MLB Player News

Lowe homered in both ends of Saturday's doubleheader against the Cardinals. He went a combined 3-for-8 with two home runs and three RBI.

Lowe started at first base in both games while Sal Stewart served as the designated hitter in the matinee and handled third base in the night cap. An injury to Ke'Bryan Hayes (back) should result in consistent playing time for Lowe at first base or DH against right-handers while a combination of Stewart and Eugenio Suarez fill in at the hot corner. Lowe is up to eight home runs and 23 RBI over 38 games.

Ozuna is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Blue Jays.

Though he drove in both of the Pirates' runs in Saturday's 5-2 loss to Toronto, Ozuna will find himself on the bench for the third time in six contests for the series finale. The Pirates will deploy Oneil Cruz as their designated hitter in place of Ozuna, who may be fading into a part-time role while he's struggled to a .189/.279/.314 slash line across 179 plate appearances on the season.

Ozuna went 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI on Saturday against the Blue Jays.

Ozuna doubled in the sixth inning to drive in his first run of the day, and he drove in another on a groundout two frames later. He's hit only .233 since the start of May, though he does have 12 RBI and eight runs scored across 17 games this month. Ozuna has also started only three of the team's last six games, with Oneil Cruz shifting to DH to allow for Jhostynxon Garcia and Esmerlyn Valdez to play regularly in the outfield.

Del Castillo isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against Colorado.

Del Castillo will get a chance to regroup while he sits down Saturday following an 0-for-9 stretch at the plate across his last three games. Jose Fernandez will fill in as Arizona's designated hitter and bat seventh.

Lowe started at first base and went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in a 9-1 loss to the Cardinals in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader.

Lowe gave the Reds an early lead with his second-inning homer, but other than that, Cincinnati didn't put up much of fight. It was the seventh homer of the season for Lowe, who has hits in five consecutive starts, going 7-for-22 with three doubles, a home run and five RBI during that span. He could earn more playing time after the Reds placed third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes (back) on the 10-day injured list Friday. Whether Sal Stewart moves from first to third or the recently activated Eugenio Suarez handles the hot corner, Lowe could see time at first base or DH.

Suarez isn't in the lineup for the second game of Saturday's doubleheader versus the Cardinals, Charlie Goldsmith of Fox 19 Now Cincinnati reports.

Suarez went 0-for-2 with a walk during Cincinnati's 8-1 loss in the first half of Saturday's twin bill, and he'll get a chance to rest during the nightcap. JJ Bleday will work as the Reds' designated hitter while TJ Friedl, Blake Dunn and Will Benson start across the outfield.

Soto went 2-for-3 with a solo home run in Friday's 2-1 loss to the Marlins.

Despite batting third in the Mets' lineup, Soto saw just three plate appearances, as New York sent just 29 batters to the plate on a night when they generated just three hits, two of which came off Soto's bat. He took Eury Perez deep in the top of the first inning, and that was all the Mets were able to muster on the scoreboard. Soto has three multi-hit games over his last four appearances and has hit safely in eight of the last nine, raising his average 38 points during that span. He's slashing .301/.394/.571 with 10 homers, 21 RBI, 22 runs scored, five stolen bases and a 21:24 BB:K across 155 trips to the plate this season.

Schwarber (illness) will start at designated hitter and bat second in Friday's game against the Guardians.

Schwarber missed all three games of this week's series against the Reds while battling a stomach bug, but he's well enough to give it a go in Friday's series opener versus Cleveland. The slugger leads all of baseball with 20 home runs this season.

Herrera went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and an additional run scored in Thursday's 6-2 loss to the Pirates.

Herrera got St. Louis on the board in the third inning with a two-out shot off Braxton Ashcraft, giving the catcher/DH his sixth homer of the year and his second in three games. Herrera has swung the bat well of late, going 16-for-51 with an .804 OPS over his last 12 contests. Overall, he's slashing .262/.386/.426 with 24 RBI and 28 runs scored across 223 plate appearances this season.

Ozuna went 2-for-4 with two RBI on Thursday against the Cardinals.

Ozuna had been out of the lineup for two of the last three games, and he was bumped down to sixth in the order in his return Thursday. He responded by delivering a two-RBI single in the sixth inning, giving the Pirates a three-run lead. Ozuna has gone just 7-for-35 across his last 10 starts, though he has managed five RBI and four runs scored in that span.