MLB Player News

With a left-hander on the mound Wednesday, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle has juggled his lineup for the matchup against the Phillies.

Left-handed batters Gregory Polanco and Pedro Alvarez are out of the lineup, while Corey Hart covers right field and Sean Rodriguez handles first base. Josh Harrison will move up to the leadoff spot in the order.

Second baseman Neil Walker is sliding down to the seventh spot in the lineup. This is the first time all season he has hit lower than sixth in the order.

Giants third baseman Matt Duffy provided the bulk of the offense at the plate during Tuesday's win over the Astros.

Duffy ripped a bases-clearing double in the third inning off Colin McHugh and singled in two runs in the fifth. He added another single and finished 3 for 4 with five RBI in an 8-1 victory. He is hitting .300 (21 for 70) with a home run, 15 RBI and a .333 on-base percentage this season.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy said that although he's starting Matt Duffy Tuesday at third base, Casey McGehee, the team's regular third baseman, has not been benched, reports MLB.com.

Casey McGehee has started 23 of the Giants' 32 games this year at third, including all three of their weekend seris against the Marlins.

Duffy has served as a utility infielder for the Giants this season, starting games at all four infield positions this year.

In 84 at-bats, McGehee is hitting .179 with two homers, three doubles and seven RBI.

Giants center fielder Angel Pagan and catcher Buster Posey are back in the starting lineup on Tuesday against the Astros while third baseman Casey McGehee will head to the bench, the team announced.

Pagan and Posey got the day off on Sunday with Gregor Blanco starting in center and Adnrew Susac behind the plate. Pagan is hitting .322 with eight RBI in 121 at-bats this season. Posey is hitting .287 in 108 at-bats this year. 

McGehee heads back to the bench after starting all three games in the weekend series against Miami. Matt Duffy will start at third and bat eighth. 

The Giants are currently the underdogs (+145) against Houston.

Brewers second baseman Scooter Gennett is out of the starting lineup for Tuesday's matchup with the White Sox. Gennett has started six of the eight games since returning from the disabled list on May 5. He has struggled since then, however, recording just four hits including a home run, over that span.

Hector Gomez is starting at second base Tuesday while batting eighth. Jean Segura, who was rested on Monday, returns to the starting lineup at shortstop while batting leadoff. 

The Phillies assigned infielder Cody Asche to the minor leagues so he can receive work in left field, the team announced.

"Going forward as an organization it's better for me to play left field so I've got to go do that," he said, per The News Journal. 

Asche has been spending time before games taking fly balls in the outfield. He is hitting .235 in 102 at-bats this season.

The Phillies are expected to call up third baseman Maikel Franco to replace Asche on the roster, reports CSNPhilly.com. Franco is hitting .341 with four home runs in the minors. 

Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado is having another strong year at the plate, and he has maintained his pace thus far in May. 

In seven games this month, Arenado is hitting .296/.296/.704 and has registered three home runs - as many as he hit during the first month of the season. Over the last seven days, however, Arenado's numbers have tailed off a bit, as he is just 3-for-15, as the entire Rockies team has stumbled to a nine-game losing streak. 

Arenado remains a big run producer for the Rockies, with a .364 batting average and six RBIs with two outs and a runner in scoring position. 

For a guy batting .348, Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu sure is cold. His average has fallen 69 points over the last six games.

LeMahieu has two measly singles in his last 20 at-bats, though it's certainly excusable. He was destined to slump, having entered May batting .406. And he still boasts a .400 on-base percentage.

Giants infielder Matt Duffy came up in the ninth inning with something to prove. After Buster Posey was intentionally walked to face Angel Pagan, Marlins pitcher Steve Cishek struck out Pagan, bring Duffy to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs.

Duffy came up huge, cracking a 1-0 pitch from Cishek into left field, driving in the game-winning run.

"He's a good hitter, he battles up there," manager Bruce Bochy said to CSN Bay Area. "That's a tough matchup for a righty (against Cishek). The thing I liked was that he was aggressive. He got his pitch to hit and he let it go."

Bochy will keep his utility man involved, but could give him more time if Casey McGehee continues to struggle.

"When he's not playing, it's a nice weapon we have on the bench," Bochy said. "He can pinch-run, pinch-hit … we saw what he did last year. You can really use him in critical situations because he's such a tough-nosed ballplayer and he wants to be up there with the game on the line."

Duffy is hitting .228 with 10 RBI in 66 at-bats this season.

Giants catcher Buster Posey, shortstop Brandon Crawford and center fielder Angel Pagan are not in the starting lineup for Sunday's game against the Marlins.

Second baseman Joe Panik will serve as the team's No. 3 hitter, a slot that normally features Pagan, while shortstop Matt Duffy will slot into Panik's regular No. 2 spot. First baseman Brandon Belt has been bumped to the cleanup role.

The Giants are a coin flip (-105) against the Marlins Sunday.