MLB Player News

The White Sox left two regulars out of the lineup on Sunday and moved another to DH to give him a day's rest from playing the field. 

Catcher Tyler Flowers is out of the lineup. For the third time in five games, he'll be replaced by Geovany Soto, who will bat eighth in the order. 

Third baseman Conor Gillaspie is also out of the starting lineup, for just the fifth time this year. He's replaced by Gordon Beckham, who'll bat seventh. 

Jose Abreu moves from first base to DH, swapping positions with Adam LaRoche, who gets his third start of the year at first base. 

White Sox infielder Gordon Beckham may have needed to leave and return like the Prodigal Son to Chicago before he found success, according to the Daily Herald.

Beckham, in his second stint with Chicago, is hitting .350 with four RBI in 20 at-bats. Manager Robin Ventura is liking what he's seen from Beckham so far this season. 

"It can happen, it can jump on guys when there are expectations and the pressure gets there," manager Robin Ventura said. "For him, it might have been helpful to get traded away and go away for a while and come back with more of a clear conscience of who he is, where he's at. You get some information from somewhere else that maybe sticks in your skull differently than it did here.

"He's in a good frame of mind and that's the other big thing. All the stuff that has been said about him, but he can play baseball. We know that. He's a good player."

Astros second baseman Jose Altuve went 1 for 4 at the plate in Houston's 11-4 win over the Mariners Saturday.

Altuve did his damage in the fourth inning when he took a Taijuan Walker pitch to deep center field for a three-run bomb, his third of the season.

Altuve's one hit also broke his streak of nine straight multi-hit games, but still boasts a .371 average with 19 RBI in 105 at-bats.

First baseman Albert Pujols (hamstring) will return to the Angels' lineup Saturday in San Fransico after missing two games with a hamstring issue.

Pujols exited Wednesday's game with the injury and sat out Thursday's and Friday's contest.

The move will shift center fielder Mike Trout back to the second spot in the lineup while Kole Calhoun stays in the cleanup role.

During Pujols' two-game absence, second baseman Johnny Giavotella moved from ninth to leadoff but will bat seventh on Saturday for the first time this season.

Second baseman Jose Altuve went 2 for 3 in the Astros' win on Friday, extending his multi-game hitting streak to nine.

Altuve is 21 for 42 (.500 avg.) over those nine games.

Rays infielder Nick Franklin said Friday he is feeling better and could begin a rehab assignment as soon as Monday, per the Tampa Bay Times. Franklin has been out all season after suffering an oblique injury toward the end of spring training.

Astros second baseman Jose Altuve was the hero of Thursday evening's 3-2 win over the Mariners in extra innings. 

In the bottom of the 10th inning and with runners on first and second, Altuve hit a walk-off single to left field, scoring Marwin Gonzalez. This was the first walk-off of Altuve's career. 

Altuve had the most productive night of any member of the Astros as he went 3 for 5 in the game. 

Altuve is now hitting .367/.400/.500. 

With Albert Pujols sidelined Thursday, the Angels moved Kole Calhoun to the cleanup spot, according to MLB.com. Mike Trout was moved from second to third, while Erick Aybar was inserted to the leadoff spot, with Johnny Giavotella moving from ninth to second.

Calhoun, who was the team's leadoff hitter 17 of the first 21 games, is hitting .406 (13 for 32) with six runs scored, two homers, five RBI four walks and six strikeouts over his last his last eight games, raising his batting average from .222 to .309 over that span.

The yo-yo season of Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien continued Wednesday night. And the yo-yo is definitely on the rise.

Semien managed his sixth multi-hit performance in the last eight games despite a loss to the Angels. But this one was a bit different - it marked the first time this year he slugged three hits.

He doubled in the first, doubled and scored in the fourth and singled in the sixth to give him 12 hits in his last 29 at-bats.

Semien began the season on a tear, then fell into a 3-for-24 slump before recovering.

Astros second baseman Jose Altuve continues his strong performance at the plate this season, going 2 for 4 at the plate in Houston's 7-2 win over the Padres Wednesday.

It marked Altuve's seventh consecutive game with multiple hits, something manager A.J. Hinch is getting accustomed to, reports MLB.com.

"There's more than just a hitter," Hinch said. "He senses opportunity. When you need a sac fly, he gets a sac fly. When you need a spark, a leadoff runner, he gets on base. And he does it in different ways. You can't pitch him the same way twice. I think I get a better appreciation at how dangerous he can be line to line.

"He gets his fair share of hits in different ways. When we roll the lineup around, I think our whole dugout senses something is going to happen positively. He continues to pile on the hits. The big moments don't scare him. The big moments, meaning a guy on third base and nobody out. A good pitcher that gets him out, he comes back for more. He's a real threat."

Altuve is hitting .355 with six doubles and 13 RBI in 93 at-bats this season.