MILWAUKEE (AP) — Veteran pitcher Lance McCullers has been designated for assignment by the Milwaukee Brewers less than two weeks after they acquired the right-hander from the Houston Astros.
The Brewers announced the move before their game Sunday against the Colorado Rockies. They recalled right-handed pitcher Garrett Stallings from Triple-A Nashville.
The moves come a day after McCullers walked four batters in 1 2/3 innings of relief in an 8-5 victory over the Rockies. McCullers entered with Milwaukee ahead 8-2 in the eighth inning and returned for the ninth, but he allowed a hit and two walks in that inning before Trevor Megill came in to get the final out.
McCullers went 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA in two relief appearances with Milwaukee. He struck out five, walked five and allowed five runs (three earned) over 4 2/3 innings.
The bullpen role was new for McCullers, who had started in 148 of his 154 career outings with Houston.
McCullers, 32, had spent his entire major league career with the Astros until they sent him and left-hander Colton Gordon to the Brewers for minor league outfielder Jadyn Fielder on July 15. Houston had agreed to pay Milwaukee $4,227,273 to offset most of McCullers’ remaining salary, leaving his cost to the Brewers at $2.5 million.
McCullers was on the injured list with shoulder inflammation at the time of the trade and last pitched for the Astros on May 13. He went 2-3 with a 6.86 ERA in eight starts for Houston this season.
He began his MLB career in 2015 and owns a 53-40 record with a 3.85 ERA. McCullers was part of Houston’s 2017 and 2022 World Series champions, but injuries kept him from pitching in 2019, 2023 and 2024.
Stallings pitched three scoreless innings in two appearances during an earlier stint with Milwaukee this season. He has gone 3-3 with a 4.11 ERA for Nashville in 18 appearances, including 13 starts.
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Milwaukee Brewers' Lance McCullers Jr. pitches during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Monday, July 20, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Two mosques in the Israeli-occupied West Bank were set on fire overnight in an apparent Israeli settler attack, officials said Sunday, after a spate of deadly violence that killed four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers.
The violence comes as Palestinians and the Israeli opposition accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-line government of turning a blind eye to attacks by settlers against Palestinians, which is threatening to ignite widespread violence across the territory.
Israeli soldiers and police fanned out across the West Bank after the attack, closing off major roads and blocking access to a hospital where it said two militants were hiding. Israel also arrested more than 70 Palestinians over the weekend as they attempted to contain the escalating violence.
The mosques, in the villages of Qusra and Kour in the northern West Bank, suffered extensive damage in the fires. In Qusra, the attackers spray-painted “revenge Benayahu,” referring to one of the Israeli soldiers killed on Friday, and “the land of Israel is redeemed with blood.” The soldier lived in a nearby settlement.
Ahmed Abu Mahmoud, 64, who lives next door to the Qusra mosque, said he heard noises at 3 a.m. and discovered the mosque had been set on fire. The fire was too large for him to fight on his own, so he called for help. Mahmoud said livestock and a drinking tank had been stolen in the past month, but that Israeli authorities hadn’t helped. “The military arrived here saw with their own eyes and then left,” he said Sunday.
Security footage in Kour obtained by The Associated Press showed three people dressed in civilian clothes setting off a large explosion in the entrance of the mosque in the middle of the night. On Sunday, residents held prayers despite damage to the entrance.
Israel's military said it was working with police to investigate the mosque attack.
“The security forces strongly condemn incidents of this kind, including harm to religious sites, and will continue to act decisively to maintain security and public order in the area,” it said.
The Israeli army often announces investigations into violence against Palestinians, but rarely makes arrests or prosecutes settlers involved in violence.
The military also reported it had sealed the homes of two of Palestinian militants suspected of killing the soldiers in preparation for their demolition. Israel often demolishes the homes of attackers, claiming it deters future attacks.
On Sunday, Netanyahu said troops entered villages across the West Bank to seize weapons and make arrests. “We are also prepared to operate on a broader scale against the terrorist nests,” he said.
Pope Leo XIV appealed for peace in the Middle East at the end of his weekly Sunday prayer. He called on both sides to find a negotiated solution and to “reject new military actions and unilateral decisions, in particular those that violate the respect and status quo of the holy places of every religious faith.”
The exact circumstances of Friday’s deadly incidents remained unclear, but Israeli media reports and interviews with local Palestinian officials said they were sparked after a group of settlers entered the village of Tell and were confronted by residents who were fearful of an attack.
According to the Israeli military, one of the Palestinians took one of the settlers’ weapons and fired on the group, killing Benayahu Mellet, 32, a security guard from a nearby settlement.
The towns and villages surrounding Nablus sit in one of the most violent parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Palestinians and human rights groups have increasingly documented armed Israeli settlers entering villages in the area. Livestock theft, arson and the defacement of mosques are routinely reported.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 87 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank this year, including 21 by Israeli settlers. Three Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinian militants in 2026, including the two soldiers on Friday.
More than 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and sought by the Palestinians for a future independent state. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlements be illegal and obstacles to peace.
Children stand outside a mosque that was burned during an attack by Israeli settlers early in the morning in the West Bank village of Qusra, Sunday, July 26, 2026, as on its wall a Hebrew graffiti reads "Revenge Benayahu", referring to an Israeli settler killed during clashes with Palestinians in the village of Tell, last Friday. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israeli soldiers operate in the West Bank Palestinians city of Nablus, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammad)
Israeli soldiers operate in the West Bank Palestinians city of Nablus, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammad)
Children stand outside a mosque that was burned during an attack by Israeli settlers early in the morning in the West Bank village of Qusra, Sunday, July 26, 2026, as on its wall a Hebrew graffiti reads "Revenge Benayahu", referring to an Israeli settler killed during clashes with Palestinians in the village of Tell, last Friday. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A Palestinian man prays inside a mosque that was burned during an attack by Israeli settlers early in the morning in the West Bank village of Qusra, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
