MLB Player News

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard is back in the starting lineup on Saturday against the Pirates.

Howard was benched for Friday's game and has been out of the lineup for three of the last six games.

Howard is hitting .239 with 11 home runs and 28 RBI in 205 at-bats this season.

Mets shortstop Wilmer Flores launched his 10th home run of the season in Friday's 5-3 win over the Braves. His solo shot in the second inning got the scoring started for the Mets, though it was his only hit of the game.

Flores was batting in the cleanup spot in the order for the first time in his career. He's the first Mets shortstop to bat fourth since 2002, and the first to homer from the cleanup spot since Howard Johnson in 1991. 

Flores is 10 for 37 with two home runs this month.

Continued failure against left-handers has Phillies veteran first baseman Ryan Howard benched Friday night against Pittsburgh southpaw Jeff Locke.

Howard has two hits in seven at-bats against Locke lifetime, but is batting .167 against lefties (7-for-42) this season. He has been out of the lineup for three of the last six games despite six hits in his last 20 at-bats.

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman remained hot at the plate in Thursday's extra-inning loss to the Padres. On Thursday, Freeman went 3 for 5 with two doubles, a home run, two RBI and a run scored. 

Freeman's blast was a solo shot in the sixth inning to put the Braves up 2-1. It was his 11th home run of the season, and fourth in his last 10 games.

Over that 10-game stretch, Freeman is batting .375 with 11 RBI. His batting season batting average has increased from .289 to .304 during that time. 

Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt continues to make a case for his MVP-like season thus far.

Goldschmidt went 4 for 5 with a home run, a double and two RBI in his team's 7-6 loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday.

Goldschmidt is now hitting a monstrous .349 with 17 home runs and 49 RBI in 212 at-bats this season.

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo has been pumping out multi-hit games with ease as of late.

He went 2 for 6 with two RBI in his team's 12-3 win over the Tigers on Wednesday. The multi-hit game was his fifth in his last six games.

For the season, Rizzo is hitting .327 with 11 home runs and 37 RBI in 208 at-bats.

Mets shortstop Wilmer Flores went 0 for 3 in Tuesday's no-hitter loss to San Francisco. 

Flores went hitless for the first time since May 29 as his eight-game hitting streak came to an end. 

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo went 0 for 3 in Tuesday's loss to Pittsburgh.

It was Rizzo's first hitless game since May 24 and brought his 12-game hitting streak to an end.

Rizzo walked once in the game.  

Reds first baseman Joey Votto went yard three times in Tuesday night's 11-2 blowout victory over the Phillies. 

Votto hit solo home runs off of Aaron Harang in the third and fifth innings and then crushed a two-run homer off of Dustin McGowan in the seventh. This is the first time this season that Votto has hit three home runs in one game. 

"Boy he had a great game," Reds manager Bryan Price said of Votto, per MLB.com. "Really set the table in the first inning by getting the walk. Brandon [Phillips] and Joey each getting the game going with two walks and sets the stage for [Jay Bruce's] hit, an RBI, and [Zack] Cozart with the three-run homer, which gave us a nice early cushion.

Votto now has 13 home runs for the season. He finished the game 3 for 4 and drew a walk. He's now hitting .300/.406/.560. 

When the batting average of Cubs slugger Anthony Rizzo fell to .316 on May 24, it was believed by many that an inevitable adjustment had begun.

After all, he had never hit better than .286 as a major leaguer.

Rizzo had an answer for the skeptics. He embarked on a 12-game hitting streak that has raised that average to .332, which ranks fourth in the National League. He is 17-for-44 during that stretch with six doubles and two home runs. His .608 slugging percentage is at its highest point since May 16.