MLB Player News

Pirates All-Star center fielder Andrew McCutchen waited until his final at-bat of the game on Thursday to extend his hitting streak. McCutchen led off the ninth with a solo home run, his 11th of the season, but it wasn't enough to avoid the 4-1 loss to the Cardinals.

"It felt good," McCutchen said, per MLB.com. "I'll take it into tomorrow."

With the homer, McCutchen has now hit safely in 16 straight games. He's batting .370 with two home runs and 12 RBI during the 16-game stretch. 

Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera has started his rehab process as he works his way back from a medial calf strain, per MLB.com.

Cabrera has started physical therapy, been given a platelet-rich plasma injection and taken hyperbaric chamber treatments for the strain. In good news, Cabrera's Achilles tendon was not involved in the injury.

"We're hoping that he will be able to return in the six-week time frame. That's our hope," team trainer Kevin Rand said. "It's going to take [whatever] time it takes."

Cabrera is expected to miss six to eight weeks with the injury.

Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner is getting the night off on Thursday, as he is being held out of the starting lineup against the Phillies. Turner has managed to stay productive in recent times, as he is batting .278 with a homer and three RBI over his last 10 games.

He is being replaced by Alberto Callaspo at the hot corner on Thursday. 

Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI in Tuesday's win over the Padres. In the process, McCutchen extended his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games.

Over the 14-game stretch, McCutchen has lifted his batting average from .287 to .301, while chipping in 10 RBI in that span. 

Yoenis Cespedes was one of four Tigers players to homer during a 7-6 loss in 11 innings to the Mariners on Tuesday. 

Cespedes tied the game at six in the eighth inning with a two-out, solo home run off Fernando Rodney. It was his 12th home run and second in as many games.

He has hit safely in six of seven games in July. He is batting .281 (9 for 32) with two home runs, three doubles, four RBI, six runs and six strikeouts in that span.

Indians outfielder Michael Brantley went 3 for 4 with a solo home run and two runs scored in Tuesday's 2-0 win over the Astros. Brantley had gone 46 games since his last longball, as he hadn't homered since May 14. 

"It felt good," Brantley said, per MLB.com. "It was a big swing at the time of the game. To go up 2-0 instead of 1-0; and one swing away, now they're two swings away."

His fifth home run of the season gave the Indians their second run in the sixth inning. He's now batting .282 over his last 10 games.

"Everybody in here knows we've got to finish this homestand strong before we go into the All-Star break," Brantley said. "And then when we come back from there, we'll start from day one just like we've been playing lately. We've been playing good, competitive baseball, we've been pitching well, and we've got to continue to do that to be successful in our division."

Pirates All-Star center fielder Andrew McCutchen pushed his hitting streak to 13 games on Monday against the Padres. He went 1 for 2 with one double, two runs and two walks.

McCutchen is batting .372 (16 for 43) with two home runs, seven doubles, nine RBI, nine runs, 14 walks, nine strikeouts and two stolen bases in his last 13 games.

McCutchen's hitting streak is tied for the longest of his career, per Baseball-Reference.com. He also had a 13-game hit streak in 2009.

Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter is catching a break in the first game of the Tuesday doubleheader against the host Cubs. He is out of the lineup as Mark Reynolds will man the position instead.

Carpenter has been in a slump. He is hitless in his last two games and has just seven hits in his last 48 at-bats. His .271 average is at its lowest point since the second game of the season.

Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes joined the hit parade Monday night in Seattle. He homered and singled as part of a 19-hit onslaught and lopsided win for the Tigers.

His solo blast in the sixth cut the deficit to 5-4 and began a 9-0 blitz over a two-inning period. He also scored in the seventh.

The big game pushed his hitting streak to four and gave him seven hits in his last 19 at-bats.

Tigers outfielder J.D. Martinez hit his 24th home run of the season during Monday's 12-5 win over the Mariners.

Martinez hit the solo shot off Hisashi Iwakuma in the fourth inning. He finished the game 3 for 5 with three runs scored and two RBI.

Martinez has now homered in four of his last five games and he has 10 RBI over that time.