MLB Player News

Harris (3-0) earned the win in relief in Wednesday's extra-inning victory over the Cubs. He tossed a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts.

Harris tossed 11 strikes in a 17-pitch inning, and with the A's grabbing the lead in the 10th, he ended up getting his third win of the season. Harris has been excellent in recent weeks and has 12 scoreless outings over his last 13 appearances, with the lone exception a May 19 outing in which he allowed two runs over an inning against the Angels. Over that 13-appearance stretch, Harris owns a 1.74 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 12.2 K/9 across 10.1 innings.

Fluharty will serve as the Blue Jays' opening pitcher for Thursday's game in Atlanta, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.

The southpaw hasn't recorded more than four outs in any of his 32 appearances on the season, so the Blue Jays aren't likely to ask him to work past the first inning Thursday in what will be his third start of the season. Toronto hasn't named a designated bulk reliever to enter the game behind Fluharty, but Chad Dallas was added to the Blue Jays' taxi squad and could be formally called up from Triple-A Buffalo prior to the contest. The Blue Jays also acquired Simeon Woods Richardson from the Twins on Wednesday, and he could be an option to pitch in bulk relief if he's able to join the team in Atlanta ahead of the game's 7:15 p.m. ET start time.

Sterner earned his first save of the season in Wednesday's extra-inning win over the Cubs. He tossed a perfect inning while striking out one.

Scott Barlow pitched two-thirds of an inning in Tuesday's series opener against the Cubs, so the A's turned to Justin Sterner for the save in the bottom of the 10th inning Wednesday. This was Sterner's first save of the season, and he needed just 14 pitches (10 strikes) to get the job done. The 29-year-old has been on a roll of late and hasn't allowed a run in any of his last five outings (5.1 innings). He's now 1-for-2 in save chances, but he's not expected to take the closer role any time soon.

Roberts (0-1) was tagged with the loss in Wednesday's extra-inning defeat against the Athletics. He allowed an unearned run and didn't record a strikeout in two-thirds of an inning.

Roberts entered the game in the 10th inning with a runner on second, but he couldn't get the job done and was lifted after the A's had already grabbed the lead. Roberts has been one of the few bright spots for the Cubs' bullpen this season, but he's allowed three runs (two earned) in his last two outings (1.2 innings). However, considering he allowed just one run over his first 11 appearances (15 innings), some regression was to be expected.

Rea didn't factor into the decision Wednesday against the A's. He tossed 5.1 innings and allowed two runs on four hits and two walks, striking out three.

Rea came just two outs short of posting a quality start, and he delivered a very similar line to that of his previous outing on the road against the Pirates, where he also allowed two runs across 5.1 frames. However, Rea has allowed multiple runs in each of his last five appearances and only has one quality start over that stretch, posting a 5.40 ERA and 1.31 WHIP with a 17:10 K:BB across 26.2 innings in that span. Rea is slated to make his next start next week on the road against the Rockies, which is far from the ideal matchup with which to try and curtail his struggles.

Lee went 2-for-4 in Wednesday's 1-0 win over the Brewers.

Lee hit singles in the fourth and eighth innings, logging his fourth multi-hit effort in six games since returning from the injured list. He's recorded at least one hit in each of his last 11 outings, batting .488 with eight runs scored, six RBI and a home run in 42 plate appearances during that span. Overall, he's slashing .310/.346/.433 with 25 runs scored, 20 RBI and three long balls across 217 plate appearances this season.

The White Sox optioned Murphy to Triple-A Charlotte on Thursday.

He's being cleared from the roster ahead of Tyler Gilbert's return from the bereavement list prior to Friday's game in Philadelphia. Murphy has made eight appearances out of the White Sox's bullpen this season, permitting seven runs with a 9:8 K:BB over 9.1 frames.

Smith (glute/wrist/illness) took live batting practice Wednesday, MLB.com reports.

This marked the first batting practice session for Smith since landing on the injured list May 3 with the glute issue. Since then, the infielder has been bothered by wrist inflammation and a bout of viral meningitis that kept him away from baseball activity. Smith could begin a rehab assignment next week.

Montgomery (elbow) threw a 20-pitch live batting practice session Wednesday, MLB.com reports.

Montgomery continues to grind away at his rehab from left UCL surgery. He's looking at an early August return.

Hoskins went 2-for-3 with a walk, a home run and three RBI in Wednesday's 5-4 win over the Yankees.

The Guardians got major contributions from the middle of the order with cleanup batter Kyle Manzardo and Hoskins behind him combining to go 5-for-8 with two doubles, two homers and four RBI. The clout was the sixth for Hoskins, who has spent a good portion of the season hovering around a .200 batting average. Hoskins is slashing .203/.349/.414 over 49 games.