MLB Player News

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard and second baseman Chase Utley are out of the starting lineup for Sunday's game. 

Both starters were rested against a left-handed pitcher. Howard is replaced in the lineup by Darin Ruf, who gets his seventh start at the position. He'll bat third. 

Utley is replaced by Cesar Hernandez, who starts at second for the first time in 15 games. He'll bat sixth. 

Carlos Ruiz also gets Sunday off. Replacing him at catcher is Cameron Rupp, who gets his 14th start of the year. He'll bat eighth.

The Diamondbacks have been speed demons so far this season. Arizona entered Saturday's game tied for second in the National League with 40 stolen bases, led by A.J. Pollock with 10 and Paul Goldschmidt with eight.

"What we've really tried to do the whole year is if there's an opportunity there, be aggressive with it," Goldschmidt said to MLB.com. "It's just another way we can get a guy into scoring position and make it a little bit easier on offense to score."

Pollock is tied for fourth in the NL with his stolen bases and 12 different players have recorded at least one stolen base.

"If it is a good spot and it's a good opportunity to take one, we'll try to take it," Pollock said. "We've got a pretty dynamic team and overall our team speed is pretty good. You've got a couple guys that kind of fly under the radar with speed and they can sneak one here and there."

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo was the hero in Saturday night's come-from-behind win over the Diamondbacks. Rizzo went 2 for 5 and tied a career-high with six RBI. 

In the fifth inning, Rizzo cleared the bases with a three-run double to give the Cubs a 4-2 lead. Then, with the game tied at six in the top of the ninth, Rizzo hit a three-run home run to put the Cubs up 9-6, which would be the final score.

The homer was Rizzo's ninth of the season and the six RBI give him 29 on the year. 

Blue Jays right fielder Chris Colabello went 1 for 3 at the plate in Toronto's 3-2 loss to the Mariners on Saturday. Colabello did his damage in the fourth inning when he belted a James Paxton pitch over the left field wall for a solo home run, his third of the season.

Colabello, who is now hitting .379 with 10 RBI on the year, has hit safely in four consecutive games. 

Astros first baseman Chris Carter had multiple hits for the first time in 23 games, dating back to April 28.

Carter went 2 for 3 with a walk and scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth. He improved his average to .168.

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard fell a triple shy of the cycle in Saturday's 8-1 win over the Nationals. Howard singled in the first, had an RBI-double in the third, and launched a solo home run in the fifth. On the afternoon, the big guy went 3 for 5 with two RBI and a run scored.

His solo shot in the fifth was his 10th of the season, and he is now hitting .268. At this time last year, Howard was hitting .234, as he looks to continue his rebound campaign in 2015. 

The resurgence of Blue Jays right fielder Chris Colabello continued Friday night with his eighth multi-hit game since his promotion on May 6.

Colabello slammed three hits, including a two-run homer off Mariners closer Fernando Rodney in the ninth inning that made things interesting. He also singled twice to sweeten his already-sweet slash line to .381/.431/.556.

The blast gave him his first two-RBI game of the season.

Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt made good use of the extra rest he got on Thursday. The slugger, who sat out Thursday's game due to rest, went 3 for 5 with a home run and three RBI in his team's 5-4 win against the Cubs on Friday.

Goldschmidt tied the game with a two-run home run in the 10th inning off Cubs' closer Hector Rondon.

In 41 games, Goldschmidt is hitting .331/.429/.623 with 11 home runs and 35 RBI in 151 at-bats.

Angels DH C.J. Cron is mired in a slump to start the season. Cron is hitting .200 with a .496 OPS. 

As a result, Cron has seen his playing time dwindle, starting just twice in the last 10 games.

Of course, with limited at bats, it will be tough for Cron to find his swing. The question the Angels must answer is whether Cron should stay on the Major League bench or go down to Triple-A to get regular playing time. 

"If you are getting at bats at the major league level you don’t have to get them seven days a week, but if you are getting them one day a week then there’s a discussion of what’s best for the team and what’s best for the player," manager Mike Scioscia said, per the Orange County Register. "C.J. has gotten enough at-bats where if he’s swinging like he can, he’d be contributing, but he hasn’t found that swing yet."

Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who was rested on Thursday, is back in the starting lineup for Friday's game against the Cubs. But, Goldschmidt is not batting in his typical clean-up spot.

Instead, he will bat third for the first time this year, while third baseman Yasmany Tomas hits fourth. Tomas got off to a slow start at the plate following his promotion on April 15. But he's been red-hot lately, going 14 for 32 with three doubles and a home run over his last nine games.