Outfielder Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals was reinstated from the paternity list on Wednesday, the team announced.Gordon's wife, Jamie, gave birth Monday to daughter Joey Lynn, the couple's third child.The Royals also placed right-handed pitcher Nate Karns on the 10-day disabled list because of a right extensor strain/nerve irritation. Karns' stint on the disabled list is retroactive to Sunday, making him eligible to return on May 31.

The Washington Nationals addressed their struggling bullpen by acquiring All-Star closer Mark Melancon from the Pittsburgh Pirates, the teams announced Saturday.The Pirates received left-handed reliever Felipe Rivero and minor league left-hander Taylor Hearn as part of the trade.The 31-year-old, right-handed Melancon is 1-1 with a 1.51 ERA and 30 saves in 45 appearances this season. He is a three-time All-Star with a 2.65 career ERA and 151 saves in eight seasons with the New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox and Pirates. He saved a league-high 51 games in 2015. Melancon is expected to serve as the closer for the Nationals after veteran closer Jonathan Papelbon struggled to close out games in the ninth over the past week.Rivero, 25, went 0-3 with one save and a 4.53 ERA in 47 relief appearances this season with the Nationals. He was 2-4 with a 3.67 ERA in 96 career games for Washington.Hearn, 21, went a combined 1-0 with a 2.79 ERA in 10 games (four starts) between the Rookie-level... [More]

Karns (forearm) has been shut down for the remainder of the season, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune reports.

He made just one relief appearance for the Ryas after being bumped from the rotation earlier this month, pitching three innings against Detroit back on Sept. 8. This is the first word of an injury -- he's reportedly dealing with a mild forearm strain -- but it's at least possible it played a part in Karns' minimal usage over the past several weeks. It remains to be seen whether Karns will be able to go through his normal offseason routine.

Karns has been replaced in the Rays' rotation by Matt Moore, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

The Rays announced Wednesday that Matt Moore will get the start Saturday, which means Karns will not be on the mound that day as anticipated. The Rays aren't planning to use a six-man rotation, so Karns will work out of the bullpen moving forward, barring an injury to a starting pitcher.

Karns could lose his spot in the Rays' rotation following Matt Moore's call-up Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Times' Marc Topkin reports.

This is just speculation by Topkin, but with Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi and Drew Smyly all presumed safe, and Erasmo Ramirez making his scheduled start Tuesday, Karns appears to be the odd man out considering the Rays have said they won't go to a six-man rotation. Karns sits at 144 innings on the season, but workload shouldn't be a concern just yet, as he pitched 157.1 innings last season. It's not yet time to panic and drop Karns, but it's just worth noting that his days in the Rays' rotation could be numbered.

Karns did not factor into the decision Sunday against the Royals, as he allowed two runs on six hits and a walk in five innings. He struck out five.

The righty only struggled in the third inning, when he allowed a pair of runs, and he did not give up an extra base hit on the day. Karns has been a reliable innings eater for Tampa Bay, lowering his ERA to 3.69 after a strong month of August, and his next turn in the rotation will come Saturday against the Yankees.

Karns gave up five runs on four hits and four walks in just three innings in a no decision Tuesday against the Twins. He struck out three.

Karns has been prone to losing his control this year, as he has now walked at least four batters in five starts, including two of his last three. Karns's BB/9 is up to 3.5 and his FIP is up to 4.12 after Tuesday's blowup, and his ERA is up to 3.69. Karns is just 6.1 innings shy of his career high, and it will be key for him to maintain his control down the stretch in the longest season he has played yet.

The Rays have no plans to shut down Karns in order to limit the rookie's workload, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The reason given for this decision is how quickly Karns has been pulled from games in 2015, which has limited his innings pitched and lightened the stress on his arm. Despite being in the rotation all year, he's only thrown a total of 136 innings and gone past the sixth inning four times. He threw 157.1 innings last year between the major league team and Triple-A Durham, so it's not like he's exceeding his previous career high by a significant margin.

Karns tossed six excellent innings Wednesday in Houston, striking out eight while allowing one run on six hits and a walk, but he was long gone by the time the Astros won in 13 innings.

After struggling his last two times out, Karns got things on track in a big way against a strong Houston team. He let Carlos Correa lead off the bottom of the first with a homer, but shut things down from there. The revitalized Karns will next face the Twins on Tuesday.

