MLB Player News

There is no possibility that Tigers slugger Yoenis Cespedes will eschew free agency to sign early with Detroit, an executive of one of his former teams told CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Jon Heyman.

"He's a businessman," the source said.

The Tigers, however, like Cespedes and plan to keep him in Detroit. He has been steady and productive this year to the tune of a .285/.320/.478 slash line and 27 RBI.

Angels starting pitcher C.J. Wilson gave Tigers personnel and fans a scare Thursday night when he plunked star Miguel Cabrera with a pitch on his surgically repaired right foot.

Cabrera did hobble around after getting hit and was checked out by trainer Doug Teter, but the veteran slugger remained in the game and gave a thumbs up to manager Brad Ausmus.

"It stings him at first, and it's in an area that's been a problem for him," Ausmus said, per MLB.com. "But I think he realized relatively quickly that his ankle was fine, relatively speaking."

Ausmus said the pitch hit Cabrera around the middle of the foot, and it was closer to the toes than the area where he had offseason surgery to repair a stress fracture that bothered him for most of the second half during the 2014 season. 

Cabrera had one more at-bat in the fifth inning before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning. However, it was more because the Tigers were trailing 12-2 than because Cabrera was hurting, per MLB.com.

Ausmus said he expects Cabrera to start Friday, and he will likely be in the lineup at first base.

"He doesn't really like DHing," Ausmus said. "As a matter of fact, he says it's more beneficial for him to be playing first because it keeps the ankle loose."

Pirates OF Andrew McCutchen went 3 for 5 at the plate to help lead the Pirates to an 11-5 victory over the Padres on Thursday.

McCutchen drove in two runs and scored two during the contest. Prior to his three-hit game Thursday, McCutchen was hitting .382 with three home runs and five RBI in his last nine games.

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt drove in the only run the Giants would need during a 7-0 win over the Braves on Thursday.

Belt hit a solo home run off Braves starter Shelby Miller in the sixth inning to give the Giants a 1-0 lead, which they would not relinquish. Belt finished the game 2 for 4 with two runs scored and one RBI. He is now batting .305 on the season.

Prior to his two-hit game Thursday, Belt was hitting .347 with five home runs and 13 RBI in his last 12 games.

Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano is out of the lineup for Thursday's series-opener against the Indians. Cano had started every game for the Mariners this season, but he's been mired in a bit of a funk lately.

Over his last 10 games, Cano is batting just .225 (9 for 40) with zero extra base hits. So manager Lloyd McClendon opted to finally give his star a breather.

Brad Miller will handle the keystone position on Thursday.

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper continued his hot streak in the month of May. 

In Wednesday night's 3-0 win over the Cubs, Harper hit his 17th home run of the season in the sixth inning. Harper hit the homer off of Jon Lester nad blasted it into deep left center field. 

For Harper, that's his 13th homer in the month of May. He finished the game 1 for 3 with two walks, giving him 42 walks for the year. Harper is now hitting .331/.470/.745 for the year. 

Tigers left fielder Yoenis Cespedes went 2 for 3 with a walk and a three-run home run in his team's 3-2 win over the A's, his former team, on Wednesday.

"I was confident I was going to do something," Cespedes said, per MLB.com. "But not necessarily hit a home run. I still have a lot of affection for that team, but I play for this team now and I want to win."

Cespedes hadn't homered since May 15 before slugging his second home run of May in the fifth inning to put his team up three runs. The A's were able to pick up runs in the seventh and eighth innings but fell short in the attempted comeback. Cespedes, who has four multihit efforts in his last eight games, owns a .291/.327/.489 line with six home runs, 27 RBI and three stolen bases in 182 at-bats.

Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon connected for his seventh home run during a 6-4 win Wednesday at Cincinnati. Blackmon parked a two-run homer off Mike Leake in the second inning, giving Colorado a 5-1 lead.

Blackmon, who went 1 for 4 with one walk, has homered twice in his last six games. However, he is batting just .176 (12 for 68) with five RBI in his last 19 games. His batting average has dropped from .317 to .262 in that span.

Cubs right fielder Jorge Soler is out of the starting lineup on Wednesday against the Nationals, the team announced.

It will be just Soler's second day off of the season after starting 21 consecutive games. Junior Lake will draw just his fourth start of the year and bat sixth. Soler is hitting .273 with 16 RBI in 176 at-bats this season. The Cubs are currently the underdogs (+105) against Washington.

Indians outfielder Michael Brantley filled up the box score in Wednesday's victory over the Rangers. Brantley reached base in all of his plate appearances, going 2 for 2, a walk, an RBI and a run scored.

Brantley lifted his season average up to .313 and has hit safely in eight of his last 11 games. 

With the Indians ahead with a comfortable lead, manager Terry Francona decided to remove Brantley from the game in the top of the seventh. Brantley has had just one day off since the middle of April, so this was an opportune time to get him some rest.