MLB Player News

Astros second baseman Jose Altuve broke a 32-game homerless drought with a sixth-inning solo blast on Saturday. His sixth home run of the season tied the game at 6-6, but the Astros would suffer a 9-6 loss to the Yankees.

Altuve is now riding a modest six-game hitting streak, during which he is hitting at a .320 clip. He seems to be showing no ill-effects from the hamstring issue that cost him a few games recently.

Rays first baseman Jake Elmore broke a scoreless tie with a two-run home run in the fifth inning of Saturday's win over Boston. 

Elmore hit his second homer of the year and first since April 22, his first Rays gave of the season. 

"He seems to get some really big hits at important times," Rays manager Kevin Cash said, per MLB.com.

Elmore went 1 for 3 and reached 15 RBI on the season. 

"You know what? When I hit it, I didn't even think home run," Elmore said. "I just thought, 'Please stay fair,' because I knew it was at least getting down. Then I was like, 'Oh, man, that might get out of here.' ... I was just worried about it staying fair."

Rays second baseman Logan Forsythe went 3 for 5 with a run scored in Friday's loss to Boston. 

Forsythe has hit in five straight with 10 hits in the last 18 at bats. 

Forsythe was also caught stealing for the second time this year. 

A mini-slump and 25 starts in the last 26 games has Angels second baseman Johnny Giavotella on the bench Monday night against Seattle.

His replacement is Taylor Featherston.

Giavotella has just two hits in his last 20 at-bats.

A slump has landed Rays first baseman Jake Elmore on the bench Friday night against Boston.

Elmore, who has started 12 of the last 13 games, is on a 1-for-18 slide that has dropped his average to .245, its lowest point since May 3.

It seems as if the hamstring issue that sidelined Astros second base Jose Altuve last week is a thing of the past. On Thursday, Altuve went 3 for 4 with two doubles, two stolen bases and three runs scored in the 4-0 win over the Yankees. This was his first multi-hit performance since June 8.

Altuve is 6 for 16 in the four games since returning from a short absence with the hamstring injury.

With the two stolen bases, Altuve is up to 20 on the year, giving him four straight seasons of at least 20 steals.

"That's part of my game against everyone," Altuve said, per MLB.com. "Try to get on base, get to the next base. We knew we only needed a couple runs to win the game because we had our best pitcher out there."

The Yankees reinstated Stephen Drew from the paternity list Thursday, the team announced.

Drew missed the last two games while on the paternity list. Meanwhile, the team also recalled infielder Gregorio Petit from Triple-A. Petit hit .200 with five RBI in 35 at-bats for the Yankees earlier this season.

For the first time in the last 11 games, the Astros will have second baseman Jose Altuve in the leadoff spot for Wednesday's game at the Los Angeles Angels, the team announced.

Altuve will go against Andrew Heaney, who he has never faced in his career. Over his last 12 games, Altuve is hitting .244 with no home runs and three RBI.

The Astros are the favorites (-100) at Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien had his first multi-hit performance since May 30. On Tuesday, Semien went 3 for 4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in the 8-6 win over the Rangers. 

Despite the lack of multi-hit efforts, Semien has managed to maintain a .296 batting average over his last eight contests. 

Perhaps even more noteworthy for Semien is that he has not committed an error in his last seven games, his second-longest errorless streak of the season. He still leads the American League with 22 errors on the season. 

Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus totaled three hits, including two doubles, and two RBI in five at-bats Tuesday against the Athletics. Andrus, who was held out of the lineup Sunday, also had one run and one strikeout.

Andrus is batting .265 (18 for 68) with one home run, one triple, two doubles, eight RBI, seven walks, eight runs, 12 strikeouts and two stolen bases in 19 June games.