MLB Player News

Blandino (face) is starting at second base and leading off Thursday against the Phillies.

He left Wednesday's game after getting hit by a pitch near his face, but it grazed his shoulder first, and apparently it was insignificant enough that he was able to get right back in the lineup for this day game. Blandino is hitless in four at-bats since joining the big-league club Sept. 1.

Flores started against a right-hander and went 1-for-4 in Wednesday's 4-1 win over the Padres.

Flores has been a lineup regular against left-handed starters, but his hot hitting, coupled with the struggles of Jake Lamb, has prompted manager Torey Lovullo to re-think the deployment of Flores, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports. On Wednesday, the manager walked back comments he made last week about the infielder's ability to play an expanded role and then put him in the lineup in place of Lamb against San Diego right-hander Chris Paddack. "We'll see how that plays out over the next couple days," Lovullo said prior to Wednesday's series finale against the Padres, in which Flores started at second base and batted fifth. "I'm thinking about it for right now." Since returning from a foot injury July 19, Flores has hit .380/.424/.633 over 79 at-bats. During the same time frame, Lamb slashed .176/.290/.330 over 91 at-bats.

Goldschmidt went 2-for-4 with a walk, double, triple and four RBI on Wednesday against the Giants.

Goldschmidt didn't go deep but still put together an impressive effort, recording a pair of RBI on each of his extra-base hits. He has now driven in multiple runs in three of his past 10 games. Despite the strong run of late, Goldschmidt has taken a step back this season, as he is on pace to post the worst slash line of his career since a 48-game sample in 2011.

Blandino exited Wednesday's game against the Phillies after being hit by a pitch near his face, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Blandino had the 97 mph fastball graze off his left shoulder and it may have hit him in the face, though the broadcast replays weren't fully clear. The 26-year-old at least avoided a direct impact to the head and was able to leave the field under his own power. Per Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer, manager David Bell said after the game that Blandino was okay.

Alonso went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in an 8-4 victory against the Nationals on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old continues to display incredible power, as he's already smashed three homers this month and 11 since Aug. 5. Behind 74 extra-base hits, Alonso nearly has a .600 slugging percentage in 2019. He is batting .267 with 45 home runs, 105 RBI, 86 runs and one steal in 509 at-bats this season.

Alonso went 3-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and an additional run Tuesday in the Mets' 11-10 loss to the Nationals.

Alonso squared up on a Daniel Hudson offering in the ninth inning for his 44th home run of the season, giving his team a six-run lead that was eventually squandered by the bullpen. The Mets' recent slide now leaves them five games off the pace for the second wild-card spot, but the drop down the standings is through no fault of the star rookie. Over his last 10 games, Alonso is slashing .293/.356/.610 with four home runs and seven RBI.

Cabrera will start at second base and bat second Wednesday against the Mets, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.

The hot-hitting Cabrera appears to have unseated Brian Dozier as the Nationals' primary option at the keystone, as he'll man the position for the third straight game and make his seventh start in the last nine games. Cabrera went 2-for-4 with a walk, double and two runs in Tuesday's 11-10 comeback win, boosting his slash line to .328/.405/.578 since signing with the Nationals in early August. Expect manager Dave Martinez to lean heavily on Cabrera until his bat cools off.

Cooper went 2-for-5 with an RBI double and solo homer in a 5-4 victory against the Pirates on Tuesday.

The first baseman smashed his homer to break a tied game in the 10th. This was his first contest with either two hits or two RBI since Aug. 18; he had only one such performance in August. Cooper is batting .272 with 13 home runs, 45 RBI and 49 runs in 346 at-bats this season.

Naylor isn't in the starting lineup for Tuesday's game against Arizona.

Naylor has reached base safely in seven of his last eight contests, but he'll head to the bench for the second game of the series. Nick Martini is set to man left field and bat second.

Beaty went 2-for-4 with a home run, a stolen base and three RBI in a victory over Colorado on Monday.

Beaty drove in his first run by taking a pitch to the arm with the bases loaded in the first inning, plated another with an infield single in the second, and crushed a solo home run to right field in the sixth. The 26-year-old entered the season as a fringe top-30 prospect in the organization but has done well in his time with the big club, slashing .293/.344/.502 with eight homers, 42 RBI and four steals in 78 games.