MLB Player News

Angels second baseman Johnny Giavotella drove in the winning run during Wednesday's 4-3 win over the Mariners.

With the game tied at 3-3 in bottom of the ninth inning, Giavotella hit a double to drive in Erick Aybar for the game-winning run. The double was Giavotella's only hit in four at-bats during the game. He has now hit safely in three-consecutive games.

The Yankees have reinstated infielder Jose Pirela from the 15-day DL and sent infielder Gregorio Petit to the 15-day DL with a right hand contusion, the team announced.

Pirela has been on the disabled list since the beginning of the season after crashing into the outfield wall in spring training. He is in the starting lineup Wednesday, batting ninth.

Petit suffered his injury in Tuesday's game against the Blue Jays when he was hit in the hand by a pitch. Petit is hitting .200 with five RBI in 35 at-bats this season.

Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien went 1-for-3 in Tuesday's 2-1 victory over the Twins. The individual performance is certainly nothing to write home about. But he has now reached base safely via a hit or a walk in nine consecutive games, including hits in four straight.

On the season, Semien is slashing .273/.322/.427 with three home runs and 12 RBI. He should continue to be the regular at shortstop for manager Bob Melvin for the foreseeable future. 

Yankees manager Joe Girardi told reporters he subbed Alex Rodriguez in for Gregorio Petit at third base late in Tuesday's 6-3 victory over Toronto because Chase Headley is dealing with soreness in his lower back, per Newsday. Petit was drilled in the hand in the eighth inning, which prompted the change by Girardi in the bottom of the ninth.

Headley is expected to be back in the lineup Wednesday.

"I'll be fine," Headley said.

Headley is hitting .247 with 10 RBI in 97 at-bats this season.

Rays second baseman Nick Franklin went 1 for 3 at the plate in his first rehab game for Triple-A Durham on Tuesday.

Franklin, who is currently on the 15-day DL with an oblique injury, hit a single and struck out once in the appearance. Franklin is yet to appear in a game for Tampa Bay this season after picking up the injury just before the beginning of the season.

Yankees third baseman Chase Headley is out of the starting lineup Tuesday against the Blue Jays, according to Newsday.

Headley has started the last six games at third for New York, but was charged with an error in the eighth inning of Monday's game, leading to the go-ahead run for Toronto. Gregorio Petit will take his spot and bat ninth. Headley is hitting .247 with 10 RBI in 97 at-bats this season.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia swapped left fielder Matt Joyce and second baseman Johnny Giavotella in the batting order for Monday's game against the Mariners. Giavotella hit sixth, while Joyce, who has just one hit in 21 career at-bats against the M's starter Felix Hernandez, is now batting seventh.

Joyce is also struggling at the plate recently. He has just four hits in his last 10 games and only one RBI. Giavotella, meanwhile, has been a bit of a sparkplug for the Angels. He's hitting .250 (8 for 32) with three RBI over his last 10 games. 

Rays second baseman Logan Forsythe has heated up recently, getting 8 hits in 20 at bats (.400) over the last six games. 

Forsythe's fast start has several career highs in jeopardy. He's hitting .296 for the season--his previous best was .273. He already has 11 RBI and seven doubles, putting a bullseye on his previous bests of 26 RBI and 13 doubles over an entire season.

Forsythe is just focusing on his approach at the plate, a strategy he thinks will help the entire team turn around their slow start. 

"If we keep the mindset of having good at-bats like we have been the whole year and kind of keeping the line moving, we'll get back to where we were," he said, per Fox Sports.

Like much of the Rangers offense, the struggles for shortstop Elvis Andrus continued in Sunday's 7-1 loss to the A's. Despite drawing a couple of walks on the afternoon, Andrus went hitless and has seen his season batting average drop to .224.

Andrus' defense is suffering just as much as his offense is, as he committed his seventh error of the season on Sunday, which is the second-most in the American League. He has been at shortstop for every inning of every game for the Rangers so far. One might wonder if manager Jeff Bannister would consider giving the former two-time All-Star a rest in the coming days.

Rays second baseman Nick Franklin is scheduled to begin his rehab assignment with Triple-A Durham Tuesday, according to the Tampa Tribune.

Franklin is currently on the 15-day DL with an oblique injury. He has not played in a game yet this season with Tampa Bay after posting a .160 average with six RBI in 81 at-bats in 2014.