RHP Juan Nicasio pitched a one-two-three ninth for thmanager Mike Matheny said. "I know he's anxious to pitch and to be part of a team that's doing what we're doing."

RHP Juan Nicasio was acquired by the Cardinals from the Phillies in exchange for minor league INF Eliezer Alvarez. Nicasio, 31, has a 2.79 ERA in 67 National League appearances this season. But 65 were with Pittsburgh and only two were with the Phillies. Nicasio has 61 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings this season.

RHP Juan Nicasio was traded to the Cardinals on Wednesday in exchange for minor league 2B Eliezer Alvarez. The deal caps a brief Phillies tenure for Nicasio, who was claimed off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Aug. 31. Nicasio went 1-0 and didn't allow a run over 1 1/3 innings in two appearances with the Phillies. He will likely be used in middle relief by the Cardinals but will not be eligible for the postseason if St. Louis qualifies because he wasn't acquired prior to Aug. 31. Nicasio is 3-5 with a 2.79 ERA and two saves in a National League-leading 67 games this season between the Phillies and Pirates.

RHP Juan Nicasio was acquired by the St. Louis Cardinals from the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday in exchange for minor league infielder Eliezer Alvarez. Nicasio, 31, joined the Phillies on Aug. 31 on a waiver claim from the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Dominican native has combined to go 3-5 with a 2.79 ERA in a National League-leading 67 games between Pittsburgh (65 games) and Philadelphia (two games) in 2017.

The St. Louis Cardinals acquired right-handed reliever Juan Nicasio from the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday in exchange for minor league infielder Eliezer Alvarez. Nicasio, 31, joined the Phillies on Aug. 31 on a waiver claim from the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Dominican native has combined to go 3-5 with a 2.79 ERA in a National League-leading 67 games between Pittsburgh (65 games) and Philadelphia (two games) in 2017.Nicasio has 61 strikeouts in his 61 1/3 innings of work this season, with 18 walks and just four home runs allowed while holding the opposition to .218 batting average. His 21 holds rank tied for fifth in the NL.Nicasio, who debuted with the Colorado Rockies in 2011, has appeared in 260 career games (82 starts) with the Rockies (2011-14), Los Angeles Dodgers (2015), Pittsburgh (2016-17) and Philadelphia (2017), putting together a career record of 35-37 with a 4.60 ERA in 618 2/3 innings.A free agent at the end of the season, Nicasio hopes to join the Cardinals in San Diego for the conclusion of their road trip that includes games both Wednesday night and Thursday night. He would not be eligible for postseason play should the Cardinals qualify.Alvarez, 22, was signed by the Cardinals as a non-drafted international free agent in 2011 out of Santiago, Dominican Republic. He batted a combined .248 with five home runs and 28 RBIs in 61 games between Double-A Springfield and the Gulf Coast League rookie Cardinals in 2017.

RHP Juan Nicasio was claimed on waivers by the Phillies off waivers from the Pirates on Thursday. Nicasio, 31, had a 2.85 ERA in 65 games with Pittsburgh this year.

RHP Juan Nicasio will be put on irrevocable outright waivers, multiple outlets reported Tuesday. Any team can claim him and assume the roughly $600,000 remaining on his contract without giving the Pirates anything in return. Nicasio (2-5) has a 2.85 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 60 innings this season. He last appeared on Sunday, working a scoreless inning in the Pirates 5-2 victory over the Reds.

RHP Juan Nicasio endured a disastrous seventh inning Sunday night, giving up four runs and getting just one out as he was tagged with the loss. Nicasio got a bad break on his leadoff walk to Tommy Pham, as a 3-2 pitch that appeared to be a strike was called a ball. However, Nicasio did more than enough to hurt himself with another walk and a poor 1-2 fastball that Yadier Molina guided into right field for a tiebreaking hit.

