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The Pittsburgh Pirates placed right-hander Vince Velasquez on the 15-day injured list Sunday, a day after his return from a previous bout with elbow inflammation ended after two innings.

Velasquez started Saturday against the Seattle Mariners, his first appearance since May 4. He allowed four runs on seven hits in what would become a 5-0 defeat for the Pirates.

Pittsburgh recalled right-hander Cody Bolton from Triple-A Indianapolis. The 24-year-old Bolton made his major league debut with the Pirates last month, posting a 4.50 ERA with no decisions in three relief appearances across six innings. He is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA in 13 appearances for Indianapolis.

Velasquez, 30, is 4-4 with a 3.86 ERA across eight starts in his first season with Pittsburgh after signing a one-year, $3.15 million deal in December. In his nine-year career, he is 38-51 with a 4.88 ERA in 191 career games (144 starts) with the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox and Pirates.

The Pirates, one of the hottest teams in baseball the first month of the season, are closing a subpar May. Eleven games over .500 headed into the month, Pittsburgh was just one game over .500 before Sunday’s series finale in Seattle.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

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Bellinger has rib fracture; Cubs add top prospect

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Bellinger has rib fracture; Cubs add top prospect

Chicago Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger has a fractured right rib and has been placed on the 10-day injured list, manager Craig Counsell told 670 The Score on Wednesday.

Bellinger, a two-time All-Star selection, collided with the center-field wall during Tuesday’s game while tracking a fly ball hit by Houston‘s Yainer Diaz that went for a double and scored Kyle Tucker. He left the game an inning later.

In a corresponding move, the Cubs called up Pete Crow-Armstrong, their top prospect.

Bellinger, in the midst of a seven-game hitting streak, is batting .226 with five home runs and 17 RBIs this season.

Crow-Armstrong, 22, made his MLB debut last September and went 0-for-14 with three walks. He’s batting .203 with two home runs, five doubles and seven RBIs at Triple-A Iowa this season.

Field Level Media contributed to this report.

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Struggling Cards OF Walker demoted to minors

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Struggling Cards OF Walker demoted to minors

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker has been demoted to the minor leagues after a slow start to the season.

The Cardinals announced before Wednesday afternoon’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks that Walker and left-handed pitcher Zack Thompson were optioned to Triple-A Memphis. Infielder Jose Fermin and left-hander John King were recalled from Memphis in corresponding moves.

Walker, 21, is batting .155 with no home runs, 4 RBIs and a .497 OPS in 20 games this season, his second with the Cardinals. The former top prospect had been mired in a 3-for-27 slump over his past 11 games.

The 6-foot-6 Walker is one of several players struggling offensively for the Cardinals (10-14), who entered Wednesday with just 16 homers as a team — second worst in the majors behind only the Chicago White Sox — and rank in the bottom five in MLB in most major categories, including batting average (.218), runs (82), slugging percentage (.336) and OPS (.637).

Walker entered 2023 as a consensus top-five overall prospect and delivered a solid rookie season, batting .276 with 16 homers, 51 RBIs and a .787 OPS.

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Giants’ Snell scratched from start, placed on IL

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Giants' Snell scratched from start, placed on IL

The San Francisco Giants scratched left-hander Blake Snell from his scheduled start Wednesday and placed the two-time Cy Young Award winner on the 15-day injured list with a left adductor strain.

Right-hander Landen Roupp was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento by the Giants, who tabbed right-hander Ryan Walker (2-2, 3.46 ERA) to make his first start of the season Wednesday against the visiting New York Mets.

Walker, 28, worked a scoreless inning of relief in San Francisco’s 5-2 win over New York on Monday.

Snell, 31, is 0-3 with an 11.57 ERA in three starts. He has yet to recapture the form that allowed him to secure his second Cy Young Award while pitching for the San Diego Padres in 2023.

Snell owns a 71-58 record with a 3.30 ERA in 194 career games (all starts) with the Tampa Bay Rays, Padres and Giants.

Roupp, 25, has registered a 4.35 ERA without recording a decision in eight relief appearances this season with San Francisco.

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