MLB Player News

Garcia went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, a triple and two RBI in Thursday's 5-4 loss to Atlanta.

Garcia came a single short of hitting for the cycle Thursday. Much of the focus has deservedly been on All-Stars James Wood and CJ Abrams in Washington's high-octane offense, but Garcia is putting together an outstanding campaign in his own right. The 26-year-old has a .976 OPS over 72 games since the beginning of May, now slashing .286/.316/.566 with 23 homers, 19 doubles and 76 RBI across 367 plate appearances for the season. Among qualified batters, Garcia is trailing only Yordan Alvarez and Ben Rice in slugging percentage.

Contreras went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk Thursday in a 5-4 win over the Athletics.

The Red Sox trailed by a run going into the eighth inning, but they tied the score on a solo homer by Wilyer Abreu. One batter later, Contreras launched another long ball to center field to provide what turned out to be the game-winning run. The homer was Contreras' 23rd of the campaign, one shy of the regular-season career-high mark he established with the Cubs in 2019. With 67 RBI on the campaign, he's also on pace to surpass the career-best 80 runs driven in that he recorded last year.

Kurtz (forearm) will start at first base and bat leadoff Thursday against the Red Sox.

Kurtz made an early exit from Wednesday's contest after taking a pitch off his forearm, but he's been cleared to return to the starting nine after MRI results came back clean Thursday. The 23-year-old slugger owns an .890 OPS through 426 plate appearances on the season, but he's gone just 1-for-12 with a three-run homer and seven strikeouts since returning from the injured list Saturday.

Sheets is not in the lineup Thursday versus the Giants.

The Giants are sending southpaw Robbie Ray to the mound Thursday, so the left-handed-hitting Sheets will take a seat. Jase Bowen has the start in left field and is batting ninth.

Clemens went 1-for-4 with a grand slam in Thursday's 4-3 victory over the Royals.

Down to his final strike, Clemens launched a Matt Strahm slider over the right-field fence for a grand slam, giving the Twins an improbable 4-3 victory. It was Clemens' 19th homer of the season, matching his career high, and his fifth off a left-handed pitcher. The 30-year-old, who got the start in right field Thursday, has gone 10-for-33 (.303) over his last eight games, boosting his slash line to .244/.300/.493 across 382 plate appearances this year with 53 RBI, 51 runs scored and seven stolen bases.

Young is absent from the lineup for Thursday's contest versus the Marlins.

It marks two straight games on the bench for Young, though the first of those was the second game of a doubleheader. Brett Baty is covering first base for the Mets in the series opener versus Miami.

Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said Wednesday that Kurtz will undergo an MRI on Thursday after X-rays on his left forearm were "kind of unclear," Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Kurtz was forced to depart Wednesday's contest versus the Red Sox after being struck on the forearm by a Patrick Sandoval pitch. The Athletics should offer an update on the star first baseman's status later Thursday. Kurtz just returned from the injured list less than a week ago after missing time with a thumb injury.

Olson went 2-for-8 with a home run and three RBI across both games of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Mets.

The star first baseman generated all of Atlanta's offense on the day, launching a two-run shot off Sean Manaea in a 3-2 win for New York during the matinee before driving in the only run of the nightcap on a sixth-inning single. Olson is up to 28 homers on the season, including three in 13 games since the All-Star break -- a stretch in which he's produced a .240/.356/.460 slash line with two doubles, eight RBI and nine runs.

Murakami went 1-for-4 with a solo home run, a walk and three runs scored Wednesday against the Yankees.

Murakami delivered a clutch home run in the eighth inning to tie the game at 4-4. He also scored a game-tying run in the 11th frame. After starting slowly following his return from the injured list in mid-July, Murakami is now in the midst of a six-game hitting streak, during which he's gone 8-for-24 with three home runs, seven RBI and eight runs scored.

Manzardo went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and an additional RBI in a 6-1 win over the Reds on Wednesday.

Manzardo reached base safely three times in Wednesday's game as he continues his mini power surge over his last seven games. In those games, Manzardo has three homers and eight RBI to go along with a .714 slugging percentage, but he is struggling overall on the season with a .154 average (4-for-26) and 12 strikeouts since the break and is batting just .210 for the season.