MLB Player News

Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon was back at the top of the order Saturday night against the Padres.

Blackmon sat out Friday against Padres starter Ian Kennedy. DJ LeMahieu, who batted leadoff on Friday, was bumped to the No. 8 in the order.

Blackmon is hitting .290/.330/.432 with two homers and 11 RBI over 21 games.

Colorado is an underdog (+125) Petco Park, per VegasInsider.com.

For the second straight game, Justin Turner replaces Juan Uribe at third base for the Dodgers. 

Turner will make his fourth start of the year at the hot corner, batting second in the lineup. 

The Dodgers also gave a rest to shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who is out of the lineup for just the third time this year. Enrique Hernandez will start just his fourth career game at short, batting eighth in the lineup. 

"JT's been swinging good. Alex has been swinging good. Van Slyke's been swinging good. We’ve got a number of guys that are swinging good which is a good problem," manager Don Mattingly said per the Orange County Register." ... It’s a lot easier when you’re winning. I think guys are happier with what’s going on when the team’s playing well."

The Giants returned second baseman Joe Panik and first baseman Brandon Belt to the starting lineup on Saturday against the Angels. Both players received a day off on Friday.

Panik, who was the walk-off hero in the Giants' win Friday night, was back playing second base and batting second. Panik has been alternating starts with Matt Duffy over the past week.

Belt returned to first base and was batting sixth for manager Bruce Bochy on Saturday. Belt has been hitting well lately, batting .385 over his last 10 games. Although, the team is hoping he finds his power swing, as he has yet to hit a home run this year and has just five RBI.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon swapped Dexter Fowler and Jorge Soler in the batting order on Saturday against Mike Fiers and the Brewers, per the team's official website.

Soler, who has only four hits in his last 30 at-bats with 17 strikeouts, moved to the leadoff spot for the first time in his career, while Dexter Fowler was dropped to the No. 2 hole in the order. Soler went 2 for 4 on Friday. Fowler is hitting .440 (11 for 25) with a walk, a double and two RBI over his last seven games played.

Chicago is favored (-166) at Wrigley Field, per VegasInsider.com.

Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson broke open Friday's game against the Diamondbacks when he hit a grand slam off Rubby De La Rosa in the second inning to help send the Dodgers to a 8-0 win.

It was Pederson's fifth home run of the season. He finished the game 1 for 3 and is now batting .300 on the season. The four RBI were a season high for Pederson.

Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna was a perfect 4 for 4 at the plate during Friday's 4-3 win over the Phillies.

Ozuna's biggest hit came in the ninth inning when he drove in Giancarlo Stanton on a double for the game-winning run. The four hits were a season high for Ozuna. Prior to Friday's game, he had yet to collect more than two hits in any game this season.

Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon is set to sit Friday for only the second time this season. Drew Stubbs is manning the position while DJ LeMahieu will lead off.

Blackmon, who is 4-for-18 in his career against Padres starter Ian Kennedy, was hitless in his last game after four straight multi-hit performances.

The Giants are going with Matt Duffy and Andrew Susac in Friday night's lineup for their game against the Angels. 

Duffy has been alternating starts at second base with Joe Panik and has been tabbed for this one. Susac is getting the start at catcher, meaning Buster Posey will play first base.

Brandon Belt is not starting as Nori Aoki is in the lineup and playing in left field. 

Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper ended the month of April in style, cranking out a bases-clearing double in Thursday's 8-2 win over the Mets at Citi Field. Harper, who is not a stranger to fast starts, closed the month leading the Nationals in home runs (five), RBI (15), runs scored (18) and on-base percentage (.440).

"Hopefully, I keep going. That's all I want to do," Harper said, per MLB.com. "I just want to stay in the lineup, stay healthy all year and hopefully play 150, 160 games. That's all I care about. As long as we are winning ballgames, it's huge for us. I love playing in April. I don't know why. I'm very comfortable in April. Hopefully, I can feel comfortable the next five months, too."

Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter was the team's leadoff man for 329 straight starts in the last three seasons. He revealed that manager Mike Matheny approached him earlier in the week and brought up to the idea of moving him to the No. 2 spot moving forward, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"He didn't actually mention putting me there," Carpenter said. "He just said I would fit that hole well, but that 'we don't want to move you out of that leadoff spot.'

"The very next day, he decided to go with it."

Since taking over the second spot in the batting order on Tuesday, Carpenter has hit .364 (4 for 11) with two doubles, a triple and three RBI in three games.

"I'm a fan of it," Carpenter said. "I think it worked this week and I think it's going to continue to work."