Misc Rumor - Baseball Wiretap

Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal pitched five scoreless innings Sunday in the two-time Cy Young Award winner's first minor league rehabilitation appearance since undergoing elbow surgery last month.

Skubal struck out six and allowed two hits for High-A West Michigan against Dayton. Forty-four of his 54 pitches were strikes, with his fastball reaching 98 mph.

"Velocity was good," Skubal told reporters. "Execution was good. I feel like I threw a ton of strikes. I was in the zone a lot today. Good day."

Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman put the blame for his team's offensive woes squarely on himself after going 0-for-5 and making the last out in his team's 2-1 loss in 10 innings to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday night.

"I've been terrible," Bregman said. "I need to play better. Offensively, it's been awful. I've failed many times in this game. I've struggled. I've started slow before. I've started fast before. When you're struggling, there is only one way forward and that's straight, head-on through it. It comes down to executing in the game."

Milwaukee Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski threw a 103.7 mph pitch Saturday night against the Colorado Rockies, the fastest by a starter since tracking began in 2008.

The 24-year-old right-hander's record-setting pitch was low and outside to Kyle Karros in the third inning.

"It's one of those things: It is what it is," Misiorowski said. "I'm going to keep going, trying to get strikeouts, and if that's what it takes to get strikeouts, then so be it."

The Yankees' days of carrying only left-handed-hitting catchers are over, at least for now.

The team optioned catcher J.C. Escarra to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre late Friday night after a 5-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox. A corresponding move was not announced, but the Yankees plan to call up right-handed-hitting catcher Ali Sánchez on Saturday, sources told ESPN.

The Minnesota Twins recalled infielder Royce Lewis from Triple-A St. Paul on Saturday, less than three weeks after the former No. 1 draft pick was sent down to work on his swing mechanics and position flexibility.

Lewis, who turned 27 on Friday, was hitting .163 with three home runs and 37 strikeouts in 104 at-bats this season when the Twins demoted him on May 19. In 15 games with St. Paul, he hit .333 with 10 home runs.

A race to first based turned into a violent collision that sent two players sprawling onto the field and, eventually, into the dugout.

Arizona's Ildemaro Vargas and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Max Muncy are sore but otherwise OK, but, boy, what a jolt.

"It was terrible," Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte said through an interpreter after hitting a walk-off homer in Arizona's 3-2 win over Los Angeles on Thursday night. "In my 10 years, I've never seen a collision like that."

The Houston Astros signed outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. and promoted catcher Collin Price to the major league roster Thursday.

Price will take the place of backup catcher César Salazar, who was designated for assignment Thursday.

Wade, who was released by the White Sox on Monday, has been in Triple-A all season. His last appearance in the majors came last season when he played 30 games for the Angels. A seven-year MLB veteran, Wade has also played for the Twins and Giants.

As the losses continue to mount, San Diego Padres star Manny Machado admits to being "frustrated" as the offense just can't seem to put any runs on the board.

The Padres, who have dropped five games in a row and nine of the past 10, have scored the fewest runs (231) and have the lowest batting average (.218) in the major leagues this season. In the nine losses since May 24, San Diego has plated a total of 17 runs.

Aaron Judge was out of the lineup Thursday for a third straight game and the New York Yankees were awaiting clarity about a bone bruise in one of the slugger's right ribs that is causing right shoulder pain.

"I absolutely expect something in the next couple of hours," manager Aaron Boone said before the Yankees concluded a three-game series with the Cleveland Guardians. "He went for more testing today just because he's got edema there. So, they want to get [the most] specific images they can to try and see exactly what we have."

The San Diego Padres designated outfielder Nick Castellanos for assignment on Wednesday, one day after he received a video tribute in his return to Philadelphia.

Castellanos was released by the Phillies in February just ahead of their first full-squad workout at spring training. The Phillies released him even though they owed him $20 million for the final season of a $100 million, five-year contract.