MLB 2023 | Cano secures second save, Adolis homers, Cortés roughed up in second loss, and more...

Major League Baseball (MLB) and other Cuban Players News for the 2023 season. A compendium from several sources

Graphic: MLB Stats

April 30

Yennier Cano recorded four outs against the Tigers for his second career save Sunday.

Cano picked up the save during Sunday's 5-3 win over Detroit, tossing 1.1 perfect innings while striking out two. Cano entered a 4-3 game in the eighth with two on and two out. He struck out Jake Rogers to escape the jam, and with Felix Bautista likely unavailable after pitching three of the last four days, Cano came back out for the ninth. He retired Andy Ibanez, Zach McKinstry and Riley Greene in order to secure his second save in as many tries. Cano hasn't allowed a hit, run or walk across nine outings (11 innings) and has 12 strikeouts.

Yordan Álvarez: Got on base twice Sunday.

Having been sidelined from the lineup days ago, Yordan played in his second consecutive game.In a 4-3 Astros victory, he went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. Currently slashing .272/.388/.543 with 6 homers and 27 RBI, Yordan is a strong candidate to win the American League MVP award.

Johan Oviedo was lit up for seven runs in 2 1/3 innings by the Nationals on Sunday.

Oviedo (2-2) took the loss Sunday, allowing seven runs on nine hits and two walks over 2.1 innings in a 7-2 loss against the Nationals. He struck out one. It was a rough day for Oviedo, as he allowed seven runs on nine hits without making it out of the third inning. He's now allowed 11 earned runs in his last two starts (7.2 innings) after surrendering just two runs over his previous 16.2 innings. Oviedo's ERA is up to 4.78 with a 1.47 WHIP and 30:12 K:BB. He'll try to get back on track in his next outing, currently lined up for next week against the Blue Jays.

Nestor Cortés was tagged for seven runs in 4 2/3 innings Sunday in a loss to the Rangers.

Cortés (3-2) took the loss Sunday against the Rangers after allowing seven runs on five hits and four walks while striking out seven. Cortés was punished by the long ball and a lack of command in this one while needing 100 pitches to get through 4.2 innings. The southpaw retired Marcus Semien to kick things off but then issued consecutive walks and a single to load the bases for Josh Jung, who capitalized with a grand slam to right. Cortés settled down from there, retiring 12 of the next 14 hitters before running into some more problems in the fifth. The 28-year-old gave up another walk and proceeded to give up back-to-back home runs to Nathaniel Lowe and Adolis García to put the Yanks in a 7-1 hole. All-around it was an uncharacteristic outing for Cortés, who had not given up more than four runs in any of his prior 33 starts dating back to the start of the 2022 campaign. He now holds a 4.91 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 35:9 K:BB over 33 innings and lines up to face the Rays next weekend.

Aledmys Díaz was diagnosed with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain and may not require a trip to the injured list.

A's skipper Mark Kotsay told reporters that the MRI exam on Diaz's hamstring came back better than they anticipated, so they'll take it day-by-day for at least a couple of days to see how he responds before making a decision on whether or not he'll require a trip to the injured list.

Rangers' Adolis García: Homers in lopsided win. García went 2-for-3 with a solo homer, a walk and three runs scored in Sunday's 15-2 win over the Yankees. García went back-to-back with Nathaniel Lowe in the fifth for his eighth home run of the season and his league-leading 30th RBI. He would also get a base knock and a walk and came around to score both times and now sits second in baseball with 24 runs scored. He also made an accurate throw to home plate in the top of the fourth inning to get DJ LeMahieu out. Sunday was García's fourth multi-hit effort over his last nine games and he's bumped up his slash line to .267/.322/.533. The 30-year-old has showcased more patience at the dish thus far, striking out just under 23 percent of the time, which would be the lowest mark of his career by a significant margin.

Yasmani Grandal: Homered on Sunday.

In Sunday's 12-9 win over the Rays, Grandal went 1-for-4 with a solo home run and two RBI. He hit his third homerun of the season. After scoring one run in the first inning, the White Sox were unable to score again until Grandal hit a two-run homer off Drew Rasmussen in the sixth inning. The veteran backstop experienced a dramatic decline in power last season with just five homers in 376 plate appearances. However, it's worth remembering that he hit at least 22 long balls each campaign (aside from the shortened 2020 season) from 2016 to 2021.

White Sox's Luis Robert: Was not in lineup Sunday. Robert (hamstring) was not in the starting lineup for Sunday's game against the Rays, Vinnie Duber of AllCHGO.com reported. It was not completely clear whether Robert is out of the lineup due to the tightness in his right hamstring or if this is a continued punishment for not running hard to first base, which resulted in him being removed early in the loss to the Rays on Saturday.

Rays' Yandy Díaz: Still out Sunday. Díaz (shoulder) was not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the White Sox, Ryan Bass of Bally Sports Sun reported. Díaz was out of the lineup for the second consecutive game after he exited Friday's contest with soreness in his left shoulder. The 31-year-old will now have Monday's team off day to aid in his recovery before potentially missing more time.