MLB Player News

Encarnacion-Strand went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 5-3 loss to Minnesota.

Encarnacion-Strand launched his ninth homer in the fourth inning, the rookie's third long ball over the last four games. A slumping Elly De La Cruz, who sat out for the third time in the last six contests, has opened a few extra opportunities for Encarnacion-Strand and Noelvi Marte on the left side of the infield.

Diaz (9-5) was tagged with the loss and a blown save against the Twins on Wednesday. He allowed three runs on two hits and one walk over one-third of an inning.

Diaz's line looks much worse than what actually transpired: a 34.6-mph infield single, a stolen base with a throwing error that moved the runner to the third, and a 70.4-mph soft liner to drive in a run. Following a walk, the closer was replaced by Sam Moll. After a double steal and intentional walk, Jorge Polanco singled in two runs, both charged to Diaz. This was just the young closer's third blown save in 40 opportunities and was the first time he's given up more than one earned run in an outing since Aug. 4.

Moreno went 3-for-4 with an RBI in Wednesday's 7-1 win over San Francisco.

Moreno, who has multiple hits in three of the last five games -- all Arizona wins -- is batting .364 for the month of September. During the five-game winning streak, all against rivals in the wild-card hunt, the catcher has reached base safely 13 times in 22 plate appearances.

Walker went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base in Wednesday's 7-1 win over the Giants.

The first baseman took a back seat to Corbin Carroll, who became the first rookie in MLB history to hit 25 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season, but Walker's theft gave him a career-high 10 steals. The achievement is something to feel good about in a September that hasn't been kind to him, as Walker entered the day batting .169 with a .527 OPS for the month.

Marte went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 7-1 win over the Giants.

Marte followed up his perfect 4-for-4 performance Tuesday with a solo shot in the seventh inning for his 24th home run. The Diamondbacks won their fifth straight, all against wild-card competitors, and Marte has been prominent in the streak. The second baseman has gone 8-for-21 with a double, two home runs, five RBI, four walks, a stolen base and five runs scored during the run, as the Diamondbacks leapfrogged the Cubs for the second wild-card spot while perhaps putting a dagger in the Giants playoff hopes.

Greene did not factor into the decision Wednesday against Minnesota, allowing one run on three hits and one walk over seven innings while striking out 14.

Greene dominated the Twins over his seven innings of work, fanning four of the first six batters he faced en route to posting a career-high 14 strikeouts on the afternoon. It marked the right-hander's fourth consecutive start in which he allowed three or fewer runs and the first time he's gone at least seven innings since May 21. It was also Greene's fifth start this season with 10 or more strikeouts.

Castellanos went 2-for-5 with two homers and three RBI in Wednesday's victory over Atlanta.

Castellanos took Bryce Elder deep to lead off the second inning, putting Philadelphia up 2-0 early. But the right fielder wasn't done there, launching another homer off Elder in the fourth, this time a two-run shot, as the Phillies extended their lead. Castellanos now has five homers in his last eight games to go along with 10 RBI and eight runs scored. He needs just one more RBI to give him 100 for the season, a feat he's accomplished twice prior in his big-league career.

Elder did not factor into the decision Wednesday, allowing four runs on three hits and five walks over 3.2 innings against the Phillies. He did not record any strikeouts.

Elder got off to a rough start, issuing three walks in the first inning, including back-to-back walks to open the frame, which led to one run coming home for Philadelphia. Nick Castellanos accounted for the other three runs against Elder with a pair of homers. The right-hander has now allowed four runs in back-to-back starts, though Wednesday marked the first time since July 18 that he failed to make it through at least four frames. He also issued a season-high five walks in the contest while not recording any strikeouts for only the second time this season.

Nola did not factor into the decision Wednesday, allowing two runs on six hits over six innings against Atlanta while not issuing any walks. He struck out eight.

Nola went 1-2-3 through the first three innings before allowing three hits in the fourth, which led to one run coming across for Atlanta. He surrendered another run in the fifth on an RBI single from Nicky Lopez, marking the right-hander's second consecutive start with two earned runs allowed. It was also Nola's first time this month in which he made it through six innings (spanning four starts), and he still carries a 6.86 ERA in September.

Bell went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, an additional run and a double in a loss to the Mets on Wednesday.

Bell accounted for half of Miami's scoring output with his 417-foot solo shot in the sixth inning. The veteran slugger had gone 14 games without a long ball prior to the blast, slashing .216/.273/.255 with a 30.9 percent strikeout rate over the cold stretch. He's slowed down quite a bit after slamming eight home runs over his first 26 contests as a Marlin.