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Camilo Doval RP | SF
Yankees' Camilo Doval: Earns first save as a Yankee
Doval earned the save in Saturday's 5-3 win over the White Sox, allowing one unearned run in a hitless 11th inning.
Called upon in the 11th inning to protect a three-run lead, Doval worked around an RBI groundout by Will Robertson but faced the minimum amount of hitters to lock down his 16th save of the season, and his first since being acquired by New York. The outing was another encouraging step (his fourth straight appearance without an earned run allowed) for the right-hander, who entered Saturday with a 5.23 ERA, 1.94 WHIP and two blown saves in two chances since joining the Yankees.
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Cade Smith RP | CLE
Guardians' Cade Smith: Notches ninth save
Smith earned a save against the Mariners on Saturday, striking out three batters over 1.1 perfect innings.
Smith entered with two outs in the eighth inning and got Josh Naylor to ground out on two pitches. The right-handed hurler returned for the ninth and carved up Seattle's 4-5-6- hitters, striking out the side on 14 pitches. Smith seems to be rounding back into form following a rough three-game stretch during which he blew two saves and gave up four runs over 2.1 innings. Smith has subsequently gone 2-for-2 in save chances and picked up one win while giving up just one hit across three scoreless frames over three appearances.
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Caleb Ferguson RP | STL
Mariners' Caleb Ferguson: Rocky start to Mariners tenure
Ferguson allowed one run on two hits and one walk in the seventh inning Saturday against the Guardians. He struck out one.
Ferguson has now surrendered at least one run in four of his past six outings. The 29-year-old southpaw has certainly been inconsistent when called on from the Mariners' bullpen since joining the team in late July -- Ferguson has a 4.50 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and 8:4 K:BB through his first 12 innings for Seattle.
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Gabe Speier RP | SEA
Mariners' Gabe Speier: Continues excellent August
Speier threw a clean eighth inning Saturday against the Guardians. He struck out one.
Speier's scoreless streak is now up to 5.1 innings, and he's given up just one run over 11 frames in the month of August. The 30-year-old left-hander has been an outstanding setup man in the Seattle bullpen for most of the year -- Speier owns a 2.20 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and 34:6 K:BB across his last 28.2 frames (37 outings).
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Aroldis Chapman RP | BOS
Red Sox's Aroldis Chapman: Agrees to contract extension
Chapman and the Red Sox agreed Saturday to a one-year, $13.3 million contract extension with a vesting option for 2027, Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com reports.
Chapman has re-emerged as one of the most dominant closers in baseball this season, posting a 1.04 ERA, 0.67 WHIP and 74:14 K:BB over 52 innings spanning 57 outings while racking up 26 saves in 28 chances. The 37-year-old joined Boston on a one-year contract last December and will now be with the club for at least one additional campaign. Romero relays that the option for 2027 is a vesting option based on innings pitched that will become a mutual option if it doesn't get triggered.
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Bryan Baker RP | TB
Rays' Bryan Baker: Picks up first Tampa save
Baker struck out one in a perfect ninth inning Saturday to record his third save of the season in a 4-1 win over the Nationals.
Pete Fairbanks threw 22 pitches the night before and was presumably unavailable, but Griffin Jax handled the eighth inning after Mason Englert gave up Washington's only run, while Baker took care of the ninth. It was Baker's first save since being acquired by the Rays in early July, and after some initial struggles with his new team, he's posted a 1.50 ERA, 0.42 WHIP and 15:1 K:BB over 12 August innings.
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Jeff Hoffman RP | MIN
Blue Jays' Jeff Hoffman: Hurt by long ball again
Hoffman (8-6) took the loss Saturday, coughing up three runs on three hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning as the Blue Jays were downed 4-1 by the Brewers.
Called in for the top of the ninth inning in a 1-1 tie, Hoffman instead served up back-to-back homers to Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich before Isaac Collins added an RBI double. The long ball remains Hoffman's bugaboo this season -- he's been taken deep 14 times in 56.1 innings, leaving him with a 5.11 ERA, and he's given up two homers twice in his last three appearances.
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Albert Suarez RP | BAL
Orioles' Albert Suarez: Trending toward Monday return
Suarez (shoulder) could be activated from the 60-day injured list Monday, Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com reports.
Suarez has been on the IL since late March with a subscapularis strain in his right shoulder, but he's on the cusp of rejoining the big club. The 35-year-old right-hander began a rehab assignment Aug. 12 and has since given up five earned runs over 12.2 innings while striking out five batters and walking six over five appearances between Double-A Chesapeake and Triple-A Norfolk. He had built up to five innings by his third rehab outing but has been limited to less than two frames in both of his last two appearances, which indicates that the Orioles plan to use him out of the bullpen once he's activated.
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Cody Poteet RP | BAL
Orioles' Cody Poteet: Activated, outrighted to Norfolk
The Orioles reinstated Poteet (shoulder) from the 60-day injured list Saturday and sent him outright to Triple-A Norfolk, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.
Poteet surrendered five earned runs in 2.2 innings during his lone appearance of the season for the Orioles on April 20, and he landed on the injured list shortly afterward with right shoulder inflammation. Now fully healthy, he'll stay put in the minor leagues while also giving up his spot on the Orioles' 40-man roster. If he bounces back well at Norfolk, the 31-year-old righty may receive another look with Baltimore at some point in September.
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Justin Bruihl RP | STL
Blue Jays' Justin Bruihl: Sent down to Triple-A
The Blue Jays optioned Bruihl to Triple-A Buffalo on Saturday.
Bruihl struggled in his most recent outing, allowing two runs on three hits over one inning against Milwaukee on Friday, and he has now been sent down to Triple-A in a corresponding move to Easton Lucas' call-up. Bruihl could be back with Toronto later in the campaign if the team needs to fortify its lefty bullpen depth.