MLB Player News

Keaschall went 1-for-2 with two walks, two steals and two runs scored in Tuesday's win over the White Sox.

Keaschall notched a hit for the fourth straight game since his promotion and ran wild with two stolen bases. He's the first player in Twins history to steal three-plus bases in their first four career games. Keaschall had 23 steals in the minors last year and is already up to seven steals between the minors and majors this season in just 75 plate appearances.

Semien was dropped from leadoff to fifth in the order for Tuesday's game against the Athletics, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports. He went 2-for-3 with a walk, a home run and four RBI in an 8-5 win.

Texas manager Bruce Bochy enacted lineup and order changes in hopes of shaking the team out of an offensive malaise. That appeared to work for Semien, who entered the night batting .141. Josh Smith took over at leadoff against a right-hander, though it's unclear if Bochy will continue this practice against lefties.

Simpson went 2-for-4 with a stolen base in Tuesday's 5-1 loss to the Diamondbacks.

The 24-year-old is getting his first look in the majors due to multiple injuries in the Rays' outfield, and Simpson has gone 4-for-12 with a double, an RBI a run and two steals in his first three games. He's hitting leadoff against right-handers, and his plus-plus speed makes him an enticing fantasy target, so long as he can get on base often enough to use it. Jonny DeLuca (shoulder) has yet to begin a rehab assignment and Josh Lowe (oblique) is expected to be sidelined into May, so Simpson has a window to establish himself before the Tampa Bay outfield begins to get crowded.

Larnach went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer, a walk and two runs scored in Tuesday's 4-2 win over the White Sox.

Larnach accounted for the Twins' only extra-base hit of the evening when he took Mike Vasil deep in the eighth to put Minnesota up 4-1. The homer was his second in his last four games after he didn't hit any through the first 18 games of the season. Larnach now has a hit in four straight games, but his batting average still sits at .200 for the campaign.

Smith batted leadoff and went 1-for-4 with a walk, a home run, an RBI and an additional run scored in Tuesday's 8-5 win over the Athletics.

Among the several lineup tweaks made by Texas manager Bruce Bochy, Smith was moved to the leadoff spot with Marcus Semien being dropped to fifth. The move, designed to fix a struggling offense, paid off for at least one night. The lineup and batting order tweaks came against a right-hander, and it's uncertain if Bochy will continue the practice against lefties. That will be determined Wednesday when the Rangers face southpaw JP Sears. One thing for certain is that Smith is hitting well out of the gates and getting his bat in the lineup is needed. He started in center field in place of Leody Taveras on Tuesday and eventually moved to shortstop when Corey Seager was removed due to a hamstring injury. In the past, Smith has been the primary fill-in at short whenever Seager dealt with an injury.

Duran earned his second save of the season in Tuesday's 4-2 win over the White Sox, allowing one run on a hit and two walks while striking out a batter.

Duran was staked to a three-run lead after Trevor Larnach homered in the eighth, but he nearly imploded. The White Sox loaded the bases after a single and two walks to begin the inning, but Duran responded with a strikeout and groundout before Byron Buxton saved his bacon with a spectacular diving catch on a potential extra-base hit by Andrew Benintendi to end the game. Tuesday was Duran's first outing allowing a run since his season debut, as he's pitched to an excellent 1.74 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 11 appearances thus far.

Littell (0-5) took the loss Tuesday, giving up three runs on six hits and one walk over six innings as the Rays were downed 5-1 by the Diamondbacks. He struck out two.

The right-hander delivered his second straight quality start and third in five trips to the mound on 99 pitches (61 strikes), but he once again couldn't get into the win column. Tampa Bay has scored a total of five runs in Littell's five outings, which certainly isn't helping his chances of collecting a win, but he's also served up eight homers in 29 innings to begin the season -- including two in Tuesday's loss. Littell will carry a 5.28 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 21:7 K:BB into his next start, which lines up to come on the road this weekend in San Diego.

Ober (2-1) earned a win over the White Sox on Tuesday, allowing one run on eight hits and a walk while striking out six in six innings.

Ober posted a third straight quality start and registered a season-high six strikeouts. The White Sox scattered eight hits against Ober and pushed one run across in the second inning, but he otherwise was able to erase any run-scoring threats. Ober's still working to straighten out his ratios, as he currently owns a 5.04 ERA and 1.44 WHIP this season. He'll take the mound again next week in a road matchup with the Guardians.

Manzardo went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI in Tuesday's 3-2 win over the Yankees.

Manzardo was in the middle of Cleveland's three-run rally in the sixth inning that erased New York's 2-0 lead. His double plated Nolan Jones to tie the game. It was the fifth consecutive game with an RBI for Manzardo, who's homered three times and knocked in seven over that stretch. The double also extended a hit streak to six games (7-for-22).

Martinez went 1-for-3 with an RBI in Tuesday's 3-2 win over the Yankees.

Martinez's two-out, run-scoring single finished off the Guardians' three-run rally in the sixth inning. With Lane Thomas (wrist) on the 10-day injured list, Martinez has taken over the starting job in center field. Martinez has hit safely in seven of 10 games (13-for-36 .361) since his call-up from Triple-A.