Nats turn to Holland for bullpen depth
The Nationals hope reliever Greg Holland can return to form and use his postseason experience to help Washington make a playoff run.
Holland has appeared in 12 postseason games, including the 2014 World Series with Kansas City. That, along with his 186 career saves, was more important to Washington than the 7.92 ERA he had with St. Louis before being designated for assignment July 27.
A day after the right-hander worked out with Washington, the Nationals announced his signing Tuesday, and then sent him to the mound in the first game of a doubleheader against Atlanta. He struck out the side in a scoreless seventh inning in an 8-3 victory.
“He’s a veteran guy that’s been around and pitched in high-level situations, pitched a World Series,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said. “If he’s healthy, and we think he is, he’s going to help us.”
A three-time All-Star with 186 career saves, Holland initially will be used in the sixth or seventh innings by the Nationals.
“He knows how to get outs in big situations. That’s what we like about him,” Martinez said.
Entering Tuesday, Holland was 21-20 with 186 saves and a 2.93 ERA across parts of eight seasons with the Royals, Rockies and Cardinals. He had 47 saves last year with Colorado and signed a $14 million deal with St. Louis during the offseason before coming out flat in 2018.
Sale back for Boston: Lefthander Chris Sale is scheduled to come off the 10-day disabled list and start for the Red Sox against the Orioles on Sunday.
Sale (11-4) has not pitched since July 27 against Minnesota because of mild left shoulder inflammation. He will have missed two starts when he returns to the Boston rotation and pitches in Baltimore.
Sale leads the American League with a 2.04 ERA and 207 strikeouts. He is 5-0 in his past six starts and has allowed just one earned run over that span, a stretch of 39 innings. Ellsbury out for the year: Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury is officially out for the season after surgery on his left hip.
The Yankees say Ellsbury had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn labrum. The surgery was performed Monday by Dr. Bryan Kelly at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.
The expected recovery time is about six months.
Ellsbury, 34, has been out all season with a number of injuries including an oblique strain and sore back. Corey Seager’s second surgery: Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left hip Tuesday, his second major operation of the season. The 2016 NL Rookie of the Year had Tommy John surgery in May. The 24-year-old is expected to be ready for the start of spring training. Manager Dave Roberts said dealing with Seager’s lingering hip issue right now “made sense” with the two-time All-Star already sidelined. Twin cycles: Two Pittsburgh minor-leaguers completed cycles three batter apart Tuesday night. Kevin Newman hit a solo homer in the eighth inning and, minutes later, Jacob Stallings legged out a triple as the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians beat the visiting Lehigh Valley IronPigs 12-5.
This was the second time minor-league teammates hit for the cycle in the same game this season. Giants prospects Gio Brusa and Jalen Miller did it for Class A San Jose in April. The feat has not been accomplished in the majors.
Briefly: The Brewers put righthander Matt Albers on the 10day DL because of a strained left hamstring . ... Toronto infielder Brandon Drury is going back on the DL, this time for a broken left hand that occurred before he was traded from the Yankees to the Blue Jays.