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Nicky Lopez 2B | TEX
Royals' Nicky Lopez: Goes yard in win
Lopez went 3-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored in Thursday's 6-0 win over Baltimore.
The 26-year-old went deep in the first inning, and that was the only run until he added an RBI single in the eighth. Lopez is far from a power hitter, as Thursday's homer was just his second of the year. He's still been hot at the plate lately, with multiple hits in five of six games during his current hitting streak. The shortstop owns a .297/.365/.375 slash line with 38 RBI, 62 runs scored and 19 stolen bases across 469 plate appearances.
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Jeff McNeil 2B | ATH
Mets' Jeff McNeil: Riding pine Thursday
McNeil isn't starting Thursday's game against the Marlins, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports.
McNeil will head to the bench after he went 2-for-13 with a run across the last three games. Dominic Smith will start in left field and bat seventh.
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Andres Gimenez SS | TOR
Indians' Andres Gimenez: Riding pine Thursday
Gimenez isn't starting Thursday's game against Minnesota.
Gimenez went just 1-for-8 with four strikeouts across the last two games, and he'll head to the bench for the second time in the last four contests. Owen Miller will start at the keystone and bat seventh.
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Tony Kemp 2B | MIN
Athletics' Tony Kemp: Back in action
Kemp (wrist) will bat seventh and play right field Thursday against the White Sox.
Kemp left Tuesday's game with a left wrist injury and didn't participate in Wednesday's contest, but the issue has evidently cleared up. He was swinging a hot bat immediately prior to the injury, hitting .370 with a pair of homers over his last eight games.
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Adam Frazier 2B | LAA
Padres' Adam Frazier: Plates three in huge second inning
Frazier went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI in Wednesday's 8-5 win over the Angels.
Frazier started and finished the scoring in the Padres' eight-run second inning that essentially accounted for the Friars' entire output on the night. He plated Wil Myers on his double to deep left center, then drove home Eric Hosmer and Myers on a base hit in his second at-bat of the inning. Incredibly, the three-RBI inning matched Frazier's output from his first 34 games with the Padres combined.
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Whit Merrifield 2B | ATL
Royals' Whit Merrifield: Steals base No. 40
Merrifield went 3-for-5 with a double, three runs scored and a stolen base in Wednesday's 9-8 loss to the Orioles.
The 32-year-old has now reached the 40-steal plateau for the second time in his career, leaving him three back of Starling Marte for the major-league lead. Merrifield is finishing up the season on a roll, slashing .315/.347/.483 over his last 20 games with two homers, six stolen bases, 11 RBI and 19 runs.
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Marcus Semien 2B | NYM
Blue Jays' Marcus Semien: On base four times in win
Semien went 2-for-3 with two walks, two RBI and a run Wednesday in the Blue Jays' 6-3 win over the Yankees.
Semien has been the driving force of the Blue Jays' 7-0 start to September. In those seven games, he's gone 10-for-27 (.370 average) with six home runs, 13 RBI, seven runs, a stolen base and a 5:4 BB:K. After plating a pair of runs on a base hit in the fourth inning, Semien upped his season RBI total to 90. In so doing, he joined teammate Vladimir Guerrero (99 RBI, 106 runs) as the only players with in the majors with at least 90 RBI and 90 runs.
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Yonny Hernandez 2B | NYM
Rangers' Yonny Hernandez: Continues to show speed
Hernandez went 0-for-1 with two walks and a stolen base in Wednesday's 8-5 win over Arizona.
Hernandez also sacrificed in one of his four plate appearances Wednesday. He's racked up four stolen bases in his last four games, and he's up to eight thefts on the year. The 23-year-old infielder is slashing a reasonable .264/.356/.299 with five RBI, 11 runs scored and three doubles through his first 25 major-league games, but he's profiled as a contact hitter more than a power threat with just four home runs across four minor-league seasons.
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Jose Altuve 2B | HOU
Astros' Jose Altuve: Clubs homer in loss
Altuve went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 8-5 loss to Seattle.
The second baseman went yard in the fifth inning. Altuve has homered in consecutive games after failing to put a ball over the fence in all of August. He's hit safely in seven of the last eight contests and now sports a .272/.347/.481 slash line with 27 long balls, 71 RBI, 94 runs scored and four stolen bases across 582 plate appearances.
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Luis Rengifo LF | SD
Angels' Luis Rengifo: Slugs homer Tuesday
Rengifo went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 4-0 win over the Padres.
Rengifo provided an insurance run in the ninth inning, swatting a solo shot to right field to give the Angels a 3-0 lead. The homer was his first since June 23. He had been struggling since his last long ball, entering Tuesday with a .140 average and only two RBI over his previous 57 at-bats.