MLB Player News

Matt Duffy got all the hard parts out of the way, but wound up falling a single short of hitting for the cycle on Sunday in the Giants' victory over the Rockies. 

Duffy tripled in the first inning, doubled in the third and homered in the sixth. In his last at-bat, he hit into a double play to end the seventh inning. 

The third baseman has gotten a hit in nine of his last 10 games, and more importantly, has scored 11 runs in his last six contests, providing a huge spark at the top of the Giants' order. 

Duffy is now hitting .303 with eight homers and 37 RBIs on the year. 

Nolan Arenado was a one-man wrecking crew for the Rockies, but it wasn't enough to keep them from dropping a 6-3 decision to the Giants on Sunday. 

Arenado opened the scoring with a two-run blast off Madison Bumgarner in the first inning and closed the Rockies' offense with a solo blast in the ninth. The third baseman now has 24 homers on the season, and is tied with Bryce Harper for the third-most in the majors. Arenado has 12 home runs in June and eight in the last week of play. 

With three runs driven in, Arenado now has 68 for the season, passing the injured Giancarlo Stanton as the top run producer in MLB. 

Braves second baseman Jace Peterson smacked his third home run of the season Sunday to help defeat the Pirates 2-1.

Peterson hit the solo home run off Vance Worley in the seventh inning. It was his only hit in five at-bats during the game.

Prior to Sunday's performance, Peterson was hitting .175 with five doubles and six RBI in his last 11 games.

Pirates first baseman Pedro Alvarez is not in the starting lineup for Sunday's game. 

Alvarez has started 61 games this year, including the last five and eight of the last nine. 

He'll be replaced in the lineup by Sean Rodriguez, who starts at first for the seventh time this year. 

Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado increased his current hitting streak to 14 games on Saturday. Arenado went 1 for 4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in the 7-5 loss to the Giants.

Over the 14-game stretch, the star third-baseman is batting .370 with seven home runs and 18 RBI. 

The Braves scored four runs in a loss Saturday at Pittsburgh. Second baseman Jace Peterson was responsible for three of them with one swing of the bat.

Peterson cut the deficit from 6-1 to 6-4 with a bases-clearing double in the seventh inning to drive starter Charlie Morton from the game. He added a single in ending a hitless streak that had reached 17 at-bats and lowered his average from .284 to .264, its lowest point in three weeks.

He has certainly hit in the clutch. He entered Saturday hitting .321 with two home runs with runners in scoring position and is now 7-for-11 with the bases loaded. He has an explanation.

"You kind of put a little more grit into it," he told MLB.com. "When you've got runners out there, you want to get them in."

Hot-and-cold Pirates first baseman Pedro Alvarez is hot again. He ran his hitting streak to five games in a Saturday victory over Atlanta with two hits.

Alvarez doubled in two in a five-run first and added a single to give him seven hits in his last 10 at-bats. He has six RBI during that stretch after enduring a 2-for-17 slide.

Giants third baseman Matt Duffy stayed hot at the plate in Saturday's 7-5 win over the Rockies. Duffy filled up the boxscore by going 3 for 4 with a double, a solo home run, two RBI and three runs scored.

Duffy's home run, his seventh of the season, was a solo shot in the fifth inning to bring the Giants to within a run. They would tack on three more in the seventh to claim their seventh win in the last 11 contests.

Duffy has been right in the middle of the success in that 11-game stretch, as he is hitting .355 with two home runs and 10 RBI.

Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado was an offensive terror on Friday night, as he went 2 for 4 with two home runs and four RBI in the 8-6 win over the Giants. 

Arenado blasted a three run shot in the sixth inning off Tim Hudson to give the Rockies a 4-1 lead. Then Arenado added a solo shot in the ninth inning to make the score 8-3.

The star third baseman is up to 22 home runs on the year now, and he has an astounding six home runs over his last five games. 

The Nationals are going to have to play a long stretch of games again without second baseman Anthony Rendon, who is headed back to the disabled list due to a left quadriceps strain. The Nationals announced Friday that Rendon was placed on the 15-day disabled list, with the move retroactive to June 25.

Manager Matt Williams said an MRI on Rendon's quad showed "some pretty good changes in there." Rendon said he can continue to swing a bat while on the disabled list.

Rendon began the season on the disabled list due to a left knee sprain and left oblique strain. He missed the first 52 games.

Rendon hit .290 (20 for 69) with five doubles and five RBI in 18 games since making his season debut. The Nationals will likely turn to Danny Espinosa to man second base in Rendon's absence.