MLB Player News

Espinal will start at third base and bat eighth Sunday against the Orioles.

Espinal will stick in the starting nine for a fourth straight game after he reached base four times (two base hits, two walks) across his four plate appearances in Saturday's 10-7 win over the Orioles. His run as the Blue Jays' everyday third baseman will likely come to an end soon since Teoscar Hernandez returned from the paternity list Sunday. Hernandez, Lourdes Gurriel and Randal Grichuk will likely form Toronto's everyday outfield for now, leaving Cavan Biggio to pick up more work at the hot corner at Espinal's expense.

Andrus went 2-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored in Saturday's 7-5 loss to the Yankees.

Though his on-base average sits at an ugly .276 for the season, Andrus has enjoyed a nice surge at the plate in June after struggling mightily during the first two months of the season. Through 16 games on the month, Andrus is slashing .298/.365/.439 with nine runs, seven RBI and two stolen bases. Despite the improved production, Andrus hasn't been rewarded with a move up the batting order. He'll start at shortstop and bat eighth in Sunday's series finale.

Kemp is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Yankees.

After starting each of the past four games, the lefty-hitting Kemp will take a seat with southpaw Jordan Montgomery on the hill. The Athletics haven't fully committed to giving Kemp a regular role, but his 1.062 OPS thus far in June should continue to afford him plenty of playing time in the short term. Seth Brown, who has posted a .462 OPS since the beginning of the month, appears to be the most likely candidate to lose reps to Kemp against right-handed pitching.

The Nationals optioned Garcia to Triple-A Rochester on Sunday.

Garcia looked like he could be moving into a large-side platoon role last week when Starlin Castro landed on the restricted list, but Castro was away from the team for only two days. With Washington back at full strength in the infield, playing time wasn't going to be available for Garcia, who will head back to the minors in order to play on an everyday basis.

Semien went 2-for-4 with two home runs, three RBI, three runs scored and a walk in Saturday's win over the Orioles.

Semien has five homers this month and all of them have come over his last eight games, a span in which he's also racked up 10 RBI, 10 runs scored and a 5:8 BB:K. This also was his first multi-homer game of the season.

Lowe hit a solo home run in his only at-bat during Saturday's loss to Seattle.

Lowe didn't start the contest, but he was brought up to the plate as a pinch hitter with the Rays trailing by a run with two outs in the ninth inning. The second baseman came through in a big way, launching a 431-foot solo shot off Kendall Graveman to tie the score and send the game into extra frames. Lowe is batting only .200 on the season, but he has been productive with 13 homers and 32 RBI.

India went 3-for-5 with two runs scored in Saturday's 7-5 loss to San Diego.

All three of the second baseman's hits were singles. India has been boom or bust lately -- in his last six games, he has three multi-hit efforts and three 0-fers. The 24-year-old is slashing .262/.371/.412 with six home runs, 29 RBI, 27 runs scored and four stolen bases across 225 plate appearances as Cincinnati primary leadoff man.

Kim went 1-for-2 with a two-run home run in Saturday's 7-5 win over Cincinnati.

After Fernando Tatis (shoulder) left Saturday's game, Kim filled in at shortstop. He made an impact in the eighth inning with a go-ahead two-run shot, which propelled San Diego to victory. The 25-year-old has struggled in his first major-league season with a .213/.266/.355 slash line, four homers, 20 RBI, 16 runs scored and five stolen bases across 169 plate appearances. Kim would be the logical choice to get the start at shortstop if Tatis is unavailable for Sunday's series finale versus Cincinnati.

Merrifield went 1-for-3 with a walk and three stolen bases in Saturday's 7-1 loss to the Red Sox.

MLB's steals leader did his best to get himself in scoring position, but the rest of the Royals' batting order couldn't cash him in. Merrifield hadn't swiped a bag since June 4, but he's up to 20 stolen bases on 21 attempts on the year in addition to his .272 batting average, five homers, 38 RBI and 41 runs through 69 contests.

Rengifo is starting in right field and batting seventh Saturday against the Tigers.

Rengifo was recalled to the big leagues Thursday and started at second base during the first two games of the series against Detroit. He'll remain in the lineup Saturday, showcasing his defensive versatility in a move to right field.