MLB Player News

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt was back in the lineup as expected Friday, after missing the team's previous two games due to an illness.

Belt went 0 for 4 against the Cardinals, one of four Giants' starters to go hitless in the game. Belt is hitless (0 for 7) in two games with two strikeouts. 

Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera remained in Friday's game after being hit on the hand by a pitch from Yankees starter Ivan Nova during the fifth inning. Cabrera was attended to by the team's trainer at home plate before taking his base at first and showed no hints of an injury.

He finished 0 for 2 with a walk and two runs scored during Detroit's 8-3 win and is now hitting .200. Cabrera has reached base in all four games early this season.

After missing two games with an illness, Giants first baseman Brandon Belt is back in the lineup Friday. 

Belt went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts in his only start of the season. Belt will bat sixth and play first Friday. Joaquin Arias started at first while Belt was sidelined.

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper suffered a minor scare in Thursday's series finale against the Marlins.

After he slapped a single in the first inning, Ryan Zimmerman drove Harper home with a two-run double off the left-field wall. He collided with catcher Rob Brantly while scoring and momentarily grabbed his chin but didn't appear seriously hurt.

He stayed in the game and finished 2 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI in a 6-1 victory. The 20-year-old is hitting .500 with a pair of home runs and three RBI through the first three games of the season.

Athletics left fielder Yoenis Cespedes served as the team's DH in an 8-2 win over the Mariners Thursday, hitting a two-run home run and drawing a walk in his four plate appearances in the cleanup spot. It was the second homer of the year for Cespedes, who has a .214/.250/.643 line through four games.

Mets infielder Justin Turner started at second base Thursday against the Padres in place of Daniel Murphy, and Turner got hits in his first three at-bats of the season. He finished 3 for 4 with a double.

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen stole two more bases on Thursday, bringing his total to four on the season. He has at least one steal in all three games this season. 

McCutchen predicted this back in January, telling CBSSports.com that he was going to work on stealing more bases in 2013, noting he only stole 20 bases last year.

"I want," McCutchen said, "to have a lot more than that."

But what is "a lot" more? 40? 50? McCutchen's career high is 33 (he stole 34 in a minor-league season), but if he's actively working on improving that one category, the sky could be the limit. 

I'll put a guess at 40 steals for McCutchen this year, based on him saying he wanted to steal more, his first three games and his proven ability to run. There's probably no way to buy low at this point, but feel free to wear a smug little smile for the rest of the day if you drafted him partially because of his stolen base comments. 

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen said in the offseason he wanted to focus on being more productive on the base paths in 2013. Thus far, McCutchen is succeeding as he is 2 for 2 on stolen-base attempts through two games.

"Small sample, but very encouraging to see," manager Clint Hurdle said of McCutchen pushing the envelope on the bases, per MLB.com. "Actions speak louder than words. In the winter, we talk about a lot of things, and his intent is to make the words jump off the paper and become real."

Cleveland outfielder Michael Brantley tied his career high for hits with four on Wednesday night in a 3-2 win at Toronto. Brantley also drove in his first run of the season for the Tribe. 

Brantley went 4 for 5 with four singles, an RBI and a run scored in the 3-2 win extra-inning win. He's batting .714 thus far on the year after two games as he's gone 5 for 7 with two runs scored, an RBI and two walks for the Indians. 

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen drove in his first run of the 2013 campaign Wednesday night against the Cubs.

He doubled home Garrett Jones in the fourth inning and came around to score on Starlin Castro's fielding error.

McCutchen finished 1 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base in the 3-0 win.

The 26-year-old has gone 2 for 6 (.333) through the first two games with two runs scored and two stolen bases.