MLB Player News

Messick did not factor into the decision Tuesday against the Red Sox, allowing one run on five hits and one walk while striking out five over five innings.

Tuesday's pitchers' duel featured two candidates in the American League Rookie of the Year race in Messick and Payton Tolle. Messick got the better of Tolle, with the former allowing only one run on an RBI groundout in the second inning. Messick was in line for his 13th win of the season before the Red Sox tied things up at 2-2 in the eighth on a solo homer by Mickey Gasper. Messick is currently slated to make one final start in the regular season this weekend against the Royals, though the 25-year-old southpaw may not pitch depending on the Guardians' playoff situation. If Tuesday's outing at Fenway Park was Messick's last of the regular season, he'll finish with a 12-9 record across 31 starts with a 2.55 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 191:48 K:BB over 183.1 innings.

Torres is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Nationals.

Torres' playing time has tapered off a bit this month as the Tigers look ahead to 2027, as this will be his eighth day off. Zach McKinstry will be at second base, and Hao-Yu Lee will fill the designated hitter spot.

Smith earned the save in Tuesday's 3-2 win over the Red Sox, allowing one walk while striking out one batter in a scoreless ninth inning.

The Guardians took the lead in the top of the ninth inning on a sacrifice fly by Nathaniel Lowe, setting up Smith for the save opportunity. The right-hander struck out Isiah Kiner-Falefa before issuing a walk to Jarren Duran, but Smith secured the save after getting the next two batters to ground out, needing 16 pitches (11 strikes) to lock down the win for the Guardians. Smith's 40 saves are tied with Bryan Baker for most in the majors, and the former sports a 1.99 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 104:23 K:BB over 72.1 innings.

Tolle did not factor into the decision Tuesday against the Guardians, allowing two runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out five across 5.2 innings.

In what will be Tolle's final start of the regular season, the hard-throwing southpaw ended up tossing 91 pitches (63 strikes) and generating 10 whiffs while falling one out short from a quality start. The eight hits allowed were one short of a season worst, though he extended his streak of five-plus strikeouts to six. Tolle didn't initially make the Red Sox's 26-man roster at the end of spring training but was quickly promoted from Triple-A Worcester in late April and stayed with the big club from there. He'll end the regular season with a 9-6 record over 26 starts with a 3.03 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 171:40 K:BB over 148.2 innings. Tolle appears in line to start in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series, which is currently slated for next week on the road against the Yankees.

Diaz went 2-for-5 with four RBI in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader against the Yankees.

After going 0-for-4 in the matinee as the Rays got blanked 2-0, Diaz powered a 6-1 win in the nightcap, driving in a pair of runs in both the seventh and ninth innings with singles. With the victory, Tampa Bay clinched the AL East title and a first-round bye in the playoffs. The performance ended a 10-game slump in which Diaz had gone just 3-for-40 (.075) with one RBI, but he still hasn't produced an extra-base hit since Sept. 8.

Walls went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader against the Yankees.

The shortstop led the charge in a 6-1 win for the Rays that clinched the AL East crown, and a first-round bye in the playoffs. Walls is in the lineup for his defense, not his offense, but despite a hip issue that cost him a good chunk of September, he's put together a .289/.364/.342 slash line over 46 plate appearances since Aug. 28 with two doubles, two steals, five RBI and nine runs in 13 contests.

Rasmussen (16-5) picked up the win in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader against the Yankees, allowing one run on one hit and three walks over 6.2 innings. He struck out 11.

With the 6-1 victory, the Rays clinched the AL East crown and a first-round bye in the playoffs. Rasmussen took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, but a leadoff double by Heliot Ramos led to New York's only run of the game. The quality start was the right-hander's 18th of the season, while the 11 Ks represented his third outing of the season in double digits, and first since Aug. 1. Unless the Rays decide to get him some work on the final day of the regular season to keep him on turn, Rasmussen wraps up the 2026 campaign with new career bests in innings (172), wins (16), strikeouts (174) and WHIP (0.91), and he seems almost certain to be on the bump for Tampa Bay's first postseason contest Oct. 3.

Martinez (15-5) took the loss in the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader against the Yankees, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out seven.

The right-hander made only one real mistake, but Cody Bellinger put it into the right-field seats in the fourth inning for a two-run homer, accounting for the only runs in the game. The seven strikeouts were a season high for Martinez, while the quality start was his 16th of the season. Martinez has given up three runs or fewer in six straight outings, posting a 2.52 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and 25:3 K:BB in 35.2 innings over that span. The Rays clinched the AL East title and a first-round bye in the playoffs with a win in the nightcap, so it remains to be seen whether Martinez will stay on turn and get the start for the final game of the regular season, on the road Sunday in Philadelphia.

Red Sox manager Chad Tracy indicated Tuesday that Mead (wrist) is a long shot to be available for the postseason, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

Mead has been sidelined for almost two months with a fractured left wrist that he suffered in his second plate appearance after joining the Red Sox. He began hitting off a tee last week, but his overall progress has been slow and it seems he's likely to run out of time. Mead is under team control through the 2030 campaign.

Arozarena went 0-for-1 with a pair of walks and a stolen base in Tuesday's 7-0 loss to the Astros.

Arozarena is now 24-for-32 in stolen base attempts this season. The outfielder has carried a hot bat down the stretch, hitting .347 (26-for-75) with six homers and a 1.104 OPS in his last 20 games. Overall, Arozarena is slashing .279/.379/.480 with 26 homers (one shy of his career high), 76 RBI and 106 runs scored across 647 plate appearances this year.