MLB Player News

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt finished just a home run shy of hitting for the cycle Friday night during a 14-10 win at Miami. Belt drove in a run and scored four times in the game.

Belt went 4 for 6 as he hit his 26th double and third triple of the season. He singled twice and now has 50 RBI for the Giants to go with his .279 batting average.

Few players have been hotter than Belt of late. The first baseman has an 11-game hitting streak working. He's gone 19 for 44 (.432) on the streak thus far with four home runs, four doubles and nine RBI.

Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter had a productive day at the plate as he reached base five times in Thursday's 6-5 win in extras over the Pirates.

Carpenter reached on an infield single in the opening frame. He then doubled in the fourth and tripled in a run in the fifth. He singled again in the ninth and fell a home run shy of the cycle as he went 4 for 5 with a walk, two runs scored and one RBI.

Carpenter is hitting .411 (21 for 51) with five RBI in his last 11 games. He has a .315/.385/.480 slash line with nine homers and 58 RBI in 467 at-bats.

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt went 2 for 5 with his 14th home run in his team's 6-5 loss to the Nationals Wednesday.

Belt extended his hitting streak to nine games while raising his line to .273/.351/.471 in 359 at-bats. All three slash statistics are season highs for the 25-year-old.

Indians outfielder Michael Brantley picked up three RBI Wednesday afternoon in Minnesota during an extra-inning win. Brantley went 2 for 5 in the game with a sacrifice fly RBI. 

The speedy outfielder scored a run and is batting .281. He's recorded at least one hit in nine of his last 10 games. He has six RBI over that stretch with one stolen base. 

Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera belted a three-run homer during Wednesday's 6-4 win at Chicago. Cabrera now has 38 homers on the year. 

The slugger finished the game 1 for 5 with the three RBI. He has 114 RBI on the season to go with his .360 average and is leading the majors in both. 

Cabrera, who trails Chris Davis for the major league lead in home runs, has homered six times in his last eight games. 

If I wasn't already president of the Brad Miller Fan Club, the rookie's two-homer game Tuesday at Tampa Bay clinched it.

It was his second two-homer game since coming up from the minors June 28. Granted, he has only the four home runs total, but he's done plenty more as the Mariners' starting shortstop. Most notably, he's collected multiple hits in 15 of his 39 games, including five of his last nine for a .333 batting average during that stretch. Granted, he's had a few 0-fers mixed in, making his overall batting average an uninspiring .261, but in Head-to-Head leagues, his steady play makes it seem like it should be higher.

And it probably will be given his knack for hitting the ball where it's pitched. He hit .334 over his minor-league career. Favorable park or not, that's impressive. He also takes walks, splits gaps, steals bases ... he's a jack-of-all-trades type of player. And at shortstop, that can add up to some serious production.

He's now ahead of Starlin Castro and Asdrubal Cabrera at the position in my rest-of-season rankings, and I'd be comfortable starting him there even in shallower leagues.

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper is back in the team's starting lineup Wednesday against the Giants. 

Harper was not in Tuesday's starting lineup because he had the flu. He was able to pinch hit during the game. Harper is hitting .262/.361/.507 at-bats. 

Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton called his struggles "mind-blowing," according to the Miami Herald. 

Stanton is missing his second game on the team's road trip. He expressed his frustration with all his numbers. "There's no one thing. (It's) everything, even defense. It's just one of those mind-blowing things," Stanton said. 

In 278 at-bats, Stanton is hitting .237/.351/.439. 

Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton is not in the club's starting lineup Wednesday against the Royals. 

Stanton will be replaced in right by Justin Ruggiano. In 278 at-bats, Stanton is hitting .237/.351/.439.

Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes hit his 19th home run in Tuesday's loss to Houston.

Cespedes finished 3 for 4 with the two-run blast. It was Cespedes's fourth home run in his last 13 games, and he owns a sharp .545 slugging percentage over that span. However, he still has 14 strikeouts in those 13 games and an on-base percentage of just .293.