MLB Player News

Eovaldi (elbow) threw in the bullpen Thursday, MLB.com reports.

The report described the exercise as a "touch and feel bullpen session." If Eovaldi comes out of the session alright, the right-hander is expected to throw a second live BP session Friday in Arizona. He remains on track to rejoin the big-league staff as a bullpen option, perhaps as soon as this weekend.

Cruz went 3-for-4 with a home run and an additional RBI in Thursday's 2-0 win over the White Sox.

Cruz knocked in both runs that were scored in the contest, drilling a solo homer to center field in the fourth inning and adding an RBI single in the eighth. He was also the only player to record multiple hits in the low-scoring affair. Cruz's long ball was his first since Aug. 25, though he did bat a healthy .326 during the 12 games between homers. Due to a hand fracture that sidelined him for two months this summer, he's played in just 84 contests this year but has put up big numbers, posting a career-best .848 OPS with 18 home runs, 56 runs, 62 RBI and 27 stolen bases.

Fedde (8-9) was tagged with the loss versus Pittsburgh on Thursday, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk while striking out one batter over 5.1 relief innings.

Rookie Hagen Smith drew the start for Chicago, but he ended up working just two innings as the opener. Fedde took over in the third and logged a starter's workload with 81 pitches across 5.1 frames. The veteran right-hander did fine in keeping the White Sox in the game, but he was stuck with the loss since the Chicago offense wasn unable to score. It remains to be seen if Fedde will again work behind an opener or go back to a traditional starting role moving forward, but either way he's projected to next take the mound in Cleveland early next week.

Smith tossed two scoreless innings in a no-decision against Pittsburgh on Thursday, allowing two hits and striking out three batters.

Smith made his first big-league start, but he ended up working a short stint as the opener for Erick Fedde, who followed with 5.1 frames of bulk relief. Smith looked great during his brief time in the game, notching five whiffs on his 33 pitches and keeping Pittsburgh out of the scoring column. The rookie left-hander has thrived as a big leaguer so far, yielding just one earned run through 18 innings spanning 11 appearances while posting a 26:10 K:BB. He worked mostly as a starter in the minors, but Chicago may hold him to shorter outings given his success in that role so far.

Montgomery earned a save against the White Sox on Thursday, allowing one hit with one strikeout and no walks over one scoreless inning.

Montgomery was summoned in the ninth inning with Pittsburgh up 2-0. He gave up a leadoff single to allow the tying run to come to the plate but retired each of the next three batters, getting the final out on a strikeout. Montgomery has notched a save each of the past two days and already has five saves through the first 10 days of September. He's been a revelation as the Pirates' closer and has now gone 20 straight contests without giving up an earned run. Over that stretch, Montgomery has earned three wins, gone 10-for-10 in save chances and posted a 30:4 K:BB over 19.1 innings.

Jones (4-6) earned the win over the White Sox on Thursday, allowing one hit and issuing two walks while striking out eight batters over seven scoreless innings.

Jones limited Chicago to just one knock -- a Colson Montgomery double. He racked up a whopping 20 whiffs and struck out eight while throwing an efficient 90 pitches over seven frames in his longest start of the season. It's been an up-and-down campaign for Jones in his first year back from elbow surgery, and his 4.10 ERA through 18 starts is far from dominant. However, the right-hander has kicked off September in fine form, tossing 13 shutout innings while posting a 17:3 K:BB across his first two starts of the month. He'll look to keep rolling his next time out, which is projected to be a matchup against Milwaukee at home.

Garcia went 1-for-5 with a two-run home run against Colorado in a 10-3 win Thursday.

Garcia gave New York a quick lead with a two-run homer to center field in the first inning. It was his second homer in as many days and his seventh through 32 contests since joining the Yankees at the trade deadline. Garcia is batting a hearty .299 during his time with New York and has added six doubles, 17 runs, 15 RBI and one stolen base. He's at 30 homers and 91 RBI overall this year, both of which are already career-best marks.

Volpe went 3-for-4 with a grand slam, an additional RBI and a stolen base in a 10-3 win against the Rockies on Thursday.

Volpe logged his first MLB action since Aug. 1 after being called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre earlier Thursday. The 25-year-old knocked an RBI single in his first plate appearance and later made an even bigger splash with a grand slam in the seventh inning. Volpe started at second base Thursday, and he could get plenty of starts there in the short term with Jazz Chisholm (thumb) on the injured list. Volpe hasn't produced consistently at the plate as a major leaguer, though he had been red hot in the minors prior to his call-up, posting a 1.675 OPS with five homers and five steals over his past eight games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Feltner (5-10) allowed four runs on six hits and one walk while striking out two batters over five innings in a loss to the Yankees on Thursday.

Feltner fell behind quickly when he gave up a two-run homer to Luis Garcia in the first inning. The Yankees plated two more runs against him in the second, and though Feltner finished his outing with three scoreless frames, the early damage was enough to send him to his 10th loss. The right-hander has given up at least four runs in four of his past five starts, stumbling to a 6.93 ERA with a 22:13 K:BB across 24.2 innings during that stretch. His season-long 5.88 ERA is sixth worst in the majors among hurlers who have tossed at least 100 innings, but Feltner still figures to finish out the campaign in Colorado's rotation. His next start is projected to be a home matchup against San Diego.

Fried allowed one run on one hit and two walks while striking out seven batters over 3.1 innings in a no-decision against Colorado on Thursday.

Fried was effective but not efficient at recording outs, as the Rockies managed only four baserunners against him (on one hit, two walks and an error). The left-hander racked up a strong 12 whiffs and seven punchouts, but that helped drive up his pitch count -- Fried needed 80 pitches to retire just 10 batters. The veteran hurler spent time on the IL due to an elbow injury in August and hasn't yet worked back up to a full workload, as he's thrown 63, 72 and 80 pitches, respectively, in his first three starts back. That's throttling his ability to go deep into games for now, but Fried may have a longer leash his next time out, which is slated to be a road game in Minnesota.