MLB Player News

Montgomery is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Royals.

The lefty-swinging Montgomery was in the lineup the last five times the White Sox went up against a traditional lefty hurler, but he'll take a seat in Thursday's series finale as the Royals send southpaw Kris Bubic to the bump. Luisangel Acuna is grabbing a start at shortstop while Montgomery rests.

Antonacci is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Royals.

The left-handed-hitting Antonacci batted ninth the last two times the White Sox faced a lefty, but he'll be out of the lineup altogether for this one as the Royals send southpaw Kris Bubic to the bump. Randal Grichuk is in left field and batting cleanup for Chicago.

Pena (hamstring/neck) hopes to resume his rehab assignment with Double-A Corpus Christi on Friday, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Pena has lingering neck soreness after being involved in a collision with a runner during Tuesday's game at Corpus Christi. He'll sit out a second straight game Thursday but is aiming to return to action Friday. Pena -- who initially went on the 10-day injured list just over a month ago with a right hamstring strain -- could be activated as soon as this weekend if all goes well.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Thursday that an MRI on Lindor's left calf showed healing, but there remains no timetable for the shortstop's return, Steve Gelbs of SNY reports.

Lindor has been resting his calf strain for the past three weeks and will now move to the strength-training portion of his recovery. He still appears several weeks away from a return, but more should be known about a potential timetable as he ramps up workouts.

Merrill is out of the lineup for Thursday's series finale against Milwaukee.

The lefty-swinging Merrill is sitting out for the final game of the series against the Brewers as San Diego faces southpaw Kyle Harrison. Merrill went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Wednesday and has gone 2-for-22 over his past six contests. The 23-year-old will most likely be back in the starting lineup Friday as San Diego heads to Seattle to take on right-hander Emerson Hancock in the series opener.

Duran went 1-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in Wednesday's 6-5 win over Arizona.

Duran laced a two-out, RBI double and scored in the ninth inning as part of the Rangers' three-run rally to overcome a 5-3 deficit. He's finding a comfortable home at second base due to Josh Smith (wrist/lower body) being sidelined on the injured list. Duran has hit safely in 10 off 11 contests, slashing .325/.404/.600 with six extra-base hits, eight RBI, one steal and eight runs scored during that stretch. Given that Duran has been good against pitchers of either hand, he could take over as the club's primary second baseman, which had been Smith's job prior to his injury.

Story went 2-for-3 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 3-1 win over the Phillies.

Story opened the scoring in the second inning with a 424-foot blast off Andrew Painter, his third homer this year and first since April 15. Coming into Wednesday, Story had gone just 6-for-32 (.188) with a lone extra-base hit in his prior eight games. Overall, he's slashing .211/.250/.311 with 19 RBI, 16 runs scored and four steals across 172 plate appearances this season.

Hernaiz went 3-for-4 with a run scored in Wednesday's 6-2 win over the Cardinals.

Hernaiz looked to be losing his grip on a starting role at third base last week, but the absence of Jacob Wilson (shoulder) has opened up shortstop for the foreseeable future. Hernaiz will need to hit his way into keeping the job -- this was just his second multi-hit effort of the campaign. The infielder is batting a passable .250, but he has a .638 OPS with one home run, five RBI, seven runs scored and two stolen bases over 69 plate appearances. He doesn't appear to have much upside unless his bat gets hot.

Crawford went 2-for-5 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 4-3 extra-inning loss to the Astros.

Crawford was back atop the lineup since Brendan Donovan received a day off. The homer was Crawford's fifth of the season, four of which have come over his last 14 games, a stretch in which he's hitting .250 (13-for-52). That's an improvement on his .208 average for the season, which comes with a .713 OPS, 14 RBI, 21 runs scored, one stolen base and three doubles over 36 contests. Crawford isn't a huge threat with power or speed, but his patience at the plate is enough to keep him in a starting role for a team that has struggled to hit this season.

Witt went 1-for-3 with two walks and a two-run home run during the Royals' 6-5 loss to the White Sox on Wednesday.

The Royals were down 6-3 heading into the ninth inning, but Witt made the White Sox fans nervous after smacking a two-run homer off Seranthony Dominguez. It was the seventh home run of the season for Witt, four of which have come over his last nine games. He's quickly rebounded from a slow start to the campaign and is slashing .306/.378/.506 with 12 steals, 22 RBI and 22 runs scored across 193 plate appearances this season.