MLB Player News

Athletics third baseman Josh Donaldson didn't get his first hit until the ninth inning Friday, but made it count in a 5-4 win over the Orioles.

Donaldson went 1 for 4 in the game, but his lone hit won the game for the A's. He slugged a three-run walk-off home run in the ninth inning, erasing a two-run deficit with one swing.

Donaldson has 21 home runs in 93 games, and is just a few long balls away from his career-high mark of 24, set in 158 games a year ago. Donaldson is hitting .238/.316/.455 in 369 at-bats this season. 

Orioles third baseman Manny Machado continued his resurgence Friday, as he clubbed a late home run in a 5-4 loss to the Athletics.

Machado drove in two runs with his seventh-inning homer, to put the Orioles up, 4-2. Unfortunately, the bullpen could not make that lead stand up, as Machado's blast went to waste. He finished the game 2 for 4 with two runs driven in and one scored in the loss.

Machado has been red-hot in the month of July, hitting .486/.514/.829 with three home runs and five RBI in nine games since returning from a suspension. 

Rays infielder Evan Longoria drove in three runs Friday against the Twins.

With the bases loaded in the third inning, Longoria cleared the bases with a double to center. He also singled later in the game. Longoria finished 2 for 4, with no runs scored and three RBI. 

Brewers infielder Jean Segura is back in the starting lineup Friday against the Nationals, after he was reinstated from the bereavement list earlier in the day.  

Brewers shortstop Jean Segura was reinstated from the bereavement list Friday, after he spent nearly a week away from the team dealing with a death in the family. The Brewers open a series against the Nationals Friday, though it is not yet clear if he will be in the lineup for that evening's game, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

Orioles infielder Manny Machado doesn't expect any issues in Oakland, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Machado drew a five game suspension the last time the two teams played each other, but doesn't anticipate any bad blood this time around. "I’m past it already," Machado said. "We’re just going to go out there and take it like it’s another day. I’m going to go out there and play my game."

Machado said he hasn't even thought about playing the Athletics again, he just wants to start the second half on the right foot. Machado is hitting .270/.319/.422 over 244 at-bats. 

Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said Thursday shortstop Jean Segura rejoined the team Wednesday one week after Segura’s 9-month-old son passed away in the Dominican Republic, and added Segura will be activated off the bereavement list for the weekend series against the Nationals, per MLB.com.

"He’s back in town. He got back last night and I talked to him, and he’s ready to go," Roenicke told 620-AM WTMJ’s Greg Matzek on Thursday. "He needs to do this, he feels, to keep his mind off of some things. So he’ll be back with us. I don’t know that he’ll be playing every day at the beginning. It’s kind of up to him and how he feels. But he wants to do this, so he’ll meet us there tomorrow."

Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu entered the All-Star break with a six-game hitting streak intact after going 2 for 4 with a double in Sunday's first-half finale against the Twins.

LeMahieu never posted a batting average lower than .314 over a full minor-league season, and while he has yet to reach that level in the big leagues, he has posted batting averages of .280 or better in each of his first three seasons with at least 200 at-bats. That ability to scratch out hits doesn't come with much power though, as is evidenced by LeMahieu's .283/.339/.352 line at the break. His stolen-base success rate has fallen this season, as he's managed to record just eight steals in 15 attempts after successfully nabbing 18 bases in 25 attempts last season.

Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said Wednesday shortstop Jean Segura remains on the bereavement list, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Segura has been in the Dominican Republic since last week after learning his 9-month-old son, Janniel, had passed away after a brief illness.

"I've made phone calls today to try to make contact with him," Melvin said. "I haven't been able to make contact at this time. I'm hoping to find out today. We've left messages but we haven't heard back. We just don't know right now.

"There are a lot of unknowns here. Whatever Jean decides, we will support him. And we know his teammates will be there for him, too."

Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and Reds third baseman Todd Frazier survived tiebreaking swing-offs in the first round before eventually meeting in the finals of Monday's Home Run Derby, where Cespedes picked up his second straight title with a 9-1 knockout of Frazier.

Cespedes' three first-round homers earned him a swingoff with Athletics teammate Josh Donaldson, and after Donaldson managed just one home run three swings, the outfielder delivered homers in each of his first two swings to advance. He defeated Orioles outfielder Adam Jones 9-3 in the second round after Jones managed four first-round shots, then took down Jose Bautista, who had a competition-best 10 homers in the first round, by a score of 7-4 in the AL Final. Twins home-field competitor Brian Dozier hit just two home runs in the first round, failing to advance.

Frazier played the role of underdog throughout, hitting just two home runs as the first batter in the competition but managing to slide into a swing-off with Rockies first baseman Justin Morneau after Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig failed to hit a single home run before recording seven outs. Frazier went first in the swing-off and managed one home run in three swings but advanced after Morneau went 0 for 3. The Reds third baseman took down Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki 6-2 after Tulowitzki hit four first-round homers. Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton earned a bye after hitting six massive blasts in the first round, but he bowed out to Frazier 1-0 after a long break.

Cespedes joined Ken Griffey as the only players to win back-to-back Home Run Derby titles. He'll likely enter the 2015 competition as the favorite to make it three in a row.