Pierce Johnson took a blown save and a loss in the ninth after giving up three runs in two-thirds of an inning Thursday against the Giants.
It seems like Justin Lawrence has overtaken Johnson, but he was unavailable after throwing 31 pitches while giving up two runs in two innings last night. The blown save is just Johnson's second, but they've come in consecutive opportunities and his ERA is up to 7.50. He's not worth using in fantasy leagues.
Camilo Doval worked a hitless ninth against the Rockies for his 16th save Thursday.
Doval leads the National League in saves. While he did plunk Ryan McMahon, today's appearance was his eighth straight without a walk. He had 28 unintentional walks in 67 2/3 innings last year. This season, he has just eight in 27 2/3 innings.
Alex Cobb wasn't involved in the decision after allowing four runs in five innings Thursday against the Rockies.
Cobb had first-inning troubles today, giving up three straight hits to begin the game. All four runs he allowed scored in the inning. He surrendered just three more hits and no walks in his final four frames.
Sam Moll will serve as the Athletics' opener for Friday's series opener against the Brewers.
Moll will take the ball at the outset of Friday's contest before turning things over to rookie Luis Medina for a bulk relief appearance. There's absolutely zero streaming appeal here for fantasy managers.
Félix Bautista notched his 16th save with a scoreless ninth inning Thursday versus the Brewers.
Bautista gave up a hit and struck out only two, so this rates as a comparatively weak performance for him of late. In his last 12 outings, he's given up six hits and posted a 32/4 K/BB ratio over 13 innings. He's fanned 62 of the 123 batters he's faced this year.
Kyle Bradish struck out 10 while allowing three runs in five innings Thursday against the Brewers.
All of the runs scored in the first after a leadoff walk and four singles. It seemed for most of the game that the shaky start would get Bradish tagged with a second straight loss, but the Orioles came through in the final three innings today. Still, the offense hasn't scored a single run in his last 15 innings on the mound, dating back to the second inning of his May 28 start.
Ramón Urías went 3-for-4 with a homer and a double as the Orioles bested the Brewers 6-3 on Thursday.
Urías homered in the seventh to give the Orioles their first run of the game. He also had a hit as part of the two-run ninth inning. Urías had been just 2-for-26 with one RBI and a 9/0 K/BB ratio since coming off the injured list on May 26. He's starting about half of the time right now, but there will be more room for him if he gets hot.
Rowdy Tellez went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts versus the Orioles on Thursday.
He did pick up an RBI on a groundout. Still, this makes four straight hitless games in a row for Tellez. He's 9-for-56 with no homers in his last 15 games, dropping his OPS from .897 to .753.
Gunnar Henderson hit his seventh homer and walked Thursday against the Brewers.
The opposite-field homer gave the Orioles a 4-3 lead in the eighth. Henderson is fortunate that this was a road game in Milwaukee, since Camden Yards is the only park in which the 366-foot fly would not have been a homer.
Michael Brantley (shoulder) hit in the batting cage on Thursday.
Brantley also did some throwing and ran some sprints on the bases prior to Thursday's game against the Blue Jays. The 36-year-old veteran outfielder remains without a definitive return timetable, but he's certainly making progress as he works his way back from last year's right shoulder surgery.
Taylor Ward (illness) has returned to the Angels' lineup for Thursday's game against the Cubs.
Ward is back in left field and leading off Thursday evening following a brief one-game absence due to illness.
White Sox signed RHP Brandon Bailey to a minor league contract.
Bailey hasn't appeared in the majors since the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery prior to the 2021 season. The 28-year-old reliever represents a true reclamation project for the White Sox.
Royals signed RHP Justin Anderson to a minor league contract.
Anderson hasn't appeared in the majors since making 111 relief appearances for the Angels over a two-year span between 2018 and 2019. The 30-year-old righty reliever, who underwent Tommy John surgery prior to the 2020 campaign, made just three appearances last year in the Rangers' minor league system. He's a lottery ticket for Kansas City.
Harold Ramírez hit a two-run homer Thursday to help the Rays top the Twins 4-2.
It used to be hard for the Rays to play both Ramírez and Luke Raley at the same time, but with Brandon Lowe on the IL and someone usually banged up of late (right now, it's Yandy Díaz), it's less of a problem now. Those two came up big in the Rays' fourth-inning rally today, as Raley tripled in Randy Arozarena, who had walked, and Ramírez followed with a homer. The Rays had only two other hits (both Josh Lowe singles) in the contest.
Carlos Correa went 2-for-4 and homered Thursday in the loss to the Rays.
The homer off Yonny Chirinos was Correa's first since May 14. He was hitting the ball harder for a spell last month, but less so lately. One imagines he'll have to do better than this the rest of the way, but he's still probably not going to be anything more than a middling fantasy shortstop.
Bailey Ober yielded four runs -- three earned -- in 5 1/3 innings Thursday in a loss to the Rays.
Ober was outstanding early, striking out six through three scoreless innings. However, the umpires forced him to go wash his hands before the fourth and he went on to give up a three runs that inning. He then bounced back with a perfect fifth before allowing an unearned run in the sixth. The loss is Ober's third straight, thanks to some anemic run support. The Twins have scored a total of four runs in his last four starts, leaving him with a 3-3 record in spite of a 2.61 ERA.
Jason Adam pitched a hitless ninth Thursday versus the Twins for his 10th save.
Adam has three saves and a win (after taking a blown save) in the last six days. He'll surely get Friday off after this, which could lead to a save chance for Kevin Kelly. Colin Poche would probably be the top alternative, but he's pitched two days in a row, too.
X-rays on the injured right hand of Austin Barnes came back negative for any fractures on Thursday.
Barnes was drilled by a pitch during the top half of the ninth inning on Thursday and was in so much pain that the Dodgers were highly concerned that he may have suffered some structural damage. It sounds like he was lucky to avoid any serious injury here and should be considered day-to-day.
Miguel Rojas (neck) remained absent from the Dodgers' lineup for Thursday's series finale against the Reds.
Chris Taylor got the nod at shortstop for Thursday afternoon's finale in Cincinnati after Rojas left Wednesday's game early due to neck tightness. There should be some clarity on his status ahead of Friday's series opener against the Phillies concerning whether he'll require a trip to the injured list. He's day-to-day for now.
Graham Ashcraft was hit hard in a losing effort against the Dodgers on Thursday afternoon, surrendering three runs on three hits in just 2 2/3 innings of work.
The right-hander also issued two walks and hit two batters while recording only one strikeout. He kept the Dodgers off the board through the first two innings, but things got out of hand for him in the third. There, he allowed an RBI single to Freddie Freeman and a two-run knock to David Peralta before exiting. He had also been struck in the leg by a line drive during the inning, but remained in the game after a pair of visits from the training staff. Ashcraft now sports a miserable 6.78 ERA and 1.62 WHIP over 65 innings of work on the season. Don't be surprised if he lands on the injured list or gets optioned out to Triple-A Louisville rather than making his next scheduled start against the Royals in Cincinnati on Wednesday.