MLB Player News

Machado went 1-for-2 with a solo homer, two walks and three runs in Friday's 6-5 loss to the Blue Jays.

The young slugger represented a significant portion of the Orioles' offense on the night and was a constant thorn in the side of Blue Jays pitching. Machado's 388-foot blast to right center in the eighth brought Baltimore within one, but Roberto Osuna was able to slam the door on them in the ninth. It was the second round-tripper in the last three games for Machado, who's also hit safely in eight of his last nine contests.

Moncada has been working out at third base with Double-A Portland, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports.

Red Sox general manager Mike Hazen confirmed that the organization has been working Moncada at third base prior to Sea Dogs' road games. Hazen also said the plan is to continue to introduce Moncada to positions other than second base, with the likelihood he'll get some practice time in the outfield. It's no secret that the pressing needs at the major-league level are third base and left field, so it's natural to see if Moncada can become an option at one of those spots.

Plouffe (ribs) is set to begin his rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester on Monday after going through a good batting practice Thursday, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Plouffe has been out since early July as he's been recovering from a cracked rib. He seems to be progressing nicely, and after competing in a few rehab games with Rochester, Plouffe could be ready to rejoin the big league club by next weekend.

Valencia is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Indians.

This will be the second consecutive game on the bench for Valencia after sitting out Wednesday's series finale against the Rangers. The 31-year-old doesn't have a concrete starting position, but has been playing almost every game for the A's since the early weeks of May. For Friday's game, Oakland will go with Billy Butler at DH and Yonder Alonso at first.

Escobar went 2-for-4 in Thursday's win over Baltimore. Escobar started at third base with Miguel Sano getting the day off. However, he'll likely take over as the everyday shortstop after Eduardo Nunez was traded to San Francisco.

There is a chance Jorge Polanco could share at time at shortstop as the team may want to give him regular at-bats after being called up from Triple-A, but Polanco will likely get a boost in playing time in any scenario in the final two months.

Longoria went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer in the 3-1 victory over the Dodgers on Wednesday.

His home run in the fourth gave Tampa Bay the lead for good. Longoria has a modest four-game hitting streak and four home runs and 10 RBI in the last 10 games. He is slashing .292/.340/.545 with 23 home runs, 57 RBI and 52 runs in 391 at-bats this season.

Plouffe (ribs) hit soft toss Wednesday and will have a live batting practice session Friday, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press reports.

Plouffe is scheduled to go on a rehab assignment in the near future, as long as his upcoming batting practice goes without any issues. The team has yet to say how long Plouffe's rehab assignment will be, but it's apparent that he'll likely return to the team at some point in early August.

Valencia is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Rangers.

Despite giving up the third base job to Ryon Healy a couple weeks ago, the A's have still found ways to get Valencia in the lineup almost every day. However, Khris Davis will start at DH and Yonder Alonso will get the nod at first base Wednesday.

Donaldson went 2-for-6 with a home run, a double and three RBI on Tuesday in the Blue Jays' exciting 12-inning win over the Padres.

Donaldson set the tone Tuesday with a two-run shot in the top of the first inning with no outs off San Diego starter Andrew Cashner. The Blue Jays later trailed the Padres 6-4 in the 12th inning, when Donaldson helped finish the night with a RBI fielder's choice that setup teammate Devon Travis to score the winning run and complete the comeback on a walk-off wild pitch later that inning. The reigning AL MVP is set to contend for the title once again, now with a 1.002 OPS that ranks second in the AL only to veteran DH David Ortiz.

Bregman went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts in his MLB debut Monday against the Yankees.

Yankees starter Michael Pineda, along with relievers Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller, combined to strike out 12 Astros in their 2-1 win. Bregman, who hit sixth in the lineup Monday, may soon move up to second in the batting order to bridge the gap between George Springer and Jose Altuve. That could happen as early as Tuesday when the Astros face southpaw C.C. Sabathia.