51 percent of the time and 67 of his 96 pitches were strikes. The 25-year-old rookie right-hander lowered his ERA to 5.63 with the unexpected performance and has a K:BB of 79:29 across 80 innings this season. It is worth monitoring to see if Bradish can build on this career-best start his next time on the mound, which tentatively lines up for next week at Cleveland.

Wood (8-11) gave up eight earned runs on six hits and no walks while striking out four over three innings to take the loss in a 9-0 defeat against the Twins on Friday.

Wood's painful month of August got worse with another miserable outing, which saw him lit up for two home runs and chased after getting only nine outs on 60 pitches. Wood now has an ERA of 8.53 in August and has given up six or more runs in three of his five appearances this month. The silver lining is that Wood doesn't walk many batters and his underlying metrics suggest that he is pitching better than his results. Wood has a 3.71 xERA and a 3.43 xFIP despite an ERA of 5.00 in 126 innings pitched this season. He is tentatively expected to make his next start against the Padres.

Ryan (10-6) gave up two hits and three walks over six shutout innings to earn the win in a 9-0 victory over the Giants on Friday.

Ryan leaned heavily on his fastball with success. The Giants whiffed on the pitch 25 percent of the time and Ryan mixed in a highly effective selection of offspeed offerings to garner 17 swinging strikes on 107 pitches. Ryan's dominant showing helped the Twins snap a six-game losing streak. It was his first scoreless appearance since April 27 and the 26-year-old right-hander lowered his ERA to 3.65 with the performance. He is expected to make his next start against the Red Sox.

Steele (back) gave up one earned run on four hits and four walks while striking out six over 5.1 innings in a 4-3 extra-inning win over the Brewers on Friday. He did not factor into the decision.

Steele managed to avoid the big inning by repeatedly pitching himself out of trouble despite issuing four free passes. The only damage came on a solo home run off the bat of Tyrone Taylor in the fifth. Steele has now walked 50 batters in 119 innings this season but has been remarkably effective of late. He has an ERA of 0.96 over five starts in August. He came out of the game after 88 pitches with lower-back tightness, so it is presently unclear if he will be fit to make his next start.

Peralta issued one walk and did not allow a hit over six innings in a 4-3 extra-inning loss to the Cubs on Friday. He struck out five and did not factor into the decision.

Peralta had one of his best starts of the season, dominating the Cubs lineup over six scoreless innings on 82 pitches. He only allowed one batter to reach base and left the game in line for the win before the bullpen coughed up the one-run lead. Peralta has looked good since coming back from a lat injury in the first week of August, logging a 2.55 ERA over 24.2 innings across his last five outings. He lowered his season-long ERA to 3.69 with the performance and has struck out 70 batters in 63.1 innings this year. He is expected to make his next start in a favorable matchup at home against the Pirates.

Flaherty (shoulder) allowed a run on four hits and three walks while striking out three over 5.1 innings versus Triple-A Charlotte on Friday.

Flaherty had some command problems, throwing two wild pitches, but he was otherwise effective while earning his first win in four rehab starts. He threw 50 of 85 pitches for strikes in the outing. Per Katie Woo of The Athletic, how well Flaherty recovers from this start will determine if his next outing is in the minors or with the Cardinals. Barring a setback, he could be available to pitch as soon as Wednesday, and his pitch count from Friday's start suggests he won't face much of a workload limitation once he's activated from the injured list.

Bieber allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and struck out nine over seven innings in a no-decision versus the Mariners. He did not walk a batter.

Both runs Bieber allowed came on sacrifice flies. He was slightly more effective than Seattle starter Logan Gilbert in what amounted to a pitchers' duel. Bieber has strung together six straight quality starts, allowing nine runs (seven earned) across 40.1 innings in that stellar span. The Cleveland ace has a 3.02 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 153:32 K:BB in 152 innings over 24 outings this season. He's projected for a home start versus the Orioles next week.

Gilbert allowed two runs on eight hits over 6.1 innings in a no-decision versus the Guardians on Friday. He struck out two and walked none.

Gilbert dueled effectively with Cleveland ace Shane Bieber, with each team driving in two runs on sacrifice flies. After an abbreviated five-inning start versus Oakland last Saturday, it was encouraging to see Gilbert return to the threshold of a quality start. He's still gone nine straight outings without a win, but the right-hander has maintained a solid 3.49 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 133:41 K:BB through 149.2 innings this year. He'll carry a 10-5 record into his next outing, currently projected to be a favorable road start in Detroit next week.

Sears (5-1) allowed three runs on eight hits and four walks while striking out three over six innings Friday, taking the loss versus the Yankees.

Sears did the bare minimum for a quality start, the first of his big-league career. Unfortunately, he also allowed a season-high three runs, which came on an Aaron Judge home run in the fifth inning, and he got little run support from Oakland. The four walks and eight hits were also season highs for Sears, who held his own against the team that traded him at the deadline for Frankie Montas. Sears owns a 2.28 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 26:13 K:BB through 43.1 innings across 11 outings (six starts) between the A's and the Yankees this year. He's projected for a favorable road start versus the Nationals next week.