MLB Player News

Ohtani went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and two walks in Thursday's 5-3 win against the Rockies.

Ohtani began the game with a solo shot to center field for the seventh leadoff home run of his career. The superstar slugger has racked up four homers over his past five contests and has notched nine RBI during that span. Ohtani leads the National League and ranks third in MLB with 21 home runs overall this season.

O'Hearn went 2-for-5 with a walk and four RBI in Thursday's 17-5 win over the Yankees.

O'Hearn logged his third multi-hit effort in his last four contests. The lefty slugger is batting .358 (19-for-53) with 12 RBI over 16 games in June. He's up to a .289/.347/.477 slash line with nine home runs, 30 RBI, 26 runs scored, two stolen bases and eight doubles over 59 games. O'Hearn will continue to play in a strong-side platoon role with few opportunities to step into the lineup versus southpaws.

Alvarez went 3-for-5 with a solo home run and an additional RBI in a 5-3 win against the White Sox on Thursday.

Alvarez missed Houston's previous two games due to a family matter, but he wasted little time getting back into the swing of things upon his return, smashing a 439-foot solo shot in the first frame Thursday. The slugger added an RBI single in a four-run Astros seventh inning that paved the way to victory. Alvarez's homer Thursday was his 15th of the season, putting him at the halfway point of reaching 30 long balls for the fourth straight campaign.

Blackmon (hamstring) is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Dodgers, Luke Zahlmann of The Denver Gazette reports.

He'll stay on the bench for a second straight game while he manages a tight right hamstring. Blackmon's absence clears the way for Jake Cave and Elehuris Montero to pick up another start in right field and at designated hitter, respectively. The Rockies are expecting Blackmon to avoid a stint on the injured list, though the team could change its tune if he isn't ready to go for Friday's series opener versus the Nationals.

Alvarez (personal) will serve as the Astros' designated hitter and No. 3 batter in Thursday's game against the White Sox, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Alvarez was away from the Astros for the last two days to tend to a family matter, but he caught a flight back to Chicago and rejoined the team in time for the series finale with the White Sox. Before his brief absence, Alvarez had been sizzling at the plate in June, producing a monstrous 1.212 OPS over 14 games on the month.

Pederson is absent from the lineup for Thursday's game versus the Nationals.

As usual, Pederson is sitting against a left-hander, as the Nationals are starting southpaw MacKenzie Gore on Thursday. Ketel Marte will get a day out of the field and serve as Arizona's designated hitter while Blaze Alexander starts at second base.

Soler went 1-for-4 with a grand slam in Wednesday's 6-5 loss to the Cubs.

With his team down 6-1 in the eighth inning, Soler took Tyson Miller deep to make things interesting, but the Giants couldn't tie it up late. The veteran slugger has found a groove in June, slashing .298/.403/.526 through 16 games this month with three of his nine homers and 10 of his 26 RBI on the season.

Grossman started in left field and went 1-for-2 with a walk, a stolen base and two runs scored in Wednesday's 5-3 win over the Mets.

Grossman ignited a rally in the bottom of the first inning when he drew the first of three two-out walks, stole a base (his third of the season), and eventually scored Texas' first run. He later raced home from first base on a double in the sixth. Grossman has recently become a fixture in the starting lineup against left-handers, usually batting third. He's batting .333 (9-for-27) with a home run, a double, six RBI, a stolen base and five additional runs scored during the month of June.

Stanton went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI in a 7-6 loss to the Orioles on Wednesday.

Stanton did his best to provide some late-game heroics, crushing a three-run homer in the seventh inning and tying the game on an RBI single in the ninth. Stanton extended his hitting streak to seven games and is now hitting .300 with five home runs and 16 RBI in 60 June at-bats. He is enjoying a nice bounceback season and owns a .243/.301/.494 slash with 18 home runs and 45 RBI over 272 plate appearances.

De La Cruz went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 4-3 win over St. Louis.

De La Cruz led off the contest with a 429-foot solo shot off Matthew Liberatore. The 27-year-old outfielder has gone 4-for-14 with a pair of homers in his last three games -- De La Cruz is up to 13 long balls this year, putting him well on pace to surpass his career high of 19. Overall, he's slashing .245/.296/.424 with 34 RBI and 34 runs scored across 314 plate appearances this season.