MLB Player News

Mariners shortstop Brad Miller netted two singles, one RBI and one run in five at-bats Tuesday against the A's. It was his seventh multi-hit game in August.

Miller is batting .260 (20 for 77) with a .455 slugging percentage, .742 OPS, two home runs, three doubles, three triples, eight RBI and nine runs in 18 August games.

Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton continued to show signs of waking up Tuesday, as he picked up three hits in a 6-4 loss to the Dodgers. 

Stanton, who extended his hitting streak to a modest seven games in the outing, went 3 for 5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. He is now hitting .215 in the month of August, though his average is .333 in 30 at-bats during his hitting streak. 

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt made up for some lost time Tuesday, snapping a three-game hitting streak with a three-hit game.

Belt went 3 for 4 while ending up a home run short of the cycle. He had a double and a triple as part of his game, but ended up with no runs drive in or scored in a 3-2 win over the Red Sox.

Belt is hitting .276 on the season, but has been red hot with a .379 average in the month of August. 

Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera's final swing of Tuesday's 6-3 loss to the Twins might not have just cost the Tigers the game; it could also end up costing Cabrera time, as he appeared to suffer an injury.

"You could see it in his facial expression,'' manager Jim Leyland told MLive.com after the game.

Cabrera winced after striking out to end the game, and it appears as if he may have re-aggravated his lingering abdomen strain. He has been able to play through the injury, but has been forced to miss four games as a result. It is not yet clear whether he did injure his abdomen, or if it is a different, unrelated issue.

"It looked like it might be the area of the stomach," Leyland said. "Not sure if it was the groin, or up in the stomach area, but he was in some pain."

Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter is not in the team's starting lineup Tuesday against the Brewers.

Carpenter will be replaced at second by Kolten Wong. David Freese will take Wong's normal spot at third. Carpenter is hitting .312/.383/.474 in 481 at-bats. 

Tigers manager Jim Leyland said he's contemplated moving Victor Martinez to third base and Miguel Cabrera to DH, according to MLive.com. Leyland said he initially pondered the idea when Cabrera was nursing a strained abdomen.

"Gene Lamont and I talked about it one night," Leyland said. "In fact, we even had (first-base coach) Rafael Belliard tell Victor that there's a slight, slight possibility this might happen."

Leyland said he would prefer to keep his current alignment, but Martinez has proven to be effective at first base when he's filled in for Prince Fielder.

"He’s got good hands, it’s just the matter of the quickness of the ball," Leyland said. "He takes ground balls all the time during batting practice, so, Victor can catch the ball."

Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton clubbed his 15th home run Monday against the Dodgers. 

Stanton added the the team's lead in the eighth inning, hitting a solo shot off Chris Withrow. He also added a single, finishing the game 2 for 4. He's hitting .241/.353/.452 in 294 at-bats. 

The Marlins transferred outfielder Marcell Ozuna (thumb) from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list Monday. Ozuna is out for the season after having thumb surgery.

Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter, who leads the NL with 41 doubles, is close to becoming the first St. Louis player to reach 50 doubles since Albert Pujols had 51 in 2004 and first to lead the league since Pujols had 51 in 2003.

"That would be great," Carpenter said, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "It’s not something I’m thinking about because you can’t think about stuff like that. But if that would happen, that would be a cool thing."

Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon recorded a two-hit game in Sunday's loss to Baltimore.

Blackmon finished 2 for 4 with a single, a double, a run scored, an RBI and his fifth stolen base in the losing effort. Blackmon is hitting .259/.286/.417 in 108 at-bats.