MLB Player News

Allen will start at shortstop and bat eighth in Sunday's game against the Rays.

Since coming off the 10-day injured list Monday, Allen has drawn starts in five of Houston's ensuing six games while going 3-for-14 with a double, two walks, two runs and one RBI. Per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, Astros manager Joe Espada said prior to Sunday's game that he anticipates top shortstop Jeremy Pena (calf) returning from the IL as soon as next Friday, so Allen's run as a regular in the lineup will soon come to an end.

Pratt is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks.

Pratt will sit Sunday after starting the previous four games, and he went 2-for-12 with three walks, a steal and a run during that span. The 21-year-old has struggled to a .200/.317/.220 slash line with one double, six steals, two RBI and five runs in his first 17 big-league games. Joey Ortiz is taking over at shortstop for the series finale in Arizona.

Walls is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Astros.

Walls will get a breather after he went 10-for-36 (.278 average) with one stolen base, nine runs and two RBI while starting in the Rays' previous 11 games. Ben Williamson will replace Walls at shortstop and will bat sixth in the series finale.

Pena (calf) is expected to play in a couple of rehab games at Triple-A Sugar Land this week could return from the 10-day injured list during the Astros' final series before the All-Star break next weekend against the Rangers, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.

The veteran shortstop landed on the shelf last Tuesday due to a calf strain, but his absence looks like it will end up being a brief one. Pena was swinging a hot bat prior to getting hurt, having gone 8-for-21 with two walks, three RBI and five runs in his last five games.

Rocchio is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the White Sox.

Daniel Schneemann will pick up the start at shortstop while Rocchio rests after he had been included in the Cleveland lineup in each of the last four games. Dating back to June 17, Rocchio has gotten on base in all but two of his 16 starts and has slashed .288/.338/.394 with one home run, three steals, eight runs and five RBI over that stretch.

Gray is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Yankees.

Following a four-game absence due to a hip impingement, Byron Buxton returned to center field in Saturday's 11-4 win, which resulted in Ryan Kreidler shifting back to shortstop and Gray hitting the bench. Gray started at shortstop in all four games Buxton was out, going 0-for-14 to bring his batting average down to .226 for the season.

De La Cruz went 2-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base and an RBI in Saturday's 8-5 loss to Baltimore.

De La Cruz's RBI single in the second inning gave the Reds a 4-3 lead and extended his hit streak to seven games, during which he's gone 10-for-29 (.345). He then stole second base, advanced to third on a sacrifice fly and nearly scored a run on an infield single, but an Orioles challenge overturned a call for the third out. De La Cruz once again showed he's past the hamstring injury that forced him to miss the first three weeks in June -- the stolen base was his third in the last two contests.

Montgomery went 2-for-5 with a home run, a double and two RBI in Saturday's 3-1 win over the Guardians.

Montgomery opened the scoring with an RBI double in the first inning before hitting what proved to be the game-winning solo shot in the eighth. Over his past 10 games, the 24-year-old has hit safely in eight contests with five extra-base hits, six RBI and five runs scored. On the year, he's slashing .221/.308/.484 with 22 homers, 51 RBI, 41 runs scored and one steal across 351 plate appearances.

Lopez went 3-for-5 with a two-run home run, a double and a third RBI in Saturday's 7-2 win over the Athletics.

This was Lopez's eighth multi-hit effort in his last 11 games. In that span, he has gone 19-for-48 (.396) with three homers, four doubles, two triples and seven RBI. The shortstop's recent consistency at the plate has him up to a .341 average and .877 OPS on the year, and he's added eight homers, 40 RBI, 57 runs scored, 24 doubles and five triples through 88 contests. Lopez's strong performance resulted in him being named to the National League All-Star team.

Tolbert went 2-for-2 with a pair of stolen bases in Saturday's loss to the Phillies.

The Royals were mostly shut down by Philadelphia starter Jesus Luzardo, but Tolbert knocked two singles off the left-hander and stole a base after each hit. He was the only KC batter with multiple hits in the defeat. Tolbert hasn't gotten a lot of playing time of late -- his start Saturday was just his fourth over the Royals' past eight contests. While he's slashing a modest .243/.310/.243 with no extra-base hits on the season, he's made the most of his opportunities on the basepaths, stealing nine bags in 11 attempts.