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Matt Carpenter DH | STL
Cardinals' Matt Carpenter: Leaves yard in win
Carpenter went 1-for-4 with a solo home run and a walk in a win over the Reds on Sunday.
Carpenter's 389-foot shot to left center in the seventh snapped a 4-4 tie and served as his first round tripper since March 31. The 33-year-old ramped up his hard contact over the two-game set in Monterrey, Mexico against the Reds, as he also laced his first triple of the campaign in Saturday's contest.
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Jorge Soler DH | LAA
Royals' Jorge Soler: Goes deep again
Soler went 1-for-4 with a home run and walk in a 9-8 victory against the Indians on Sunday.
The 27-year-old has been an all-or-nothing guy in 2019. He's always struggled with contact, but Soler leads the league with 24 strikeouts early this season. However, he also has nine extra-base hits, including four homers. Owners would like to see Soler make more contact, as he is hitting just .217, but he does possess a .500 slugging percentage with 13 RBI and seven runs in 60 at-bats.
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Jesse Winker DH | NYM
Reds' Jesse Winker: Crushes fourth homer
Winker went 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI in Sunday's 9-5 loss to St. Louis.
Make that four homers in the last five games for Winker, who started the season 1-for-24. All eight of his RBI this season have come in the last five games as well.
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Joc Pederson DH | TEX
Dodgers' Joc Pederson: Cranks sixth homer
Pederson went 1-for-4 with a solo home run and a walk in the Dodgers' 7-1 win over the Brewers on Sunday.
Pederson continued his early-season power surge, blasting his sixth long ball of the season with this second-inning solo shot off Jhoulys Chacin. The 26-year-old has a 1.012 OPS through 51 at-bats, so he's off to a great start; however, his vast struggles against left-handed pitching he's demonstrated throughout his career mean he figures to continue to rotate out in matchups against southpaws.
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Brad Miller DH | SD
Indians' Brad Miller: Handed a DFA
Miller was designated for assignment by the Indians on Sunday, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports. He went 1-for-4 with an RBI in the series finale.
Miller was booted from the roster to make room for the return of Jason Kipnis (calf), who's set to join the team in Seattle. Miller could conceivably get scooped up by another big-league team while on waivers, considering his versatility and the fact that he's gotten off to a decent start in 2019. He's batting .250 with a home run, four RBI and a stolen base over 13 games.
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Brandon Belt DH | TOR
Giants' Brandon Belt: Returns to action Sunday
Belt (neck) is starting at first base and batting cleanup Sunday against the Rockies, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reports.
Belt was scratched from Saturday's lineup due to neck stiffness, but his quick return to the lineup indicates his absence was likely precautionary. The 29-year-old is slashing .231/.333/.500 with three doubles, three home runs and eight RBI through 60 plate appearances.
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Miguel Cabrera DH | DET
Tigers' Miguel Cabrera: Batting second Sunday
Cabrera is batting second and serving as the designated hitter in Sunday's game against the Twins.
With Josh Harrison (shoulder) out of the lineup, the Tigers are shifting their regulars up, which puts Cabrera in the unusual spot of second. This is just the fourth time the 35-year-old has batted second in his 15-year MLB career, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports. Expect Cabrera to slide back down to third in short order.
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Justin Turner DH | CHC
Dodgers' Justin Turner: On bench Sunday
Turner is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against Milwaukee.
Turner started the past five games at third base and went 5-for-19 with one double and one RBI, but he will take a seat for the series finale. Max Muncy will start at third base and bat fifth while Cody Bellinger steps in at first base.
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Matt Carpenter DH | STL
Cardinals' Matt Carpenter: Makes noise from top of order
Carpenter went 2-for-4 with a triple and a walk in a loss to the Reds on Saturday.
Carpenter has yet to hit his stride at the plate in the early going, but Saturday's effort was certainly a step in the right direction. The veteran's three-bagger was his first of the season, and he's now reached safely in all eight of his April starts. Although he sports a middling .235 average through his first 60 plate appearances, it's worth noting the notoriously slow-starting Carpenter hit just .145 last April before embarking on a torrid four-month stretch that transformed his season.