MLB Player News

Phillies outfielder Darin Ruf is not in the starting lineup for Monday's game against the Pirates.

Ruf has made seven straight starts while seeing time at first base and left field. With Ruf out of the lineup Ben Revere is shifting to left and Grady Sizemore is getting the start in right field for the second straight game.

The Phillies are home underdogs (+155) against the Pirates Monday, per VegasInsider.com.

The Cubs open a series against the Mets on Monday with a slightly revamped lineup that features right fielder Jorge Soler hitting cleanup for only the second time this season. 

Soler only has three home runs on the season, but with catcher Miguel Montero out of the lineup in place of David Ross, the Cubs will slide his bat into that power position. 

Soler's other appearance in the 4-hole came on May 5, when he went 1-for-4 in a loss to the Cardinals. The Cubs (-142) are favorites in Monday's contest. 

Third baseman Matt Carpenter will return to the Cardinals on Tuesday after missing four straight games dealing with what the team called "extreme fatigue," per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 

Carpenter experienced dizziness, an elevated heart rate and trouble sleeping last week. The team ran tests, thinking it was a virus, but they did not reveal anything. So manager Mike Matheny decided to give Carpenter four days off. 

"Whenever a guy is that worn out we have to figure out a way," Matheny said. "It would make 'Carp' absolutely sick that we're having conversations like this. The reason he is able to do what he's been able to do is because of the work that he puts in."

Carpenter is hitting .333 with five homers and 20 RBIs this season, but was only 4-for-22 in six games so far this month. 

Justin Turner's pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning Sunday broke a 5-5 tie and produced the winning run for the Dodgers against the Rockies.

"That's what you like about J.T., no matter if he's in the starting lineup or not, you're getting a quality at-bat if you send him up there,'' Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said.

The homer was Turner's fifth of the year and fourth in the month of May.

"I hit it OK," Turner said. "I didn't think it was going to be a homer but you never know, I guess, playing in Colorado."

Although he did not homer on Sunday, Bryce Harper continued his hot hitting by going 2 for 4 with a double and RBI in the Nationals' win over the Braves.

Harper delivered an RBI double in the first inning to get the Nats on the board first.

Over his last four games, Harper is 12 for 16 (.750 avg.) with 13 RBI.

As Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper powers his way this weekend into the record books, Hall of Famer and former Nationals manager Frank Robinson discussed the progress Harper has made since being drafted in 2010, reports MLB.com. 

"It took him a couple of years to get his feet off the ground," Robinson said. "I think he now understands the pitchers in the league what they are trying to do to him. He made some adjustments. He is the real thing. I think you're going to see a lot of exciting things out of this young man for a lot of years."

Harper, this week, became the first player since Hee-Seop Choi (Dodgers) in 2005 to hit six home runs in three games.

Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton is not in the starting lineup for Sunday's game against the Giants.

"I talked with G four or five days ago, just planted the seed," manager Mike Redmond said, per MLB.com. "Looking at the schedule, this looked like it would be a good day. Not thinking otherwise."

Stanton has hit just .167/.233/.278 with one home run in 36 at-bats in May.

"With him, sometimes he will get out of his strike zone," Redmond said. "It happens with all hitters, not just him. Sometimes it’s good to just take a day, and let them sit back and relax. We’ve done that with a few guys. Give him a mental break, and get him back in there tomorrow. It’s tough to get him out of the lineup. He has the ability to hit a home run every time. But at the same time, too, we need him for the long haul. We need him fresh."

It's the first break for Stanton after starting each of the team's first 31 games in right field. Ichiro is getting the start in right field and batting third.

The Marlins are slight underdogs (-102) against the Giants in San Francisco Sunday.

Among Marlins victories this year, their triumph Saturday night will not be the most memorable for slugger Giancarlo Stanton.

Stanton racked up four strikeouts for the first time this season and 11th time in his career. He reached base only on a walk leading off the eighth inning.

He now has 44 strikeouts in 31 games, putting him on pace for 235 for the year. That would break the all-time record set by Mark Reynolds in 2009.

It took Marlins center fielder Marcell Ozuna 27 games to blast his first home run of the season. It took him two more to hit his second.

Ozuna went deep again Saturday night, blasting off in the fourth to get his team off on the right foot in a win at San Francisco. He also walked and scored in the eighth.

He is 15-for-44 in his last 11 games with seven runs scored.

Bryce Harper crushed a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday to lift the Nationals over the Braves.

"Right when I hit it, I knew it was gone," Harper said.

Harper has now hit six home runs in three games, one off the major league record set by Shawn Green in 2002.

"Certainly, we don't expect him to hit a home run every day," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "But he can get in streaks like this where he sees the ball very well."

He's also collected 12 RBI has posted a .667 avg. (8 for 12) over his three-game power surge.