Karns came away with a no-decision after allowing two runs on two hits, walking five and striking out four over 4.2 innings in a game the Rays would lose 5-3 to Texas on Friday night.

Karns (7-5, 3.53 ERA) has pitched reasonably well, but he has failed to complete six innings in four of his last five starts. The Rays tend to monitor his pitch counts pretty closely, so he'll need to be more efficient if he wants to provide fantasy owners with more chances for wins.

Karns picked up his seventh win of the season Saturday, allowing four runs on eight hits and two walks over five innings while striking out eight.

It wasn't pretty, but Karns was just able to sneak away with a win. He'll take a 3.52 ERA and 121:44 K:BB ratio in 125.1 innings into next start Friday in Texas

Karns took a no decision after allowing two runs on three hits and two walks over 5.1 innings Monday against the White Sox. He struck out seven.

The Rays believe in quick handoffs to the bullpen and pulled Karns after just 79 pitches in a 2-2 game. He now has three straight starts allowing two or fewer runs and has accomplished the feat eight times in nine starts dating back to June 14. He now has 53 strikeouts against just 13 walks in that 52.2 inning span.

Karns will pitch Monday against the White Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Karns pitched last Monday, but only went six innings on 71 pitches. He posts above a 4:1 K:BB and a 2.66 ERA in his past seven starts. Karns has not allowed more than two runs in six of his past seven starts.

Karns picked up his sixth win behind six strong innings Monday against Detroit, as he allowed one run on three hits and no walks. He struck out three.

Karns has now allowed two runs or fewer in six of his last seven starts, has struck out over four times as many (46) as he has walked (11) and has just a 2.66 ERA over that span. Karns threw just 71 pitches and once again didn't go deep into the game -- the last time he went seven innings was May 8.

Karns was ambushed in Thursday's loss to the Royals, allowing seven runs on nine hits in 6.0 innings.

Karns had been looking excellent in his previous five starts, averaging six innings a start with a 1.78 ERA and more than a strikeout per inning. Thursday's disaster ballooned his ERA to 3.63 from 3.21 and now stands as his career high in earned runs allowed.

Karns pitched well in a no-decision Saturday, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks over seven innings while striking out 10.

He was out-dueled by Michael Pineda, but fantasy owners who rolled with Karns can't be too disappointed with the results. He'll next take the hill on Thursday in Kansas City.

Karns lost despite a quality start Monday against Cleveland, as he allowed two runs on nine hits and two walks over six innings with seven strikeouts.

Karns has walked just seven batters in his past four starts (2.7 BB/9) after walking 29 in his first 12 starts (3.9 BB/9). Karns gives up a lot of fly balls and needs that extra margin of error to work with. He's made good use of it, as his ERA has dropped from 3.86 to 3.26 over his past four starts.

Karns pitched six shutout innings Wednesday against the vising Blue Jays, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out five.

Unfortunately, he didn't receive a decision because Marco Estrada tossed 8.2 scoreless on the other side and the game ended up being decided in extra innings. Nonetheless, Karns continues to deliver underrated work in the Rays' rotation -- he's given up just two runs while striking out 17 in 17.1 innings over his last three starts. He'll look to keep it going against the Indians on Monday.

Karns allowed one run on six hits, walking none and striking out four over 5.1 innings of a 4-1 win against Cleveland on Friday night.

After a couple of rough starts, Karns (4-3, 3.53 ERA) has turned in a couple of respectable outings. He walked just one and kept the ball in the park against the Indians, typically keys to his success, but he pitched only 5.1 innings. Shorter outings often tend to limit his fantasy value, particularly in leagues that count quality starts.

Kanrs looked strong Sunday, throwing six innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts and one walk.

Sunday's result was something Karns needed, as he had allowed four runs in each of his last two starts. Only one walk and no home runs allowed goes well against what Karns has struggled with in his career, so don't expect too much of the same moving forward. He's a guy who pitches five to six innings (he's hit that range in 10 of his 13 2015 starts) and ideally uses a decent strikeout arsenal to work around his command deficiencies. When the K's aren't coming it's going to be ugly, but when he works like Saturday, he's going to look like a tempting pick-up.