MLB Player News

Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen continued to struggle in Sunday's extra-inning loss to the Cardinals. The former MVP went 1 for 7 on the afternoon, dropping his season batting average to a paltry .193. He has just seven hits over his last 38 at-bats.

The slow start through the first month of the season is rather uncharacteristic for McCutchen, who owns a lifetime .260 batting average in March/April. He has been bothered by a knee injury since spring training, though he has started all but two games for the Pirates this season.

Rockies leadoff hitter Charlie Blackmon delivered two solo home runs on Sunday in a loss to the Padres.

The outfielder also homered on Saturday and now has five for the season.

"We had good, competitive at-bats," Blackmon said. "Results-wise, we did well against him [Shields] -- we scored quite a few runs, Nolan had some good at-bats to drive in three off of him. We came to play and put it on him a little bit with the sticks, more than we were expecting."

His 3 for 5 day raised his average to .316.

Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter went 1 for 3 at the plate in St. Louis' 3-2 win over the Pirates in 14 innings on Sunday.

Carpenter did his damage in the fourth inning when he took a Vance Worley pitch out of the park for a solo shot, his fourth of the season. Carpenter was removed larter on after dealing with "light headness." 

Carpenter, who also struck out twice, boosted his average to .365 with 16 RBI in 96 at-bats this season. 

Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter left Sunday's game against the Pirates with light headness, the team has announced.

Carpenter was 1 for 3 with a home run before exiting.

Kolten Wong subsequently entered the game at second base and Peter Kozma, who started at second, moved over to third.

Cubs center fielder Dexter Fowler and right fielder Jorge Soler have assumed their regular spots in the batting order Sunday, with Fowler leading off and Soler following him in the second slot.

Manager Joe Maddon bumped Soler to the leadoff role Saturday, wanting to send a message that the right fielder was "out there to score runs." He went 1 for 3 with a walk in the game and is now 3 for 7 in his team's series against the Brewers. Fowler is back in the leadoff spot after going 0 for 4 with two strikeouts as the No. 2 hitter Saturday.

The Cubs are heavy favorites (-160) against the Brewers Sunday.

Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner went 2 for 3 at the plate in Los Angeles' 6-4 win over the Diamondbacks on Saturday.

Turner got things going early when he ripped a solo home run in the first inning off of Jeremy Hellickson, his third of the season. Turner also doubled and scored three runs in the contest.

Turner is now hitting .300 with six RBI in 40 at-bats this season.

Dodgers center fielder Joc Pederson went 1 for 5 at the plate in Los Angeles' 6-4 win over the Diamondbacks on Saturday. 

Pederson got things going in the seventh when he ripped the first pitch he saw from Evan Marshall over the center field wall, his fourth consecutive game with an at-bat in which he's hit a home run, becoming the first Dodger to accomplish that feat since Bill Sudakis in 1969, per the Elias Sports Bureau.

"Obviously, huge for us," manager Don Mattingly said after the game, per MLB.com. "It shows how strong Joc is, to go the opposite way, there's a lot there. I do think he's making adjustments."

Pederson is now hitting .292 with six home runs and 15 RBI in 65 at-bats.

Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon went 2 for 4 at the plate in Colorado's 4-2 loss to the Padres Saturday.

Blackmon started things off with a double in the first inning, but was left stranded at third. Then in the third, Blackmon crushed a 1-0 pitch from Brandon Morrow over the center field wall, his third of the year.

Blackmon is now hitting .300 with 12 RBI in 90 at-bats.

Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to give St. Louis an 11-inning win over Pittsburgh on Saturday. 

"I came up there I was waiting to see what happened. He threw the first pitch right down the middle and I figured, 'OK, I guess they're going to pitch to me,' so I was ready to hit the next one," Carpenter said. 

Carpenter went 0 for 5, but his 15th RBI of the season was the difference in the game. The hitless game after back-to-back two-hit outings dropped his average to .366.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon decided to give right fielder Jorge Soler a new outlook by moving him into the leadoff spot for Saturday's game against Milwaukee. 

"It's not about changing mechanics or trying new things, but just to think differently," Maddon said, per MLB.com. "I'm all about when a hitter is not going as he can, the last thing you want to do is change the physical mechanics. You want to change the mental mechanics first."

"He sees his name in the leadoff spot, he has a different vibe about him," Maddon continued. "The whole job I want to get across to him is, 'You're out there to score runs. Don't worry about homers, don't worry about hits. You're out there to score runs."

The move worked. Soler snapped a 6-for-35 cold spell by going 1 for 3 with a walk from the leadoff spot on Saturday.