MLB Player News

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt received a day off Thursday against the Mets, as catcher Buster Posey drew the start at first base. It was the second time in seven games and just fourth time since May 1 that Belt wasn't in the starting lineup.

Belt is batting .241 (7 for 29) with one double, one home run, six RBI, three runs, three walks, nine strikeouts and two stolen bases in eight June games.

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt hit his eighth home run of the season during Wednesday night's 8-5 win over the Mets. 

This marked Belt's first home run in the month of June. He finished the game 2 for 5 with two RBI and a run scored. He also struck out once from the plate. He's now hitting .296/.371/.519 this season. 

Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter went 2 for 5 with a RBI in his team's 4-2 win over the Rockies on Wednesday.

Carpenter snapped a five game hit-less streak with the multi-hit performance. 

Carpenter is hitting .297 with eight home runs and 31 RBI in 209 at-bats this season.

Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner will miss his second-consecutive game during Wednesday's contest against the Diamondbacks, reports TrueBlueLA.com.

Turner is suffering from a left knee contusion, which he sustained during Monday's game. He was replaced at third by Alberto Callaspo, who will bat seventh.

With Turner's knee showing signs of improvement, manager Don Mattingly said he hopes to have Turner back for Friday's game, reports the Orange County Register. The Dodgers are off Thursday. 

The Dodgers are favored (-180) over the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

Marlins center fielder Marcell Ozuna was one of the only offensive bright spots during the 7-2 loss to the Blue Jays on Wednesday. Ozuna saved his only hit of the game for his final at-bat, a solo home run in the top of the ninth inning. 

The home run was his fourth of the season, but his first since May 11. Ozuna is still batting a respectable .288, and he extended his current hit streak to 11 games on Wednesday. 

Marlins manager Dan Jennings made a few tweaks to his lineup Wednesday against the Blue Jays, including moving slugger Giancarlo Stanton to cleanup for the first time this season. Stanton had hit third in every game he played this season.

Taking the third spot in the lineup was outfielder Christian Yelich, who hit first, second, fifth, sixth and seventh this season before Wednesday's game.

Stanton is having a pretty good start to June. He is batting .321 (9 for 28) with a .857 slugging percentage, 1.224 OPS, three doubles, four home runs and five RBI in seven games. In 98 career games batting cleanup, Stanton has a .263/.504/.868 slash line.

Yelich has a .280/.366/.753 slash line in 25 career games batting third. He is off to slow start in June, batting .200 in seven games, but he is batting .276 since May 23.

Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon went 1 for 4 in Tuesday's win over St. Louis. 

Blackmon singled in the fifth inning to extend his hitting streak to seven straight games. 

Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton hit two home runs in Tuesday night's 4-3 loss against the Blue Jays. 

Stanton hit solo shots in the first and seventh innings. He now has 21 home runs this season. Stanton is now hitting .333 with eight home runs over his past 10 games. He holds a slash line of .245/.332/.586 this season. 

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper provided the lone positive note in an otherwise dismal showing in Tuesday's 6-1 loss to the Yankees. 

Harper went 2 for 4 and hit a solo home run in the game. The homer was his 20th of the season. Harper also hit a double, giving him 13 for the year. The Nationals only recorded six hits all game, with Harper and Yunel Escobar accounting for four of them. 

Harper now has a slash line of .330/.465/.723. 

Dodgers center fielder Joc Pederson is out of the starting lineup for Tuesday's game against the Diamondbacks. Pederson has appeared in every game this season, and had started each of the last 22 games for the Dodgers. Manager Don Mattingly said Pederson was "worn down", so he opted to give him a rest.

The youngster has gotten off to a rather slow start in June, batting .229 (8 for 35) in nine games this month. So he'll get a day of rest with Chris Heisey batting leadoff and playing center field on Tuesday.