MLB Player News

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen made it back into the starting lineup Tuesday against the Cubs after sitting out one game with a knee injury. McCutchen is batting .368 (25 for 68) with a .603 slugging percentage in his last 17 games.

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt matched a career high with four hits Monday during an 8-0 win over the Nationals. Belt also hit his sixth home run of the season.

He went 4 for 5 with four runs scored. Belt singled three times and added a solo blast in the fifth off Craig Stammen. The four-hit game gives Belt a .261 average. He had four hits total in his previous five games combined.

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper was back in action after missing two games due to a bruised left knee. Harper went hitless in the loss to the Giants. 

The 20-year-old went 0 for 4 with a strikeout in his first game since May 17. He's batting .288 on the year with 11 homers and 22 RBI. He's also struck out 26 times. 

Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper returned to action after a two-game absence on Monday in San Francisco. The Nationals have Harper batting third and starting in right field. 

Harper was dealing with a bruised left knee. He enters the game Monday batting .171 (6 for 35) with two home runs and four RBI in 12 May contests.

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen told The Pittsburgh Tribune that he injured his knee sliding into home a few days ago.

McCutchen, who missed Sunday's game against the Astros, has no structural damage on his knee. He is hitting .281 with six homers and is listed as day-to-day.

"I just felt a little uncomfortable, and wanted to make sure everything was OK," McCutchen told MLB.com.

Rookie outfielder Marcell Ozuna hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the sixth inning for the Marlins, which turned out to be the game-winning hit in a 2-1 victory Sunday against the Diamondbacks. Ozuna has managed two multi-RBI game through 18 appearances, which account for five of his eight RBI.

Ozuna has hit safely in five straight games, but he's batting just .278 (5 for 18) with one triple and three RBI in that span.

"That kid, the pressure of any situation doesn’t bother him," manager Mike Redmond said, per the Sun-Sentinel. "He’s learned so much up here. Early in the game he was really aggressive, swinging early in the count. [Hitting coach] Tino [Martinez] and myself talked to him about trying to work counts and get a little bit deeper into counts and try and get a little bit better pitch to hit. That was a great at-bat. He got a good pitch up in the zone and made him pay."

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper missed a second-straight game Sunday against the Padres because of a bruised left knee. Harper is batting .171 (6 for 35) with two home runs and four RBI in 12 May games.

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen has been scratched from Sunday's lineup with knee pain, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

The cause and extent of the injury are both unclear. McCutchen played the entirety of Pittsburgh's 11-inning loss to Houston on Saturday and has played in 42 of 43 games this season.

Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter knocked in two runs in a loss Saturday against Milwaukee.

Both RBI came on his only hit in four at-bats, a sixth-inning single. He also walked and is hitting .303/.386/.452.

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper was held out of Saturday's lineup against the Padres with a bruised left knee, according to The Washington Times.

Harper told reporters he is sore from his recent collision with the outfield wall. MRI results on his abdomen came back clean. Harper could be held out as a precaution Sunday in order to return at full strength Monday at San Francisco. He is hitting .171 with two home runs and four RBI in 12 May games.