MLB Player News

Horwitz went 3-for-5 in Wednesday's 11-9 loss to the Astros.

Horwitz's bat remains hot -- he hasn't been held hitless in consecutive games since April 30-May 1. He has gone 13-for-36 (.361) with three extra-base hits over his last nine contests, a span that includes five multi-hit performances. The infielder is now batting .291 with an .852 OPS, seven home runs, 26 RBI, 24 runs scored, eight doubles, one triple and one stolen base. While Horwitz doesn't offer much speed, he gets on base enough (.390 OBP) to be a quality leadoff hitter in the absence of shortstop Konnor Griffin (elbow).

Cruz went 2-for-3 with two walks, a stolen base and two runs scored in Wednesday's 11-9 loss to the Astros.

Cruz went 1-for-2 on stolen-base attempts in this contest, with his successful swipe being his 20th of the year. He's logged four of those thefts over his last eight games, going 9-for-27 (.333) at the plate with three home runs, 10 RBI and seven walks in that span. The speedster is now batting .263 with an .816 OPS, 14 home runs, 44 RBI, 45 runs scored and 10 doubles over 60 contests. Cruz is tracking toward a career year despite also leading the majors with 94 strikeouts.

Gonzales went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run, a double and an additional RBI in Wednesday's 11-9 loss to the Astros.

Gonzales has homered twice over his last three games and has seven RBI during a five-game hitting streak. The infielder is known to have a fairly steady bat, though that typically doesn't come with power -- those two recent long balls are all he's hit this season. Gonzales is batting .314 with a .758 OPS, 29 RBI, 31 runs scored, three stolen bases and 10 doubles through 56 contests.

Davis went 1-for-4 with a grand slam in Wednesday's 11-9 loss to the Astros.

Davis gave the Pirates a 4-2 lead in the fourth inning with his slam, which was his third homer over his last seven contests. While he's shown a bit of power recently, he has gone just 4-for-24 (.167) with eight strikeouts during that span. The catcher has lost some time to Endy Rodriguez amid his season-long struggles. Davis is batting a mere .143 with a .533 OPS, five homers, 16 RBI, 13 runs scored, one stolen base and three doubles over 135 plate appearances. Expect Davis and Rodriguez to continue to operate in a timeshare.

Soto (4-1) allowed three runs on three hits and a walk while failing to retire a batter, taking the loss and a blown save versus the Astros on Wednesday.

He was brought in with two outings in the eighth inning and couldn't clean up the mess Mason Montgomery left him. This poor outing brought Soto's six-inning scoreless streak to a crashing halt. The left-hander is 8-for-11 in save chances this season while adding six holds, and he's pitched to a 2.86 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and 34:12 K:BB through 28.1 innings. He's still the favorite for saves in the Pittsburgh bullpen, especially given the recent struggles of Dennis Santana.

Skenes allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out seven over 4.2 innings in a no-decision versus the Astros on Wednesday.

Skenes emptied the tank with 109 pitches (68 strikes), but he wasn't able to escape the fifth inning. After giving up one run or fewer in seven of his first nine games, he's been on the hook for three or more runs in each of his last four starts. In that span, he's given up 15 runs (13 earned) across 20 innings for a rare rough patch in his young career. Skenes has a 3.09 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 82:13 K:BB through 70 innings over 13 starts this year. The Pirates' ace is projected to make his next start at home in a tough matchup versus the Dodgers.

Olson went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in Wednesday's 7-3 win over the Blue Jays.

Olson now has four multi-hit performances in his last six games as he continues his hot hitting. The first baseman has a .273/.348/.562 slash line and 17 home runs through 62 games this season. Olson is powering these stats by being in the 95th percentile of baseball in expected slugging (.549) and average exit velocity (93.5 mph).

Albies went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run, a double and two runs scored against Toronto in a 7-3 win Wednesday.

Albies destroyed a pitch for a three-run homer that barely stayed fair down the left-field line to bolster Atlanta's 4-3 lead in the seventh. The three-time All-Star delivered his 19th multi-hit performance of the season, lengthening his hitting streak to seven games in the process. During that span, Albies has gone 11-for-27 with two home runs and seven RBI.

Dubon went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in Wednesday's 7-3 win over the Blue Jays.

Dubon hit a three-run blast into the right-field bullpen in the third inning to give Atlanta a 4-2 lead, which it wouldn't relinquish. The super-utility man has been playing left field pretty consistently after moving from shortstop once Ha-Seong Kim came back from injury. This game ended a 3-for-27 slump since May 23 for Dubon, and on the season he's slashing .249/.304/.380 with four homers, 23 runs and 32 RBI in 58 contests.

Burns took a no-decision Wednesday against the Royals, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk in six innings. He struck out nine.

Burns boasted his usual electrifying stuff Wednesday, generating an impressive 19 whiffs on the evening. That's now four consecutive starts with at least seven punchouts for the hard-throwing right-hander, who has also worked at least five innings while yielding two runs or fewer in all but one of his 12 starts thus far. Burns will bring an outstanding 2.05 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 81:21 K:BB across 70.1 frames into his next scheduled outing in San Diego.