MLB Player News

Rays first baseman Jake Elmore broke a scoreless tie with a two-run home run in the fifth inning of Saturday's win over Boston. 

Elmore hit his second homer of the year and first since April 22, his first Rays gave of the season. 

"He seems to get some really big hits at important times," Rays manager Kevin Cash said, per MLB.com.

Elmore went 1 for 3 and reached 15 RBI on the season. 

"You know what? When I hit it, I didn't even think home run," Elmore said. "I just thought, 'Please stay fair,' because I knew it was at least getting down. Then I was like, 'Oh, man, that might get out of here.' ... I was just worried about it staying fair."

Nationals third baseman Yunel Escobar is not in the starting lineup for Saturday's game. 

Escobar left Friday's game after being hit by a pitch. Escobar suffered a hand injury, and while X-rays were negative, he was still suffering from swelling on Saturday. 

Escobar will be replaced at third by Danny Espinosa, who moves over from second. Dan Uggla fills in at second base for the first time since May 27. 

Enrique Hernandez will start in left field for the Dodgers on Saturday, for the first time in 26 games. 

Alex Guerrero sits after starting the last three games in left. Hernandez gets his third start of the year there and will bat seventh in the lineup. 

Rays second baseman Logan Forsythe went 3 for 5 with a run scored in Friday's loss to Boston. 

Forsythe has hit in five straight with 10 hits in the last 18 at bats. 

Forsythe was also caught stealing for the second time this year. 

A mini-slump and 25 starts in the last 26 games has Angels second baseman Johnny Giavotella on the bench Monday night against Seattle.

His replacement is Taylor Featherston.

Giavotella has just two hits in his last 20 at-bats.

A slump has landed Rays first baseman Jake Elmore on the bench Friday night against Boston.

Elmore, who has started 12 of the last 13 games, is on a 1-for-18 slide that has dropped his average to .245, its lowest point since May 3.

It seems as if the hamstring issue that sidelined Astros second base Jose Altuve last week is a thing of the past. On Thursday, Altuve went 3 for 4 with two doubles, two stolen bases and three runs scored in the 4-0 win over the Yankees. This was his first multi-hit performance since June 8.

Altuve is 6 for 16 in the four games since returning from a short absence with the hamstring injury.

With the two stolen bases, Altuve is up to 20 on the year, giving him four straight seasons of at least 20 steals.

"That's part of my game against everyone," Altuve said, per MLB.com. "Try to get on base, get to the next base. We knew we only needed a couple runs to win the game because we had our best pitcher out there."

Padres utility man Yangervis Solarte started and capped off a six-run eighth inning, but it wasn't enough to avoid the 13-8 defeat at the hands of the Giants on Thursday. Solarte came on as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning, smacking a leadoff double with his team down 9-2 at the time.

Solarte came around to score on the very next hit. Then, after the Padres put up another four runs, Solarte came up for a second time in the eighth, this time with runners on the corners and two outs. He promptly lifted a run-scoring single to draw the Padres within a run.

But they wouldn't be able to capitalize any further, and the Giants put up a four-spot in the bottom half to put the game out of reach.

Solarte had been hitless over his previous 10 at-bats coming into Thursday's contest. He is hitting .242 overall this season. 

The Yankees reinstated Stephen Drew from the paternity list Thursday, the team announced.

Drew missed the last two games while on the paternity list. Meanwhile, the team also recalled infielder Gregorio Petit from Triple-A. Petit hit .200 with five RBI in 35 at-bats for the Yankees earlier this season.

For the first time in the last 11 games, the Astros will have second baseman Jose Altuve in the leadoff spot for Wednesday's game at the Los Angeles Angels, the team announced.

Altuve will go against Andrew Heaney, who he has never faced in his career. Over his last 12 games, Altuve is hitting .244 with no home runs and three RBI.

The Astros are the favorites (-100) at Los Angeles on Wednesday.