MLB Player News

Buxton hit for the cycle, going 5-for-5 with a double, a triple, a home run, two RBI and three runs scored during Saturday's 12-4 win over the Pirates.

After giving the Twins a scare when he was hit on the hand by a pitch earlier this week, Buxton has shown he's feeling 100 percent and then some. On Saturday, his bobblehead day, he gave the crowd at Target Field a show by hitting for the first cycle in the stadium's history and the first by a Twin since 2019. The 31-year-old's five-hit performance brought his slash line to .286/.350/.571 on the season to go along with 21 home runs, 55 RBI and 17 stolen bases. His .921 OPS is second amongst qualified MLB outfielders, trailing just Aaron Judge.

Judge went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a two-run home run during Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Cubs.

After smashing a two-run home run in the ninth inning to finally put the Yankees on the board, Judge has recorded at least one RBI in six straight games with 10 total over that stretch. The 33-year-old is in the midst of another MVP-caliber season and perhaps the best year of his already illustrious career, slashing .358/.465/.739 with 35 home runs and 81 RBI with one game to go before the All-Star break.

Varsho (hamstring) is slated to begin a rehab assignment in the Florida Complex League on Monday, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Varsho landed on the injured list June 1 with a strained left hamstring, and a setback he suffered in late June has caused his stay on the IL to run a bit longer than originally anticipated. After running the bases multiple times this week without any issues, he's now been given the go-ahead to return to competition. The Blue Jays haven't committed to a target date for the 29-year-old's return, though there's a chance he'll be ready for the start of the second half.

Rafaela will start at second base and bat second in Saturday's game against the Rays, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

Rafaela has batted ninth and played center field virtually all season, but he'll be in new spots on defense and in the lineup Saturday after his walk-off home run Friday extended Boston's win streak to eight games. He's been smoking hot of late, going 14-for-31 (.452) with four home runs, six doubles and 13 RBI during the team's win streak.

Carter went 1-for-4 with two RBI and a stolen base in Friday's 7-3 win over Houston.

Carter delivered a two-out, two-run single in the first inning to give Texas an early lead. He then stole a base but was left stranded. Carter had a slow start upon his promotion from Triple-A Round Rock in early May, but the outfielder has turned it around over the last month. Since June 8, Carter owns a .310/.400/.483 slash line with nine extra-base hits, 14 RBI, nine steals and 17 runs scored over 25 games.

Meadows isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against Seattle.

Meadows has collected a base hit in each of his last three games, though he's also struck out six times in 12 at-bats while doing so. He'll retreat to the bench Saturday while Matt Vierling starts in center field, batting seventh.

Baez isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against Seattle.

Baez will take a seat Saturday after going 0-for-4 with a strikeout in Friday's contest. Trey Sweeney will take his place at shortstop and bat eighth for Detroit.

Dominguez isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Cubs.

Dominguez will get a breather Saturday after going 2-for-5 with two runs scored and three strikeouts during Friday's 11-0 rout of Chicago. Cody Bellinger will shift to left field as a result, opening up center field for Trent Grisham.

Robert went 2-for-7 with a two-run home run and a walk across both games of Friday's doubleheader against the Guardians.

Robert has started all four games since being activated from the injured list while hitting primarily sixth in the lineup. He delivered his ninth home run of the season in the opening game of the doubleheader Friday and has at least one hit in three of the four contests since he was activated.

Perez went 2-for-3 with a run scored in Friday's 12-3 loss to the Mariners. He also stole a base.

The steal was just the second of the season for Perez, and Friday also marked his first two-hit game since June 24. In 14 contests since that game, the outfielder is batting just .204 with a .591 OPS. Overall, Perez has a much stronger .266 batting average and .843 OPS, which are boosted up due to his hot start once he got back from the injured list in late May. Perez still has some fantasy appeal in his starting role, though the unsustainable production he was delivering earlier has tailed off.