MLB 2023 | Adolis goes deep twice, Iglesias with clean inning for second save, Soler homers again

Major League Baseball (MLB) and other Cuban Players News for the 2023 season. A compendium from several sources

Adolis García (Photo: Tony Gutiérrez/AP)

May 17

Adolis García crushed a pair of solo homers on Wednesday in the Rangers' loss to the Braves.

García went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs in Wednesday's 6-5 loss to Atlanta. García launched two homers off Braves ace Spencer Strider, going deep in back-to-back innings to record his sixth career multi-homer performance. The 30-year-old superstar has gone deep in back-to-back contests and is batting .258/.320/.541 with 13 round-trippers across 181 plate appearances through 42 games. He leads the majors with 46 RBI while adding three stolen bases, 34 runs scored and six doubles.

Raisel Iglesias tossed a perfect ninth inning on Wednesday against the Rangers to collect his second save of the season.

Iglesias struck out one in a perfect inning to earn the save in Wednesday's 6-5 win over the Rangers. Iglesias was summoned to guard a one-run lead in the ninth inning following Orlando Arcia's go-ahead homer in the top of the frame and required just 16 pitches (eight strikes) to slam the door. He got Josh Smith to fly out to left field, coaxed a ground out from Leody Taveras and struck out Marcus Semien to end the contest. It was a much-needed bounce-back after allowing two runs in each of his last two appearances. The right-hander missed the first month-plus of the season with a shoulder strain, and he's had a bit of trouble settling back into the closer role. Iglesias has an 8.31 ERA while converting two of three save chances over 4.1 innings so far.

Jorge Soler went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer in a 4-3 win over the Nationals on Wednesday.

After hitting a walk-off, two-run home run on Tuesday, Soler was at it again on Wednesday. The Cuban slugger clobbered a 407-foot bomb with an exit velocity of 102.6 mph. Soler has gone yard in back-to-back games and has launched six of his 11 homers on the season over the last 12 contests, a stretch in which the 31-year-old is slashing .326/.404/.739 with 14 RBI. He is hitting .240/.321/.520 with 11 homers across 168 plate appearances this season.

José Barrero went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two walks against the Rockies on Wednesday.

Barrero was making his first appearance in four days. He'd seem to be due quite a bit less playing time with Matt McLain up, though that could change if he hits. Still, it seems at least as likely that he's going to get some additional Triple-A time in the near future.

White Sox's Yoan Moncada: Adds steal Wednesday. Moncada went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base in Wednesday's 7-2 win over the Guardians. Moncada has gone 6-for-15 (.400) with three doubles and two RBI over his last four games. The steal was his first of the season, and he hasn't swiped more than three bags in any of the last four campaigns. The 27-year-old has regained a starting role at third base since returning from a back injury, and he's slashing .310/.344/.534 with two home runs, seven RBI, seven runs scored and seven doubles through 61 plate appearances this season.

Andy Ibáñez made his third career start in the outfield Wednesday against the Pirates.

The Tigers didn't seem too worried about having their best defensive outfield working behind Eduardo Rodriguez. They went with Eric Haase in left, Matt Vierling in center and Andy Ibáñez in right. Ibáñez has turned into one of the few fixtures in the Tigers lineup, as he's started 15 of the team's last 16 games. In the game he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and later in the game was moved to third base. In his last 15 games Ibáñez his slashing .271/.300/.438 with a homer and 5 RBI.

Marlins' Yuli Gurriel: Got the start at first base. Gurriel started at first base and was seventh in the lineup Wednesday against the Nationals. Garrett Cooper was the designated hitter and Jorge Soler played right field to open up a spot for Gurriel. In the game Gurriel went 0-for-2 with a RBI and an strikeout. The 38-year-old is sporting a .664 OPS with three home runs in 100 plate appearances on the season.

Yandy Díaz (groin) remained absent from the Rays' lineup for Wednesday's game against the Mets.

The good news is that Díaz hasn't been placed on the injured list, but he missed his second straight contest Wednesday evening following an early exit from Sunday's game against the Yankees due to left groin tightness. He is still consider day-to-day moving forward. Isaac Paredes played first base in his absence.

Yasmani Grandal is day-to-day with right hamstring tightness.

Seby Zavala will be handling the catching duties for a couple days after Grandal re-aggravated a lingering right hamstring issue during Wednesday's lopsided win over the Guardians. During the game he went 2-for-3 with a run scored and was replaced late in the game. It doesn't sound like he's going to require a trip to the injured list, but he's going to need some time off to make sure the issue doesn't turn into anything worse.

Athletics' Aledmys Díaz: On bench Wednesday. Díaz was out of the lineup Wednesday against the Diamondbacks. Díaz took a seat for the second time in three games after he went 1-for-6 with a run scored in Tuesday's 9-8 win in 12 innings. Nick Allen replaced him at shortstop in the series finale with Arizona.