MLB Player News

Rays third baseman Evan Longoria connected for a three-run homer off Scott Kazmir in the fifth inning of Friday's game against the Athletics, helping propel Tampa Bay to a 5-2 win. 

"He was throwing the ball really well, and it was a little bit different than what we had seen in the video," Longoria said, per MLB.com. "He was up as high as 96 [mph], which you knew he had that, and you know he was capable of doing those things, but it was something that we hadn't really seen.

"There were two strikes, and I was just trying to put the ball in play. I had a similar situation earlier in the game, where he threw two fastballs and they were both down in the zone, and I grounded out to third. The plan was just to try and drive the ball into the outfield and score one run, and I ended up getting three out of it."

Longoria, who went 2 for 3 with one walk and one stolen base, has a .270/.345/.473/.818 slash line through 20 May games. He also has three doubles, four home runs and 17 RBI this month.

Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson returned to the starting lineup Saturday against the Mariners after he was sidelined by calf soreness Friday. Donaldson did make a pinch-hit appearance Friday.

Donaldson heads into Saturday's game with a .299/.342/.507/.850 slash line over his last 18 games. 

Left-hander James Paxton is on the mound for Seattle. Donaldson is batting .389 with one double, three home runs and six RBI in nine games against left-handed starters in 2015.

Twins utility man Eduardo Escobar is back in the starting lineup for Friday's game against the White Sox. Escobar did not start the last two games with the team in a National League park, but he's starting as the designated hitter and batting sixth on Friday.

Escobar has been hitting well lately, batting .346 with a home run and 11 RBI over his last 11 games. 

Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson will get his first day off this season, as he is being held out of the lineup on Friday against the Mariners. Donaldson has hit well lately, batting .270 with two home runs and seven RBI over his last 10 games, batting solely out of the top two spots in the lineup.

Manager John Gibbons said Donaldson, who has started each of the team's first 43 games this year, has been playing on a "bad calf" and was looking to give him a day off, acording to SportsNet.

Danny Valencia will get the start at the hot corner, while Ezequiel Carrera will move up to the leadoff spot the batting order. 

The Blue Jays got a home run each from Edwin Encarnacion and Danny Valencia in their 8-4 win over the Angels on Thursday. 

For Encarnacion, that's his 10th home run of the season. Encarnacion's shot was of the three-run variety and occurred in the bottom of the fifth inning. The homer also scored Steve Tolleson and Jose Bautista. 

This snapped a two-game hitless streak for Encarnacion. He finished the game 1 for 4 but struck out twice. He now holds a slash line of .231/.315/.455. 

Valencia hit his first home run of the season, a solo shot, which happened in the third inning. He finished 1 for 4 and is now hitting .339/.350/.508. Valencia has now recorded a hit in four consecutive games. 

Indians shortstop Jose Ramirez went 2 for 3 with two walks, two runs scored, one RBI and two stolen bases in his team's 4-3 win over the White Sox on Wednesday.

Ramirez hasn't been a force at the plate for much of the season but turned things on against the White Sox, going 5 for 10 with three walks and three stolen bases in the last three games. He broke a 1-1 tie with an RBI single in the seventh inning and his team didn't relinquish the lead over the remainder of the game.

"He looks like he's starting to play with some confidence," manager Terry Francona said, per Northeast Ohio Media Group. "His energy rounding the bag at first ... he looks like the Jose we became really fond of last year. That's very welcome.

"His batting average (.198) is going to be low for a while, but if he starts playing like that it will give us a huge lift."

Ramirez has hit .198/.260/.261 with one home run, seven RBI and eight stolen bases in 111 at-bats.

Making his third consecutive start at first base for the Athletics, Max Muncy launched a solo home run in Tuesday's loss to the Astros. The sixth-inning bomb was his second of the season and in the last three games.

Over the three game stretch, Muncy has brought his season average up from .227 to its current .286 clip. He will likely continue to get regular playing time for now with Ike Davis on the disabled list.

Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe hit a two-run home run in the second inning of Tuesday's win over Pittsburgh. 

Plouffe went 2 for 4 and went deep for his sixth homer of the year. He also hit his sixth double of the season and now has 20 RBI. 

Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson went 1 for 3 at the plate in Toronto's 3-2 loss to the Angels on Tuesday. 

Donaldson led things off in the first with a solo home run off of Hector Santiago, his ninth of the season. He later brought home another run on a sacrifice fly in the fifth.

Donaldson is now hitting .316 with 28 RBI in 158 at-bats this season.

Orioles third baseman Manny Machado has hit just .217/.269/.304 in 23 at-bats against left-handers this season.

Machado struggled against southpaws in 2014 as well, posting a .642 OPS against lefties and a .802 OPS against righties, but the split has been more pronouced this season, as the third baseman has powered to a .288/.366/.519 line while hitting all six of his home runs against righties.

Machado is set to face Mariners righty Taijuan Walker on Tuesday but then has a pair of matchups against left-handers on Wednesday and Thursday.