MLB Player News

Rizzo is out of the lineup for Sunday night's game against the Brewers due to back tightness, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports.

Saturday's 15-inning game and Sunday's cold weather may have caused Rizzo's back to tighten up, so he'll take a seat for the series finale. The Cubs will justifiably remain cautious with their star first baseman and take advantage of Monday's scheduled off day to give him two full days off his feet. Kris Bryant will move over to first base Sunday as Rizzo steps out of the lineup for the first time this season.

Freeman was scratched from the lineup for Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks due to a head cold, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

The issue had reportedly bothered Freeman before the Braves arrived in Arizona, but he started the first two games of the series and went 4-for-9 with two extra-base hits in those contests. The Braves will hope that a day of rest coupled with Monday's off day will be all Freeman needs to make a full recovery in time for Tuesday's series opener against the Cardinals. Charlie Culberson will replace Freeman at first base Sunday.

Guerrero will start at third base and bat second Sunday against the White Sox.

Guerrero opened his career as the Blue Jays' No. 5 hitter, but after he offered little impact as a slugger over his first week and a half in the big leagues, Toronto has deployed him out of the two hole in the previous two contests. The lineup change appeared to pay dividends in Saturday's 7-2 loss, as Guerrero turned in the best performance of his young career by reaching base in all four plate appearances (two singles, two walks). The power should eventually show up for Guerrero, but the control he showed during his at-bats Saturday was encouraging as he put his exceptional plate discipline on full display.

O'Hearn is not in the lineup for Sunday's series finale against the Phillies.

O'Hearn started the last seven games at first base and went 6-for-25 with a double, home run and five RBI, but he was hitless with four strikeouts in the last three contests. Left-hander Cole Irvin will take the mound for the Phillies, sending the 25-year-old to the bench as he is 0-for-18 versus lefties this season. Hunter Dozier will cover first base in his absence for the Royals.

Alonso and the Mets won't play the Marlins on Sunday after the contest was postponed due to inclement weather in New York.

The two teams will make up the postponed game as part of a doubleheader Aug. 5. The Mets will return to action Tuesday for the start of a three-game set in Washington.

Cron went 4-for-5 with a double and a three-run home run in an 8-3 win over the Tigers in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader.

After homering in the matinee, the first baseman really got rolling in the nightcap, taking Gregory Soto deep in the fifth inning to blow open what had been a 4-3 Twins lead. Cron now sports a .261/.318/.521 slash line through 35 games with nine homers and 26 RBI, but his playing time could take a hit once Miguel Sano (heel) rejoins the lineup later this month.

Diaz went 2-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI in a 7-2 win over the Yankees on Saturday.

Diaz hit a solo shot off CC Sabathia in the third inning and then capped Tampa Bay's scoring in the seventh with a three-run blast to essentially put the game away. The 27-year-old is slashing .267/.357/.550 with nine home runs, 22 RBI and a 20:24 BB:K over 35 games and should continue to be a mainstay in the top half of the Rays' lineup.

Dixon went 2-for-4 with a homer in the afternoon portion of Saturday's doubleheader against the Twins.

Dixon's homer, his second of the season, was a two-out solo shot in the second inning off Michael Pineda. He's now hitting .294/.314/.529 in 35 plate appearances but is striking out 42.9 percent of the time.

Cooper (hand) was reinstated from the 10-day injured list Saturday.

Cooper will hope his latest return from the injured list goes better than the previous one, when he appeared in just one game before bruising his hand. He'll head straight into the starting lineup Saturday, batting fifth and playing right field against the Mets, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports. Peter O'Brien (ribs) landed on the injured list in a corresponding move.

Bell went 2-for-4 against St. Louis on Friday, lifting his season batting average to .300.

He also made a key defensive play to help keep the Cards from scoring. Bell ranks eighth in baseball with an average exit velocity of 94.4 mph. He's hit nine homers, something that took him until Sept. 7 to accomplish last year. In fact, the first baseman didn't collect his ninth homer until the last day of May during his 26-homer rookie campaign in 2017. Provided he can stay healthy, the switch hitter is on course to set career highs across the board.