MLB Player News

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. 

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard and second baseman Chase Utley are out of the starting lineup for Sunday's game. 

Both starters were rested against a left-handed pitcher. Howard is replaced in the lineup by Darin Ruf, who gets his seventh start at the position. He'll bat third. 

Utley is replaced by Cesar Hernandez, who starts at second for the first time in 15 games. He'll bat sixth. 

Carlos Ruiz also gets Sunday off. Replacing him at catcher is Cameron Rupp, who gets his 14th start of the year. He'll bat eighth.

Cubs right fielder Jorge Soler broke out of his recent mini-slump with a two-hit night in Saturday's win over the Diamondbacks. Soler went 2 for 4 with a big game tying, two-run double in the top of the eighth inning.

Soler's two-bagger knotted the game up at six, and set the stage for the team to post three more in the ninth for the victory. 

This was Soler's fourth two-hit performance in his last seven games. However, he was hitless int he other three games, and he is now 8 for 29 over that stretch.

Dodgers center fielder Joc Pederson went 1 for 4 at the plate in Los Angeles' 2-0 win over the Padres on Saturday.

Pederson did his damage in the first inning when he crushed a lead off home run over the right field wall off of Ian Kennedy, his 12th of the season. He has now tied a Dodgers' rookie record for most leadoff home runs in season with Johnny Frederick, who set the record in 1929.

Pederson is now hitting .243 with 23 RBI in 136 at-bats this season.

Cubs outfielder Jorge Soler is having a fine debut to the major leagues this season. The rookie is hitting .267 with 14 RBI in 161 at-bats this season, but he his still hoping for more, according to the Chicago Tribune.

"So far, I don't feel good about what I've done," Soler said Saturday. "I expect more from me."

Soler has struck out 59 times so far this season, 15 more than anyone else on the team. He also noted he thinks his hamstrings will hold up this year after missing more than two months in 2014 because of hamstring injuries.

Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon had a good day at the plate in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday against the Giants. Blackmon went 2 for 5 with a two-run home run. His sixth home run of the season brought the Rockies to within three runs, but they would eventually fall to the Giants 10-8.

Blackmon has just nine hits in 40 at-bats over his last 10 games, with Saturday's home run accounting for the only extra-base hit during that span.

Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen fell a triple-shy of the cycle in Saturday's 8-2 win over the Mets. The former NL MVP got the scoring started with his sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot in the bottom of the first inning off Matt Harvey. McCutchen then singled in the fifth before lacing a double in the seventh. 

Overall, McCutchen went 3 for 4 with two RBI and a run scored. His batting average is up to .258 and is 10 for 28 over his last eight games.