MLB Player News

Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter was given his first day off of 2015, as he was held out of Thursday's starting lineup against the Cubs. Carpenter had started all 27 games so far for St. Louis, but he has just four hits in 22 at-bats this month, so manager Mike Matheny opted to give him a rest.

Mark Reynolds received the start at the hot corner and hit fifth on Thursday, while Jon Jay moved up to the leadoff spot in the order.

The team is playing their 17th straight game without a break on Thursday, and their next schedule off-day isn't until May 11. So Matheny thought it best to give his starting third baseman a breather. 

"That's emotionally draining, physically draining," Matheny said, per FoxSports.com. "Some of these other guys have been stepping up big and got to keep them sharp."

Twins first baseman Joe Mauer received his first day off this year, as he was held out of Thursday's starting lineup against the A's. Mauer, whose last day off came on September 24, is sporting a .287 batting average this season but has yet to record his first home run of 2015.

Kennys Vargas took over at first base on Thursday, while Torii Hunter was the team's designated hitter on Thursday.

Twins manager Paul Molitor said he'd been looking for a chance to give Mauer a rest, according to the Star Tribune.

Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar, who is currently on the 7-day concussion list, was not activated before Thursday's game against the Indians. However, Escobar could be nearing a return, as he took grounders before the game, according to MLB.com, which could determine if he is cleared to return to the lineup. 

Christian Colon will continue to be the starting shortstop until Escobar is ready to come back.

Twins first baseman Kennys Vargas connected on a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning of Wednesday night's 13-0 win over the Athletics. 

Vargas' shot drove in Danny Santana and Doug Bernier. It was his lone at-bat of the game after entering the game in the top half of the eighth. Vargas is now hitting .222/.267/.346 for the season. 

Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson connected on two home runs during Wednesday's game against the Brewers, but it was not enough as the Dodgers fell 6-3.

Each of the home runs were solo shots off Brewers starter Wily Peralta. Pederson now has nine home runs on the season and is batting .272. The two home runs were his lone hits in four at-bats Wednesday.

With outfielder Coco Crisp healthy enough to return to baseball, the Athletics have a question as to what to do with Mark Canha, who's hitting .271 this season. 

One solution for the time being is to ease Crisp back in and rotate him with Canha in the outfield still, which is what manager Bob Melvin said via the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday. 

Another is to play Canha at first base so that he and Crisp can be in the lineup together. 

This season, Canha has played 20 games in the outfield, six at first base and one at third base. He's not in the lineup Wednesday as Crisp is in left field. 

Rockies manager Walt Weiss said Wednesday that center fielder Charlie Blackmon has "embraced the leadoff role and is really evolving, but he's put in the work to do that," MLB.com reports.

Blackmon, who studies video intensely, leads all NL leadoff hitters with five home runs.

"You see his goofy side once in a while, but there's a lot of intelligence behind that goofiness, and tremendous work ethic," Weiss said.

Blackmon has hit .316/.365/.579 with 14 RBI, 14 runs scored and two stolen bases in 95 at-bats coming into Wednesday's doubleheader.

Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton made things interesting Wednesday in Washington. His team appeared doomed to a blowout defeat, but he slammed a three-run homer in the eighth inning to cut the deficit to 7-5.

Alas, that was the final score and it was Stanton who blew a chance to play hero again. He came up with two on and one out in the ninth against closer Drew Storen and struck out on three swings-and-misses.

The homer was Stanton's seventh of the year - all in the last 19 games.

After starting six games in a row, Athletics outfielder Mark Canha was absent from the starting lineup on Wednesday against the Twins. While his .235 batting average over his last 10 games is rather pedestrian, he has hit three home runs and has seven RBI in that span. 

Coco Crisp, who was activated from the disabled list on Wednesday, took over in left field for manager Bob Melvin.

Cubs right fielder Jorge Soler has been dropped to fifth in the order for Wednesday's matchup with the Cardinals.

It's the third straight game in which Soler has been moved down in the order, as he saw his first action leading off Friday before resuming his familiar role in the second slot Saturday. After a day off, he batted cleanup in the team's matchup with a lefty Tuesday.

Soler had hit in one of the top four spots of the lineup in all of his starts this season before batting fifth Wednesday. The move down isn't due to production, as the right fielder is 6 for 17 over the last seven days.

The Cubs are underdogs (+109) against the Cardinals Wednesday.