MLB Player News

Smith will start Thursday's game against the Pirates, James Fegan of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

All 10 of Smith's major-league appearances have come out of the bullpen, during which the 23-year-old lefty has allowed just one earned run in 16 innings while striking out 23 batters. His strong performance will now buy him the chance to make his first career start in the big leagues, though he may not work deep into Thursday's contest after throwing fewer than 40 pitches in each of his last three outings.

Murakami went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Wednesday's loss to the Pirates.

Murakami homered off of Luke Weaver in the eighth inning to bring him up to 31 long balls, which is tied for fifth in the American League. The Japanese slugger had a rough August during which he hit only .147 with five home runs in 28 contests, but he's already homered twice through eight games in September. On the season, the 26-year-old is slashing .210/.349/.480 with 63 RBI and 74 runs scored, but he also has 169 strikeouts in 482 plate appearances.

Martin (9-7) took the loss Wednesday against the Pirates, allowing one run on four hits and two walks across five innings. He struck out one.

Martin threw only 68 pitches in his second game back from a blister on his right middle finger, which is an interesting workload given his effectiveness and the fact he threw 80 pitches in his first start back from the IL last week. The right-hander still went five innings and has allowed just one earned run over 10.2 innings since returning from the blister. The 29-year-old is scheduled to make his next start in Cleveland next week.

Neto went 2-for-3 with a three-run home run in Wednesday's 6-4 win over Boston.

Fresh off ripping four hits in Tuesday's victory over the Red Sox, Neto struck again at Fenway Park on Wednesday. That makes it back-to-back games with a homer for the slugging shortstop, who already has four multi-hit efforts in eight September games thus far. Through 630 trips to the plate, Neto is slashing .244/.324/.443 with 25 long balls, 72 RBI, 19 stolen bases and 91 runs scored.

Joyce earned the save against Boston on Wednesday, allowing a run on one hit and one walk in the ninth inning. He struck out one.

The hard-throwing right-hander wasn't sharp, tossing only 13 of his 22 pitches for strikes, but he held on for the save Wednesday. With Jordan Romano in Colorado and Kirby Yates in Pittsburgh, Joyce should continue to be viewed as the favorite for saves in the Angels' bullpen from here on out. He has a 3.18 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 14:6 K:BB with four saves (five chances) over 11.1 innings so far this year.

Johnson (4-8) notched the win against the Red Sox on Wednesday, allowing three runs on five hits and one walk in six innings. He struck out five.

Johnson overcame a pair of home runs to log a quality start Wednesday. The 24-year-old right-hander is building a compelling case to be part of the Angels' future pitching plans -- he's posted either a quality start or given up two runs or fewer in all seven of his starts since being recalled from the minor leagues in early August. He'll look to further improve a 5.12 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 63:39 K:BB over 84.1 innings this year in his next scheduled outing versus the Mariners.

Bennett (9-7) took the loss against the Angels on Wednesday, allowing six runs on nine hits and one walk in 5.1 innings. He struck out two.

Bennett was stung by the long ball Wednesday, serving up a trio of home runs. The left-hander registered his fewest punchouts since May 7 versus the Rays, and he also saw a streak of three quality starts come to an end. Bennett has conceded five big flies in his first two starts of September, which is a bit of a concern after he surrendered just two over five outings in August. He still has a quality 3.69 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 83:19 K:BB over 105 innings.

Paredes went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run in Wednesday's 11-7 loss to Philadelphia.

Paredes is off to a quick start in September, hitting safely in all but one of his first eight games for the month. The third baseman has a pair of three-RBI efforts in his past four outings as well, recording at least one RBI in five of his last eight contests. Through 591 plate appearances, Paredes is slashing a healthy .260/.360/.427 with 19 homers, 25 doubles, 82 RBI and 59 runs scored.

Brown took a no-decision against the Phillies on Wednesday, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits and no walks in five innings. He struck out seven.

After Houston scored four runs in the third inning, the Phillies responded with four runs of their own against Brown in the bottom of the frame. The right-hander gave up his most runs since July 4 versus Tampa Bay, also breaking up a four-start streak with at least five innings and two runs or fewer allowed. He'll try to bounce back when he brings a 3.52 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 100:46 K:BB over 92 innings into his next scheduled appearance against the Royals.

Lombard went 1-for-4 with a grand slam in Wednesday's 6-1 win over Colorado.

Lombard blasted his first career grand slam Wednesday as well as the first of the season for New York. The 21-year-old shortstop also became the youngest Yankee with a grand slam since Mickey Mantle way back in 1952, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. Through 96 major-league at-bats, Lombard is hitting .240 with three homers, 11 RBI, one stolen base and 14 runs scored.