MLB Player News

Tigers left fielder Yoenis Cespedes went 2 for 3 with a walk and a three-run home run in his team's 3-2 win over the A's, his former team, on Wednesday.

"I was confident I was going to do something," Cespedes said, per MLB.com. "But not necessarily hit a home run. I still have a lot of affection for that team, but I play for this team now and I want to win."

Cespedes hadn't homered since May 15 before slugging his second home run of May in the fifth inning to put his team up three runs. The A's were able to pick up runs in the seventh and eighth innings but fell short in the attempted comeback. Cespedes, who has four multihit efforts in his last eight games, owns a .291/.327/.489 line with six home runs, 27 RBI and three stolen bases in 182 at-bats.

Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon connected for his seventh home run during a 6-4 win Wednesday at Cincinnati. Blackmon parked a two-run homer off Mike Leake in the second inning, giving Colorado a 5-1 lead.

Blackmon, who went 1 for 4 with one walk, has homered twice in his last six games. However, he is batting just .176 (12 for 68) with five RBI in his last 19 games. His batting average has dropped from .317 to .262 in that span.

Cubs right fielder Jorge Soler is out of the starting lineup on Wednesday against the Nationals, the team announced.

It will be just Soler's second day off of the season after starting 21 consecutive games. Junior Lake will draw just his fourth start of the year and bat sixth. Soler is hitting .273 with 16 RBI in 176 at-bats this season. The Cubs are currently the underdogs (+105) against Washington.

Indians outfielder Michael Brantley filled up the box score in Wednesday's victory over the Rangers. Brantley reached base in all of his plate appearances, going 2 for 2, a walk, an RBI and a run scored.

Brantley lifted his season average up to .313 and has hit safely in eight of his last 11 games. 

With the Indians ahead with a comfortable lead, manager Terry Francona decided to remove Brantley from the game in the top of the seventh. Brantley has had just one day off since the middle of April, so this was an opportune time to get him some rest.

After starting eight games in a row, Mariners shortstop Chris Taylor will get the day off on Wednesday, as he is being held out of the lineup versus the Rays. In those eight games, the young Taylor has just six hits in 28 at-bats. So manager Lloyd McClendon has decided to give him a rest and clear his head a little.

Brad Miller will get the start at shortstop with Dustin Ackley entering the lineup in left field for the afternoon affair. 

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt has been on a offensive tear as of late. He continued the trend on Tuesday, hitting 1 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI in his team's 6-3 win over the Brewers.

For the season, Belt is hitting .301/.375/.510 with five home runs and 20 RBI in 143 at-bats.

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper hit his 17th home run of the season in Tuesday night's 3-2 loss to the Cubs. 

His home run came at a needed time, with the Nationals down 1-0 in the top of the seventh. Hitting leadoff that inning, Harper hit a solo shot to tie the game up. It was Harper's lone hit of the game as he finished 1 for 4. 

Since entering the majors in 2012, Harper has showed enormous potential. This season, though, it's all come together with the young ballplayer performing as one of the game's best.

Since a three-home run game against the Marlins on May 6, Harper has hit .467 at the plate with 12 of his home runs coming in that span. 

For the year, Harper now has a slash line of .331/.467/.734. 

Twins DH Kennys Vargas has been crushing the baseball following his demotion to Triple-A Rochester. Vargas homered for the third time in six games Monday.

He has a .409/.458/.864/1.322 slash line since joining the Rochester lineup. He has hit safely in all but one game. He also has one double, two walks, five strikeouts, six walks and six runs.

Vargas was demoted to the minors last week after batting .248 with three home runs, 10 RBI and 30 strikeouts in 29 games for Minnesota.

Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton went 2 for 4 at the plate in Miami's 4-2 loss to the Pirates on Monday. Stanton got things going early when he ripped an RBI single in the first off of Charlie Morton. 

Then in the third, Stanton blasted a solo home run to right field off of Morton, his 13th of the season. Stanton is now hitting .234 with 42 RBI in 171 at-bats this season.

Dodgers infielder Justin Turner hasn't been given the title just yet, but it's becoming apparent he is the team's primary third baseman over Alex Guerrero and Juan Uribe, according to the L.A. Times. 

Turner has started 13 of 20 games this month for Los Angeles, but has not started more than three consecutive games all year.

"We try to be three [games] on, one off and two on and one off," manager Don Mattingly said. "Trying basically to not let him go too far at one time."

Mattingly is trying to juggle the three players in his infield as much as possible, keeping them all around equal playing time. 

"It's tough with Alex and Justin right now," Mattingly said. "We're trying to put the best lineup out there. I do think as this continues on, there's going to be a point where Juan's going to be a valuable part. But right now, those two guys have been swinging the bat real well and playing solid defense."