MLB Player News

De La Cruz went 1-for-4 with a two-run double and a steal during the Reds' 6-5 loss to the Blue Jays on Friday.

De La Cruz smacked his 30th home run of the season in a 7-6 win over Atlanta on Thursday, and he swiped his 30th bag of the season one day later in Toronto. In doing so, he became the fourth player in franchise history to record 30 homers and 30 steals in a season, with the last being Brandon Phillips in 2007. De La Cruz ranks in the top-10 in the majors this season in both slugging percentage (.521) and OPS (.888) across 627 plate appearances.

Ortiz was removed from Friday's game against the Cardinals with an apparent injury, Jack Stern of BrewerFanatic.com reports.

Ortiz appeared to tweak something while legging out an infield single in the second inning and was eventually taken out of the game in the eighth. The Brewers will likely provide an update on his status after the game once they take a closer look at him, but he could sit out the team's final two regular-season games as a precaution to keep him as healthy as possible for the postseason.

Williams (upper body) is not in the starting lineup for Friday's game against the Astros.

The A's scratched Williams from Thursday's lineup due to upper-body soreness, and he will miss at least one additional start as a result of the injury. With Joshua Kuroda-Grauer also on the bench, Donovan Walton will start at shortstop while Jeff McNeil shifts over to second base and Tommy White mans first against right-hander Hunter Brown.

Pratt isn't in the lineup for Friday's game against the Cardinals due to an illness, Hunter Baumgardt of Fox Sports 920 Milwaukee reports.

Pratt went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a steal in Thursday's series finale against Philadelphia, but he'll be unavailable to begin the Brewers' final series of the regular season as he recovers from an illness. David Hamilton will take over at shortstop and bat ninth.

Swanson is not in the lineup for the second game of Friday's doubleheader versus the Red Sox.

Swanson went 0-for-4 with a run scored in the first game of the twin bill. Nico Hoerner will shift over to shortstop, and Pedro Ramirez will get the start at second base for the Cubs.

Gimenez is not in the starting lineup for Friday's game against the Reds.

With southpaw Nick Lodolo on the bump for Cincinnati, Gimenez will give way to Ernie Clement at shortstop as Charles McAdoo starts at second base. Gimenez is slashing .267/.313/.400 with one home and one steal in 17 games this month around a brief absence due to hamstring soreness.

Volpe will start at third base and will bat seventh in the first game of Friday's doubleheader against the Orioles.

Volpe played a few games at third base while at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season, but this will be his first-ever start at the hot corner at the major-league level. The Orioles are sending lefty Trevor Rogers to the hill, and Volpe could wind up starting at third base over Ryan McMahon versus southpaws during the playoffs.

Betts went 3-for-5 with a double, a walk and a run scored in Thursday's 4-2 loss to the Padres.

Betts has gone 14-for-28 (.500) with four multi-hit efforts over his last seven games. He's added two home runs, five doubles and six RBI in that span. With another late-season surge under his belt, Betts looks playoff ready. He's batting .261 with a .784 OPS, 22 home runs, 68 RBI, 70 runs scored, 25 doubles and two stolen bases across 120 contests this season.

Pena went 1-for-5 with a stolen base in Thursday's 7-5 win over the Athletics.

Pena battled a wrist injury earlier in the week and was unavailable to hit Wednesday. He started at shortstop and played the full game Thursday, so it looks like he'll be able to play through any lingering soreness as the Astros battle for the last playoff spot in the American League. Pena is batting .274 with a .790 OPS, 20 home runs, 12 stolen bases, 51 RBI, 77 runs scored, 19 doubles and two triples over 109 contests.

Lombard went 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBI, a double and an additional run scored in Thursday's 6-4 win over the Rays.

Lombard is heating up ahead of the postseason for the Yankees. The rookie shortstop has hit safely in five consecutive games and nine of his last 10, smashing four homers and collecting 11 RBI during that latter span. Through 162 plate appearances, he's slashing .243/.292/.426 with seven long balls, 22 RBI, two stolen bases and 23 runs scored.