MLB Player News

Athletics third baseman Brett Lawrie is out of the starting lineup for the second straight game. 

Lawrie has missed the time due to overall soreness. He's replaced at third by Max Muncy, who gets his fourth time this year. 

Blue Jays DH Jose Bautista received a cortisone shot in his shoulder, per Toronto's 590 AM. Bautista is out of the lineup Sunday and will likely miss Monday as well. 

Edwin Encarnacion moves to DH from first base to replace Bautista, with Justin Smoak getting the start at first. 

Munenori Kawasaki also gets his second start of the year second base, replacing Steve Tolleson. 

Danny Valencia also gets a rest. Chris Colabello moves over from right field to left to replace him. Ezequiel Carrera replaces Colabello in right. 

First baseman Pedro Alvarez and second baseman Neil Walker are both out of the Pirates' Sunday lineup. 

Alvarez is replaced by Sean Rodriguez, who gets his second start of the year at first base. Rodriguez will hit sixth.

Walker's absence requires shifts at all other infield positions. Josh Harrison moves over from third place to replace Walker at second. Jung Ho Kang moves to third from shortstop, and Jordy Mercer returns to the lineup at short, for just the second time in eight games. 

Brewers shortstop Jean Segura is expected to be activated from the disabled list by this Friday's game against the Diamondbacks, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. 

Segura, who has a broken finger, has an MRI scheduled for Monday to determine whether his injury has healed or not. The expectation is that he'll be good to go. It hasn't been decided whether Segura will have a brief minor-league rehab assignment or not. 

"I think we're down to days with them," said manager Craig Counsell. "I'm optimistic. They're taking big steps at this point, which is what you want to see. You kind of see the light here with both of those guys."

In 34 games, Segura is slashing .262/.306/.373. 

Two regulars are not in the starting lineup for the Indians' game on Sunday. 

Center fielder Michael Bourn gets a rest after five straight starts in center. He's replaced by Michael Brantley, who gets his sixth start in center. 

Jose Ramirez sits after 12 straight starts at shortstop. Mike Aviles replaces him, batting ninth. 

Braves second baseman Jace Peterson went 2 for 6 at the plate in Atlanta's 3-2 win over the Brewers on Saturday in 11 innings. 

Peterson was just 1 for 5 before stepping to the plate in the 11th with runners on second and third. He ripped the first pitch he saw from Brandon Kintzler into left center field to score the game-winning run for Atlanta. 

"[Peterson] had a great at-bat," said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez to MLB.com. "First pitch, got him. Base hit. When you play that long, especially at home, it's nice to win those games."

Peterson is now hitting .264 with 18 RBI in 129 at-bats this season.

"I was trying to be aggressive," Peterson said. "Trying to get a fastball, and he threw it first pitch, so I was just trying to get a base hit and trying to get the run in."

Pirates first baseman Pedro Alvarez launched his eighth home run of the season in the 8-2 victory over the Mets on Saturday. Alvarez, who also had an RBI-double on the afternoon, hit his solo home run in the bottom of the first off Matt Harvey, giving his club an early 3-0 lead. 

This was his third home run over his last 10 games, but is still sporting a low .233 batting average on the season. 

“It’s always good when Pedro drives in a couple runs in a game,” manager Clint Hurdle said, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Usually works out well for us.”

Shelved Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon, who has been sidelined all season with knee and oblique injuries, took batting practice Saturday for the first time since going down, per CSNWashington.com.

Rendon is still quite far away from returning to the team, however. He still must participate in similated games starting early next week before heading out on a rehab assignment. There remains no timetable for him to rejoin the Nationals.

"He feels good where he is at right now," manager Matt Williams said about Rendon. "We'll assess again tomorrow and see. After yesterday, he reported today feeling great."

Rays third baseman Evan Longoria connected for a three-run homer off Scott Kazmir in the fifth inning of Friday's game against the Athletics, helping propel Tampa Bay to a 5-2 win. 

"He was throwing the ball really well, and it was a little bit different than what we had seen in the video," Longoria said, per MLB.com. "He was up as high as 96 [mph], which you knew he had that, and you know he was capable of doing those things, but it was something that we hadn't really seen.

"There were two strikes, and I was just trying to put the ball in play. I had a similar situation earlier in the game, where he threw two fastballs and they were both down in the zone, and I grounded out to third. The plan was just to try and drive the ball into the outfield and score one run, and I ended up getting three out of it."

Longoria, who went 2 for 3 with one walk and one stolen base, has a .270/.345/.473/.818 slash line through 20 May games. He also has three doubles, four home runs and 17 RBI this month.

Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson returned to the starting lineup Saturday against the Mariners after he was sidelined by calf soreness Friday. Donaldson did make a pinch-hit appearance Friday.

Donaldson heads into Saturday's game with a .299/.342/.507/.850 slash line over his last 18 games. 

Left-hander James Paxton is on the mound for Seattle. Donaldson is batting .389 with one double, three home runs and six RBI in nine games against left-handed starters in 2015.