MLB 2023 | Adolis smacks 3 homers in victory, Arozarena 4 RBI in win, Yordan homers again, and more

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

Adolis Garcia (Photo: Getty Images)

April 22

Adolis García had three homers, two doubles and eight RBI as the Rangers crushed the A's 18-3 on Saturday.

García was off to something of a slow start coming into this one, believe it or not. As is turns out, though, hitting three homers and doubling twice raised his OPS by 235 points. This was the first three-homer game of his career. He's the 14th player in major league history to collect five extra-base hits in a game and only the second ever with five extra-base hits and eight RBI. The only previous player to accomplish that feat was another Ranger: Josh Hamilton in his four-homer game on May 8, 2012. It's his first career five-hit or three-homer game. He topped his previous high in RBI by three. This was only the fourth time in MLB history that a player had three homers and two doubles, joining Alex Dickerson (Sept. 1, 2020), Matt Carpenter (July 20, 2018) and Kris Bryant (June 27, 2016). And then there is the biggest number here, as García hauled in 16 total bases. This was the 25th time in MLB history a player recorded at least 16 total bases. The record is 19 (Shawn Green, May 23, 2002). Hamilton was the only other Rangers player to get to at least 16, and he had 18 that day. The most recent 16 total-base game was Dickerson's aforementioned game in 2020.

Jose Barrero went 2-for-2 with a walk and a steal versus the Pirates on Saturday.

Barrero had a 44% strikeout rate and a 5% walk rate in his 174 plate appearances for the Reds last year. Right now, he's at 24% and 10%, respectively, which would rate as a massive improvement if he could keep it up. Fortunately, the team is giving him plenty of at-bats; he was expected to take a backseat to Kevin Newman, but that hasn't really been the case.

Randy Arozarena delivered a game-winning RBI single in the 10th inning on Saturday, lifting the Rays to a 4-3 walk-off victory over the White Sox.

Arozarena capped off an impressive three-hit performance by sending the Rays faithful home happy with a walk-off win. He took righty Dylan Cease deep for a two-run shot in the second inning -- his fifth round-tripper of the season -- and also added an RBI single off reliever Keynan Middleton in the fifth inning as well. The 28-year-old fantasy superstar has served as Tampa Bays' main offensive catalyst this season, batting .350 (28-for-79) with five homers, 22 RBI and three stolen bases through 20 games.

White Sox's Yasmani Grandal: Tallies second homer. Grandal went 1-for-3 with a walk and a solo home run Saturday against the Rays. Grandal took Shane McClanahan yard in the fifth inning to tally his second homer of the season. It was Grandal's first long ball since Opening Day, though he has nine total extra-base hits across 72 plate appearances to begin 2023. That stands in contrast to last season when he managed only 12 total extra-base knocks in 376 plate appearances.

Astros' Yordan Alvarez: Goes deep again.

Alvarez went 1-for-5 with two-run home run in Saturday's win over Atlanta. Alvarez broke up Kyle Wright's shutout with a two-run shot in the sixth inning. It is the second game in a row Alvarez has smacked a go-ahead home run in Atlanta. The slugger has driven in 25 runs in 19 games this season.

Dodgers' Miguel Vargas: Got Saturday off. Vargas sat Saturday against the Cubs, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reported. Vargas hit the bench after starting 10 straight games at second base. He hasn't gotten off to a great start this season, hitting .204/.371/.296 with zero homers, but his 14:15 BB:K at least indicates that he's seeing the ball quite well. Mookie Betts will start at second base, with Jason Heyward taking Betts' usual spot in right field.

Yandy Díaz was removed from Saturday's game against the White Sox due to dehydration.

The Rays announced that the hard-hitting first baseman will be reevaluated on Sunday. For now, the 31-year-old slugger should be considered day-to-day.

April 21

Yordan Alvarez launched a go-ahead two-run homer in the ninth inning to lead the Astros to a 6-4 victory over the Braves on Friday.

The Astros found themselves down 4-1 after the first inning, but they tied things up in the seventh before Alvarez took A.J. Minter deep with two outs in the top of the ninth. It was a 405-foot moonshot to distant right-center field. Alvarez went 1-for-4 on the night and now leads the AL with 23 RBI to go along with five homers and a .262/.388/.538 batting line. Hey, remember when everyone was worried about his hand? That feels like a distant memory.

Raisel Iglesias (shoulder) made it through another bullpen on Friday without any issues.

The next step for the right-hander will be to face live hitters, which likely isn't too far on the horizon. He'll likely then require a couple of outings on a minor league rehab assignment before he's ready to return to the Braves' bullpen. At this point, the best guess at a return date would be in early May.

White Sox's Oscar Colas: Ending skid. Colas went 1-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored Friday against the Rays. Colas drove in a run with an infield single in the second frame and also came around to score. After a brief stretch of production to begin the season, he has gone only 9-for-46 across his last 15 games while striking out at a 25 percent clip in that span. However, he's shown recent signs of turning things around across his last two contests, as he's reached base three times in seven plate appearances. The White Sox appear willing to give Colas the chance to work through any struggles, as he's maintained consistent playing time despite posting a .233/.303/.300 slash line across 67 plate appearances on the campaign.