CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs optioned right-hander Javier Assad to Triple-A Iowa on Sunday to stretch him out as a starting pitcher.
Chicago also brought up left-hander Ty Blach from Triple-A Iowa and transferred right-hander Hunter Harvey to the 60-day injured list. Harvey is working his way back from right triceps inflammation.
With Matthew Boyd sidelined by a left knee injury, the NL Central-leading Cubs are thin when it comes to their rotation depth. Right-hander Cade Horton is out for the season because of elbow surgery, and Justin Steele has an uncertain timeline after he had a setback in his recovery from an elbow injury.
Ben Brown has made a successful return to the rotation, but he pitched just four innings in each of his first two starts.
The 28-year-old Assad is 16-11 with a 3.63 ERA in 57 career starts — all with the Cubs. He is 3-1 with a 5.88 ERA in five relief appearances and three starts for Chicago this season.
“If you just kind of look at this right now, starting pitching, where we're at, Matt still being a pretty good chunk of time away, making sure that should something else happen, we have somebody equipped,” manager Craig Counsell said before Sunday's game against the crosstown White Sox.
“We're transitioning Ben to this role, but the shortness of his stints, that affects you. So we don't want to get caught where we got nobody else that's really stretched out in any kind of way.”
Blach, 35, signed a minor league deal with Chicago in April. He is 23-33 with a 5.42 ERA in 156 major league appearances, including 70 starts.
The Cubs also could get Caleb Thielbar back as soon as Monday. The lefty reliever, who is on the IL with a left hamstring strain, pitched a scoreless inning in a rehab appearance with Class A South Bend on Saturday.
“Everything went well yesterday. Healthy,” Counsell said. “Just kind of seeing how he recovers today to really figure out when we activate him.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Chicago Cubs pitcher Javier Assad throws to the Texas Rangers during the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 8, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
ZURICH (AP) — Defending champion United States bounced back from a loss to Switzerland with a 5-1 victory over tournament newcomer Britain at the ice hockey world championship on Sunday.
Isaac Howard scored twice, Paul Cotter and Mathieu Olivier each had three points and Declan Carlile had a goal and an assist for the Americans. Goaltender Devin Cooley made 18 saves for the U.S. in the preliminary Group A game in Zurich.
Cotter broke the deadlock 13:55 into the Group A game, knocking in the puck from close range.
Nathanael Halbert tied it for Britain midway through the middle period on a power play with a shot through heavy traffic.
Howard restored a 2-1 lead for the Americans with an unassisted goal with 2:59 remaining in the period by exploiting a defensive blunder.
Howard is one of two players on the roster, along with Mason Lohrei, who lifted the trophy last year.
Olivier and Carlile scored 15 seconds apart early in the final period to increase the advantage to 4-1.
Olivier netted a rebound while Carlile scored with a deflected shot from the blue line.
Howard added his second on a power play with 3:49 left.
The Americans next play Finland on Monday. On Tuesday, they will be boosted with the arrival of Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk, a member of the U.S. gold-winning team at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Britain, a newcomer to the top division, fell to its second straight defeat.
In another game in the same group, Austria topped Hungary 4-2 to get the second win.
Sweden recovered from a 5-3 defeat to Canada in the opening game by routing Denmark 6-2 in Group B in Fribourg in a rematch of last year’s bronze medal game that Sweden also won by the same score.
Raymond Lucas had a goal and two assists to spark the Swedes.
The 18-year-old forward Viggo Bjorck scored on a power play to become the youngest Swedish player to score at the worlds and added an assist. Another 18-year-old rising star for Sweden, Ivar Stenberg, had two assists. The two are among the top prospects for the 2026 NHL daft.
Mattias Ekholm, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jakob Silfverberg and Linus Karlsson also scored for the Swedes.
In Fribourg, Slovakia downed another newcomer, Italy, 4-1 for its second victory at the worlds.
Later Sunday, Norway plays Slovenia in Fribourg and Germany takes on Latvia in Zurich.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Sweden's Mattias Ekholm, left, celebrates with his teammate Sweden's Viggo Bjorck after scoring during the 2026 IIHF Men's Ice Hockey World Championship preliminary round group B game between Denmark and Sweden, in Fribourg, Switzerland, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
Denmark's goaltender Mads Sogaard saves a puck past Denmark's Malte Setkov #3, Sweden's Lucas Raymond, #13, and Denmark's Markus Lauridsen, #22, during the 2026 IIHF Men's Ice Hockey World Championship preliminary round group B game between Denmark and Sweden, in Fribourg, Switzerland, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
USA's Max Sasson, right, fights for the puck with Britain's Bayley Harewood, during the 2026 IIHF Men's Ice Hockey World Championship preliminary round group A game between Britain and the United States, in Zurich, Switzerland, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (Claudio Thoma/Keystone via AP)
USA's Isaac Howard, right, scores his team's second goal past Britain's goaltender Ben Bowns, during the 2026 IIHF Men's Ice Hockey World Championship preliminary round group A game between Britain and the United States, in Zurich, Switzerland, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (Claudio Thoma/Keystone via AP)
USA's Justin Faulk shoots the puck, during the 2026 IIHF Men's Ice Hockey World Championship preliminary round group A game between Britain and the United States, in Zurich, Switzerland, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (Claudio Thoma/Keystone via AP)
From left: Britain's Travis Brown, USA's Mathieu Olivier, Britain's Liam Steele, USA's Ryan Ufko and Britain's goaltender Ben Bowns fight for the puck, during the 2026 IIHF Men's Ice Hockey World Championship preliminary round group A game between Britain and the United States, in Zurich, Switzerland, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (Claudio Thoma/Keystone via AP)
From left, USA's Mason Lohrei, Isaac Howard and Oliver Moore celebrate after their team's second goal, during the 2026 IIHF Men's Ice Hockey World Championship preliminary round group A game between Britain and the United States, in Zurich, Switzerland, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (Claudio Thoma/Keystone via AP)
