MLB Player News

Carter is out of the lineup Monday against the Nationals.

Carter has been surprisingly durable for the Brewers this season, starting 77 of 81 games at first base. He'll get a regular day off for Monday's early contest, however, giving way to Jonathan Lucroy at first base while Martin Maldonado mans the backstop.

Goldschmidt went 2-for-5 with a solo homer, a steal and two runs Sunday against the Giants.

Goldschmidt's 15th homer of the year came in the sixth inning to bring the Diamondbacks within two runs in a game they'd go on to lose in extra innings. With the blast, he broke a 12-game homerless drought and now has a .510 slugging percentage on the season.

Flores went 6-for-6, the second Met to ever do so, with a pair of home runs in the team's 14-3 win over the Cubs on Sunday.

Edgardo Alfonzo was the other Met to collect six hits in a game, performing the feat on August 30, 1999. Despite Flores' big game, he'll likely lose playing time when Jose Reyes is brought back to the majors. When that occurs, Flores will become the super-utility player he was intended to be to open the season.

Bour (ankle) is out of the lineup on Sunday night against the Braves.

Bour left Saturday's game after tweaking the ankle in the field, and was later diagnosed with a left ankle sprain. That ailment will cost him a start Sunday, as Chris Johnson will get the nod at first base. Consider Bour day-to-day heading into Monday's series opener on the road against the Mets.

Freeman, who raised his season average 34 points in June with a .346 month, is already hitting .400 over the first two games of July after a 3-for-4 performance in Saturday's 9-1 victory over the Marlins. He had a two-run homer and scored twice as well.

The 26-year-old continues to leave his early-season struggles in the dust, and he's now tallied multi-hit efforts in four of the last seven games. Freeman got the day started off right against Jose Fernandez when he plated Jace Peterson with a 417-foot shot to center field in the first, staking the Braves to an early 2-0 lead. With considerably improved play over the last month-plus, Freeman has his season line up to a solid .289/.371/.511.

Votto (shoulder) will return to the Cincinnati lineup Sunday against the Nationals, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Votto was a late scratch Saturday due to shoulder soreness, but the ailment doesn't appear serious enough to hold him out through Sunday's series finale. The Reds can surely use the offensive presence of Votto in their lineup, as the veteran is coming off a month of June in which he posted a 1.015 OPS and raised his season batting average more than 30 points.

Cabrera will be held out of Sunday's starting lineup due to knee soreness, Adam Rubin of ESPN New York reports.

According to manager Terry Collins, Cabrera's knee "has been barking a little bit," so the team will sit him out as a precaution. What that phrase means exactly from a medical perspective remains to be seen, but the Mets will take a conservative approach here, which likely means Matt Reynolds will get the start at shortstop Sunday afternoon.

Joseph is out of the lineup Sunday against the Royals, MLB.com's Todd Zolecki reports.

Joseph will effectively give way to Ryan Howard at first base for the third time in the last five games. On June 10, Joseph had accumulated a respectable .323 batting average with an OPS that stood at 1.010. In the 18 games since, the 24-year-old is slashing just .116/.127/.203 with 19 strikeouts and just one walk. With numbers like those, it's no surprise to see him losing playing time, although Howard and his .148 batting average don't necessarily represent much of an improvement.

Smith continued his recent stretch of red-hot hitting Saturday, going 4-for-4 with two homers and five runs batted in against Double-A New Hampshire.

Smith has six home runs since June 24, giving him 10 on the season along with 58 runs batted in. Power has always been a question mark in his game, but he is doing his best to dispel that notion lately. If Smith continues to hit as well as he has recently, a promotion to Triple-A Las Vegas could occur in the near future.

Rizzo went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI against the Mets on Saturday.

Rizzo looks well on his way to a berth in the All-Star Game, as his 20 home runs and 60 RBI have him well ahead of his pace from last season, when he finished with 31 homers and 101 RBI.