MLB Player News

Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain is back in the starting lineup for Tuesday's matchup with the Twins.

Cain was given his first game off Monday and will be back in the No. 3 spot to face Twins lefty Tommy Milone. He has hit .500/.583/.850 in 20 at-bats against left-handers this season.

Second baseman Omar Infante is out of the lineup Tuesday as expected. Christian Colon draws the start at second base and will bat ninth.

The Royals are favorites (-145) at home Tuesday.

With two hits Monday, including a double, Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen leads all MLB players with 49 hits against the Cubs since the start of 2013, per MLB.com.

He will be looking to add to that total Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, as the Pirates finish out a four-game series with Chicago. The Cubs will throw Travis Wood on Tuesday, Jason Hammel on Wednesday and Kyle Hendricks on Thursday.

McCutchen has never faced Hendricks in his career, but he is batting .259 (7 for 27) with one double, two home runs, seven RBI, seven walks and seven strikeouts against Wood and is batting .300 (6 for 20) with one double, two home runs, three RBI, one walk and four strikeouts against Hammel.

In 95 career games vs. Chicago, McCutchen is batting .333 with three triples, 23 doubles, 13 home runs and 51 RBI.

Cubs outfielder Jorge Soler didn't just extend his hitting streak to seven games Monday night against Pittsburgh. He did it in style.

Soler slammed four hits, including a seventh-inning double that contributed to a three-run inning that gave his team the lead for good. He is 12-for-32 during his tear and now boasts a slash line of .320/.364/.520 with two home runs and nine RBI in just 12 games.

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said Monday star center fielder Andrew McCutchen "has moved better the last couple of games," per MLB.com.

McCutchen has been playing through left knee soreness. However, the injury has only cost him to miss one game and he has played in eight straight games, including Monday's contest against the Cubs.

The four-time All-Star is batting .211 (8 for 38) with one double, two home runs and nine RBI in 11 games. 

Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera has ridden a hot start to a .426/.491/.660 line with two home runs and 10 RBI in 47 at-bats over his first two weeks.

Many pitchers focus on getting ahead of batters with a first-pitch strike, but doing so has failed to matter against the two-time MVP. Cabrera has hit a remarkable .500/.545/.833 in 30 at-bats after going 0-1 in the count, with both his home runs coming in such a scenario. He's also been a beast with runners in scoring position, hitting .500/.529/.750 with one home run and eight RBI in 16 at-bats. The slugger will open a four-game series against the Yankees Monday.

Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter went 2 for 3 at the plate in St. Louis' 2-1 win over the Reds Sunday. Carpenter provided most of the offense for the Cardinals in the game, smacking a leadoff home run in the first inning over the center field wall off of Mike Leake, his second of the season.

"I didn't know I had that in me," Carpenter said to MLB.com. "I got a good swing off, and I guess it was carrying a little bit better tonight than usual, because I don't hit balls up there often."

He later added a single to boost his average to .400 in 45 at-bats this season. He also leads the team with 10 RBI from the lead off spot in the order.

Infielder Justin Turner had a career-high four hits Sunday in the Dodgers' win over the Rockies.

Turner went 4 for 5 with his first three doubles of the season and an RBI. He's now 6 for 15 (.400 avg.) on the year.

Yoenis Cespedes hit his first career grand slam, and his two-homer day produced a career-high six RBI in the Tigers' win over the White Sox on Sunday. 

"I've faced [Quintana] a few times. That doesn't mean, just because I face him, I'm going to have a good game, but I've batted well against him," Cespedes said through Tigers media relations director and translator Aileen Villarreal.

Cespedes went 2 for 4 and raised his average to .300 for the season. He now has three home runs and 10 RBI. 

The Mariners will be without three regulars in the starting lineup for Sunday's game against Texas. 

Catcher Mike Zunino, shortstop Brad Miller and left fielder Dustin Ackley are all out of the lineup, getting rest. 

Jesus Sucre gets the start at catcher, just his second appearance of the season. He'll hit ninth in the order. 

Willie Bloomquist gets his fourth appearance of the year, starting at short and batting seventh. Justin Ruggiano will play left and bat sixth. 

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt is starting in left field in Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks.

Belt has spent all but one inning at first base since the start of the 2013 season, with his only non-1B appearance coming last year, when he played one inning in right field in a game. The position isn't completely foreign to the infielder, as he made 30 starts in 2011 and four starts in 2012 in left field.

The alignment allows manager Bruce Bochy to start Buster Posey and first base and insert Andrew Susac at catcher. With Belt in the outfield, Gregor Blanco is not in the starting lineup.

The Giants are favorites (-135) against the Diamondbacks Sunday.