Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Lucas Erceg pitched a perfect eighth inning to help the Royals emerge from Thursday afternoon's matchup with Minnesota with a 3-2 victory. Erceg took over in the top of the eighth after the Royals rallied for two runs in the seventh to take the lead on a sacrifice fly from Bobby Witt Jr. Erceg made the narrow lead stand up by getting three straight groundouts and handing the lead over to Carlos Estevez to close it out. The hold was Erceg's fifth of the season, and the 29-year-old righty has given up just two hits and no runs in 6 1/3 innings across seven appearances this season, with a total of four strikeouts. He'll continue to be a high-leverage setup option for the Royals, who head to Cleveland on Friday to start a series against the Guardians.

Cleveland Guardians first baseman Kyle Manzardo went 1-for-4 in Thursday's victory over the White Sox, and his one hit was a two-run blast to right field in the first inning. The home run turned an early 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead for Cleveland, who cruised to a 6-1 victory over Chicago, who has lost eight straight. Manzardo's home run gave him a total of 11 RBI in his first 12 games this season, and the 24-year-old lefty is hitting .225 (9-for-40) with six extra-base hits, a .375 ISO, and a .385 wOBA. The Guardians got back to .500 with the win, as they welcome in the Royals on Friday night to continue their current homestand.

Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran reached base four times in Boston's extra-inning win over the Blue Jays, going 2-for-3 with two walks, a run scored, an RBI, and his fifth stolen base of the season. Duran stole second base in the sixth inning after one of his walks and came around to score the first run of the game on a single by Alex Bregman. He also drove in the automatic runner in the 10th inning to set up Trevor Story's game-winning groundout. On the season, Duran is 15-for-60 (.250) with three doubles, a triple, five walks, five stolen bases, and a .291 wOBA. After getting back to .500 with Thursday's win, the Red Sox and Duran head to Chicago for a weekend series against the White Sox.

Arizona Diamondbacks infield prospect Jordan Lawlar went 2-for-2 with a double and his first home run of the campaign on Thursday evening. Lawlar tallied two RBI and scored once in this contest as well. After going 0-for-7 at the plate through the first two games of the Triple-A regular season, Lawlar has begun to turn the corner as he has posted a strong .317/.417/.488 slash line over his past 10 contests. During this stretch, he has tallied nine RBI and scored 10 runs. He has hit four doubles and swiped four bags. Lawlar is considered not only the top prospect in Arizona but one of the best in the sport. He received a brief taste of the majors in 2023 but was unable to return in 2024 as he battled numerous injuries. However, if he continues to perform with Reno, he should be in the mix for an early return to Arizona this summer.

Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin (back) needs at least three more rehab outings with Triple-A Oklahoma City and ramp-up to five or six innings before rejoining the Dodgers pitching staff. While it is encouraging that Gonsolin is ramping up, it's still unclear how he will fit into the starting rotation for the Dodgers upon his return. The Dodgers still have Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, Dustin May, and Blake Snell (shoulder). It's possible that the Dodgers could deploy a six-man rotation once they are fully healthy. Still, fantasy managers will want to keep their eyes on any updates regarding the six-man rotation as Gonsolin approaches a return. In the meantime, the Dodgers have been leaning on Landon Knack to spot-start in the rotation to help with some of the injuries.