MLB Player News

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt has been on a offensive tear as of late. He continued the trend on Tuesday, hitting 1 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI in his team's 6-3 win over the Brewers.

For the season, Belt is hitting .301/.375/.510 with five home runs and 20 RBI in 143 at-bats.

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper hit his 17th home run of the season in Tuesday night's 3-2 loss to the Cubs. 

His home run came at a needed time, with the Nationals down 1-0 in the top of the seventh. Hitting leadoff that inning, Harper hit a solo shot to tie the game up. It was Harper's lone hit of the game as he finished 1 for 4. 

Since entering the majors in 2012, Harper has showed enormous potential. This season, though, it's all come together with the young ballplayer performing as one of the game's best.

Since a three-home run game against the Marlins on May 6, Harper has hit .467 at the plate with 12 of his home runs coming in that span. 

For the year, Harper now has a slash line of .331/.467/.734. 

Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton went 2 for 4 at the plate in Miami's 4-2 loss to the Pirates on Monday. Stanton got things going early when he ripped an RBI single in the first off of Charlie Morton. 

Then in the third, Stanton blasted a solo home run to right field off of Morton, his 13th of the season. Stanton is now hitting .234 with 42 RBI in 171 at-bats this season.

Dodgers infielder Justin Turner hasn't been given the title just yet, but it's becoming apparent he is the team's primary third baseman over Alex Guerrero and Juan Uribe, according to the L.A. Times. 

Turner has started 13 of 20 games this month for Los Angeles, but has not started more than three consecutive games all year.

"We try to be three [games] on, one off and two on and one off," manager Don Mattingly said. "Trying basically to not let him go too far at one time."

Mattingly is trying to juggle the three players in his infield as much as possible, keeping them all around equal playing time. 

"It's tough with Alex and Justin right now," Mattingly said. "We're trying to put the best lineup out there. I do think as this continues on, there's going to be a point where Juan's going to be a valuable part. But right now, those two guys have been swinging the bat real well and playing solid defense."

Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton is generally a good bet to produce against most any pitcher. But his matchup Monday against Pittsburgh starter Charlie Morton is particularly promising.

Stanton is 7-for-15 lifetime against Morton with three walks. Oddly, however, he has no home runs in those plate appearances.

Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez has been scratched from the Monday lineup against the host Reds because of illness, per MLB.com.

Gonzalez, who did not play Sunday, has been unproductive in 2015 with a slash line of .206/.285/.326.

His spot was assumed Monday by Charlie Blackmon, who was originally not in the lineup.

Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki are out of the starting lineup for Monday's game against the Reds.

Blackmon will get a break after starting 12 straight games, and Brandon Barnes will man both center field and the leadoff spot in the lineup. Tulowitzki is sitting for the second time in three games and will be replaced by Daniel Descalso, who's batting eighth.

The Rockies are underdogs (+132) on Monday, per VegasInsider.com.

Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter went 1 for 3 at the plate in St. Louis' 6-1 win over the Royals on Sunday. 

Carpenter did his damage in the sixth when he belted a two-run home run off of Yordano Ventura, his eighth of the season. Carpenter, who also walked twice and struck out once, is now hitting .323 with 27 RBI in 158 at-bats this season.

"He's just a pro," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said to MLB.com. "We're big fans of the way he goes about his work, how he plays the game and how he respects the game and his teammates."

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning of Sunday's 9-1 win over the Mets. 

McCutchen took a 1-2 pitch to deep center field off of Jonathon Niese that also drove in Jose Tabata. That was McCutchen's seventh home run of the season. He finished the game 2 for 3 with a single and two walks. 

"You've got to have the confidence in yourself that regardless of what they're throwing up there, you're capable of being able to have some good at-bats and be able to be on the successful side of it," McCutchen said to MLB.com.

This was the second game in a row that McCutchen went yard and marked the third time in the past four games he's done so. After a horrible start in April, McCutchen is hitting .321 since May 1. 

McCutchen is slashing .261/.359/.464 for the season. 

Dodgers third baseman Alex Guerrero has returned to the lineup after taking Saturday's game against the Padres off. 

Guerrero will hit sixth after Justin Turner filled in his spot a day ago. 

Outfielder Enrique Hernandez is batting seventh and catcher Austin Barnes is batting eighth.