MLB Player News

Norby went 2-for-3 with a double and a solo home run Wednesday against the Yankees.

Norby made his return to Colorado's lineup after sitting each of the team's last two games -- both of which came against righties. He provided the Rockies' only run of the game with his seventh home run of the season and second in his last 11 starts. Norby has also hit .273 with eight RBI and seven runs scored in that span, though he's still lost playing time due to the return of Kyle Karros.

Baldwin went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and an additional run scored in Wednesday's loss versus the Rays.

Baldwin smashed a homer in the fourth inning to center field off a low-and-in pitch from Griffin Jax. This was Baldwin's first home run since Aug. 27 and only his third in 43 games since July 25. Even without much power production lately, Baldwin still sports a .805 OPS with 23 homers and 71 RBI in 123 contests this year.

Lopez (4-4) took the loss against the Rays on Wednesday, giving up six runs on seven hits and three walks with five strikeouts in 4.2 innings.

Lopez had a solid workload of 80 pitches as he made his first big-league start since late July after recovering from a bout of left knee inflammation. In just his 12th start of the season, the right-hander tied a season high with three walks while giving up his most runs in an appearance this year. Lopez now has a 4.13 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 71:32 K:BB in 76.1 innings on the campaign. The 32-year-old is penciled in to make his next start against the Cubs next week on the road.

The Dodgers are expected to select De Paula's contract from Double-A Tulsa before Friday's game against Miami, Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com reports.

Viewed as the top prospect in the Dodgers' farm system, De Paula will skip Triple-A and head straight to the majors after slashing .302/.400/.539 with 26 homers, 101 RBI, 105 runs scored and 31 steals with the Drillers. The 21-year-old will help to bolster the Dodgers' corner-outfield depth but could immediately slot into the big club's starting nine if Shohei Ohtani (knee/biceps/neck) requires a stint on the IL.

Jax (7-10) picked up the win Wednesday over Atlanta, allowing one run off two hits and a walk over five innings. He struck out two.

Jax was still a bit limited in his second start back from an elbow issue, as he only threw 66 pitches (45 strikes) but still got through five innings with the only damage against him coming via a Drake Baldwin solo homer. The righty improved his ERA to 3.99 and WHIP to 1.24 over 99.1 innings with the efficient performance. The 31-year-old Jax is slated to pitch next week against the Athletics at home, presumably still with a limited workload.

Montgomery earned the save Wednesday against the White Sox, striking out two in a clean ninth inning.

Montgomery extended his scoreless streak to 18.1 innings by retiring all three batters he faced Wednesday. The left-hander has now converted save opportunities in his last four outings and is without a loss since June 26, and he has a 0.62 ERA, 0.62 WHIP and 15.5 K/9 in 30 games during that span.

Valdez went 1-for-2 with a solo home run in the win Wednesday against the White Sox.

The rookie outfielder got the start in right field but got pulled for pinch runner Billy Cook in the seventh. Valdez kicked off the scoring with a long ball off Davis Martin in the fifth to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead that they never looked back on. The 22-year-old has not hit well in his last 30 games, batting .178 with three homers and 11 RBI and a 40 percent strikeout rate in 101 at-bats, though he still has an .865 OPS for the season thanks to his power binge earlier in the summer.

Griffin went 1-for-4 with two RBI and two stolen bases Wednesday in the 4-2 win over the White Sox.

Griffin singled home what would become the winning runs of the game in the seventh inning to get his first RBI since coming off the injured list with a torn sagittal band on his left ring finger. The rookie batted leadoff for the fourth straight game and proved he was still going to be aggressive on the basepaths with his 21st and 22nd stolen bases of the season. The 20-year-old is slashing .266/.325/.389 with five home runs and 27 RBI in 64 games so far this season.

Smith will start Thursday's game against the Pirates, James Fegan of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

All 10 of Smith's major-league appearances have come out of the bullpen, during which the 23-year-old lefty has allowed just one earned run in 16 innings while striking out 23 batters. His strong performance will now buy him the chance to make his first career start in the big leagues, though he may not work deep into Thursday's contest after throwing fewer than 40 pitches in each of his last three outings.

Murakami went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Wednesday's loss to the Pirates.

Murakami homered off of Luke Weaver in the eighth inning to bring him up to 31 long balls, which is tied for fifth in the American League. The Japanese slugger had a rough August during which he hit only .147 with five home runs in 28 contests, but he's already homered twice through eight games in September. On the season, the 26-year-old is slashing .210/.349/.480 with 63 RBI and 74 runs scored, but he also has 169 strikeouts in 482 plate appearances.