MLB Player News

Sosa went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Friday's 12-4 loss to the A's.

He got the White Sox on the board by slicing a Zach Neal cutter the other way over the right-field wall in the second inning, but Chicago was already in a 5-0 hole at that point. Sosa has started four of the last five games at second base as Elvis Andrus shifts into a utility role, and the younger infielder has earned the assignment by batting .273 (6-for-22) over his last seven games with two homers and seven RBI.

Westburg went 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base in Friday's 5-4 win over the Rockies.

Westburg had gone 16 games without drawing a walk, hitting .246 with 14 strikeouts, five doubles and six RBI in that span. The infielder again started at second base, which appears to be his most likely position when there's a southpaw starting for the opponent. Westburg is slashing a solid .265/.304/.401 with two home runs, 17 RBI, 19 runs scored and four steals over his first 44 major-league contests.

Julien went 1-for-5 with a three-run homer, a walk and two runs scored in Friday's win over Texas.

Julien drilled a three-run shot during Minnesota's six-run seventh frame but also struck out four times. It was his 11th homer of the year and first since July 26. Over his previous 22 games since that last home run, Julien posted a .621 OPS with just four RBI. The rookie infielder is now slashing .285/.378/.479 with 24 extra-base hits and 41 runs scored through 78 games.

Diaz is not in the lineup Friday versus the White Sox.

Diaz, who also sat out of Thursday's series opener, is slashing just .159/.264/.333 over his last 22 games (72 plate appearances) dating back to July 29. His season OPS has fallen from .716 to .676 in that span.

Dubon is not in the lineup Friday against the Tigers.

Dubon has slashed .313/.382/.458 in 55 plate appearances since the calendar flipped to August, but he is currently struggling to carve out regular playing time with the Astros getting healthier as a whole. Yordan Alvarez, Chas McCormick and Kyle Tucker will start across the outfield Friday and Jose Altuve is covering second base.

Frazier is out of the lineup Friday against the Rockies.

Jordan Westburg will start at second base and bat seventh as the Orioles take on left-hander Kyle Freeland. Frazier has slashed just .200/.290/.346 in 62 plate appearances this year versus southpaws.

Andrus is not in the lineup Friday against the Athletics.

Lenyn Sosa will cover second base and bat eighth. Andrus is presumably getting a routine breather after coming to life with a .352/.361/.578 slash line across his last 72 plate appearances dating back to Aug. 4.

Kemp went 2-for-4 with a double, a solo home run and an additional run in a win over the White Sox on Thursday.

It was an unusual night for Kemp, considering he hit out of the No. 5 spot in the order for only the third time all season and proceeded to belt just his fourth long ball of the campaign. Kemp got off to a quiet start in August, but he's heated up over the last six games by going 5-for-11 with two doubles, Thursday's homer, two RBI, two walks and Thursday's pair of runs.

Julien isn't in the Twins' lineup for Thursday's game against Texas, John Shipley of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Southpaw Andrew Heaney will start on the mound for the Rangers, meaning the left-handed bat of Julien will stay put in the Twins' dugout to begin the game. Kyle Farmer will take over at second base and bat seventh.

Diaz isn't in the Athletics' lineup Thursday against the White Sox.

Diaz's home run Monday represents his only hit in 17 trips to the plate across his last six games, so he'll get a day off Thursday to regroup. Jonah Bride will step in as Oakland's third baseman and bat eighth.