MLB Player News

Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed was the unlikely hero on Friday night. But unlikely or not, Ahmed's single in the 13th inning gave the Diamondbacks a 5-4 win over the Cubs.

Ahmed, who entered the game batting .194, went 3 for 6 with a home run and two RBI.

''I made some improvements, made some adjustments,'' Ahmed said. ''I'm starting to put the bat on the ball, starting to see it a lot better. The coaches here have been awesome - (hitting coach) Turner Ward and (assistant hitting coach) Mark Grace, and even my teammates here, they just stick with me, stay behind me, keep instilling confidence in me even though I'm struggling. That helped a lot.''

Ahmed is hitting .212/.281/.260 with a home run and eight RBI in 104 at-bats this season.

Hot-and-cold Diamondbacks shortstop Chris Owings was hot early this week. Now he's cold.

Owings has remained inconsistent all season. The latest example was a 12-for-22 outburst followed by his current 2-for-17 slide. It all adds up to a mediocre .252/.273/.367 slash line with just 10 RBI in 139 at-bats.

He is also striking out at a much higher rate in 2015 than he did a year ago. Owings has fanned 35 times.

Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts had the goods and bads in Thursday's loss to the Rangers. Bogaerts reached base safely in all three plate appearances, going 2 for 2 with a walk. He has a hit four straight games and has reached base in eight of his last nine. Since May 10, he has seen his season average rise more than 20 points from .250 to its current .271 clip.

But, Bogaerts did commit his third error of the season, and also ran into some back luck on the basepaths, literally. 

With teammate Daniel Nava at the plate in the bottom of the fifth, Bogaerts was on first base with one out. He took off trying to steal second, but Nava swung and tapped the ball to the right side, which clipped Bogaerts on the foot as he was running. Bogaerts was ruled out, and a strikeout by the next batter ended the rally for Boston.

"Probably the play there when I tried to steal and the ball hit me, that was probably the game-changer," said Bogaerts, per MLB.com. "I never knew, I was never aware the ball touched me until I came back down and I saw the video, it might've just scratched the bottom of my heel or something like that, but I never know it hit me at all."

Diamondbacks infielder Cliff Pennington ended a 0-for-16 slump during Thursday's 7-6 win at Miami. Pennington went 1 for 2 with one RBI, one walk and two runs.

Pennington had an RBI double in the sixth inning, which chased Marlins starting pitcher Mat Latos from the game. It was second RBI of the season.

Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford is being held out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Dodgers. Crawford has been red-hot at the plate, batting .432 over his last 10 games. But he has just one hit in 18 career at-bats against Dodgers' starter Clayton Kershaw. 

So, after starting each of the last eight games, Crawford will take a seat in favor of Joaquin Arias on Thursday. Crawford should be back in the lineup on Friday. 

Brandon Crawford has become a weapon within the Giants' offense, no matter who the opposing pitchers are.

Crawford, who has historically been better against left-handed pitchers, is hitting .265 against right-handed pitchers. He is still dominating lefties, hitting .414 with 2 home runs and seven RBI in 29 at-bats.

"I'm feeling good against lefties and righties right now," Crawford said. "That, along with being aggressive with pitches I like in the zone, that's been working for me. I feel good, but I'm not really focusing on what I've done the past week or tonight. Tomorrow is a new day."

The shortstop is on a five-game hitting streak, hitting .524/.545/.762 with a home run and nine RBI in 21 at-bats. 

Angels second baseman Johnny Giavotella is out of the starting lineup for the first time since April 25. Giavotella had started each of the last 21 games for manager Mike Scioscia, hitting a .247 clip with three doubles and eight RBI over that stretch.

Scioscia decided to give him a day off, however, and will give Taylor Featherston the start at the keystone position. Featherstone was also in the lineup at third base on Tuesday, and has just one hit in 16 at-bats this season. 

Strikeout machine Zach Walters has been optioned by the Indians to Triple-A Columbus to make room on the roster for Wednesday night starter Shaun Marcum, the Northeast Ohio Media Group is reporting.

Walters has struggled to make consistent contact. He has 56 strikeouts in 144 at-bats over the last two seasons and has fanned eight times in 17 at-bats in 2015.

Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed went 2 for 3 in Tuesday's win over Miami. 

Ahmed increased his average to .181 and drove in a run, his fifth of the season. 

Braves infielder Pedro Ciriaco is in the starting lineup for the second time this season, as he will be the starting third baseman on Tuesday against the Rays. Ciriaco started Sunday's game at shortstop, but will slide over to the hot corner with Phil Gosselin lost for at least two months with a thumb injury.

The light-hitting Ciriaco is batting second in the order on Tuesday. He does have three hits in seven at-bats this season, with all of them going for extra bases (two doubles and a triple).