MLB Player News

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt was dropped to eighth in the batting order Sunday against the Diamondbacks for the first time all season. He had hit seventh in the two previous games.

Belt is 1 for 11 with five strikeouts in the first two games out of the All-Star break. He is batting .318 (14 for 44) with six doubles, three RBI, six runs, five walks, 13 strikeouts and two stolen bases in 12 July games.

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen was held out of Sunday's lineup at Milwaukee, the team announced.

McCutchen was replaced in center field by Starling Marte, who will bat third. McCutchen is hitting .281 with three home runs and 12 RBI in his last 16 games.

Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter was not in Sunday's lineup against the Mets, the team announced.

He was replaced at third by Pete Kozma, who will bat eighth. Carpenter is hitting .161 with one home run and seven RBI in his last 15 games.

Tigers left fielder Yoenis Cespedes hit third Sunday against the Orioles for the first time in 2015. Prior to Sunday's game, he had hit second, fourth, fifth and sixth this season.

Cespedes has a good track record against Orioles starting pitcher Miguel Gonzalez, who is on the hill Sunday. Cespedes is batting .500 (4 for 8) with one RBI and one walk in his career against the right-hander.

In his career batting third, Cespedes is hitting .271 with a .465 slugging percentage and .782 OPS in 106 games.

Cespedes is hitless in his last three games (0 for 11). However, he is batting .274 with a .500 slugging percentage, three home runs, five doubles and nine RBI in 14 July games.

Left fielder Michael Brantley got the Indians on the board early on Saturday. Brantley launched a three-run home run with no outs in the very first inning, as the Indians beat the Reds 9-4. 

The home run was Brantley's sixth of the season and just the second in his last 54 games. Despite the lack of power, Brantley has manged to stay productive at the plate. He's batting .324 with two homers and eight RBI over his last 10 games.

Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner went 3 for 5 with a run and a RBI in Saturday's win over the Nationals.

The three-hit performance was Turner's second in his last three games.

Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper went 1 for 4 with a home run and two RBI in Saturday's loss to the Dodgers.

Harper hit a two-run blast, his 27th of the season, in the ninth inning off Dodgers reliever Kenley Jansen.

The Giants gave Buster Posey a day off from behind the plate on Saturday. 

Posey will play first base for the 22nd time this year and second time in the last three games. 

Regular first baseman Brandon Belt will move to left field for the 10th time. 

Andrew Susac replaces Posey at catcher. It's his 29th start and fourth in the last seven games. 

Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon put his team on the board with a solo home run in the fifth inning, but it wasn't enough as the Rockies fell 4-2 to the Padres on Friday. The home run was Blackmon's 12th of the year.

Blackmon went 2 for 4 on the night, and also stole his 24th base of the year. The red-hot Blackmon is batting .455 with two homers and seven RBI over his last 10 games. 

Indians center fielder Michael Brantley went 2 for 3 with a walk in Friday's loss to Cincinnati. 

Brantley got a hit for the sixth time in the last seven games, including three multi-hit games over that span. 

Brantley got two of the team's three extra base hits, doubling twice to give him 26 on the season.