MLB Player News

Donaldson went 1-for-3 with a solo homer in Monday's game against the Orioles.

Donaldson extended his hitting streak to eight games with his fourth-inning blast. The third baseman's 34th home run of the year put him on pace to surpass last season's career-high total of 41 homers. The reigning AL MVP has been heating up as he makes a last ditch effort to win the award again in 2016. Over Donaldson's last five games, he has eight hits, including six home runs, five walks, 11 RBI and eight runs scored.

Donaldson went 3-for-4 with a walk, three home runs and four RBI in Sunday's win over the Twins.

It was his first career three home run game and the 10th multi-homer game of Donaldson's career. The reigning AL MVP has been overshadowed a little by teammate Edwin Encarnacion this season but Donaldson still has a fantastic .294/.407/.578 slash line with 33 homers, 91 RBI and 105 runs scored on the year with plenty of baseball left to play. He may not repeat as MVP, but his 2016 campaign may end up being just as valuable as last year's.

Machado went 3-for-5 with a run scored in Sunday's win over the Yankees.

He's racked up four multi-hit performances in his last five games with three home runs, seven RBI and six runs scored, pushing Machado's slash line on the season to .309/.360/.564. Expect him to once again be a big part of the conversation when it comes to the AL MVP at the end of the year.

Muncy is out of the lineup Sunday against the Cardinals, MLB.com's Jane Lee reports.

Lefty Jaime Garcia will be taking the mound for St. Louis on Sunday, so the A's will use a lineup almost entirely void of left-handed bats. Muncy will head to the bench as a result, giving way to Chad Pinder after making five straight starts.

Escobar is out of the lineup Sunday against the Blue Jays.

Escobar will return to the bench after drawing four straight starts in the Minnesota infield. In his place, Trevor Plouffe will start at third base, while Jorge Polanco gets the nod at shortstop.

Alvarez is out of the lineup Sunday against the Yankees, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

Alvarez will take a seat for a regular day off Sunday, as left-hander CC Sabathia is set to take the mound for the opposing Yankees. Mark Trumbo will take over as the designated hitter for the afternoon matchup.

Bregman went 2-for-4 with an RBI single, two run homer, walk and two runs in Saturday's 6-2 victory over the Rays.

The rookie extended the Astros' lead to 4-0 in the third with a 341-foot shot to left that drove home George Springer, and followed with a run-scoring hit to center in the next frame that brought in Marwin Gonzalez. Bregman now has hits in five straight and 10 of his last 11, bringing his improving season line up to .242/.301/.435 after a slow start.

Donaldson went 1-for-2 with a two-RBI single, two walks and a run in Saturday's 8-7 victory over the Twins.

The power-hitting third baseman stayed hot on a day in which he reached three times and drove in a pair of key runs with a seventh-inning single. Donaldson now has a six-game hitting streak, with two homers and six RBI over that span.

Plouffe went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer, a walk and two runs in Saturday's 8-7 loss to the Blue Jays.

He went deep for the second straight game after not having hit a homer since July 1 prior to yesterday's blast. Plouffe's 360-foot blast to right in the seventh plated Max Kepler and extended the Twins' lead to 7-3 at the time. The 30-year-old has now reached safely in four straight and tallied six RBI over the last contests.

Donaldson went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, three RBI overall and a walk in Friday's 15-8 victory over the Twins.

Donaldson has now gone deep in consecutive games and has hit the 30-homer mark in consecutive seasons. He's also hit safely in five straight and has four RBI in the last two contests.