MLB Player News

Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera blasted his 26th home run of the season during Tuesday's 7-6 win at Toronto. Cabrera went deep for a three-run shot off Chien-Ming Wang in the second inning. 

He finished 1 for 3 with two walks. Cabrera is batting .368 on the season and is leading the majors in hitting. He has 85 RBI to lead the league. 

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt homered in a rain-shortened game Monday against Cincinnati. 

Due to the rain, the solo shot was Belt's only official at-bat. Belt also walked. Belt has six home runs and 15 doubles in 45 games (37 starts) since May 9 and has raised his slugging percentage from .337 to .452.

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper homered in his first game back from the disabled list Monday against Milwaukee.

Harper went 1 for 4 with a solo blast in his first at-bat. He's hitting .286/.387/.597 with 13 home runs on the season.

As expected, the Nationals have activated outfielder Bryce Harper Monday.

Harper is expected to make his return against Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo. He hasn't played since late May with a knee injury. Harper is hitting .287/.386/.587 in 150 at-bats.

Mariners rookie infielder Brad Miller collected the first hits of his MLB career Sunday against the Cubs. Miller's first hit was a double off Edwin Jackson leading off the fifth inning and chased Jackson from the game in the seventh with his second double.

"It was a little weight lifted there because I wanted to get in the swing of things and help out," Miller said.

Miller also recorded his first run. He's batting .182 (2 for 11) with one RBI, two walks, three strikeouts and two stolen bases in three games since his promotion from the minors.

"It's been fun -- everything has been awesome," Miller said. "I'm just trying to get my feet wet and get comfortable and go out and play."

When asked about outfielder Bryce Harper's return to the starting lineup, Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth made some strange comments, according to The Washington Post. 

"We’ll see which Bryce shows up," Werth said. "Of course, getting Bryce back will be huge. How many teams would like to acquire a power, left-handed bat and an outfielder who plays with his hair on fire? If he plays with his hair on fire. Like I said, we’ll see which Bryce shows up."

Harper had established a reputation of going all out prior to the injury. After running into the outfield wall in Los Angeles, Harper was more timid. While Werth could be hinting at Harper getting back to his all-out antics, first baseman Adam LaRoche took a different approach. "We just need to keep him out of trouble, keep him away from anything dangerous and he’ll be all right," LaRoche said.

Harper is hitting .287/.386/.587 in 150 at-bats. 

Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter extended his hitting streak to 10 games Sunday with his first three-hit game in nearly four weeks against the Athletics.

Carpenter went 3 for 5 with two doubles and a home run, his first game with multiple extra-base hits since May 1. He scored two runs and drove in another in a 7-5 loss. The home run was his seventh and third in June.

Carpenter is hitting .322 with 32 RBI in 311 at-bats. He has 100 hits in 77 games after entering the season with 88 hits in his previous 121 games. 

The Nationals expect Bryce Harper to return from the disabled list Monday, and the Washington Post reports Sunday the team will send down a pitcher to make room for him.

Harper finished his four-game rehab stint Saturday for Double-A Harrisburg, finishing 4 for 11 with three extra-base hits while recovering from a knee injury. Harper is expected to start Monday against the Brewers, batting third and playing left field. The Nationals could use Harper as they are 15-16 without him in the lineup, compared to 25-18 when he played.

"Just add his energy, doing what he does," outfielder Denard Span said. "Some silly stuff. But just his presence, I think it gets everybody going. I think it will be good to have him back tomorrow."

Harper was hitting .287/.386/.587 before his injury. 

Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna pushed his hitting streak to nine games Sunday against the Padres with a 2-for-4 performance. Ozuna also scored two runs.

Ozuna is batting .382 (13 for 34) with a home run, four doubles and nine RBI in his last nine games. He also has a stolen base and five runs.

Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton launched a solo home run in Saturday's 7-1 win against the Padres. Stanton extended his hitting streak to five games and homered for the fifth time since his DL activation June 10.

Stanton, who missed several weeks with a hamstring injury, is batting .313 (21 for 67) with five doubles, nine runs and 13 RBI in 17 games since returning to the Marlins' lineup.

With the July 31 trade deadline a month away, Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was asked Sunday by MLB Network Radio on whether he thought Stanton would be with Miami at the end of the season.

"I sure hope so, I think he's a pretty good player," Beinfest said.