MLB Player News

Harper went 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base in Wednesday's 4-2 loss to the Rangers.

After sitting out the last three games with a hand injury, Harper returned and demonstrated that his legs are still 100 percent. The 29-year-old is on his way to another MVP-caliber campaign, slashing .326/.392/.618 through 61 games with 15 homers, nine steals, 48 runs and 48 RBI.

Madris went 1-for-5 with a double and three RBI on Wednesday against the Cubs.

Madris delivered a bases-clearing double in the ninth inning of a blowout loss. He has started all three games since being called up to Pittsburgh on Monday and has gone 5-for-13 with three extra-base hits, six RBI and two runs scored. It's unclear whether he will continue to get regular playing time, but Madris is playing over Cal Mitchell in the outfield for now.

Ruf went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and an additional run in a loss to Atlanta on Wednesday.

Ruf gave the Giants an early 2-0 lead with his fourth-inning solo shot, and he scored another run after reaching on a hit by pitch in the ninth. The veteran has mostly struggled this season, posting a .225/.345/.358 slash line through 223 plate appearances. He's hitting .262 against lefty pitchers but only .205 against right-handers.

Winker went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI in Wednesday's 9-0 win over the Athletics.

Winker contributed an RBI single in the third inning and a two-run blast in the fifth. He's homered in consecutive contests for the first time all year, and three of his last four hits have gone for extra bases. The outfielder is up to a .219/.337/.335 slash line, six long balls, 29 RBI and 22 runs scored through 68 contests. It's too soon to say he's shaking off his season-long power outage, but it's clear he's making some progress in that area, though that could also be a product of facing the Athletics' pitching.

Ohtani (6-4) dominated with eight scoreless innings to earn the win over the Royals on Wednesday. He struck out 13 while allowing just two hits and a walk.

Ohtani followed up a career-best performance at the plate Tuesday with one of his most dominant pitching outings. It's the first time he's gone eight scoreless innings, and the 13 strikeouts marked a career high for the two-way star. He now has a 2.90 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 90:16 K:BB through 68.1 innings overall. Ohtani also went 1-for-3 with a pair of walks at the plate Wednesday, lifting his season slash line to .260/.336/.487 in 298 plate appearances.

McCutchen went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, a double and two total RBI in Wednesday's 5-4 loss to the Cardinals.

McCutchen had gone 0-for-6 with two walks in his last two games, but he was able to add some hits Wednesday. He went yard in the fourth inning and knocked in another run with a ground rule double in the fifth. He's now posted six multi-hit efforts in 18 games in June. Overall, the veteran is slashing .242/.309/.352 with five homers, 27 RBI, 26 runs scored, five stolen bases and nine doubles through 56 contests.

Buxton did not play in Wednesday's loss to Cleveland due to knee soreness, Darren Wolfson of Channel 5 Saint Paul reports.

Wolfson reports Buxton's knee flared up and has been an issue for a while. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said after the game the center fielder wanted to play Wednesday but couldn't move around well enough to be available, according to Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. It's not yet clear if Buxton will be able to take the field for Thursday's series finale against the Guardians.

Soler went 1-for-3 with a walk and a solo home run Wednesday against the Rockies.

Soler went yard back-to-back with Jazz Chisholm in the seventh inning to record his 13th home run of the season. It was Soler's first long ball since June 7 -- a span of 11 starts during which he hit just .214 with one RBI and four runs scored. For the season, Soler has maintained a .221/.315/.443 slash line with 31 RBI and 31 runs scored across 268 plate appearances.

Alvarez went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs during Wednesday's 5-3 win against the Mets.

The 24-year-old went back-to-back with Alex Bregman during the opening frame, and Alvarez followed with another solo shot during the third inning. He leads all of baseball with a 1.064 OPS and now has 21 home runs and 51 RBI for the season. Alvarez has especially been flexing his power lately with four long balls in his past four games.

Buxton is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Guardians.

Buxton's absence comes as a surprise after he received a breather Saturday before starting in both of the Twins' next two games while benefiting from a team off day in between them. At this point, the Twins haven't indicated that Buxton is dealing with an injury, so the prevailing assumption is that he's getting another maintenance day. Nick Gordon replaces Buxton in center field Wednesday.