MLB Player News

Duffy (Achilles) will make another rehab appearance for Triple-A Durham on Wednesday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The newly-acquired shortstop went 2-for-3 with a walk in his second appearance for Durham on Tuesday, following a 3-for-6 showing over two games with High-A Charlotte last Thursday and Friday. Duffy's ascension to the big league club appears imminent, with Wednesday's contest potentially serving as his final one in the minors before a call-up.

Ramirez went 2-for-4 with two RBI, stole a base and scored a run in Tuesday's victory over the Nationals.

Nationals' starter Max Scherzer took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Francisco Lindor singled with one out to break it up. One batter later, locked in a scoreless tie, Ramirez roped an RBI double off the wall in right-center to open the scoring. Two pitches later, the 23-year-old swiped third for his 13th stole base of the season, and on the subsequent pitch, Ramirez scored on a single by Lonnie Chisenhall to give his team a 2-0 lead. In a matter of four pitches, the switch-hitting infielder changed the entire complexion of the game by putting his full array of talents on display. Ramirez is now riding a 13-game hitting streak in which he's logged eight multi-hit efforts en route to raising his average to .305, its highest mark since June 11.

Plouffe (ribs) is back in the lineup Monday against the Astros.

As expected, Plouffe has been activated from the disabled list and will return to the lineup for the first time in more than a month. The veteran, who was dealing with a cracked rib, recently completed a rehab assignment at Triple-A Rochester, which included playing at both first base and third base over the weekend. He'll start at third base and bat fifth in the order behind cleanup man Miguel Sano on Monday.

Machado homered in three straight at-bats during the first three innings of Sunday's 10-2 thrashing of the White Sox.

He went 0-for-3 the rest of the day, but that may have simply been an act of mercy on Machado's part. His seven RBI set a new single-game career high while he became just the second player in MLB history to hit home runs in each of the first three innings of a game, the first being Carl Reynolds of the White Sox back in 1930.

Ramirez went 2-for-3 with a walk, a run scored and a stolen base in Sunday's loss to the Yankees.

That extends his hitting streak to 12 games, during which Ramirez has eight multi-hit performances to push his slash line on the season to .302/.360/.428. The steal was also his 12th of the year as he continues to extend his new career highs in almost every fantasy category.

Muncy will start at second base and bat second in the order Sunday against the Cubs.

Muncy will be making his third start in four games at the keystone, suggesting that he might be viewed as the team's primary option at that position while Jed Lowrie (foot) remains on the DL. There's little reason to go out and grab Muncy, since he's sitting on a .240 average with one homer, three RBI and four runs over 58 plate appearances this season.

Escobar is out of the lineup Sunday against the Rays, Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Following Eduardo Nunez's trade to the Giants, Escobar has taken over as the Twins' primary shortstop, starting 10 straight games prior to Sunday's day off. He's gone 0-for-11 over the last three contests, so sitting out could give Escobar a chance to recharge. Jorge Polanco will cover shortstop for Escobar.

Longoria went 2-for-3 with a solo homer and a walk in Saturday's 7-3 victory over the Twins.

Longoria blasted a 383-foot shot in the third off Jose Berrios, his first round-tripper since July 27. The veteran third baseman is only slashing .190/.250/.381 in 21 August at-bats, but his 24 homers represent his best figure in that category since 2013.

Moncada will miss about a week of action due to a sprained left ankle, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports.

Moncada suffered the injury Friday night while sliding into third base. Boston president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said the organization feels lucky that the injury wasn't worse. "Fortunately, it's not major," Dombrowski said. "They did everything, I don't know if they had MRI or X-rays, but they did all that's necessary and it's definitely a sprain, the lowest type sprain he'll be out about a week."

Despite being hit by a pitch on the head in Friday's game against the Royals, Donaldson will start Saturday's contest, Sportsnet's Barry Davis reports.

Donaldson was fortunate to remain in Friday's game after being struck, and he did not suffer any aftereffects Saturday outside of some swelling on his cheek. He will man the hot corner Friday and again hit third in the Blue Jays' new-look batting order.