MLB Player News

Sasaki (3-4) was tagged with the loss Friday against the White Sox, allowing seven runs on seven hits and three walks across 4.1 innings. He struck out four.

Sasaki was coming off one of the most dominant outings of his career, striking out 10 across seven shutout innings in a no-decision against the Angels on June 5. However, he couldn't keep it rolling against one of the hottest offenses in the AL. Sasaki seemed to be finding his groove, as he had gone four straight starts allowing two or fewer earned runs before Friday. He'll look to bounce back in his next start, which is lined up to come at home against the Rays.

Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with a double, a solo home run and a second run scored in Friday's 8-3 loss to the Marlins.

After sitting out Thursday's game due to a minor hip issue, Rodriguez looked plenty healthy in his return as he took Sandy Alcantara deep in the fifth inning. The 26-year-old catcher is slashing .240/.387/.420 in 19 games since joining the big-league roster in mid-May with two homers, two steals, six RBI and nine runs, making a solid case to remain part of the picture behind the plate when Joey Bart (foot) is activated from the IL.

Ashcraft didn't factor into the decision in Friday's 8-3 loss to the Marlins, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks over five innings. He struck out four.

The right-hander didn't have his best stuff, tossing 56 of 90 pitches for strikes with just nine swinging strikes, but Ashcraft limited the damage and left the mound with the score tied 2-2. He's now failed to last longer than five innings in back-to-back starts to begin June after completing at least six frames in all six of his May outings, and fatigue may be creeping up on Ashcraft -- he's already thrown 84.2 innings in 2026 after working a career-high 118 between Triple-A and the majors last season. He'll take a 3.30 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 90:19 K:BB into his next start, which is set to come on the road next week against the A's.

Marte went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 5-2 loss to the Diamondbacks.

Marte gave Cincinnati an early lead with his second-inning homer. It was the first homer of the season for Marte, who was recently recalled from Triple-A Louisville. He's hit safely in all five starts and appeared in seven contests since returning to the majors, going 6-for-19 with two extra-base hits, one RBI, three steals and three runs scored.

Hicks went 3-for-4 with a walk, a double, a two-run home run and two additional runs scored in Friday's 8-3 win over the Pirates.

The breakout slugger took Antwone Kelly deep in the eighth inning to put a cap on another productive night. Hicks is up to 50 RBI on the season, tied for sixth in the majors, and through 67 contests he's slashing .274/.355/.489 with 13 homers and 38 runs while splitting his time almost equally between catcher, first base and DH.

Suzuki went 2-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored in Friday's 5-1 win over the Giants.

Suzuki is in a nice groove lately, as he now has hits in nine straight contests. The outfielder has five extra-base hits during the hot stretch, and he's now up to a .767 OPS for the season. Suzuki still has some work to do to get his OPS above .800, which is a level he's reached in each of the last three years, but he does seem to be trending in the right direction.

Alcantara (6-4) picked up the win Friday, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk over eight innings in an 8-3 victory over the Pirates. He struck out seven.

The right-hander reached 1,000 career strikeouts along the way, as Alcantara delivered his third straight quality start and 10th of the season on 102 pitches (70 strikes). Through his first three outings in June, he's produced a 2.86 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 19:2 K:BB over 22 innings, showing glimpses of his 2022 Cy Young form. Alcantara will look to keep rolling in his next start, which lines up to come on the road next week in Philadelphia.

Pagan (hamstring) is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Saturday, MLB.com reports.

This is expected to be a check-in for Pagan to see how much healing has taken place. The Reds really need their closer back, as the bullpen lost another game Friday. Pending the results of the MRI, Pagan could begin a rehab assignment next week.

Groover went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI in Friday's 5-2 win over Cincinnati.

The Diamondbacks left several runners in scoring position prior to Groover singling in the game-tying run in the sixth inning. For the night, Arizona was 2-for-12 with RISP. Groover isn't mashing the ball -- he has no extra-base hits -- but the rookie has hit safely in five consecutive starts and remains part of a rotation with Pavin Smith and Ildemaro Vargas at first base and DH.

Lawlar started in center field and went 2-for-4 with two RBI, two steals and a run scored in Friday's 5-2 win over the Reds. He was also hit by a pitch.

Fresh off the injured list, Lawlar used his glove, feet and bat to snap Arizona's three-game losing streak: he crashed into the wall, robbing Matt McLain of extra bases in the fourth inning, stole a base and scored the game-tying run in the sixth, and then delivered two insurance runs with a single in the ninth. Since Lawlar landed on the injured list in early April, the Diamondbacks added a pair of prospects to the outfield mix -- Ryan Waldschmidt and Tommy Troy -- and will soon get Lourdes Gurriel (hamstring) back from injury. Playing time will be an issue. "I know [there's curiosity] about what the playing time is going to look like," manager Torey Lovullo told Mike Petraglia of MLB.com following the game. "It's going to be very fluid. There's going to be three guys, four guys for two positions, going to be a little bit of a rotation. They're all going to play."