MLB Player News

Attention major-league umpires: If Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper feels you're talking down to him, he'll let you have it. 

In Wednesday's 9-6 win over the Diamondbacks, Harper was tossed after a debatable check swing. Harper felt he checked but umpire Rob Drake called him out on strikes. Harper felt Drake should have checked with the third base umpire about the play. 

“‘You’re gonna have to check it," Harper said he told Drake, according to The Washington Post. "He said, ‘You’re really gonna act like that?’ I didn’t like that comment from him. I don’t like getting talked down to by an umpire. I respect the umpires as much as I can but to tell me I’m going to act like that I gave him a piece of my mind.”

Tigers outfielder J.D. Martinez, who left Wednesday with a back injury, returned to the starting lineup, but as a designated hitter Thursday afternoon against the Twins. Yoenis Cespedes will play left field, with Rajai Davis in right and Anthony Gose in center.

Martinez is hitting .236 (29 for 123) with seven homers and 16 RBI in 33 games.

Detroit is favored (-157) at home against Minnesota, per VegasInsider.com.

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen is not in Thursday's lineup against the Phillies. More than likely, this is just a day off for the veteran. 

After a cold start in April, McCutchen has seen his batting average rise as he's recorded hits in seven of his last eight games. 

Outfielder Gregory Polanco is back in the lineup and hitting first. First baseman Pedro Alvarez is hitting fifth. Third baseman Jung Ho Kang is hitting sixth and catcher Chris Stewart is batting ninth. 

Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson and shortstop Enrique Hernandez both hit home runs in Wednesday night's 5-4 loss to the Marlins. 

Both hit their home runs in the fifth inning. Hernandez hit a two-run homer and Pederson hit a solo shot. The Dodgers scored three runs in the inning. 

For Pederson, that's his 10th homer of the season. Hernandez hit his first of the year. 

Mariners designated hitter Brad Miller went 2 for 4 with a walk, a double, a home run and two RBI in his team's 4-2 loss to the Padres Wednesday.

Miller wouldn't be denied Wednesday, smacking a solo home run in the fifth inning to cut his team's deficit to 2-1 and adding an RBI double in the ninth to make the game 4-2. However, the rest of the team was unable to find any scoring magic, leaving the Mariners with the loss.

Miller has hit .250/.318/.427 with two home runs, 11 RBI and three stolen bases in 96 at-bats, but he's 4 for 7 with three doubles and one home run in a pair of games against the Padres.

Tigers outfielder J.D. Martinez left Wednesday's game against the Twins with an injury, according to MLB.com. 

Martinez was spotted grabbing his back in the dugout. Rajai Davis pinch-hit for Martinez in the sixth inning. 

With Charlie Blackmon receiving a night of rest, the Rockies inserted Corey Dickerson in the leadoff spot for Wednesday's contest against the Angels, per the Denver Post.

Dickerson is hitting .313 (31 for 99) with five homers and 16 RBI over 27 games. He will bat leadoff for just the second time this season.

Colorado is an underdog (+155) against Los Angeles in Anaheim.

Pirates slugger Andrew McCutchen had claimed throughout the first month of the season that his problems at the plate were the result of a faulty swing rather than a faulty left knee.

Perhaps he is proving himself right.

McCutchen has finally broken out with 10 hits in his last 26 at-bats, including a two-home homer Tuesday night against Philadelphia. It marked his first home run to center this season.

"I said that when things aren't going well that it has nothing to do with my knee," McCutchen told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "It just had to do with the fact that I wasn't playing like I should be playing. It was just a matter of time. When things get going, they're going to get going."

McCutchen hit .194 in April for only the  second sub-.200 month in his career. His average has crawled up from .185 to .229 since May 5.

Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper and manager Matt Williams were both tossed by home plate umpire Rob Drake in the seventh inning of Wednesday's game against Diamondbacks.

Harper was ejected after he struck out on a check-swing to end the top of the seventh. Williams was also tossed after arguing with Drake. Harper doubled in the second inning and finished 1 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout. He is hitting .308 on the season with 12 homers and 31 RBI.

The Twins gave slugger Kennys Vargas the night off Wednesday night against the Tigers, per MLB.com.

With Vargas out of the lineup for the second time since Sunday, the club moved Eddie Rosario to left field, Aaron Hicks to center and moved Eduardo Escobar to designated hitter.

Minnesota is considered an underdog (+121) against left-hander Kyle Lobstein and the Tigers. The current Twins roster is hitting .348 (8 for 23) against the Southpaw.