MLB Player News

A matchup against Phillies premier left-hander Cole Hamels has Rockies leadoff hitter and center fielder Charlie Blackmon grabbing some pine Friday night.

Brandon Barnes is set to take over both those spots.

Blackmon is just 8-for-51 against southpaws this season and hitless in four at-bats lifetime against Hamels.

This will mark only his fourth absence from the lineup this season.

Pirates OF Andrew McCutchen went 3 for 5 at the plate to help lead the Pirates to an 11-5 victory over the Padres on Thursday.

McCutchen drove in two runs and scored two during the contest. Prior to his three-hit game Thursday, McCutchen was hitting .382 with three home runs and five RBI in his last nine games.

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt drove in the only run the Giants would need during a 7-0 win over the Braves on Thursday.

Belt hit a solo home run off Braves starter Shelby Miller in the sixth inning to give the Giants a 1-0 lead, which they would not relinquish. Belt finished the game 2 for 4 with two runs scored and one RBI. He is now batting .305 on the season.

Prior to his two-hit game Thursday, Belt was hitting .347 with five home runs and 13 RBI in his last 12 games.

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper continued his hot streak in the month of May. 

In Wednesday night's 3-0 win over the Cubs, Harper hit his 17th home run of the season in the sixth inning. Harper hit the homer off of Jon Lester nad blasted it into deep left center field. 

For Harper, that's his 13th homer in the month of May. He finished the game 1 for 3 with two walks, giving him 42 walks for the year. Harper is now hitting .331/.470/.745 for the year. 

Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon connected for his seventh home run during a 6-4 win Wednesday at Cincinnati. Blackmon parked a two-run homer off Mike Leake in the second inning, giving Colorado a 5-1 lead.

Blackmon, who went 1 for 4 with one walk, has homered twice in his last six games. However, he is batting just .176 (12 for 68) with five RBI in his last 19 games. His batting average has dropped from .317 to .262 in that span.

Cubs right fielder Jorge Soler is out of the starting lineup on Wednesday against the Nationals, the team announced.

It will be just Soler's second day off of the season after starting 21 consecutive games. Junior Lake will draw just his fourth start of the year and bat sixth. Soler is hitting .273 with 16 RBI in 176 at-bats this season. The Cubs are currently the underdogs (+105) against Washington.

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt has been on a offensive tear as of late. He continued the trend on Tuesday, hitting 1 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI in his team's 6-3 win over the Brewers.

For the season, Belt is hitting .301/.375/.510 with five home runs and 20 RBI in 143 at-bats.

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper hit his 17th home run of the season in Tuesday night's 3-2 loss to the Cubs. 

His home run came at a needed time, with the Nationals down 1-0 in the top of the seventh. Hitting leadoff that inning, Harper hit a solo shot to tie the game up. It was Harper's lone hit of the game as he finished 1 for 4. 

Since entering the majors in 2012, Harper has showed enormous potential. This season, though, it's all come together with the young ballplayer performing as one of the game's best.

Since a three-home run game against the Marlins on May 6, Harper has hit .467 at the plate with 12 of his home runs coming in that span. 

For the year, Harper now has a slash line of .331/.467/.734. 

Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton went 2 for 4 at the plate in Miami's 4-2 loss to the Pirates on Monday. Stanton got things going early when he ripped an RBI single in the first off of Charlie Morton. 

Then in the third, Stanton blasted a solo home run to right field off of Morton, his 13th of the season. Stanton is now hitting .234 with 42 RBI in 171 at-bats this season.

Dodgers infielder Justin Turner hasn't been given the title just yet, but it's becoming apparent he is the team's primary third baseman over Alex Guerrero and Juan Uribe, according to the L.A. Times. 

Turner has started 13 of 20 games this month for Los Angeles, but has not started more than three consecutive games all year.

"We try to be three [games] on, one off and two on and one off," manager Don Mattingly said. "Trying basically to not let him go too far at one time."

Mattingly is trying to juggle the three players in his infield as much as possible, keeping them all around equal playing time. 

"It's tough with Alex and Justin right now," Mattingly said. "We're trying to put the best lineup out there. I do think as this continues on, there's going to be a point where Juan's going to be a valuable part. But right now, those two guys have been swinging the bat real well and playing solid defense."