MLB Player News

Blue Jays left fielder Chris Colabello extended his hitting streak to 15 games, with a 3-for-4 night in Friday's win over Houston. 

Colabello doubled, his eighth of the year, drove in a run, his 17th, and scored. 

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard belted his 11th home run of the season in Friday's 5-4 loss to the Giants. Howard's two-run blast came in the first inning to give the Phillies the early 2-0 lead. 

Howard, who had two hits in four at-bats on Friday, has been in a deep funk at the plate recently. Even with the two-hit performance, Howard has just five hits in 39 at-bats over his last 10 games. 

With the Astros about to embark on a six-game road-trip that begins Friday, manager A.J. Hinch indicated that he will look to get some of his regulars a day off in the coming days.

"Giving some of our everyday players a rest here sometimes by the end of the road trip," Hinch said, per the Houston Chronicle. "We have 20 games in 20 days after this off-day next Thursday. A lot of it is against our division, so I want to keep guys feeling fresh."

Hinch specifies that right fielder George Springer and first baseman Chris Carter are likely to get a rest.

"That might mean Springer or Carter, some guys that haven’t had days off. They might get a rest day here or there. We’ll see how it goes," said Hinch.

The team is in the midst of 13 straight games without an off-day. Carter hasn't had a day off since May 2, and Springer has started all 23 games since returning from a stint on the 7-day DL due to a concussion. 

Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt went 1 for 3 with a walk and a solo home run in his team's 6-2 loss to the Mets.

Goldschmidt wsa able to crank a sixth-inning home run to pull his team to within one run, but they were unable to take the lead over the remainder of the game. The elite first baseman has delivered a .349/.470/.677 line with 16 home runs, 45 RBI and eight stolen bases in 192 at-bats.

Mets infielder Wilmer Flores will remain the team's starting shortstop for the immediate future, ESPN New York reports.

The Mets have decided to shift second baseman Daniel Murphy to third base, bumping Ruben Tejada back across the diamond to second base. Consideration was given toward moving Flores as well, with the shortstop likely heading to second base while Tejada manned shortstop, but the team will stick with Flores at his current position for now. However, the defensive alignment is subject to change.

"I'm going to stay away from the shortstop position right now because it's a firestorm," Collins said about Flores' role.

Flores has hit .250/.277/.415 with eight home runs and 24 RBI in 176 at-bats.

Astros first baseman Chris Carter pushed his hitting streak to 12 games with a 1-for-4 effort on Thursday. Carter's lone hit was a double in the fourth inning, but he was stranded. Carter also struck out three times int he 3-2 loss to the Orioles.

The power-hitting Carter is batting .375 (15 for 40) during his hit streak, including three home runs and three two-baggers. He's also struck out 16 times in the 12-game span. 

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo continues to make great strides hitting left-handed pitchers. After batting .208 in 2012 and .189 against lefties in 2013, Rizzo hit .300 off lefties in 2014 and is batting .429 against southpaws in 2015.

"I honestly just think about being as short as I can (with the swing) against lefties," Rizzo said, per the Chicago Tribune. "I’m not trying to do too much off them.

"It’s all confidence, really. The ball is falling. A couple hits fall, and you feel good. I’m seeing the ball very well off them."

Reds first baseman Joey Votto hit his 10th home run of the season during Wednesday night's 5-4 loss to the Phillies. 

Votto hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning that gave the Reds some insurance runs. The Philles responded with four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning and ultimately won the game in 11 innings. 

Votto is no hitting .325 over his past 10 games. 

He now has a slash line of .293/.387/.521 for the season. 

White Sox designated hitter Jose Abreu went 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBI in his team's 9-2 win over the Rangers on Wednesday.

Abreu has missed time this week while dealing with a finger injury, but he was none the worse for wear on Wednesday, knocking a two-run homer to cap a six-run second inning and coming back with an RBI single in the fourth. He could be in for more time as the designated hitter as he continues to recover from the injury, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

"Just to make sure throwing wise, the finger that it’s on is on his throwing hand," manager Robin Ventura said. "We want to make sure that if something does happen … we wouldn’t have to do the thing we did the other day, where we had Flow [Tyler Flowers] going to first base. DH is the safest spot [for Abreu] and having LaRoche over at first. If something happens, we can adjust."

Abreu has hit .286/.343/.497 with nine home runs and 32 RBI in 185 at-bats.

Astros first baseman Chris Carter went 2 for 3 with a pair of solo home runs in his team's 3-1 win over the Orioles on Wednesday.

Carter put his team on the board with a second-inning home run, then retook the lead with another home run in the fifth. With the home runs, Carter has now put together an 11-game hitting streak. The big night upped his line to .205/.311/.398 with 10 home runs and 29 RBI in 176 at-bats.