RHP Juan Nicasio was available out of the bullpen Monday after arm fatigue issues left him off-limits a day earlier. Manager Clint Hurdle said Nicasio, 1-3 with a 2.45 ERA in 32 appearances this season, was feeling better and was cleared by the team's medical staff. "For whatever reason, I think pitchers can feel certain things at different times. We've gotten to a pretty good place where our guys feel something different, they'll tell the trainer," Hurdle said. "The trainers tried to monitor it. They couldn't come up with anything structurally to say it's this. So that's what I got for you. Today was better than yesterday."

RHP Juan Nicasio (1-3), one of the pitchers who has moved into the closer's role, took the loss. He pitched to four batters in the ninth, giving up four runs on three hits without getting an out.

RHP Juan Nicasio now has recorded at least one strikeout in 29 straight appearances, a single-season club record for a Pirates relief pitcher. The 29-game streak is the longest in the major leagues this season and matches the 29-game streak by Cleveland's Cody Allen in 2015. The next longest strikeout streak by a relief pitcher is 37 games by Aroldis Chapman in 2014. "I told him to go to Sandals in the Bahamas and meet us next Tuesday in Milwaukee," said Hurdle. "Very aggressive outing for Nicasio. We were strapped tonight."

RHP Juan Nicasio had two strikeouts in one inning Friday night. He has struck out at least one batter in a club record 28 straight relief appearances -- tying him with Andrew Miller for the longest such streak by a relief pitcher this season (Miller did it in 28 consecutive games with the Yankees between May 6 and July 17).

RHP Juan Nicasio has been one of the one bright spots during a rough stretch of baseball for the Pirates. He continued that Monday night. In two innings of relief during a 6-2 loss, Nicasio struck out five Phillies. He has recorded at least one strikeout in 26 consecutive appearances, further extending the single-season Pittsburgh record for a reliever (previous: 19 games). Only Andrew Miller has a longer streak this season (28 games).

RHP Juan Nicasio made his second appearance since being demoted to the bullpen. He pitched the final three innings, allowing one hit. "Very promising after the one inning (Sunday) night," manager Clint Hurdle said. "I'd like to get him the ball a time or two before we put him in the middle of an inning, just because of this transition we're going through right now. I didn't think it would be fair to him to jump him right into the middle on an inning. We're giving him a couple outings to settle in, and he settled in very well today."

RHP Juan Nicasio made his second appearance since being demoted to the bullpen. He pitched the final three innings, allowing one hit. "Very promising after the one inning (Sunday) night," manager Clint Hurdle said. "I'd like to get him the ball a time or two before we put him in the middle of an inning, just because of this transition we're going through right now. I didn't think it would be fair to him to jump him right into the middle on an inning. We're giving him a couple outing to settle in, and he settled in very well today."

RHP Juan Nicasio (family matter) was reinstated from the restricted list. He was immediately removed from the rotation and assigned to the bullpen. Nicasio has made 12 starts this season. He is 5-6 with a 5.83 ERA.

RHP Juan Nicasio (family matter) was reinstated Friday night from the restricted list and moved to the bullpen.

Pirates RHP Juan Nicasio was placed on the restricted list Saturday because of personal reasons. Nicasio, 29, is expected to miss his next scheduled start Tuesday against San Francisco. "He needs to get back home," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "We've encouraged him to go." The Pirates have not announced who will replace Nicasio, who is 5-6 with a 5.83 ERA in 13 appearances (12 starts).

RHP Juan Nicasio will look to bounce back from a disastrous relief outing when he takes the mound for the Pirates on Thursday night in the finale of a three-game series against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Nicasio last pitched on Friday, when he was used in relief for the first time this season and took the loss after giving up six runs on four hits and two walks while striking out two over one inning in the Pirates' 9-3, 12-inning loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. The rough outing raised Nicasio's ERA from 4.50 to a season-high 5.34. Nicasio made his most recent start June 7, when he allowed one run over five innings and earned the win in the Pirates' 3-1 victory over the Mets at PNC Park. He is 3-1 with a 3.98 ERA in six games (three starts) against the Mets.

RHP Juan Nicasio gave up one run over five innings in beating the Mets 3-1 in the second game of a doubleheader, only his second win since April 29. He is 3-1 in his career against the Mets.