MLB Player News

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen had another strong performance Tuesday, in a 4-3 loss to the Cardinals in 14 innings.

McCutchen went 2 for 5  with a home run, his 17th of the season. He drove in two runs and scored one, while walking once and striking out twice. He has seven multi-hit games in the month of August, and is batting .471 with two home runs and nine RBI in 11 games. 

Mariners infielder Brad Miller was a part of history Tuesday against the Rays, but he needed a little help from his counterpart in a Rays' uniform.

Miller opened the game with a home run and then added another in the fifth, joining forced with Ben Zobrist to become the first pair of leadoff hitters to home twice in the same game since 1994, and just the second since 1916.

"I was just trying to get things going and I hit a ball I was hoping had enough to get out of there, and it did," Miller told MLB.com after the game. "I was just flying around the bases. I don't know, just kind of blacking out a little. But it felt really good."  

Miller finished the game 2 for 5 with two runs and two RBI in a 5-4 win. He has four home runs and 20 RBI in 39 games, while hitting .261/.329/.439. 

Cubs general manager Theo Epstein told the Chicago Sun-Times Tuesday that outfield prospect Jorge Soler is still healing from a stress fracture/tibia, but will not be able to return to Class A Daytona in time. Soler still has a chance to appear in the Arizona Fall League before the season is over.

Mariners rookie shortstop Brad Miller has been red hot of late for Seattle. Miller has collected multiple-hit games in seven of his last 14 contests. 

Miller, who has gone 0 for 7 in his last two games, has gone 12 for 43 (.279) thus far in August over 10 games. He's hitting .300 over that 14-game span. 

The 23-year-old has four triples in 152 at-bats this season to go with eight doubles, 21 runs scored, 18 RBI and three stolen bases. 

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper is out Tuesday because he's dealing with the flu.

Harper will be replaced by Scott Hairston in left. There was some speculation Harper was out due to his struggles against lefties this year, but that's not the case. He would be in the lineup if he was not sick.

Harper is hitting .262/.359/.507 in 282 at-bats. 

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper is not in the team's starting lineup Tuesday against the Giants. 

Harper will be replaced in left by Scott Hairston. Harper is hitting .262/.359/.507 in 282 at-bats. 

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt received some swing advice from Phillies outfielder Domonic Brown, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

The club had attempted to alter Belt's swing, but he was hesitant to make changes. He changed his mind after talking to Brown. "Domonic said it only took him a couple of days to change his grip. I thought, if it only took him a couple of days, maybe I can do it in a couple of days, too." Belt also moved back in the batting box, in order to see pitches a little longer. 

Belt is hitting .271/.349/.466 in 350 at-bats.

Phillies outfielder Darin Ruf has once again looked good in a small sample of games, and is seeing regular playing time, but is a sell high in Fantasy leagues.

Ruf has only notched 42 games over his career, and he's put up some pretty unsustainable rates. Ruf's average has been propped up by a ridiculous .370 career BABIP. Considering his career strikeout rate is over 30 percent, there's no way he'll continue to hit for a high average. On top of that, there's also reason to believe his power will taper off. Ruf has his a home run on nearly a quarter of his fly balls. 

It's been a fantastic start to his major league career, but the overall performance has been fluky. Sell while you can. 

Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera made it four straight games with a home run. Cabrera has homered in five of his last six contests and is up to 37 on the year.

Cabrera went 2 for 4 in the loss at the White Sox Monday. He homered in each game of the previous series against the Yankees.

Cabrera, who has 111 RBI and also leads the American League in average at .366, trails just Chris Davis of the Orioles for the HR lead.

Cabrera has hit in nine straight games for the Tigers.

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt was named NL player of the week (Aug. 5-12) Monday. It was his first weekly award honor.

Belt hit safely in seven straight games last week, batting .440 (11 for 25) with two home runs, three doubles, three walks, five RBI and eight runs.