MLB Player News

Matthews didn't factor into the decision Wednesday against the White Sox, allowing one run on three hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out five.

Matthews has now logged a quality start in consecutive outings for the first time all year. The three hits allowed fell one shy of matching his season low, and the 25-year-old right-hander tallied an impressive 14 swinging strikes on the evening. Matthews still has work to do in order to improve his 4.73 ERA and 1.42 WHIP, though he does have 75 punchouts over 64.2 innings. His strong 26.6 percent strikeout rate could help give him an edge for his next scheduled matchup against the Angels, who have the most strikeouts (1,365) in MLB as a team.

Nola (3-8) took the loss Wednesday against Milwaukee, allowing six runs on five hits and two walks in five innings. He struck out six.

Nola struggled mightily this year before going on the injured list with rib and ankle injuries in mid-May, turning in a 6.16 ERA through nine starts, and he's fared worse since returning from the three-month absence. The veteran right-hander has yielded at least four runs in three of his last four starts, and he's served up four home runs over that span. Nola's 6.78 ERA and 1.51 WHIP for the season would both easily be career worsts if they stand, and things won't figure to get much easier in his next scheduled outing against a Mets team with an .870 OPS since the beginning of August.

Quintana (11-5) notched the win Wednesday against Philadelphia, allowing three runs on seven hits and three walks in 6.1 innings. He struck out six.

After tying a season high in runs allowed his last time out versus the Diamondbacks, Quintana bounced back with a quality start Wednesday. The six strikeouts were his most since Aug. 6 in Atlanta, and the quality start was the veteran southpaw's fourth in his last six outings. Quintana owns a steady 3.72 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 83:46 K:BB over 121 innings, and his next appearance lines up for a road tilt against the Rangers.

Elder (6-9) notched the win Wednesday against the Cubs, allowing one unearned run on four hits and no walks in seven innings. He struck out six.

It was the first start of the season with zero earned runs allowed for Elder, who issued no walks for the first time since his June 7 outing in San Francisco. The right-hander has been quite a boom-or-bust fantasy option over his last eight starts, during which he's permitted two runs or fewer in five outings and conceded five runs or greater in his three other appearances. Elder will be searching for some consistency in a scheduled rematch with the Cubs next week. He carries a 5.54 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 105:43 K:BB across 131.2 innings this year.

Diaz went 5-for-5 with a double and a run scored in Wednesday's 9-4 win over the Mariners.

The veteran infielder set a new career high with five hits, continuing a scorching run at the plate, as the 34-year-old has gone 28-for-70 (.400) since Aug 11. Wednesday's career-best effort also helped boost Diaz's season slash line to .294/.353/.479 with 22 home runs, 76 RBI and 68 runs scored across 569 plate appearances, as he closes in on career high totals in both homers and RBI.

Horton didn't factor into the decision Wednesday against Atlanta, allowing no hits and one walk in five shutout innings. He struck out six.

Despite being pulled with just 75 pitches, Horton was brilliant while submitting his eighth scoreless start since the beginning of June. The Cubs have been cautious about the rookie right-hander's workload this year, as Horton has reached the 90-pitch threshold just four times over 19 outings, but he's delivered a masterful 0.77 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 44:14 K:BB over his last 47 innings since the All-Star break. Horton has a very promising 2.78 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 87:32 K:BB through 103.2 innings overall, and he's slated for a rematch with Atlanta next week.

Kirby (8-7) was handed the loss against the Rays on Wednesday, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on 10 hits with one strikeout across two innings.

Kirby endured the roughest outing of his career, failing to work into the third frame for the first time in his 108 MLB starts. The appearance went down as the shortest of his four-year tenure and matched the second-highest run total he's ever allowed in a game. Kirby was peppered for 10 hits by the 17 batters he faced, consisting of eight singles and two doubles. It was an uncharacteristic barrage of hard contact for the typically steady starter, who will try to put this outing behind him as he heads into his next scheduled turn against St. Louis. Kirby has a 4.47 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 104:26 K:BB across 104.2 innings this season.

Houser (8-4) earned the win over the Mariners on Wednesday, allowing four runs on four hits and one walk while striking out eight over seven innings.

Houser cruised through the first five frames and allowed just one baserunner, but things fell apart in the sixth inning, when he surrendered all four of his runs. Despite the stumble, Houser still logged a season-high eight strikeouts and was good enough to take home the win. Since being acquired by the Rays, however, he's allowed four or more runs in four of six starts, posting a 4.91 ERA and 27:10 K:BB across 33 innings during that stretch. The 32-year-old will look to replicate the strong early innings from Wednesday's outing in his next scheduled start against his former team, the White Sox.

Kayfus went 2-for-3 with two doubles, a sacrifice fly and a run scored in Wednesday's 8-1 win over the Red Sox.

Kayfus recorded doubles in the second and sixth innings before adding a sac fly in the eighth to bring home Cleveland's final run. The performance was a welcome turnaround for the 23-year-old, who entered the contest batting just .100 with two RBI and 10 strikeouts over his previous 10 games. On the season, Kayfus is now slashing .203/.264/.380 with 10 RBI and 11 runs scored across 88 plate appearances.

Cantillo (4-3) earned the win over the Red Sox on Wednesday, allowing one run on five hits and two walks while striking out seven over six innings.

Cantillo was impressive against a tough Boston lineup, completing six innings for the first time this season. The southpaw's lone blemish came in the fourth inning when Boston scratched across a run on three singles, but he quickly rebounded to retire seven of the final eight batters he faced. Wednesday's performance continued a strong stretch in which Cantillo has now allowed exactly one run in three straight outings. Across his nine starts this year, the 25-year-old has posted a 3.68 ERA and 51:24 K:BB over 44 innings.