MLB Player News

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Thursday that Pereira (hand) is "making progress" and is "in a good spot," Daniel Guerrero of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Pereira landed on the 10-day injured list Sunday with a left hand contusion. While the Cardinals have not revealed a timeline for the outfielder's return to the active roster, Pereira's absence is likely to be relatively brief.

Winn (thumb) is expected to resume swinging a bat Friday, Daniel Guerrero of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Winn was placed on the 10-day injured list Tuesday with a small fracture in his left thumb, an injury he suffered Aug. 18 while sliding into second base. The Cardinals are optimistic that Winn will be able to return soon, perhaps as early as Sept. 1 when he's first eligible, but how things go when he swings a bat Friday will go a long way in determining his timeline.

The Cubs optioned Alcantara to Triple-A Iowa on Thursday.

Alcantara's most recent stint in the majors lasted a week and a half, and he went 1-for-4 at the dish. The Cubs will make a corresponding roster move prior to Friday's game versus the Reds.

Young went 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and two stolen bases in Thursday's 7-1 win over Colorado.

Young's been heating up at the plate, going 5-for-14 (.357) with three doubles and three steals in his last four games. The outfielder has gone 17-for-20 in stolen base attempts this season while slashing .249/.314/.399 with 10 homers, 43 RBI and 49 runs scored across 408 plate appearances.

The Diamondbacks are expected to recall Drake from Triple-A Reno to start Friday's game against the Giants in San Francisco.

Arizona will add a new starter to the rotation for the second day in a row, as Jose Cabrera was previously summoned from Reno to get the start Thursday. Drake will be up with Arizona for the third time this season, after turning in a 5.40 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and 13:6 K:BB in 16.2 innings across four starts during his prior two stints in the majors.

Ruiz went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer and a double in Thursday's 7-1 win over the Rockies.

The backstop capped the scoring by taking Jimmy Herget deep in the eighth inning, Ruiz's ninth homer this season. The 28-year-old has been hot since the start of August, going 20-for-53 (.377) with a pair of homers and a .978 OPS in his last 16 games. Overall, he's slashing .281/.320/.453 with 45 RBI, 41 runs scored and a pair of stolen bases across 306 plate appearances this year.

Gilbert went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and an additional RBI in a 6-1 victory over the Diamondbacks on Thursday.

Gilbert led off the Giants' half of the first inning with a 407-foot solo shot to right-center field. He added a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning to snap a 1-1 tie. The 25-year-old has gone 5-for-12 over his past four games, with four of his knocks (three doubles and a homer) during that span going for extra bases. Gilbert hasn't started either of San Francisco's past two games against a lefty starter, so he appears locked into the strong side of a center-field platoon.

Cabrera (0-3) allowed two runs on three hits and one walk while striking out four batters over 4.1 innings in a loss to San Francisco on Thursday.

Cabrera was called up from Triple-A Reno earlier in the day and was handed the ball for his fifth big-league start of the season. The right-hander served up a solo homer to the first batter he faced in the game, but he showed poised in settling down thereafter, leaving the contest with one out in the fifth inning of a 1-1 tie. A run was charged to Cabrera's ledger after he departed, and that was enough to send him to the loss. Despite the defeat, Cabrera made a generally good impression, though he was given a relatively quick hook after just 70 pitches. With Michael Soroka (shoulder) on the IL, Cabrera may have pitched well enough to earn another turn in the rotation, and that would line up to come at home against Philadelphia next week.

Roupp (8-13) completed five innings Thursday, allowing one run on four hits and two walks while striking out three batters to earn the win against the Diamondbacks.

Roupp served up a fourth-inning solo homer to Gabriel Moreno, but that was the only time the Diamondbacks were able to score against him. The right-handed hurler did have to work to cover five frames -- he threw a total of 95 pitches (60 strikes) -- but he lasted just long enough to snap a streak of five straight losses. Roupp has had an underwhelming season with a 4.25 ERA and 1.31 WHIP, but he leads San Francisco starters with an 8.6 K/9 over a team-high 26 starts.

Baldwin went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Thursday in a 1-0 win against the Dodgers.

Baldwin slugged Yoshinobu Yamamoto's first pitch of the contest over the right-field wall to give Atlanta a quick lead. That ended up being the only run scored by either team, as Yamamoto and Chris Sale squared off in a pitchers' duel. Baldwin extended his on-base streak to a modest five games with the homer, and over that stretch he's reached base in 10 of 21 plate appearances. However, his power has been mostly absent of late -- prior to Thursday, he had gone deep just once over his previous 30 contests.