MLB Player News

Black is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Dodgers.

After getting called up from Triple-A Nashville on Monday, Black sat out the Brewers' series opener versus the Dodgers but served as the designated hitter in both of the past two contests, going 0-for-6 with a walk and three strikeouts. He'll find himself on the bench for the finale, with Jake Bauers replacing Black in the lineup at DH. The Brewers could take a hot-hand approach to the DH spot while Christian Yelich (back) is on the shelf for the foreseeable future.

Betts is absent from the lineup for Thursday's game in Milwaukee, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Betts started the first three games of the series -- his first three contests back from from the injured list -- but will take a seat for Thursday's afternoon finale. Jason Heyward will patrol right field for the Dodgers and Teoscar Hernandez will move up to the second spot in the batting order.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Thursday that Reid-Foley's rehab assignment has been paused as he works on strengthening his right shoulder, Abbey Mastracco of the New York Daily News reports.

Reid-Foley's shoulder has been deemed structurally sound, and the Mets have no plans to send him in for any testing. However, he has been tagged for seven runs and has walked eight over 4.2 rehab innings, so the Mets want him to build up some arm strength before he's cleared to pitch in games again. Reid-Foley has been out since late June due a shoulder impingement, and he now seems unlikely to return before September.

Olson went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, a walk and three runs scored in Wednesday's win over the Giants.

Olson drew a walk in the opening frame before coming around to score on a Michael Harris grand slam. The first baseman would then add a home run of his own to lead off the third, giving him his fourth long ball this month and his 21st on the campaign. Olson has now hit safely in six consecutive games, tallying three homers, a double, eight RBI and six runs over that stretch. He's also driven in at least one run in three of his last five contests.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said that Nimmo is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Athletics due to a case of the stomach flu, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Mendoza noted that Nimmo was unable to get much sleep Wednesday night due to the ailment, so the Mets will hold him out of the lineup as they wrap up their series against Oakland with a day game. Jeff McNeil will pick up a start in the outfield in place of Nimmo, who has gone 3-for-32 with 11 strikeouts over his last nine starts to bring his batting average down to .226 for the season.

Harris went 1-for-5 with a grand slam in Wednesday's win over the Giants.

Harris jumped on a hanging knuckle-curve from Robbie Ray in the opening frame and launched it 423 feet into the right field stands for a grand slam as Atlanta took a commanding lead early. It marked quite the return for the outfielder, who had been sidelined with a hamstring injury since the middle of June, as his five RBI on the night also marked a season high. Harris has now hit safely in each of his last six games, dating back to June 9 against the Nationals.

Ray (2-2) took the loss against Atlanta on Wednesday, allowing five runs on one hit and three walks over two-thirds of an inning while striking out two. He also plunked two batters.

It was a disastrous showing for Ray, who hit the first two batters he faced before eventually surrendering a grand slam to Michael Harris. The lefty also issued three walks before being relieved by Sean Hjelle with two outs in the opening frame. It easily marked the shortest start of the campaign for Ray, while the five runs allowed are also a season high. He's walked three batters in three of his last four outings and has a 6.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 30:12 K:BB through five starts this season.

Nimmo is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Athletics.

Nimmo received a day off last Thursday in Colorado after he had gone 2-for-16 over his previous four starts, but the veteran outfielder doesn't seem to have benefited much from the break. While starting in each of the Mets' ensuing five games following the day off, Nimmo went 1-for-16 with four walks against six strikeouts. Nimmo doesn't appear to be in danger of losing hold of his everyday role in the New York outfield, but his .171/.271/.244 slash line since the beginning of August could nonetheless put him at risk of being held out of the lineup more often.

Alvarez is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Athletics.

Luis Torrens will get a turn behind the plate as the Mets wrap up their series versus Oakland with a day game after a night game. Alvarez caught all nine innings of Wednesday's 9-1 win, going 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.

Herz (2-5) took the loss Wednesday, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks over six innings in a 4-1 loss to the Orioles. He struck out five.

A two-run homer by Gunnar Henderson in the first inning proved to be too much for the Nationals' offense to overcome, saddling Herz with the loss despite his first quality start since June 15. The rookie southpaw has mostly been reliable of late, allowing two runs or less in six of seven starts since the beginning of July while posting a 3.48 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 41:12 K:BB through 33.2 innings, but he has just a 1-3 record to show for it. Herz will try to get back in the win column in his next outing, which is scheduled to come at home early next week against the Rockies.