MLB Player News

McNeil went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and an additional run scored in Wednesday's 15-5 loss to the Diamondbacks.

McNeil clubbed a solo homer to right field in the fifth inning of what turned out to be a blowout defeat. The 34-year-old has primarily played second base this season, though he started Wednesday's contest at first base, where Jonah Heim and Tommy White have also seen time while Nick Kurtz (thumb) has been sidelined. McNeil's playing time has decreased sharply in recent weeks, as his season slash line sits at .238/.301/.321 with four homers, 31 RBI, 28 runs and two stolen bases across 90 games.

Legumina will be the Rays' opener for Thursday's game in Toronto, Ryan Bass of Rays.tv reports.

It's the third opener assignment this season for Legumina, who allowed one run over three innings in the first two of those outings. Ian Seymour will follow Legumina in a bulk-relief capacity.

Seymour will be deployed as a bulk reliever in Thursday's game against the Blue Jays, Ryan Bass of Rays.tv reports.

Seymour has been tagged for nine runs (eight earned) over 6.1 innings in his last two traditional starts, so the Rays are switching things up. Casey Legumina will take the ball first Thursday as an opener.

Larnach is absent from the lineup for Thursday's game in Cleveland.

Guardians righty Gavin Williams has reverse splits, with righties posting a .791 OPS as compared to a .652 OPS by lefties, thus the lefty-swinging Larnach gets a breather. Austin Martin will patrol left field and bat seventh in the series finale.

Fried didn't factor into the decision in the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader split with the Pirates, allowing one hit and one walk over five scoreless innings. He struck out seven.

While the southpaw got lifted after just 57 pitches (37 strikes) in his first start since May 13, Fried looked to be fully recovered from a bone bruise in his pitching elbow. Over 66.2 innings this season, Fried sports a 2.97 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 57:20 K:BB, and his return might give the Yankees the luxury of not having to add a starting pitcher at the trade deadline. Fried should get stretched out a little more in his next outing, which is scheduled to come on the road early next week against the White Sox.

Rice went 1-for-5 with a three-run home run in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader split with the Pirates.

The 27-year-old slugger took Carmen Mlodzinski deep in the seventh inning to account for all of the Yankees' offense in a 5-3 loss. After going 0-for-4 in the nightcap, Rice sports a .277/.366/.590 slash line through 97 games on the season with 30 homers -- fourth in the majors behind Yordan Alvarez (34), Kyle Schwarber (33) and Hunter Goodman (31).

Cole didn't factor into the decision in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader split with the Pirates, giving up three runs on four hits over seven innings. He struck out 11 without walking a batter.

The 35-year-old right-hander was back in Cy Young form, setting new season highs in innings and strikeouts, but Cole did serve up homers to Jacob Gonzalez in the fifth inning and Nick Gonzales in the seventh to account for all the damage off him. Cole has been taken deep 11 times in 62 innings since making his 2026 debut in late May, marring what's otherwise been an impressive return from elbow surgery last March. He'll take a 3.92 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 66:12 K:BB into his next start, which is set to come on the road early next week against the White Sox.

Perez went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Wednesday's 5-4 win over the Giants.

The future Hall of Famer sparked a five-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning when he took Landen Roupp deep for his 14th homer of the season. Perez is up to 317 long balls for his career, tying George Brett for the all-time Royals record. Per Anne Rogers of MLB.com, he's the third active player to hold his team's franchise HR record, along with the Angels' Mike Trout and the Padres' Manny Machado. Perez could soon take sole possession of first place in the Kansas City record book -- he's gone yard three times in the last five games, and through 15 contests in July he's produced a .273/.349/.564 slash line with four doubles, four homers, seven runs and 13 RBI.

Cruz struck out one and served up a solo home run in the ninth inning Wednesday to record his first career save in a 5-4 win over the Giants.

With Alex Lange having worked the prior two days, Cruz got the call in the ninth and got the job done, although he was taken deep by Casey Schmitt to make things interesting. Cruz has been scored upon just twice in his last 13 appearances, both times on solo shots, and over that stretch the right-hander has a 1.38 ERA, 0.69 WHIP and 12:3 K:BB in 13 innings.

Lugo (4-6) picked up the win Wednesday, giving up three runs on three hits and two walks over seven innings in a 5-4 victory over the Giants. He struck out five.

The veteran right-hander delivered his second straight quality start and 12th of the season on 94 pitches (63 strikes), and Lugo got rewarded for his efforts when Kansas City erupted for five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. The win was Lugo's first since June 19, and over five starts and 27.1 innings in July he's managed a 4.94 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 25:8 K:BB. He'll look to build on his recent success in his next outing, which is set to come on the road early next week in Minnesota.